AURORA | During a Monday night city council meeting, lawmakers will cast first votes on a social equity-minded marijuana delivery plan, consider allowing voters to remove the so-called pitbull ban and consider a pair of immigration-focused ordinances.
Aurorans could have recreational marijuana delivered to their doorstep between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m by licensed dispensaries if the delivery plan survives two rounds of voting. So-called social-equity applicants would be the only businesses allowed to deliver marijuana for three years.
To snag a coveted delivery permit during those first three years, an applicant would have to prove that they’ve lived in a “disadvantaged area” or have some legal trouble from since-overturned marijuana laws criminalizing themselves or their families.
It’s a proposal that aims to right wrongs of the decades-long war on drugs, councilmembers said last month.
In study session, city lawmakers will consider allowing voters to chart the course of the city’s contentious breed-restricted ordinance outlawing American pit bull terriers, American Staffordshire terriers and Staffordshire bull terriers.
If a majority of city councilmembers approve it, Aurora voters could vote for or against the rules during the November 2021 election. Denver voters opted to remove the city’s “breed ban” last month.
Lawmakers will also consider creating a legal defense fund for immigrants and formally bar Aurora police from working with federal immigrations authorities. Councilmembers Crystal Murillo and Allison Coombs are sponsoring the twin measures.
If approved by the full council, the legal defense fund would create a pot of both public and private sector cash that qualifying people could use to pay for attorneys to represent them in removal proceedings, post-conviction relief, bond hearings and work permit applications, among other legal actions.
Courts aren’t required to provide immigrants with lawyers. But those who face proceedings with an attorney are more than 10 times more likely to achieve a favorable outcome in their case, according to numbers from the University of Pennsylvania Law Review.
Murillo said last month she plans to request $50,000 to get the fund off the ground when council members consider the spring supplemental budget early next year
The second immigration-minded proposal Monday night would formally prohibit any Aurora staffers, including police and jailers, from using city funds or facilities to cooperate with federal immigration authorities on enforcement actions. For years, Aurora police officials have underscored that local police are not immigration officials and will not check immigration status during routine interactions.
The newly proposed measure would reinforce those standing policies.