okay is hey me hey he [Music] me [Music] me [Music] me [Music] me [Music] i'm [Music] me me line is is there an announcement for the calling line in english yes i'm sorry we're having troubles with webex i'm getting roger on the line right now okay good after good evening the city council welcomes feedback from residents at council meetings on both matters appearing on the agenda and during public invited to be heard for those watching on channel 8 please call 855 nine five three four seven five and when connected and for those already connected who have not pressed star three please press start three to get in the queue so if you've already pressed start three and are in the queue you do not need to press star c again you will hear a prompt confirming you are in line to speak to an operator and then be able to continue listening to the meeting until the operator comes on to take down your name and the agenda item you wish to speak on residents who would like to speak on specific agenda items and have not already been screened again press start three before the item is called by the clerk followers who did not sign up for public invited to be heard before 6 30 may still press star 3 to sign up to speak on non-agenda items at the end of the meeting and just keep in mind depending on volume it may take a few minutes to connect to the operator so be patient and stay in the line as long as you've heard the prompt after pressing start 3 and could still hear the meeting you're in line to speak to an operator thank you the regular meeting of the aurora city council from monday january 25th 2021 is called the order with the clerk please read the role mayor kaufman here mayor pro-tem bergen council member berzins council member coombs president council member gardner councilmember gruber council member hilts here council member lawson councilmember lawson here council member johnston here council member marcano president council member muriel president there's a quorum i'd like to uh ask everybody uh to participate in a moment of silence for all those who have been lost during the covet pandemic thank you uh please uh join me in the pledge of allegiance i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for i need a motion for approval of the minutes so moved johnston uh it's been a move by councilmember johnson seconded by uh mayor pretend bergen to approve the the minutes uh discussion i was seeing uh none the question before us is the approval of the minutes with clerks who's called the roll my mayor my coffin yes mayor pro tim bergen yes council member berzins yes council member yes gardner yes council member hilts yes councilmember lawson yes councilmember johnston yes council member marcano yes council member mario yes the minutes passed council member gruber does too we have a uh our proclamation uh before us um whereas colorado is the second highest has the second highest is the second highest per capita and is the second is the second highest per capita and total number of total number aerospace is okay i think we need a little work on this colorado is the second highest per capita and total number uh aerospace state in the nation boasting tens of thousands of workers at hundreds of aerospace companies all working to explore the clouds and beyond and whereas colorado is home to the faa approved colorado air and spaceport a permanent aerospace industry champion and other key entities to drive economic growth and whereas the centennial state is a mile closer to space and whereas the mission of wings over the rockies is to educate and inspire all people about aviation and space endeavors of the past present and future and whereas wings over the rockies aims to grow on decades of success to further colorado's place in the national aerospace landscape through organizational evolution partnerships and continued integration into the state's robust aerospace scene and whereas aerospace education is critical for the youth of today which is supported by the state of colorado through multiple piloted flight uh training schools and educational pathway programs and whereas colorado colleges and universities host world-renowned programs to respond to the growing need for aerospace engineers in colorado and whereas the colorado space industry's plays play a vital role in the global aerospace community serving as a gateway and economic hub supporting over 30 000 jobs and 3.9 billion in annual payroll impact uh now therefore i uh mike huffman mayor of the city of aurora do hereby proclaim in honor of colorado's significant contribution to the aerospace industry january 26 2021 as aerospace alley day in witness thereof i have hearing to set my hand and cause the seal of the city of rural colorado to be to fix this seventh day of january 2021 mike hoffman mayor of city of rural public invited to be heard adoption of the agenda emotion mayor prepare to adopt the agenda this reboot by councilmember bergen second and second by uh councilmember johnson to adopt the agenda uh discussion uh seeing none the question before is the adoption of the agenda will the clerk please call the rule mayor kauffman yes mayor pro tem bergen yes councilmember berzins yes councilmember coombs yes councilmember gardner yes councilmember gruber yes member helps yes council member lawson yes johnston yes council member marcano yes council member mario what minutes did we approve because my packet does not have minutes and the agenda doesn't have the meeting date for which the minutes were supposed to be for uh clerk with the clerk and with the clerk please uh uh from this point forward put the uh the specific minutes uh the date of the specific minutes on the um agenda uh i'll defer to the clerk at this time yes mayor i can do that i don't believe that there was uh minutes to approve at this time and so there will be minutes at the next council meeting to approve and i removed my motion america with clerk please put that on the uh agenda next time if there are no minutes to approve please put that on there you can call uh councilman gardner um with chloe now please read the title item number 8a item 8a is the reconsideration of resolution 2020-24 to suspend certain council rules motion motion 2 protect it's been removed by councilmember bergen uh second prize councilman version to approve our number 8a a discussion a senior with clinton's call call the role on the adoption of item number eight a council member coons yes council member gardner yes council member gruber yes councilmember hiltz yes councilmember lawson yes yes council member marcano yes council member virgins council members did you call persons again i called i hadn't called you yet i'm sorry oh okay sorry member persons yes ma'am protein bergen yes council member mario yes item 8a has passed um consent calendar items nine a through uh nine f uh motion uh councilman uh motion to approve an item items nine a through f i think item 9a was listed as without reconsideration as well but that's not knighted on the agenda second council member helps i'm sorry so the motion would be to approve 9 items 9 a through f with a wave of reconsideration for item 9a okay um second hilt it's been moved by councilmember gardner seconded by uh councilmember hills to approve item number uh the consent calendar item number nine a through f with a uh waiver reconsideration on item number nine a discussion dave ruber all right councilman gruber i'd like to pull 9a please for discussion very well uh the motion then uh before us is um the approval of the consent calendar item number nine b through nine f uh discussion uh sitting now in the question before us is the adoption of the consent calendar item number nine b through nine f uh with the clerk please call the role mayor kaufman yes council member garner yes councilmember coombs yes mayor pro tim berger yes council member berzin yes council member mercano yes councilmember johnston yes council member lawson member hilt council member health yes thank you council member gruber yes council member mario yes okay the consent calendar 9b through 9f has passed uh we'll click now please do the title of item number 9a item number 9a would be reconsideration to authorize the risk manager to expend additional funds for the city's insurance program uh motion may remove to approve to be removed by councilmember grover seconded by berkin uh mayor dan burgin to approve item number nine a discussion mayor dave councilmember uh gruber so we had had a discussion before uh what the read ahead includes is um information that we'd already authorized 2.2.7 million dollars uh for insurance for next year uh this ordinance asked for in it or this yeah this this uh consent item asked for another eight hundred and four thousand eighty eight out or eighty eight dollars plus an additional fifty thousand dollars i was wondering if we could have an explanation about why those costs have gone up when we had the discussion about the 2.7 million dollars that was a significant increase from what we've had the year before and now we're asking for another almost million dollars on top of that steph councilman gruber this is renee mosley the city risk manager what i would like to um to tell you all is that first the city had a very difficult insurance renewal the um the problem is twofold number one nationwide everyone's insurance rates have gone up over all lines of coverage and also the city has a big concern with underwriters in that we have had several high-profile law enforcement liability cases and that coupled with our new senate bill 217 which allowed for a cause of action in state district court scared the underwriters we had many insurance carriers declined to quote the city's business this year we found two carriers willing to take our business the first carrier munich re only wanted to put up five million dollars in insurance limits for the city so we had to purchase an access liability policy and in that excess liability policy the insurance carrier was willing to put up five million dollars for the entire city but only three million dollars for law enforcement liability so not only are we paying additional fees this year we are getting less liability limits for law enforcement liability claims it is a really difficult time for us to purchase insurance and i'm sure you'll notice even on your own personal coverages for your house and your car that your insurance rates have gone up again and this is a nationwide issue as well as a statewide issue other public entities in the state had very difficult renewals as well i do not know of anyone who had as difficult of a renewal as we did but it certainly did not turn out the way i anticipated when i spoke with you in december verified may ask all right councilman ruber did the riots that we had at the great hall are in the great home as well as the um riots that we had at the district one police headquarters have an impact on our insurance no it did not sir it was that would have been the property insurance coverage more than anything that would have been questioned um it's primarily the the claims out there and senate bill 217 has spooked all of the insurance carriers that underwrite in colorado thank you further discussion mayor mayor uh councilman mcconnell um would it be then use of force incidents and things of that nature uh that uh caused the spike in our insurance rates councilman mcconnell yes that would be um it the excessive use of force and some of the fatalities that have resulted from a police encounter have been the claims that they are most dialed into and the claims that have made them skittish about riding our business thank you for uh remember john bergen yes i just wanted to ask um so if we were not able to get the excess liability coverage um that you said we had to obviously pay