Day laborers rush a truck that pulled up looking for workers on Tuesday May 12, 2015 at Colfax and Dayton. (Photo by Gabriel Christus/Aurora Sentinel) 
Manuel Mendoza stands near the Iglesia Evangelica church on Dayton Street just north of East Colfax Avenue on Tuesday May 12, 2015 at Colfax and Dayton. (Photo by Gabriel Christus/Aurora Sentinel) 
Day laborers wait for a potential job May 5 near East Colfax Avenue and Dayton Street. State officials say they deal with more than 400 reports of wage theft every month and local officials are launching a variety of measures aimed at combatting the problem. (Marla R. Keown/Aurora Sentinel) 
A day laborer’s corduroy pants are coated with paint May 5 near East Colfax Avenue and Dayton Street. State officials say they deal with more than 400 reports of wage theft every month and local officials are launching a variety of measures aimed at combatting the problem. (Marla R. Keown/Aurora Sentinel) 
A day laborer listens to Marco Nunez, director of El Centro Humanitario, explain day laborer’s rights May 5 near East Colfax Avenue and Dayton Street. State officials say they deal with more than 400 reports of wage theft every month and local officials are launching a variety of measures aimed at combatting the problem. (Marla R. Keown/Aurora Sentinel) 
Day laborers wait for work around a vacant building Friday morning April 13 near the corner of Colfax and Dayton. Nearby business owners say the gathering of day laborers poses problems for themselves as well as customers. This issue has caused rifts between day laborers, city officials and business owners for more than two years. Aurora police officers said at an April 11 Aurora City Council committee meeting that they would form a task force to address the problem without infringing on the day laborer’s rights. (Marla R. Keown/Aurora Sentinel) 
Marco Nunez, director of El Centro Hunaitario, informs day laborers of their legal rights on May 5 near East Colfax Avenue and Dayton Street. State officials say they deal with more than 400 reports of wage theft every month and local officials are launching a variety of measures aimed at combatting the problem. (Marla R. Keown/Aurora Sentinel) 
Day laborers wait for potential work on May 5 near East Colfax Avenue and Dayton Street. State officials say they deal with more than 400 reports of wage theft every month and local officials are launching a variety of measures aimed at combatting the problem. (Marla R. Keown/Aurora Sentinel) 
A day laborer’s work gloves lay in wait, Friday morning April 13 near the corner of Colfax and Dayton. Nearby business owners say the gathering of day laborers poses problems for customers walking by and looking for parking. The issue has caused rifts between day laborers, city officials and business owners for more than two years. (Marla R. Keown/Aurora Sentinel) 
Day laborers swarm a potential employer Friday morning April 13, near the corner of Colfax and Dayton. Nearby business owners say the gathering of day laborers poses problems for customers walking by and looking for parking. (Marla R. Keown/Aurora Sentinel)
AURORA | Dozens of day laborers who congregate on Dayton Street near East Colfax Avenue each morning will remain without a dedicated facility to prepare for the day’s work for a little while longer, members of the Aurora City Council decided at a regular meeting June 19.
By a 9-2 vote, council members agreed to table a lease agreement between the city and a new nonprofit organization that is expected to manage a parking lot and recently renovated building at 1521 Dayton St. The spaces are intended to be used as gathering places for the day laborers who have gathered in that area most mornings for more than two decades.
“The intent here is to alleviate the deplorable situation that our day laborers have been facing for 20 years in the 1500 block of Dayton,” said City Councilwoman Sally Mounier, whose Ward I encompasses the area in question. “They bake in the summer, they freeze in the winter, there are no bathrooms, there are occasionally people who come in and give them sustenance, but that’s sporadic at best.”
The city purchased the northwest Aurora lot in 2016 for $400,000 and has put about $100,000 worth of repair work into the small building at 1521 Dayton St., including a new roof, asbestos abatement and bathroom upgrades.
A newly minted nonprofit organization, the Aurora Economic Opportunity Coalition, has been vying to solidify their management of the space for the better part of two years. At their recent meeting, council members were expected to vote on a lease agreement between the city and the new nonprofit group, which is steered by Mounier and several other Aurora leaders. Local Pastor Reid Hettich, Aurora Health Access Leader Rich McLean and former state legislator and current city council candidate Bob Hagedorn all sit on the organization’s board of directors.
But after a series of failed motions to get the lease agreement approved, city council settled on tabling the proposed agreement because several council members took issue with multiple ambiguities in the proposed lease.
“On my headstone, I hope it says, ‘I never owned a boat and I never approved a contract that has more blanks in it than this one,’” Council Member Charlie Richardson said.
Under the proposed agreement, the Economic Opportunity Coalition would be expected to pay the city $10 per year for the property, mimicking charitable arrangements the city has with other entities in the Aurora Cultural Arts District along Colfax. The market rental rate for the Dayton Street property is about $12,000 per year, according to city records. The city has specified that the outstanding $11,990 will act as a de facto grant to the Aurora Economic Opportunity Coalition.
The agreement stipulates the city will also provide the new nonprofit organization a grant of up to $10,000 for the purchase of an insurance policy.
After Mounier pointed out that the city drafted a similar lease agreement with the Vintage Theatre under Richardson’s purview as the former city attorney, the two got into an unusually confrontational exchange on the council dais.
The spat concluded with Mounier asking Richardson: “Do you want to go outside, Charlie? I’ll take my … glasses off and we can go duke it out.”
Councilman Bob LeGare took issue with language in the proposed lease stating that people on the property would need to be in compliance with all federal, state and local laws. He said that could be problematic for laborers looking for work without proper visa or work papers.
“We know that some of the day laborers don’t have legal papers to be here,” LeGare said.
Later in the evening, at the regular council meeting, he added: “This lease, in my opinion, is so flawed that the tenant is going to be in violation the day they start the operation of their business.”
Mounier said her group is not planning on checking workers’ immigration status.
“We’re not going to be asking to see their papers,” she said. “That’s just not where we’re at — we’re just not going to do that.”
She added that the space could be used to hold various classes for laborers who are interested in attending, and the adjoining parking lot could be used for patrons attending performances at the nearby Vintage Theatre or the Aurora Fox Arts Center.
While many council members underscored their support of the concept but not the proposed lease, Councilwoman Renie Peterson rejected the entire project altogether.
“I don’t see any reason that this is city business, for one,” Peterson said at a June 19 study session before the regular council meeting. “I did not support the purchase of the building, I do not support the effort and I think what it’s going to bring is a lot of liability on the city with lawsuits and problems.”
The item appeared on the agendas for both the June 19 study session and regular meeting.
An update on the lease agreement is scheduled to take place at a Wednesday afternoon meeting of the city policy committee that deals with housing and neighborhood services, according to city documents.
In a revised version of the lease that is slated to be presented to the committee Wednesday, the agreement is proposed to run for one-year beginning July 11. City council will have the chance to re-up or nullify the lease around the same time next year.