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.
“Affordable housing in Aurora is not as bad as Denver, but we do have a problem,” she said.
This summer, vacancy rates in Aurora fell to historic lows, causing the average monthly cost of renting an apartment in the city to shoot up by 14 percent between June 2014 and June 2015, according to a study released by Axiometrics.
Meanwhile city officials are struggling to bring new affordable developments to the city.
Wheeler said she also would be a watchdog for equality in Aurora’s procurement and hiring practices, small-business development, education and public safety.
“Our city needs to be a reflection of our community, to work most effectively,” she said.
Wheeler thinks this year will be better than the last campaign.
“Last time when I ran, I went from knowing 250 people to 14,000 in the end,” she said. “I’ve had the opportunity since then to learn more about the city. I’m chair of the Aurora Human Relations Commission. I’m a mentor and advisor to the Aurora Immigrant and Refugee Taskforce.”
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.
“I’ve seen friends who went to another city because they found regulation here to be a little stringent,” she said.
At-large incumbent Bob LeGare, who has served on Aurora City Council for nearly 13 years, said if re-elected, he will 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.
City officials said in 2015 alone, the city spent more than $20 million on street maintenance. In the next five years, the city only predicts that number will grow.
LeGare, who has worked on several unsuccessful ballot initiatives to get more funding for roads, said he is interested in looking at marijuana revenue as one funding source.
“In 2016 through 2017, there will be $6 to $8 million of marijuana money that hasn’t been allocated,” said LeGare, who sits on the management and finance policy committee.
He said with marijuana revenue still being an uncertain and unstable funding source, it should be used toward one-time projects.
“I want to see that tax money go to one-time expenditures, such as widening Alameda at I-225 … Projects like that could be funded with marijuana money. It’s a one-time project that doesn’t add ongoing costs once it’s done,” he said.
He said he would also like to see some marijuana revenue go to recreation infrastructure, which is sorely lacking in the city.
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 “R” line set to open next year, several transit-oriented building has 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.
Aurora voters will also vote for the office of mayor, a and one council seat each from Wards IV, V and VI in this year’s municipal election.
A minimum of 100 signatures from registered electors in Aurora are required for mayoral and at-large council candidates. Potential candidates for the ward council seats must have submitted at least 50 signatures from within their respective wards. Completed nomination petitions had to be returned to the City Clerk’s Office by August 25.
— Staff writer Quincy Snowdon contributed to this story.