more to to get that coverage would the city then have to pay for any claims that we didn't have enough money for out of our general fund how would we do that councilman bergen yes that is exactly it we would have to pay for that um those types of claims that exceeded our liability limits out of city funds and it would dramatically affect our operations further discussion bursons councilmember versions thank you um and you mentioned that our homeowners would we would see an increase in that which i have but i just wanted to point out that that makes the cost of houses increase that makes rent increase so and i've been saying for years everything is thrown into the pot to to price houses and rent and this is one piece of the puzzle so i just want to point that out further discussion uh seeing now the question before is the adoption of iron number um mayor kaufman yes councilmember gardner yes councilmember mario member coombs yes mayor pro tim bergen yes councilmember lawson councilmember hiltz yes councilmember mercano yes councilmember gruber yes councilmember berzins yes councilmember johnston yes 9a has passed court now please read the title to item number 10a item 10a is transport colorado amended and restated interim facilities and intergovernmental agreement resolution 202106 motion air move to approve 10a to move by council member um gruber seconded by council member coombs to approve item number 10a uh discussion i see none with the clerk please call the roll on the adoption of item number 10a councilmember lawson yes councilmember gruber yes councilmember gardner yes mayor pro tim bergen yes council member berzins yes council member muriel yes council member marcano council member johnston yes councilmember coombs yes councilmember hilts yes item 10a resolution 20 2106 has passed uh the council will stand in recess uh the time is now 6 53 we will stand in recess until 6 58 and during that time there will be announcement of the call in line council is in recess thank you residents who like an ordinance for the ordinance of star 3 on your telephone keypad if you've not already pressed it to be screened by an operator just watching on channel 8 please call five five six nine five three four seven five to be connected and then trust free council has taken a short break to allow for additional speakers to sign up again be patient and stay on the line until the operator is able to take down your information you currently have a number of people inclined to be streamed so it may be several minutes but as long as you heard a font after pressing start three you are in line to be screened so please be patient and we'll be back in about four minutes thank you [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] so our city council is uh now in session uh with clerk now please read the title of 11a 11a's resolution 2021-05 public hearing and consideration for an ordinance of the city council of the city of aurora colorado resorting 185 acres more or less south of 64th avenue between e-470 and denali street from mixed use airport district to airport district and amending the zoning map accordingly the public hearing is now open it does not look like you have any individuals on the line very well motion mayor all right councilman mcconnell thank you move to approve 11a removed by councilman mcconnell second and by persons uh councilmember brosnan to approve i our number 11a discussion mayor uh councilmember johnson um i just had a couple of questions from some folks so could could for the benefit of the public um staff give a brief overview steph good evening this is debbie bickmeyer and katie i am having difficulty getting a prompt to share my screen okay uh let me help you out with that one moment there we go are you able to see my screen now yes thank you um the applicant's hide development and ecm high point are requesting to rezone approximately 185 acres from mixed use airport to airport district the property is designated industry hub place type in the aurora places comprehensive plan and the property is included in the high point at dia master plan the site is generally located approximately one mile south of the denver international airport in northeast aurora the site is currently vacant and is generally located in the southeast quadrant of e-470 and 64th avenue it's founded on the east by denali street and 60th avenue to the south as i said the site is included in the high point of dia master plan it's located in the southeast quadrant as you can see and it outlines the property's proposed land uses which are including commercial retail shown in the purplish pink shade adjacent to the 64th avenue corridor and industrial uses just to the south shown in orange the current mixed use airport zoning promotes a mix of land uses with an emphasis on commercial development and high density residential whereas the proposed airport district zoning encourages development that maximizes the proximity to the regional transportation system and that more closely aligns with the uses identified in the aurora places and the high point master plan the planning and zoning commission voted 7-0 at a public hearing on december 9th to recommend approval of the proposed zone map amendment to city council staff finds the zone map amendment meets the requirements of code section 146-5 points and is consistent with the spirit and intent of the aurora places that concludes my presentation whoops excuse me do you have any additional questions uh questions thank you for the presentation uh further discussion i've seen the question before says the adoption of item number 11a with the clerk please call the roll mayor pro tim bergen yes councilmember johnston yes council member mario yes councilmember berzins yes councilmember mercano yes councilmember coombs yes councilmember gardner yes councilmember gruber yes council member health yes councilmember lawson yes that item has passed oh well the quality now please read the title item number 12a yes it does look like we have an individual on the line who would like to speak for item 12a okay did you please read the title first yes it's going to be resolution 2021-04 public hearing and consideration of a resolution of the city council of the city of aurora colorado expressing the aurora city council's support of revisions to exhibits a and b of the creststone peak resources operator agreement okay the public hearing is now open uh the one speaker signed up is pat dunn pat's you have three minutes go ahead good evening mayor and city council my name is pat dunn i'm from ward 3. hi there my name is pat dunn we can hear you pat hi okay i'd like to speak tonight about crest stone peaks revised exhibits a and b to their operators agreement please proceed in their uh backup information it states prestone peak has created an updated field development plan which will result in fewer well sites the total number of wells to be drilled will be less but some of the well sites will have more wealth than originally described in the operators agreement it would be very helpful to learn where these new well sites will be added and their exact location by street address street address would be greatly appreciated also the agenda refers to a second phase in the permitting process can jeffrey moore tell us more about how many new wells and their locations in phase two i want to thank you very much for your time and your consideration councilmember johnson thank you and thank you miss dunn um councilmember marcano and i had um some questions on that from some constituents so jeffrey moore um is prepared to go into a little more detail with with the presentation to address those issues we will have we it was always planned to have a presentation by mr moore and by the applicant mr moore please proceed thank you mayor and let me share my screen here and i will again all right just confirming everyone can see the slides here pretty good thank you so good evening thank you for your time this evening and this item as we discussed we'll be hearing about crestone peak resources uh plan to revise their development uh plan or map for the field um i'm gonna begin tonight with a brief presentation i'll answer some of the questions that were raised during study session and some questions that were raised since then this meeting of course follows the december 9th ped meeting and the january 4th study session as a reminder uh crescent is requesting to a reduction in the total number of wells and well sites here within their field of development because of the consolidation that they plan uh three of the well sites will have additional wells more than what was originally discussed with council when the operator agreement was negotiated last year the oil gas division is fully supportive of this measure it does reduce the total surface impact within the city and it provides greater protection for the public health safety welfare the environment and wildlife resources a quick overview about the area that's uh in diagonal marks here it's the city of aurora crestron's area of operation is to the east eastern part of the city um essentially straddling i-70 which is in the middle of the map here there's going to be three areas that we'll i'll be talking about tonight the first is called the bijou north and south that is about halfway between i-70 and dia and i'll give more specific information about the location of that in just a moment the second is uh just to the south of the bishop area that's the king north and south and then finally the last area is the lone tree north and south and that area is to the south about two miles south of i-70 so first let me discuss the the bg north and south well sites originally the bijou south site which is on the bottom of the map here uh had eight wells that were permitted or not permitted but approved through the operator agreement that site is proposed to be eliminated and four of the wells from that site will be shifted north to the beijing north well site and four of those wells that were originally approved would not be drilled so there were 16 wells that were originally approved between these two sites now there would only be 12 wells between the two sites additionally you'll notice that the nearest residence is located in a circle black and white circle here at the bottom of the screen the bijou south well site the edge of the pad was 1900 feet from that residence and the bg north side is 3 500 feet from that residence so by moving wells from bijou south to bijou north it is further away from that residence uh these species sites are like i said they're between i-70 and dia more specifically they are west of monahan road and they're between 38th and 48th avenue and again the bijou south well site is the one that would be eliminated next is the king north and king south well sites again these are just west of monahan road between 26th avenue and 38th avenue the king's south well site which is the to the bottom of the map here originally there were eight wells that were approved there on the operator agreement four of those wells have been drilled already the other four were proposed to be drilled during phase two but the operator is now suggesting to or proposing to eliminate phase two of king south and shift those remaining four wells that were approved in the operating agreement to the king north pad again the closest resonance for reference is to the north here and that is 2 200 feet approximately from the king north pad and finally we have the lone tree uh north and south well sites uh these are about two miles south of i-70 along hayes mount road originally there were two sites here there was elementary north elon tree south lone tree north had 10 wells approved as part of the operator agreement one of those wells has been drilled and you'll see