AURORA | Two candidates — incumbent Charlie Richardson and challenger Juan Marcano — are vying to represent Ward IV on the Aurora City Council.
The race started on a contentious note when Arapahoe County Clerk Joan Lopez endorsed Marcano, a fellow Democrat. Richardson alleged during city council meetings that may have an impact on the race and give Marcano an unfair advantage in obtaining voter turnout data. Lopez, however, said her endorsement wouldn’t result in any unfair treatment.
Some city council members suggested the city should partner with a different county to run its election or establish ethical guidelines for the clerk. Neither of those suggestions came to fruition.
Watch the televised Aurora ward council candidates debate here
Richardson is running for his second term on the Aurora City Council. He retired in 2015 from having served as the city attorney. Marcano is an architectural engineer who is a first time candidate. Prior to running for office, Marcano served on the Arapahoe County Citizen’s Budget Committee and citizen-led advocacy groups Aurora Residents for Transparency and Transformation and Colorado People’s Action.
Ward IV includes the Dam East and West developments, stretching from South Buckley Road on the east to South Dayton Street on the west. The district runs between East Mississippi Avenue and East Dartmouth Avenue at its southern edge.
Policing has become a significant issue among constituents. Richardson told the Sentinel it’s among a top issue he hears and wants the city to add enough police officers to meet a two police officer per 1,000 residents policy that’s been in place for more than two decades.
Richardson points to one particular study showing the department is about 100 officers short of its goal, and partially blames the city’s population calculus for the reduction in police staffing.
“It doesn’t even include the people in the hospitals, people at Gaylord, people in hotels and motels, so I think we have a huge problem there — huge,” Richardson told the Sentinel in February. “And they all need calls for service and that mandate (staffing two police officers per 1,000 city residents) has been perceived as a maximum. People have looked at that as a maximum and that is tragically wrong.”
Ideally, Richardson said he’d like the city to have enough officers so that each one can patrol part of the time, rather than run from call to call. He attempted to add six police officer positions at a recent city budget meeting, but he didn’t garner enough support from the council to approve the request, which would have cost about $800,000.
Marcano said the two-per-thousand mandate is one option for improving public safety, but not necessarily his preference in reducing crime.
“That’s a reactive approach and I think we should address the root causes, especially petty crime,” he said, citing the need for economic opportunity and creating equity among marginalized communities.
On economic development, Richardson, who has typically been skeptical of granting incentives to lure business to Aurora, says each case should be examined separately.
Marcano, on the other hand, said he believes the city should refrain from offering incentives altogether.
“I would much rather invest in our existing small businesses than try to lure big names to Aurora,” he said in the Sentinel questionnaire. “We already have a talented workforce and an advantageous geographic location that makes us an attractive city to do business in.”
Marcano also favors raising Aurora’s minimum wage to $22 per hour, contending it would be a livable wage for Aurora residents.
“This would be phased in incrementally so that small businesses are able to absorb the cost while reaping the benefits of increased consumer spending in our local economy as a rising wage allows pent-up demand to be expressed,” he said.
Richardson said he’d want to consult Aurora’s business community before taking a position on raising the minimum wage.