EDITORIAL: Aurora lawmakers silencing marginalized voices by dissolving its HRC

Under the ruse of saving city budget dollars and promoting efficiency, Aurora lawmakers last week recklessly agreed to silence one of the city’s most important voices.

By voting 6-4 to dissolve the decades-old Aurora Human Relations Commission, council members claimed they were saving staff time and taxpayer money. In reality, they eliminated one of Aurora’s most trusted forums for dialogue, education, and community-building at a time when the city is under fire for its police department abusing people of color, and glaring racism is gushing in from the Trump administration under the absurd guise of ending equity to create equity.

While it is true that Aurora faces a $6 million budget shortfall, the HRC’s annual cost of $9,000 and two hours of staff time per month is a pittance compared to the loss of trust, inclusion, and civic connection that comes with its dissolution.

For decades, the commission has been a lifeline for communities too often left out of the civic process, including people of color, immigrants, veterans, children, the handicapped and the LGBTQ+ community.

Hundreds of thousands of Aurora residents have found support and benefited through the commission’s work, even if they were unaware of it.

It was this commission that led Aurora through a long, long list of racial controversies, including children of color being ostracized at a skating rink, Black teens wearing hoodies being harassed by police because they were Black teens wearing hoodies, Black shoppers being harassed at local malls, and Muslims and Arab-Americans harassed even long after the Sept. 11 attacks. More recently, the HRC and others helped manage a wave of anti-Asian American harassment created by then-President Donald Trump and others referring to the COVID-19 pandemic as the “China Flu.”

To characterize such a commission as “redundant” is to misunderstand its purpose entirely.

Unlike other boards focused on parks, golf courses, or business development, the HRC serves as a moral compass for a city as diverse as Aurora.

The Aurora HRC has been the city’s mediator during some of Aurora’s most fraught moments.

This commission is not redundant. It is relevant, just as much now as ever.

The shortsighted decision to dismantle the HRC risks signaling to Aurora’s communities that diversity, equity, and inclusion are expendable luxuries rather than foundational principles. In one of Colorado’s most multicultural cities, where more than 160 languages are spoken in local schools, where immigrant families and refugees have long sought opportunity and safety, the absence of a civic, independent body dedicated to bridging divides creates not just a gap, but a void.

This critical commission isn’t just a complaints department. The HRC has long been a place where the voices of people too often overlooked, ignored or disrespected are amplified for everyone in the city to hear. The commission serves as a barometer for the endless storms of racism, racial profiling and inequity that are always on the horizon.

This decision is not about saving money. This is part of a larger and growing effort to undermine the successes created by education provided through diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. The DEI programs in the city and the community are not just about celebrating differences, they are about building resilience.

Cities that invest in inclusion reap dividends in public safety, education, economic development, and civic participation.

Cutting DEI programs as a political movement to create “true” fairness and save money creates a false economy. On paper, such programs may seem expensive or controversial, but they are actually investments in better governance, stronger institutions and united communities.

Opponents argue that DEI somehow promotes division or undermines merit. Research consistently shows that inclusion strengthens meritocracy by expanding the talent pool and enriching discussion. 

Justice and performance are not mutually exclusive. They are mutually reinforcing.

And when residents feel heard, they are more likely to trust institutions, obey laws, and contribute to the common good. When people feel ignored or dismissed, frustration festers into division.

Aurora, with its long history of racial tension and its recent struggles to restore faith in the police department and city institutions, cannot afford to make issues surrounding diversity an afterthought.

This decision is not final. Aurora residents still have the brief opportunity to speak and to insist that the Human Relations Commission be retained.

Community voices can rise above political malfeasance.