that here in the middle of the screen low entry north phase one the lone tree south pad site or well site is proposed to be eliminated there were six wells that were proposed there uh the operator is removing one of those wells and shifting the other five wells to the lone tree north phase ii site again there were 16 wells that were approved within the two sites together locally north longtree south now there will be 15 wells the closest residents to the lone tree north phase 2 sites approximately 1200 feet uh to the north northeast of that site i'll say approximately because the exact plans have not been submitted uh to the city for this uh expansion uh so i don't know the exact uh boundaries but this is the this is what i expect to be very close to that uh again we believe that this is still protected for a couple of reasons first there is a well already drilled here on the pad so what's happening on this pad is that it's being expanded that expansion is already approved as part of the operator agreement and nine additional wells were approved as part of the operator agreement on the lone tree north pad um what their operator is requesting is to take five additional wells from the lone tree south pad and move them to the lone tree northbound um so that concludes my remarks and i'm happy to entertain any questions and the applicant is also uh on hand to make a presentation or answer any questions at your preference questions council member johnson thank you um mr moore we've had discussions about the operator agreements that were approved in 2019 just for the benefit of the public can you address if we're able to make any substantive changes as a council to those operator agreements we are not able to make any unilateral changes the operator agreements are a legally binding agreement on both parties both the city and the operator we could by mutual consent make changes if the the other party and the city were to agree together to make changes but we are unable to make unilateral changes uh to the agreement further questions or discussion mayor councilman mcconnell thank you this question i think is more for the applicant so seeing as we wanted to or they wanted to shift some of those wells from the southern pad that is being eliminated up towards phase two um i'd like to know what's keeping those wells from being located on the existing pad on phase one as that looks like that'd be a little closer to 2000 feet which is what the cogcc is now recommending and again i understand that we can't make changes to these operator agreements so this is me asking if that would be something you'd be willing to um councilmember mcconnell can we just let me just see if there are any further questions from mr moore and then we'll go to the applicant all right there's further questions for mr moore uh yes mayor uh mayor for john morgan um yes uh you stated that there the residence that's 1200 feet um away from the lone tree north phase two is not is it not there yet it's not in existence it is in existence it there is an existing resonance there yes that's correct okay i'm misunderstood thank you further questions of mr moore seeing that thank you mr moore um thank you what it like now is a as a presentation by the applicant and then if they would answer uh council member mcconnell's question uh the apple uh let me defer to the applicant at this time yes this is cameron ming with crystal and peak resources would it be possible if i shared my screen yes please my meatloaf who's that okay see how we get ready uh it is not allowing me to share just yet okay i mean i made you a presenter so maybe just give it one moment and see if it pops up there we go okay great good evening council member members my name is ashley campbell i'm the government affairs advisor for creston peak resources joining me tonight are cameron ming senior service landman and david stewart vice president of environmental health safety regulatory and regulatory who will provide you an overview of the revision we're grateful for the opportunity to be with you this evening and to be cognizant of your time we've prepared a shorter version of our study session presentation and again we also have several members of the crestone team available for any questions you may have so with that i'll turn it over to to cameron to discuss more on the revision cameron thank you ashley um why the revision we've had this operator agreement in place and well sites planned out with the city why the revision now requests from peak resources has uh through continuous improvement and technological innovation they have been able to identify locations where they can consolidate and by doing this they can reduce surface impact they can eliminate locations completely and they can have less impact on the environment less impact on traffic less impact on roads less impact on the folks living in the area to be able to do this we need to be able to consolidate wells but to do that we have to add wells to some locations as mr moore discussed i won't go back through too much detail with mr moore but to give you an idea uh currently there's 45 well sites within the city of aurora that we have approved through the operator agreement and planned wells 311 after this revision we plan on fully eliminating two of those well sites and five of those wells as mr moore touched on we have the bijou in the king area where we would like to fully eliminate the bijou south location and move four of those wells to the bijou north again also we would like to eliminate phase two of the king location and move four of those wells to the king north there any further questions on the particular locations of where those wells are they don't have exact addresses there isn't a whole lot out here but they are west of monahan south of 56th and uh 26th avenue kind of in between those is where those are located mr moore did a great job of showing where they are in relation to the nearest home uh approximately 3 500 feet from the bijou north to the to the nearest home the building residential building unit there by eliminating that southern pad we reduce that well that's that's near to the home near sue the home also the the lone tree area again eliminating that southern location uh the north location here exists the pad location already exists with a well on it you would like to eliminate the southern well and move five of those wells to the northern location reasons for this we we recognize that there is a residential building unit in close proximity to this existing well pad but by removing the southern well pad we are eliminating further impact to the surface we're not building out a whole new location we're not building out a holding road in fact we are preserving a sensitive ecological area there's some riparian areas that we would have to cross to be able to get to this this particular pad by eliminating that we don't have to do that we can avoid that so there is a significant reduction there with that i'll turn the time over to david stewart he's our vice president of hse and he can speak to some of additional impacts that will result from this thanks cameron good evening city council i appreciate the time to speak with you so we did an analysis of the loan tree area specifically uh i looked a deep dive into the the reduction of environmental impacts as an example and versus the approved plan this revised plan would reduce the estimated acreage disturbed by 38 we're looking at a 44 reduction in total voc emissions uh about a 36 reduction in uh total water usage because we're not drilling as many wells and then uh i think cameron touched on the elimination of this ecological impact where we would have to build a access road across the ephemeral stream bed and riparian area that is would no longer be needed we would also be on the locations a total of 260 days less than the approved current plan so we think this has a very big net benefit for the environment health safety welfare of the area around us um not only do we agree to a high standard of bmps in the operator agreement but uh you know we're also working with the cogcc on bmps as well and i think those are aligned well with the with the wrap um sorry uh with the city of aurora's mitigation measures so a noise mitigation we basically put up sound walls uh and we we do uh we will electrify the site eventually um we're also seeking to get electrification in there for the drilling as well we do dust suppression on the note on the roads uh with either mag chloride or water a continuous air quality monitoring going on three sides of the site or a triangular pattern around the area those air samples will also be equipped with suma canisters in the case that in the event of a any kind of detection is is made there that causes concern we agree to work with the city on road repairs and maintain those roads we do a traffic study before and after and we'll we'll fix any problems created by our operations on the outer side we have a really good bmp in place that is unique to on us we use a odorless non-toxic drilling so it doesn't smell at all during the drilling process which is typically the the primary cause of an odor issue related to a site we also do extensive water quality monitoring with the city of aurora we've we've agreed to put in um some there it's called the west bay system but it's a very uh expensive system that monitors water quality at different aquifer levels throughout the field so those are just some of the bmps i'd be happy to take any questions you might have on the bmps and what we do to reduce our impacts back to you cameron so in summary very very quickly and thank you dave for that explanation uh we're requesting revision to the exhibits a and b of the operator agreement uh those revisions will fully eliminate two well site locations the overall well sites and total planned wells will be reduced lower emissions from traffic water usage and impact to the environment are benefit from this and as development continues we are looking for additional efficiencies where we can remove and eliminate well sites also and happy to take questions is the alphabet done with the presentation yes okay uh uh mr mcconnell are councilmember mcconnell could you restate your question please sure uh so in one of the previous slides that we saw from mr moore uh the northern uh i think it was the northern portion of bijou if i'm not mistaken uh yeah or actually i was right here where we were eliminating this one and then there was a new pad up top i was wondering what if anything would prohibit the further consolidation of that pad because i think there's already an existing pad to the uh just south with the one extant well uh would we not be able to move the remainder there and then kind of increase that distance between that residence from 1200 to closer to what looked like about 1800 feet sure and what we are trying to do the current location as it exists isn't large enough to accommodate even the planned wells under the operator agreement there would have to be an expansion there in any way if they followed the operating operator agreement as is so taking that into consideration we are trying to minimize the distance between the well heads as much as possible uh crest peak resources does a great job of utilizing and maximizing the space that they have available to them they recognize that it's it's a precious commodity and they don't want to waste that and so they they do try to be as efficient as possible with their land use but the current size of that location would not accommodate even the approved wells currently so there will have to be some expansion but keeping in mind and that we want to keep as much distance between those wellheads and the residential building unit as possible okay further discussion questions ma'am uh