Aurora City Council At-Large race: Four hopefuls vie for two seats

AURORA | Four candidates are vying for Aurora’s two open at-large city council seats in the November municipal election.

Incumbent at-large council members Bob LeGare and Debi Hunter Holen are seeking re-election. Angela Lawson and Maya Wheeler, who both ran for an at-large seat in 2013, are also running.

Maya Wheeler, who has lived in Aurora for 20 years and helps underprivileged families navigate the health care system, said she is running this year with a focus on quality of life issues.

“I decided to run again because I want to make sure individuals and families are equipped with the assets they need to have quality of life in Aurora,” she said. “That they have access to jobs, economic development, and I’m specifically focusing on small-business development.”

She said she also is concerned about the lack of affordable housing in the city, and said she would be a watchdog for equality in Aurora’s procurement and hiring practices, small-business development, education and public safety.

Wheeler also said she supports the developers looking to annex nearly 3,000 acres east of city boundaries for residential and commercial development associated with  Denver International Airport if they can pay their way.

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“I do not believe the city should spend $531,200 to conduct a land use study in which there is no definite plan to annex this land,” she said.

She said she thinks the city should review its open-carry laws. “Open-carry activity, by its nature, is an overt expression of violence,” she said.

In light of Denver considering whether to allow some marijuana use in bars and other businesses, she said she would advocate for a model that licenses some businesses as marijuana-friendly and keeps them separate from existing bars and clubs.

Wheeler said she supports the city’s use of photo red light camera because the money goes to Nexus programs. 

More local control over oil and gas drilling is another hot-button issue where Wheeler said she would like to see the city revisit its setback rule which requires well pads to be 150 feet from homes. She said she would also like the city to revisit rules related to better notifying residents when they purchase a home near a current or future well pad.

“I believe all Aurora homebuyers should have a choice on whether they want to purchase a home near a future well sight,” she said.

Angela Lawson, who has lived in southeast Aurora for 14 years and works at the Colorado Secretary of State’s office, is also taking another stab at the seat.

She said if elected, she would focus on making at-large members more accessible to residents.

She said she would like to institute town hall meetings for at-large council members, and have more collaboration and communication between at-large and ward council members.

“I also think it would be good to have a newsletter for what all of the wards are doing” she said. “My concerns in Ward V are different than those in Ward II or III.”

Lawson, who serves on the Citizens Budget Advisory Committee, said she is also focused on encouraging economic development and improving the climate for small businesses in Aurora.

She said that due to the city’s red tape and delays, developers and business owners are leaving for other cities, like Denver, where the regulations are less burdensome.

Lawson said growth will continue eastward whether or not Aurora is involved, and the city will benefit from being involved in the process.

“Annexation is an important city tool because it helps in planning more efficiently for population growth,” she said. “New growth pays for itself, when residents smartly buy into existing assets, and pay their portion of the investments in new or expanded assets.”

Lawson has come out against the city’s use of photo red light cameras, and told the Aurora Sentinel it remains unclear whether the cameras actually make the city safer or are simply a revenue generator for the city.

“We need to explore other options and alternatives that are less punitive and review the collected data to see if safety or accident reductions have been demonstrated at the intersections where the cameras are located,” she said.

More local control over oil and gas drilling is another hot-button issue where Lawson said she sides with the state of Colorado.

At-large incumbent Bob LeGare, who has served on Aurora City Council for nearly 13 years, said if re-elected, he will continue focus on funding for Aurora’s roads as well as for capital projects and infrastructure.

“We are grossly behind in keeping roads up to proper maintenance standards,”  he said.

Right now, Aurora’s roads are considered to be in fair condition, according to the Pavement Condition Index. But in the next five years, the quality of the city’s roads is expected to drop from 68 to 64.

On the annexation issue, LeGare agrees with Lawson, and points to developments such as Prosper that has plans for 8,000 new homes just east of Aurora’s current boundaries.

“If Aurora does not control the development on our eastern edge, the development will happen in unincorporated Arapahoe County, allowing the county to realize the tax revenue that results from development,” he said. “If we don’t have the opportunity to annex developments like Prosper, Aurora will get all the traffic impacts, without any benefit.”

LeGare said if state law were amended to allow marijuana in private businesses, Aurora businesses should be allowed to participate.

“If a private business wants to provide a separate marijuana smoking area, while complying with all other Aurora laws, I don’t see a problem with that,” he said.

LeGare said e supports keeping the photo red light cameras in place unless they are banned by the state legislature.

He said he supports the state controls over oil and gas regulation.

“If local governments all start creating their own regulations there would chaos in the industry just as we are starting to reach energy independence in the U.S,” he said.

Debi Hunter Holen, incumbent at-large councilwoman since 2011, said she would like to focus on the city’s transit-oriented-development sites and making sure they are well-managed.

With the Aurora light rail line set to open next year, several transit-oriented projects have been planned near the line’s major stations.

“We need more affordable housing and more affordable opportunities for startup families or people who choose to not have families,” she said of potential housing projects that could go near the stations.

Hunter Holen said she agrees with Wheeler that marijuana would be OK in certain Aurora coffee shops and private clubs, but she would be wary of allowing alcohol and marijuana in the same establishment.

She said she supports the city’s use of photo red light cameras and that they have been effective in reducing accidents.

“Aurora’s program gives the benefit of the doubt to the driver and a police officer is appointed to the review of photos before the issuance of a ticket is mailed,” she said.