The list of choices for an at-large city council seat made vacant after the death of Mayor Steve Hogan speaks to caliber of Aurora’s government and its solid future.
City council members interviewed five finalist candidates for the position last week: Tom Tobiassen, Margaret Sobey, Jonathan Scott, Johnny Watson and JulieMarie A. Shepherd Macklin.
Lawmakers are slated to choice a candidate Monday night.
All applicants are not only qualified for position but would make valuable contributions to how best to steer the city through a bevy of growing challenges.
But even among a field of candidates that city residents can trust to guard their interests, Tom Tobiassen is the clear and natural choice for the vacancy.
Tobiassen was one of a virtual herd of outstanding city council candidates running for an at-large position last fall. He lost out to Councilman Dave Gruber for the seat by a mere 50 votes.
Choosing Tobiassen for that reason makes sense. This city council in the past has used that logic to reinstate a former councilman, Brad Pierce, when he, too, lost a similar election just a few years ago, but by a much larger margin.
Essentially, voters have already made this city council’s decision for them. And those voters weren’t unwise in their choice.
Tobiassen is a known quantity whose allegiance to the city and breadth of knowledge earned The Sentinel’s endorsement last fall.
As we noted then, Tobiassen was practically born for the job of Aurora city councilman. He has worked hard on virtually every aspect of the city’s challenges.
His Aurora volunteer highlights include being a member of:
• The Aurora Public Defender Commission
• Aurora Citizens’ Water Advisory Committee
• The Denver Regional Mobility and Access Council
• The Aurora Chamber of Commerce Transportation Committee
• The Sand Creek Greenway Foundation
He is also Mission Viejo Neighborhood Watch coordinator and Bicycle Aurora President.
He has been lauded as Man of the Year by the Aurora Chamber of Commerce, and served on the Citizen Budget Advisory Committee, and he held a seat on the Aurora Planning and Zoning Commission.
Tobiassen knows the complexities of state, local and federal governments and the challenges of growth.
As RTD Chairman and a staunch advocate for Aurora’s interests, he was instrumental in getting the city’s long-awaited light-rail trains running.
He has an unparalleled understanding of the city’s budget and transportation challenges, and he has been a locomotive in working to make bike commuting and recreational riding a rising success story.
Tobiassen strongly believes that all Aurora residents must be fairly and actively represented by the city council, and he has a great deal of experience to guide the city through what will and won’t work.
The at-large seat is open because Councilman Bob LeGare was elevated last month to fill Hogan’s position. Hogan died in May from cancer.
We have previously pointed out the defect in Aurora’s charter, allowing critical, elected positions to be appointed rather than elected by voters, and then serve for up to two years. City lawmakers should ask voters to change the charter to require special elections to fill city council vacancies if there is more than a year remaining in the term.
Fortunately for voters, that problem is strongly negated by Tobiassen having already been virtually elected just months ago by Aurora voters.
His vast experience and engineer’s pragmatic philosophy will serve the city council, its residents and businesses well.