councilmember johnson um this might be for the applicant but i i think it may be a question with to mr moore if that's okay mayor please receive yes thank you um so i know in our new draft oil and gas code we talk about collecting baseline information and we have more protective measures in place based on cfgcc rules i just want to to make sure that the residents for um who are close in proximity to lone tree north will be notified by either the applicant and or the city on who to call what to call if there is you know a reasonable odor or emissions or anything of that nature um for that that resident to be able to to contact um potentially leading to an investigation or some kind of protective measure so i don't know mr moore if you're able to address that yes thank you for your question councilmember johnston um yes residents within one mile of a any any well site uh notified as part of the permitting process and uh that's notification by the city so they can provide public comments uh on that development application if they wish um as far as future you know notifications or comic information i can certainly make sure that this resident is notified uh the appropriate steps to take and things to be aware of okay for further questions councilmember johnson at this time no thank you okay i have a question of the applicant and that is can you talk you you quantified the um number of wellheads or uh that would that would be reduced but you could you also talk about uh the impact in terms of surface area sure by eliminating these well sites these well sites i'm sorry yeah you're fine um and and that's a very good question because these well sites can vary in size these we would probably assume that they would be about 10 acres apiece that's not including the roads that would take to get to them uh additional right-of-way pipe for pipeline that would take to get to them and so the surface impact that we're able to eliminate not having these well sites just these two alone and then on the the king south by not expanding that one uh we're saving upwards of 25 acres minimum i would say very well uh further questions of the applicant or mr moore just can i make a comment or uh yes for discussion as well uh mayor for denbergen thank you um and you know as was stated earlier um the operative agreement that was um done in 2019 is legally binding so i'm really happy to hear that we are reducing the acreage which then reduces the impact on the environment from both air quality and water perspective and moving the weld pads so anyway i think it's great that we are able to continue to work together to make improvements that benefit our residents so i want to say uh thanks for for uh listening for the discussion mayor we do have somebody from the column line that was called in in time but was still being screened so whenever you're ready they would like to speak too okay okay let's go ahead and take the call caller sonia do you have you know i i'm having difficulty hearing yes and then i'm hearing feedback from someone else who may not be muted if mr ming could meet himself there we go okay uh can um can we allow her to come back on the line is that possible hello yes please proceed thank you uh can you hear me now uh yes you have three minutes yes please proceed you have three minutes all right so i have a couple of questions will this be the only opportunity for residents who live within a mile of the well or the council or city oil and gas to consider the placement of these additional wells that are being switched around and i'm asking because the revolution was written and this associated material and the food department did not provide straightforward uh understandable information regarding the location where preston is proposing to add new wealth when this would occur so the residents in the area didn't really receive the needed information regarding this public hearing unless they were noticed by mail and they should have the right to consider this information that's relevant to their health safety enjoyment property property value um exposure to nuisance issues such as traffic tremors knowing dust etc especially since well density has been found to be one of the primary factors regarding health impacts from toxic emissions exposure and my second question is the new operator chris stone who's acquired the agreement has acknowledged in their request for these revisions that these revisions will on the whole reduce impact to residents of aurora and will better uphold protection of public health safety environment and wildlife which is the intent of a new law uh colorado and his governing law from oil and gas and so i wanted to ask um with regard to any new well that is not yet permitted by the city whether the operator would consider having those new worlds which is subject to then the ordinances would be tasked with the city or at least the new provisions of colorado's gas laws again in order to better protect um health safety etc and i would hope that one of the council members would take the opportunity to asked that question of the operators at this time ma'am your three minutes are out never harming yes thank you mayor you're muted oh further discussion questions mayor yeah councilmember mcconnell thank you if um the uh applicants could uh please answer uh miss uh skeka scrimma's questions i'd very much appreciate that applicant yes so i can i can speak specifically to the the questions regarding new city regulations or the the new state regulations and most certainly yes we would be subject to the new state regulations and as far as the the new city regulations the operator agreement was put in place prior to those coming forward as as an attempt to [Music] establish and allow us to have those certain well sites keeping in mind the new city regulations but we would be beholden to the contract that we have with the city in the the management practices that we have with the city as far as the cogcc is concerned those new rules we are subject to those yes all right yeah follow-up yes thank you uh so mr ming um for clarification i think that the question she posed was would you be willing to renegotiate the operator agreement with the city to be beholden to our incoming oil and gas regulations rather than the operator agreement as it stands i understand the cogcc portion i think i just wanted to make sure we address that point specifically i think that we'll need to take a further look i know that those the city regulations are still in in process i think that as it stands the operator agreement is very very stringent and took into account uh sb 181 and the new regulations that were going to be passed down from the state level and incorporated many of those best management practices and then went above and beyond those best management practices as it is the operator agreement is is a very very good document for the public as well as providing uh very specific methods and processes for the operator which are beneficial for for both the city and the operator in this case and then uh just a follow-up you are subject to any changes from the cogcc am i correct yes we are subject to the cogcc changes okay uh further questions discussion mayor uh councilman combs so i think the other point that ms skack skrima mentioned was whether or not there will be additional opportunities for public engagement and public comment with respect to the locations and when they will be drilled as well as where they're located in relation to residences so can you address that as well maybe i can't address that please proceed i thank you um yes so the locations of these well sites or approved as part of the operator agreement the changes that are being considered tonight would change make the changes as we were as being proposed for each of those well sites um and wells to be drilled in the future the applicants still must come to the city and apply for a an oil gas permit so there's an additional step that must be completed and that's the stage where all of the city departments the planning department the only gas division the roar of water parks recreation and open space and public works all review the application and make comments on the application uh to make sure that everything's in line with the operator agreement and the bmps who were agreed to during that as part of that permitting process the city also collects public comment so for each of those that will be coming up whenever they come up in the future the city itself will be collecting public comment and will be notifying you know the residents within one mile of these locations so that they are by mail so that we make sure that they have the opportunity to provide any comments that they would like to provide further discussion questions um seeing none uh the question before us is uh councilmember i don't think we have a motion on the floor yet oh i'm sorry um emotionally it's been moved by uh councilmember second by second by mayor trump mayor protem bergen to approve uh item number uh 12a um with the clerk please call the roll councilmember lawson yes council member combs yes council member gruber yes councilmember johnston yes councilmember berzins yes council member mario yes councilmember hiltz yes councilmember mercano yes mayor pro tim bergen yes councilmember gardner yes item 12a has passed clerk now please read the title vibe number 13a item 13a is approval of ordinance 2021-01 an ordinance of the city council of the city of aurora colorado adding sections 102-3 103-5 102-6 2-6-8-7 and amending section 2-6-8-0 pertaining to restrictions and regulations on city funds resources and information sharing between the city and federal immigration authorities and providing for safe spaces in the city limits [Music] whenever we're ready okay i'm sorry okay motion there that's what we're combs uh move to approve 13a it's been moved by councilmember coomb second and by councilmember a uh discussion uh councilwoman combs actually i'll let councilmember modio start and then i'll go after councilmember memorial um i was actually going to ask for um cameron ming to stop sharing their scream okay yes can we get that removed please one moment please and then i can make some comments very well please proceed okay um so you know we've had this conversation before um so you know for not wanting to repeat this over and over again but um you know this this 13a and 13b are two separate ordinances but they kind of get at um providing our immigrant community um a level of safety and comfort in our community when it comes to this ordinance it's creating some clear some clarity for our police department as well as codifying what we currently do um in terms of cooperating with ice as it relates to um our police department so um and in addition to creating safe spaces for members of the public to conduct business of the public for example um you know city hall being a public space allowing individuals to you know be able to pay their water bill without fear um of entering that space so um this this particular ordinance is very much focused on creating a welcoming environment to our community um and i will stop there and see if my colleague councilmember coombs has anything that she'd like to add customer comes all right thank you mayor and thank you council member murillo as council member murillo discussed this is an ordinance that's being proposed for the purpose of keeping families together and keeping our communities safe we claim to be a welcoming city and our office of immigrant and international affairs has gone to great lengths to make sure that that continues to be the case and we are a welcoming city at least in part due to our public safety officials recognition that communities where people don't fear arrest and deportation for reporting crimes are safer