AURORA | An effort to modernize Aurora’s targeted picketing law has been put on hold. A vote Monday night resulted in a tie because of one absent member.
Council members Allison Hiltz, Nicole Johnston, Crystal Murillo and Angela Lawson voted down the measure, which would add language to the existing ordinance to clarify “targeted picketing,” according to city documents.
In order to pass, the ordinance needed a majority of city council members — six votes — to support it. With Councilwoman Marsha Berzins absent from the meeting, the proposal only got five votes.
In order to force the measure to another meeting, Mayor Mike Coffman cast his vote to create the tie.
Ward VI Councilwoman Francoise Bergan, who championed the ordinance, said her goal was to make the existing law easier to understand. Targeted picketing has been illegal in Aurora for nearly 20 years and mirrors a state law.
A protest near the home where Johnny Choate, a warden at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in north Aurora, lives catapulted the ordinance update. But Bergan said the context of the protest is irrelevant.
“I had so many residents that contacted me via email, texting, on Next Door, that I just felt that something had to be addressed,” Bergan said after introducing the ordinance to a city policy committee earlier this year. ” … It was very scary I think for a lot of the residents.”
Councilman Juan Marcano said he felt the ordinance was good for protestors because the update only allows for the possibility of a fine and not jail time.
Councilwoman Nicole Johnston said while she appreciated the work to clarify the ordinance, she wouldn’t support it because she’s against targeted picketing ordinances.
The next vote on the ordinance will occur in January.