AURORA | Four conservative Aurora City Council members offered no explanation for all missing the previous regular meeting after Mayor Mike Coffman asked them to give him notice of their future absences.
“I just want to state how important I think it is for members to make the regular meetings,” Coffman said. “Virtual or in person is the same. If you cannot make it, I want you to contact me in advance and let me know why.”
During the previous Jan. 26 city council meeting, four right-leaning council members, Françoise Bergan, Angela Lawson, Stephanie Hancock, and Curtis Gardner, attended an executive session of the city council meeting but did not attend the regular meeting after.
Hancock attended the study session before the regular meeting, while the rest did not attend either. The only council person to respond to the Sentinel’s requests asking why they were all absent was Gardner, who said he was recovering from a scheduled knee surgery and had planned to miss the meeting.
“After the role is called during the regular meeting, if a member is not present in person or virtually, I will state whether I was contacted by that member and whether or not they gave me an excuse,” Coffman said during the study session Monday. “I don’t need to know in general, I don’t need to know specifics.”
Bergan responded to Coffman’s request by saying that she has rarely ever missed a meeting in her 10 years serving on city council, and that she wanted city council boards and commissions to come under the same scrutiny.
“I have been here for over 10 years and have very rarely missed a council meeting,” Bergan said. “So if we’re going to talk about this, and I understand, I think it is respectful to you to let us know. So I agree.”
Bergan said the accusation that they were boycotting the meeting for any reason was false. Neither Bergan nor any of the missing council members offered an explanation for why they missed the regular meeting after attending a closed session earlier.
Throughout the night, Monday, Bergan said that other council members were absent from other boards and commissions meetings and that they should be held to account. Coffman said the chairs of the boards and commissions are responsible for their meetings as he is for council meetings.
Lawson said during Monday’s meeting that she did not need to explain her absence, referring to something about HIPAA, or the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, which allows employees to maintain medical privacy.
Singular council members miss meetings all the time, but never as a block after they were all in attendance earlier in the day, according to city records. Other members of the city council said the closed executive session was expected to be contentious, and that it was.
City lawmakers would not divulge details from the close meeting, citing city council rules.
It is still unclear what caused frustration during the meeting and whether it was the direct reason for the group’s absence, but accounts from many other council members confirm it was likely.
There have been reports of growing tension among the conservative members toward the newly elected left-leaning members, and noticeable frustration from angry public speakers directed at the republican minority, with many of them stating that they feel regularly criticized by the same members of the public at the council meetings. The two factions have recently publicly butted heads on topics like the city’s position on ICE raids and immigration, and on how the city should respond to the Democratic-controlled state legislature’s handling of issues related to local control.
Former City Council member Danielle Jurinsky on Jan. 26 posted her suspicion on social media that city council is planning to fire Police Chief Todd Chamberlain shortly after the executive session, saying they were making plans behind “closed doors,” which is the only meeting city council members are allowed to have that is not public.
Chamberlain’s tenure came up repeatedly Monday night from residents and Jurinsky — who appeared at the council meeting during a segment for the public to address the city council — while city council members made no comment about him.
Some council members have voiced concerns about Chamberlain’s past comments regarding Aurora police officer-involved shootings and police reform efforts in connection with a state-mandated consent decree. Others have raised questions about Chamberlain’s comments on local police cooperating with ICE and federal agents. In particular, Chamberlain took issue with a recent city council resolution rebuking ICE raids and underscoring a state law prohibiting police cooperation with ICE agents in most cases.
“Tonight, a resolution was passed by Aurora City Council,” Chamberlain said in a statement after the city council vote last month. “I understand there are strong political views on aspects of federal partnerships and collaboration in the law enforcement profession. I respect the autonomy of the city council. However, I believe it will come at a cost…We have and will continue to work closely with our law enforcement partners at the local, state and federal levels to hold those who victimize members of our community accountable for their criminal actions.”
Given the incessant haranguing these councilmembers endure from an activist cabal that includes a disgraced former DPS board member censured for inappropriate online flirting with a 16-year-old, a woman who pleaded down child abuse to a reduced charge, an intersectional clown charged with feloniously discharging a firearm, patronizing a prostitute, solicitation, and criminal mischief–not to mention a dog’s breakfast of miscreants who dominate the public speaking portion of the meeting… I’d need a break, too.
Cannot wait to vote out Hancock. What a self-entitled, power hungry jackass. Hopefully as soon as she’s voted out, she fades into obscurity, going back into the hole she came out of. I hope she’s ashamed of her utter lack of accountability.
Her and the rest of the Conservatives are exactly what the insult they throw out at everyone else, “Snowflakes.” Can’t take a little criticism for being utterly devoid of moral principle. At least Mayor Mike is respectable.
Meanwhile there’s about $45 million//year in additional sales tax revenue just sitting on the table awaiting a City Council that can focus on executing a serious strategy to revitalize retail, dining and entertainment in Aurora.
Childish snowflakes. This is just one more reason why their GOP ex-council colleagues were voted out. Adults are needed to represent Aurora, not these folks. The masks are falling off.