communities this policy extends our standing policies around those issues by also making sure that our members are welcome our community members are welcome to access city services without fear and we know that this is also the right thing to do because cities with immigrant protections like these see a reduction in deportations without a reduction in the deportation of violent offenders as well as without any increase in crime um so to argue otherwise is a prejudice that does not acknowledge existing data cheer and simple reducing deportations is keeping families together and honoring honoring the contributions of our immigrant communities our staff have developed cultural competency in dealing with these issues already through the policies that we have in place and becoming more welcoming more protective and increasing that cultural competency further would be a benefit to our community and to the public as a city council we have limited power to protect our immigrant communities from the dangers of detention and the damage caused by deportation but we should do everything that is within that limited power to protect these communities thank you you're muted mayor further discussion mayor thank you sir so i want to talk about a couple things um first just kind of like a brief overview of like how how we got to this point where it comes with immigration law and i want to talk a little bit about the merits but i'll keep that short so i don't want to belabor the point that my colleagues have already made but immigration and immigration related law at both the state and federal level in the united states has changed dramatically over the course of the country's history but one thing has remained a constant it's always been used to advance narrow economic interests of specific industries most notably in our history agriculture and mining and it has also been used as a bludgeon against the other and the other has shifted over the course of our history a bit so before we had set up immigration laws some of the founders of the country were concerned with sworthy folks from different european nations who were not quite anglo enough for their standards and they advocated for quotas on their immigration while allowing the right kind of europeans to immigrate to the country time went on and we created laws such as the greaser act out of california that targeted mexicans and indigenous people forcing them from their homes and their holdings to promote and i quote the anglo-domination of the mining industry then we had the chinese exclusion act which came from the federal government that targeted both new and existing chinese folks in our country and went on to you know deport them or to disenfranchise them um and then we had an operation whose name i don't really want to repeat uh that did a similar thing targeting mexicans in our nation and that has continued on today to where we have you know in recent years oscillated back and forth between folks who practice islam as the other and then what some demagogues have labeled as an invasion from the southern border so the topic we're discussing today is inseparably tethered to this history and it is important to understand where we have been when we're discussing where we are going or really where i hope we will go as a city so these two ordinances as customer murillo said uh they are separate but they do kind of try to do the same thing which has been that arc of history towards justice just a little more and again the data shows that these kinds of policies do not increase crime they lower deportation rates they reduce dependence on public assistance they keep families together and they keep people who are already here already paying taxes already contributing to our community here they give them hope of getting their immigration status corrected regardless of where they come from and it is in aurora's best interest to do this as you all know 20 percent of our population roughly is foreign born that's a substantial amount of people here so i'm hopeful that we can put our differences aside do what good well but all the research shows is the right thing to do and put good public policy above politics thank you further discussion man um thank you councilmember marielle no i was just going to voice my my support for both both ordinances and i wanted to address an issue because i really feel like in study session it got derailed um and really portrayed in a way that it was not um this the both of these ordinances we talk about public safety and the link and there was this narrative of you know the increasing in crime and you know we really have to think and and this has been supported by our previous chief mets as well as chief wilson the the victims of of crime of domestic violence and violence against women or children who may not be documented and have a fear of contacting the police the more that we can do to to show our support as a city will also be truly that's why i i like the name of this a safer aurora um if if there is criminal activity that can still be pursued um chief wilson said that is this is just you know we're not going to have um ice lining up with trying to collect papers in a city hall where folks are trying to get services so um i just want to bring up since i i felt like it was it was derailed before and i want to make sure we're now going to derail it again is that when there are victims of crime in those other situations that this really really helps those those folks as well and i'll be supporting both ordinances thanks uh further discussion um i'm sorry people have quite a bit of people on the public call-in line that would like to speak okay very well um prior to doing that let me just say that uh no probably in future agendas at least in the past we've had a mayor's report at the very beginning and uh i'm gonna do that right now and just to say that in executive session uh we discussed labor negotiations and so let's proceed then with a call in line okay all right our first speaker is anna you have three minutes go ahead hi i hi i'm speaking on behalf of alera and this is her testimony hello my name is eleria bello and i am a family leader i'm an educator myself i have a k-12 teaching license here in colorado we need laws for our state for aurora aurora is a home for a lot of families as a member and leader in this community i feel that everyone in our community deserves to live in a safe environment our families should be able to feel safe or for that we need our elected officials to put into place laws that are going to promote that safety that are very diverse community wishes we aurora residents also need to be able to have access to an attorney provided by the city in the event of meeting one aurora's diverse population makes it unique and we want to keep it that way so let's work hard for a safer one and for for one that will provide legal assistance if ever needed thank you thank you next is virginia virginia you have three minutes go ahead reading for a community member i have been in the u.s for 20 years and i work at a nursing home that was hit with colbin 19. although i am struggling i am proud of my work i came to the u.s with my parents who were looking for an opportunity to give us a better life our home is here in aurora we have built a life here and for a reason i don't understand my husband was arrested without a warrant outside of our house on the day we had a meeting with his immigration court we have struggled to gather resources to provide him with a good attorney i do what i can but we have five kids and kobet has made it more difficult to stay afloat my kids have felt the absence of their father and are struggling with depression all i want is to keep my family together and safe please support the safer aurora and legal defense funds they would help me and other immigrants in the same situation thank you thank you next is maxim you have three minutes go ahead good evening um my name is maxine gimmelstein i'm from ward 6. i'd like to thank the aurora council for the opportunity to speak regarding ordinance 13a13b and i'm going to mention 14a for just a moment as well my family and i illegally immigrated from the former soviet union to the united states in early in the early 1980s since then i've earned my citizenship i gave back to 24 years of military service in the united states air force defending the constitution and the american way of life in other words seeking opportunities within a legal framework for allowing citizens the opportunity to choose to thrive to the contrary ordinance 13a will make aurora an illegal immigration sanctuary city and will interfere with federal law enforcement's ability to address the risks associated with non-resident alien felons ordinance 13b will direct the city manager to use city employees to create a legal defense fund for non-resident aliens it is not the function of a local government to create an illegal immigrant defense fund using a war citizen's pay taxpayer dollars ordinance 14 may eliminates the requirement to use a voter registration to apply for a position on the city board the committee or commissions in effect this would allow non-citizens to have undue governance authority over aurora citizens the aurora council is intended to represent the citizens of aurora and act in the best interests passing these ordinances is not the best interest of the citizens of aurora and it ignores the rule of law enables non-citizens to govern over citizens and would encourage further illegal immigration and use our tax dollars to defend these illegal acts i respectfully request the aurora council not provide ordinance not approve ordinance 13a 13b and 14a thank you for your time thank you next is kristen you have three minutes go ahead hi thank you my name is kristen blerburn and i'm with board six and i wanted to voice opposition to 13a and 13b um in the in in similar parallels to what maxim was just addressing it is not the function of the government to create legal funding for illegal um aliens um also it is not um not it is more for the citizens and not for the community that's how you all got your position with for citizenship and not through illegal voting um so in i also wanted to say that um if necessary i'm more than happy to leave the city and possibly the state and take all of my income and my family with me to avoid having to pay the taxes thank you thank you next is a rash i'm sorry if i missed another factor i had you in three minutes good evening uh this is arash shahanian um i'm the director of policy and civil rights litigation at the meyer law office um a firm primary area of practice is immigration on these lawyers and clients share deep connections to aurora in one part due to the ice detention center there that is operated by geo group inc that holds up to 1500 immigrants i once again appreciate the opportunity to speak with you about the safer aurora and legal defense fund ordinances you've heard plenty from me already so i just want to reiterate some things that are in fact and some that are not first safer aurora makes the city stronger in part because city employees and law enforcement will be focused on enforcing criminal laws and enhancing community safety rather than doing isis bidding for them when they do the latter this harms safety because community members feel less safe in reporting crimes and cooperating with law enforcement and racial profiling increases this is borne out by studies by accounts from many law enforcement officials including your own chief wilson and by the lived experiences of community members who i and other community advocates have interacted with over the years in contrast when when local law enforcement gets mixed up with ice victims of crimes are simply too scared to report them because many of those