ENDORSEMENT: Gardner, Scott, Hancock, Lawson, Bergan for Aurora council
Aurora dodged a bullet in its last municipal election a couple of years ago. That’s when voters had had enough of the political fringe that had overtaken Aurora City Hall. The majority on the City Council at that time, armed with a “Democratic socialist” agenda and a lot of rhetoric, had been pursuing a range of issues that didn’t really matter — and ignoring the ones that did. So, voters put an end to it in November 2021, electing a new majority with new priorities.
With new faces aboard, the rebooted council got back to basics. In a city slammed by the statewide crime wave, the council focused anew on public safety. It also turned its attention to upgrading roads and other infrastructure; to fostering a better business climate, and to cleaning up the streets in areas awash with addicts and panhandlers and their camps.
The reconstituted council, led by Mayor Mike Coffman, passed laws requiring jail time for rampant auto theft and shoplifting, which have been plaguing the metro area. An initiative was started to cut red tape for small business. The new council even rolled up its sleeves to tend to one of the least sexy yet most essential duties of local government, as noted by a recent Gazette headline: “Aurora project to fix neighborhood roads makes progress, draws praise.”