Aurora lawmakers consider cutting, merging advisory boards to save cash, time

AURORA | Aurora lawmakers looking to eliminate and consolidate some city boards and commissions in an effort to reduce expenses and the use of staff time have targeted a host of long-standing advisory groups.

The entities mentioned during a study session on Monday that could be cut include the police department Independent Review Board, the city Human Relations Commission and the Veterans Affairs Commission.

“All these boards or commissions serve at the pleasure of council,” City Manager Jason Batchelor said. “They’re all advisory, and again, the intent of this is really to make sure that you all are getting the structure and feedback you all need as the elected leaders.”

Projected cost savings and staff time saved as not immediately available.

There were also some boards and commissions targeted for consolidation. That could include combining the Aurora Fox Arts Center Board, the Cultural Affairs Commission and the Art in Public Places Commission into one group.

City Council members are also considering consolidating the Golf Course Advisory Committee, Open Space Advisory Board and Parks and Recreation Advisory Board.

“The recommendation is to consolidate those similarly into one commission with some standing subcommittees in those areas,” Batchelor said. 

The Aurora Oil and Gas Advisory Committee was saved from the chopping block and proposed to be reduced to quarterly meetings after Councilmember Francious Bergan said she thought the group was still helpful to city council but did not need to meet as often.

There was also a proposal to break up the Aurora Youth Commission and have its members sit on open seats in other boards and commissions. That proposal created the most disagreement among city council members, with council members Ruben Medina and Crystal Murillo saying it was potentially unfair to the youth members who the change would affect. 

Staff recommended cutting the police Independent Review Board because it was seen as a duplicate of the Civil Service Commission, which provides oversight for police and fire discipline. Batchelor said the board was not needed because it is “functionally defunct,” and it delays the discipline process.

Council members Alison Coombs and Murillo objected to ending the Human Relations Commission. Mayor Mike Coffman wanted to clarify their work for the city, since he remembered serving on the commission and distributing grants to different groups. 

“These are boards that staff found are a little outside of the direct service provision of the city, and wanted to see what council’s direction was,” Batchelor said about the Human Relations Commission and the Veterans Affairs Commission. 

The Human Relations Commission focuses on the needs of marginalized groups, such as foster children, people of color and immigrants. The group organizes events like the Martin Luther King Jr. celebration and commemoration, and donates to local nonprofits. 

The Human Relations Commission is the one that Councilmembers Danielle Jurinsky and Steve Sundberg said they wanted to see eliminated, without offering reasons why. 

“I understand the idea that this may be outside the purview of the city, but in terms of complaints related to ADA issues, complaints related to discrimination issues,” Coombs said. “How are we going to be handling those types of concerns that may be brought forward through that board, as it currently is?”

The Aurora Fox Arts Center was also discussed as a spot of contention between council members, with it being a passion project for Councilmember Stephanie Hancock, who is working to revive the arts district on Colfax Avenue, which the Aurora Fox theater is the centerpiece of. 

“I’d like to see all three consolidated versus one eliminated,” Councilmember Danielle Jurinsky said. “I think the Fox Theater is a huge financial drain to the City of Aurora, and I think that that still needs to be included as part of the discussion with this board. We have got to figure out how to stop having the Fox Theater be a huge financial drain to the people of Aurora.”

The Fox is funded by the city as well as the regional Science and Cultural Finance District as a Tier II recipient.

Hancock acknowledged the financial strain the Aurora Fox currently is for the city, but said she believes that if the community is built as an arts and cultural destination, it will turn the organization around. 

They both agreed to the consolidation.

Jurinsky said that although she is a veteran, Veterans Affairs are handled at the county level, and she doesn’t see the need for a board at the city level. 

“Obviously, we are a veteran community,” she said. “It does sort of lend to the question of what it is that we’re asking them to do and comment on, it’s a little far-reaching, because we’re not doing that direct provision of services.”

Batchelor said city staff will take city council comments into consideration and bring a proposal back at a future date. Cuts or combinations could be presented to city council as a single bill, or as separate issues.