crimes are immigrants themselves now the safe spaces provisions do not mean that criminals will be running into city buildings waving their arms around yelling sanctuary and avoiding arrest the aurora police department would still be pursuing criminals and no would not be asked to arrest ice agents it just means that more immigrants in aurora would come forward to access city services without fear of ice being there to enforce immigration law and that is particularly crucial during this public health and economic crisis moving on to the immigrant legal defense fund that would benefit the only people in our country who are subject to detention but not appointed lawyers if they cannot afford one and the chances of defense against deportation go up astronomically with representation by council it's a matter of due process the local ice field director spoke about this measure and he actually said i'll just remind you that he does not oppose it the loudest objection i heard during the study session was that the one the lattice objection that was in fact based on some fact and not just preemptively and disparagingly determining that all people in removal proceedings are automatically quote illegal aliens that that objection that was based on some factors are the taxpayer dollars should not be going towards providing lawyers for people in several civil federal proceedings first the council member has pointed out immigrants including those who may be in removable proceedings also pay taxes second taxpayer dollars do in fact already go toward legal counsel on civil proceedings for example colorado legal services which represents qualifying individuals in exclusively civil proceedings from housing to tax disputes receives funding from both the state and federal government fueled by taxpayer dollars uh it has been my honor to speak to you about these crucial measures i urge this body to support its immigrant community and make aurora a safer and stronger city for all thank you next is joe bam go ahead you have three minutes hi i can speak on behalf of a community member who couldn't make it today hi my name is sarah galindo and i am an immigrant and a resident of aurora i work as a fourth grade teacher for the denver park schools and i immigrated here with my family and my sister in the summer of 97 to aurora i completed kb12 in aurora public schools and i grew up in east aurora by the buckley air force base i recently brought my own home here in west old aurora and i love being a part of a diverse community and i love living here i believe that my neighbors and i should be able to live free from being detained or stopped because because of our immigration status i urge the city of aurora to vote yes on the safe award ordinance a policy that ensures that aurora police does not work with ice this will mean so much my community and myself and i can continue to feel safe when i travel my city thank you thank you next is alejandra you have three minutes go right ahead thank you good evening everyone i'm going to read a testimony from for a community member who couldn't be here today hello my name is susanna i live here in aurora colorado we are members of the aurora community i've lived here for 20 years aurora colorado is our home but like us many families live in fear of being separated from our children from our families while having lived here for a long time like us many other families of immigrants live in fear of being separated because of policies that allow isis presence in our homes and our communities what we want is simply to live peacefully and be able to work i should not be able to enter our communities i live with my daughter as members of this community in aurora these policies that allow cooperation with ice are devastating for our entire community for our families and the local economy the city has a responsibility to protect us aurora residents because we all come from the same place as humans please vote yes in support of safer aurora for our children for our grandchildren for ourselves who may be coming home from work this ordinance is good for our community my name is susanna thank thank you next is gwen you have three minutes go right ahead hello my name is gwen eden i live in ward 4. i'm calling in support of these two initiatives i am a public school teacher and a community member and as a parent i want all of our children to be with their families i do not support policies that would make it easier to separate families parents from their children adults from their students these two initiatives say for aurora and the legal defense fund have the potential to reduce the number of families that are adversely impacted by these unjust immigration policies that are running rampant in our communities lately ice has a long history of terrorizing and hurting our communities i have a recent small example i'm referring to the federal deportations of cameroonian detainees back to cameroon in late 2020. we had a friend who was being held in geo for almost two years and he was due to be released on humanitarian parole finally but instead i deported him and many other cameroonians to almost certain deaths this is just one of many examples of the ways that ice is hurting our community we should not be making it easier for ice to detain people therefore i fully support both legal funds that would pair immigrants with legal services and i also fully support reducing the number of ways that aurora's public safety agencies assist ice and other federal immigration agencies speaking to the legal fund specifically as far as financial impact i have been raised by fiscal conservatives i would argue that keeping people in the community working holding jobs taking care of their kids paying rent participating in our schools this is a financial benefit to our community we do not want to be spending more money on detention i do not want my tax dollars paying for detention and for these safety agencies quote unquote detaining people we want to be rebuilding our vibrant aurora economy our strong diverse immigrant driven economy and i also take issue with the former speaker who spoke to his immigration from the soviet union many many years ago it is nearly impossible to immigrate legally currently under the policies that we have in place in conclusion i support the safer aurora and legal defense fund initiatives thank you thank you next is wayne wayne go ahead three minutes good morning a-laws and i'm the minister of social justice at mountain view united church in aurora i'm an aurora resident as are most of my congregants i'm also a member of colorado's for immigrant rights a project the american friends service committee both of these roles i have been actively involved in immigrant refugee communities across the metro area for over a decade i speak in support of this ordinance as a person of faith i infirm the inherent and immutable dignity and worth of every person this dignity and works is not defined or conferred by nationality race language or citizenship status however this belief is not just an esoteric theological construct but rather than all people are created equal is the bedrock and highest ideal of our nation as a nation as a local community we are constantly striving to make that ideal a reality this ordinance moves our community one step closer to that ideal as a value i believe we all can agree on early last year aurora counters that it is the safest largest city in the in the state to make such a claim implies that you are elected leaders values safety the hallmark of the city it also plays that you believe safety is important to the residents of aurora and something that is important to businesses thinking of relocating to aurora i applaud you for making safety a priority for the city in february 2020 denver post article mayor coughlin was quoted as saying aurora officials should always strive to keep residents safe i totally agree with you mayor and this is exactly why we are here in support of this ordinance unfortunately aurora is not a safe place for all of us residents many of our immigrant residents feel unsafe in aurora and live with fear daily they feel unsafe unsafe in our public buildings they feel unsafe to take their children to the library they feel unsafe to drop their child off at school they do not trust law enforcement it's ordinance by putting protections in place for people to have free access to public buildings to be free of fear of taking their child to the city library to conduct normal business in the city government building to be able to use a city recreation or health center we move closer to our ideal fear is a destabilizing force in any community its ordinance will have a positive impact our entire community by reducing fear and building trust while affirming human dignity and worth as you deliberate on its proposed ordinance this is the question before you what do you what does aurora value do you value human worth and dignity do you value the foundation of our country do you value communities free of fear do you value trust if so please vote yes thank you thank you next is jennifer you have three minutes go ahead hello my name is jennifer but i am here to be talking um for another community member who couldn't be here tonight there at work a long time ago my dad was deported and my siblings and i are national-born citizens we uprooted left the u.s because we didn't want the distance to separate us it's terrible to see the horrific images on the news of families getting separated my dad's pardon is coming in three years and my parents are still in mexico my siblings and i grew up got married and have moved back to the u.s we experienced family separation and don't want people to have to experience the same it would have made a huge impact if we had the protections similar to the safer aurora policies and that is why i ask for your support tonight of these policies thank you thank you next is romero romero you have three minutes go ahead oh yeah good evening my name is sumero and i'm calling in representation of a community member from aurora and i uh here to ask you please to vote for safer uh aurora ordinances that protect families we don't want any more family separations um i came here as a student in 1996 was a citizen since 2001. in 2007 immigration went to my house and arrested my wife she was detained for three months forced her to sign documents and deported her knowing she had two small boys seven months and one year old i ordered her passport from dhl so that i could go to africa with her and marry her to bring her back phl takes her information twice they broke my family apart and the lawyer i wanted to hire that he couldn't do anything in 2007 i go back there are two times per year i spend two months and come back my sons live with hair and all the time i feel like nobody hears me there are a lot of systems that penalize the innocence in america i ask you please to support these proposals so that you don't have to keep separating families thank you thank you next is angelica you have three minutes go ahead one thank you my name is angelica and i have lived in colorado for nearly 16 years now i've worked with my immigrant community and refugee community for nearly 10 years i've i have heard countless stories of the ways in which the unjust and violent policing system continues to discriminate profile and separate our immigrant families i too unfortunately have been witness and victim of racial profiling since a very young age today you have an opportunity to break the pipeline that detains and reports our communities black immigrants at a higher and disproportionate rate this cost the city and local business owners millions of dollars yes business owners bear the price for each employee that they have to replace and for each customer and family that no longer can spare the money to invest in their local economy because they're uh too busy spending the resources fighting an immigration case i would not like us to reduce our community to a dollar amount but you need to understand what it's really at stake here and i doubt that you do not because you can't read or are not smart enough but because simply you are refusing to have a reality check we must take a look at our values as a city and as people because going back to normal is no longer enough everyone deserves a better uh deserves a chance to live a life without fear mayor kaufman and other city council members have openly expressed their support for immigrant communities what would you do to stay true to those words voting in favor of the safer aurora and legal defense fund oriented today are an opportunity for you to send a clear message to our community that you spend with us and with this version of aurora city council members and mayor kaufman as you vote today please reflect on the many lives and businesses that you are impacting by your decision they will remember tonight thank you thank you next is kathleen kathleen you have three minutes to speak on items 13. go ahead thank you thank you for listening i am not in favor of 13 a and b and the reason for this is because we are a community who should first respect and support the laws of our nation that are already in place and not go out on our own to change things with 13 a and b there are many programs currently in place to assist those who need it legal immigration is the answer and it must be supported instead we must be a nation of law and it is up to the new administration now in place who takes a lead because otherwise we are we are just on our own we might as well declare our own community as sovereign that isn't right we are a nation of unity that must continue thank you thank you next is ben you have three minutes go ahead on another community member hello my name is ben and i'm speaking on another community member my name is jose and i'm an actor poet and singer for the band called los muertroches i'm here to do a bit of testimony to talk about why i support this movement and why we write the music and the art that we do i come from a family of immigrants both my parents came to this country as immigrants and at some points were considered illegal we hate that term and i wish i could abolish that term itself but the truth is at some point that's what my parents would consider and we as young people as american citizens as chicanos and children of immigrants we understood very clearly clearly that's what met that what i'm sorry that's what it meant and for every day for a long time in our lives we fear that our parents could be taken away from us in a matter of seconds in a matter of moments our parents could be gone growing up like that was one of the most terrible feelings and experience you could ever have as a child how could you focus on studying and doing good in school when you're worried about your mom or your past that might be get arrested by immigration and be deported it is one of the most stressful things that you could live through and the reality is there are so many young people just like myself that had to live through that and experience that every single day all that made me grow up feeling this anger and this hate and this distress for authority for the police for immigration and the truth is i was so mad i was acting out against the world i was being a fool and i but then i found art i found music i found poetry and this has really helped me express all that trauma and all that nastiness i had inside of me this is the reason why we write these songs these songs are part of our products of our trauma a product of being a victim of this system for so long and we we don't want no one else to feel this way we know that there are so many children that are feeling this this way right now some of these children are locked away in cages separated from their families and we want to put an end to this but this bill gave us at least a security security to be able to live freely and be able to work go to school without fearing that our if our family members get pulled over they'll get reported to ice and face deportation thank you thank you next is jessica you have three minutes go ahead my name is jess i'm speaking on behalf of a community member i am a proud daughter sister and dear of an immigrant family i'm currently a graduate student enrolled at university of denver striving to get my master's in business administration and my law degree and to tell you the truth none of this would have been possible if it weren't for my parents taking a chance and coming here from mexico over 35 years ago that is why it is important to vote yes we're not only voting to protect families from being wrecked apart due to unlawful deportations but we're fighting and voting to protect dreams and aspirations that is why it's important to vote yes and safe for aurora thank you thank you molina is next go ahead three minutes hi um because of a community member i just wanted to say that we've been impacted by immigration also hurting a family separating a family or families and i just urge you to please uh both yes on the safer aurora too it will just benefit so many family members and again we're not hurting the community we are contributing to the community and we would love to continue to do that thank you thank you anna is next do you have three minutes go ahead anna you're next go ahead three minutes good evening to the council members and mayor my name is anna demo odding i am the immigration campaign coordinator for the aclu of colorado i'm here to testify in support of the legal defense fund ordinance and the safer aurora ordinance i like many other coloradans live in a mixed status family we live in fear that at any moment we could be separated and in the past we have been my family and i are all too familiar with the scramble to find enough money to pay for an immigration lawyer because a loved one is in detention the sense of hopelessness i felt knowing my brother was inside a place where there have been at least two reported deaths several quarantines and many more cases of medical neglect is why i'm fighting for a legal defense fund seeing my niece and nephew talk to their father through a plexiglas window at the geo detention center and not understanding why their father wasn't coming home but then still haunts all of us to this day immigration proceedings is one of the only legal proceedings where someone can be detained without a right to a court-appointed attorney if they cannot afford one by providing access to legal counsel for our residents in immigration detention we cannot afford a lawyer we can offset the harm and economic impact of deportation on families who lose the breadwinner children who face emotional traumas with lasting impact and local communities who lose a valued member and taxpayer due process is a right guaranteed to all individuals under the united states constitution if their life or liberty is threatened in a legal proceeding regardless of the color of their skin or where they come from i urge all members of city council and mayor kaufman to vote in support of safer aurora and the legal trust fund thank you next is carla three minutes go right ahead we've lost carla let's go to joanna next joanna go ahead hey there thanks um i don't have a fancy title my name is joanna and i live in the expo park neighborhood and just wanted to call and comment on 13 amd i was born in that swedish hospital in linglewood i grew up in lakewood i've lived all over the denver metro area lived overseas as well serving in kind of peaceful situations and um though each part of denver has its perk uh my favorite thing about living in aurora the last few years is the immigrant community here i just i love it i love having neighbors from all over the world i love hearing the different languages at costco i love seeing folks who have traveled to colorado in search of a better life for their family and who are contributing so much to to our community um the other thing is that our police officer like i hear a lot of people talking about you know supporting the law and i'm just curious how many people have actually talked to police officers about this issue because the police officers i've spoken to like don't want to have to deal with immigrant enforcement and so they have enough going on in our community without burdening them with doing immigration enforcement on top of it and if you ask the average police officer is having to ask after immigration enforcement on top of their existing needs make their jobs easier or harder i'm sure most of them would rather focus on community issues other than immigration enforcement and so when the police department collaborates with immigrant enforcement and you guys have heard statistics and sure from all the folks who are working on this issue but it's true that when immigrant enforcement is done by in collaboration with the police it actually makes communities less safe because documented and undocumented immigrants are hesitant to report on violent and criminal activity i see this especially because i have friends who work with domestic abuse situations and there's a lot of fear in reporting when there's domestic abuse um because of these types of things and so um it just puts our immigrant community in a really hard bind and also puts our police officers in a really hard bind and so i think the thing that would actually make aurora safer is allowing police to do their job and i think most of them would say that immigrant enforcement is not their job and then with regards to 13b again to me respect and support for the law is the sixth amendment of the constitution in which the framers said like everybody should have a right to a fair trial and representation and all of the framers of the constitution were immigrants and subsequent folks in our country and so um i think that that applies to our immigrant community whether they're documented or undocumented that they deserve the right to have representation and a fair hearing and they don't and i for one an aurora resident don't mind paying 50 cents in taxes to help get the funds started all right thank you thank you next is marley you have three minutes go ahead community member who could not be here this evening he says hello my name is alejandro i'm a resident of aurora and i came to work hard in this country and be a good citizen unfortunately i've experienced what racism is and i have many friends who also end up being victims and detained by ice as a result of an interaction with the police it is difficult to trust a system that terrorizes and mistreats us without any argument how will my family trust to go to the police to in help to ask for help due to a problem or an emergency inside the detention centers there is a real hell there are people who have never had a major fault and even so they treat them very badly they spoil their lives by separating them from their families i feel extremely helpless that we cannot do anything to prevent arrests and detentions at geo i hope you make the decision that your community that you represent asks of you and that we have changed soon vote for safer aurora thank you thank you india is next you have three minutes hello i'm speaking on behalf of a community member who could not be here tonight hi my name is maida and i currently work at a cova testing site i grew up in aurora and have gone to school here for the last 20 years i want to encourage you to vote yes for the sacred aurora ordinances these policies will help immigrant communities feel safe by making them feel like they belong without fearing the police who are supposed to serve and protect us with these policies you can ensure that people feel safer communicating and collaborating with police which will make the community safer for everyone for many years the immigrant community has lived in fear because there is a record of police having biases against people of color and black people this has created an unstable relationship between community and those who are supposed to protect them there have been times when i feel unsafe in the presence of police due to my immigrant status i asked city council members to vote yes for the safer aurora ordinances so that i along with other immigrants can feel safe thank you for your time and consideration thank you loretta is next three minutes go ahead thank you our ancestors came in here legally and all these people i understand their issues they're being separated and being afraid if you come in here legally you wouldn't have those problems and i do have a problem with cities or states trying to take over or undermine what the ice the authorities they've been given by the federal government and as far as the legal defense again if you came in here legally you would have defense you wouldn't have to worry about you know being an illegal so anyway i am against 13a and we come in legally and you won't have these issues thank you thank you jessica is next you have three minutes go ahead thank you so much my name is jessica and i'm going to be speaking on behalf of a community member i am an immigrant and i want these protections because it will make me and my family feel less burdened about being who we are we are from mexico and regardless of having six status i feel uneasy about ice agents having free range in any place i believe the hispanic community are an asset to this country and help grow the economy my family owns a catering business serving many people in the community with their events many people from many backgrounds i like meeting people from everywhere that enjoy our food and like and they like hearing about our story if people keep being afraid of living in this country they may not want to keep living their happy lives and can affect my business as well we need to show that we are all together because even if we have papers i belong to the same community i am not a politician and i often don't understand about any about politics but my sons help me and we all need to be informed about what is happening that is why i decided to provide my testimony our elected officials need to hear about how these policies will impact all of us i ask you to vote yes on these ordinances and keep our community safe vote yes on safer aurora and legal defense fund and on a personal note i also want to mention and make it very clear that i feel like the reason why you may be hearing fellow community community members speak and read on behalf of our neighbors is actually a direct result of allowing xenophobic language being used in previous study sessions and a failure by by our own mayor um to give our community some dignity to those who pledge who he pledged to stand by in his own op-ed in october mayor and council members who allow this you create a direct role in this these are just the results in one council meeting can you imagine the damage that has been done over the years in our own community this is your community telling you we need these policies and we are asking you to listen thank you thank you laura is next go ahead yes calling in to say that i am vehemently opposed to item 13 a and 13 b you were all elected to city council to represent aurora citizens not undocumented citizens this has nothing to do with rape this has to do with law i have a huge problem that you have all these people complaining about being arrested by ice and detained well that's because you are breaking the law when you come into this country illegally you are a criminal i don't care how long you've been here if you've been here two years 20 years or two months if you are not a citizen you are not here legally you should not feel safe when you're not here legally when fine outstanding people from other countries like my family come here legally they are welcomed i will support any immigrant who comes here legally but we are not looking to harbor people who break the law and coming here and the fact that you have people calling in to say i've lived here 20 years i should get this it's a problem we should never become a sanctuary city look at what has happened in california as far as keeping families together why aren't you worried about the families of citizens who are broken up when someone goes to jail which happens every day but nobody's concerned about that this is no different they've committed a crime their family gets broken up unfortunately that they consequent as far as the legal defense fund none of my money should be spent to pay their defense when they're arrested or being deported i don't pay taxes to support illegal immigrants yes citizens get legal representation guaranteed but that's a right of citizen not everybody else i say no to all of these thank you thank you next is kyla go ahead you have three minutes good evening my name is tyler roschke and i live in ward 1 of aurora thank you for being here tonight i work at a non-profit and also serve as a volunteer at several organizations in the aurora community i am a citizen born here in the united states and i'm speaking in support of the 13a safer aurora and 13b legal defense fund ordinances throughout my life i've met immigrants from many walks of life many hoping many came hoping to provide a better life for their families some were children when they arrived in this country some fell in love with someone who is from this country some came to this country fleeing violence and persecution some experienced trauma or abuse or lost a loved one on their journey to the u.s many arrived in this country with a visa many a mixture of these circumstances and more many of the immigrants i've known have been documented and many haven't and many of those who haven't been have often expressed a dream of finding a way to gain legal status here but our country's process is steeped in classism and makes this a very difficult process one that can take many years and still end up being denied regardless of personal circumstances due to how difficult it is to win a case particularly if one cannot afford a lawyer the majority of the immigrants i know who are detained for any reason have ended up being deported some back sent back to countries they barely remember many completely separated from their families separated from their children because i was born here and the rest of my family members were also born here i can't imagine the fear and pain of family separation that is privilege having to never worry that your family will be separated should not be a privilege it should be a right for all community members one that will be protected by the safer aurora and legal defense fund organ ordinances i'd also like to remind you that for those of you who have caucasian carrot heritage like i do another privilege that we hold is that many of our ancestors were immigrants without visas many of whom wouldn't have been let into this country today can you say with certainty that yours would have been i can't i'd be remiss if i didn't also acknowledge that we are all on stolen land originally inhabited by indigenous peoples every single one of our community members deserves to feel safe in our communities local law enforcement enforcing federal immigration laws erodes community trust and does not prevent crime mayor kaufman you ran on a platform of supporting our immigrant communities council member lawson you've also spoken out about supporting immigrants and an end to police violence council member gardner you know the copy conditions in the aurora geo facility are dire i call on each of you and the rest of the council members as my representatives to vote in favor of the shaper aurora and legal defense fund ordinances 13 and 13b thank you for your time thank you next is sarah bath go ahead you have three minutes hello sarah you sarah you are next go ahead you have three minutes can you hear me sir we'll come back to you uh next isaac is next go ahead three minutes hi can you hear me go ahead yes hello thank you i'm reading for a community member my name is gabrielle deyonda i am proud of my family's origin any claim i have to this country is laws freedoms benefits i did not earn i came upon by chance and it is a privilege that allows me continued access because i was born a white man and raised in the family that chose to forget the language of my great grandparents people assume i belong here every family has a story of how their family or ancestors migrated here and new people and cultures have been essential in creating and maintaining this country but we have a history of using and scapegoating i'm ashamed at how my race and government have treated people coming to this country to seek opportunity or refuge the fact that families are separated and that there are places in this country where the dignity and humanity of people who need our help and support is ignored is unacceptable i could use my privilege and ignore and distance myself because after all i'm not running ice or making decisions so my hands are clean but if i accept this and i'm maintaining these crimes against humanity if i do not actively reject these practices and policies i'm complicit i work with students whose families live in fear of being separated of their parents being deported with a fear that they will be sent to a country that they don't know or understand because their parents brought them here when they were infant that's the burden and stress that our laws and prejudices are putting on children while your children stress about what lunch table to stood at what do you truly fear about immigration migrating people are feeling jobs and roles in this country that most white folks think they are good to too good for migrating people of bringing children that diversify our schools and creating opportunities for our children to experience other cultures customs and food that make our lives richer majority of people that choose to immigrate to this country represent the values we hold most dear conviction that there are better opportunities to be found resilient to uproot their lives to another country and put up with the virtual from us dedication to take on adventure to care for their family and work ethic to take jobs that have less value in our society this is why we need to protect families in colorado our laws need to reflect that we have dignity and respect for all people especially those that are disproportionately targeted by unfounded fears and biases and outdated laws i please ask you to vote yes on safer aurora and legal defense fund ordinances thank you thank you all right let's try sarah best again you've got three minutes go ahead are you are you able to hear me we are go ahead hello okay excellent my name is sarah best ford i am calling as an aurora expo park neighborhood resident in support of safer aurora and the legal defense fund like a previous caller stated i love the diversity of our city i love that i get to meet people from so many backgrounds i learn new things every day from our family friends neighbors co-workers and colleagues from immigrant communities i have heard friends talk about the pain of being separated from family fear of being detained worried worry for relatives in the geo facility their health and their safety ice does not have the interest or safety of our communities in mind these ordinances make our community safer and more cohesive they allow taxpaying people to access legal defense to speak for them when they become entrenched in a complicated immigration system they allow people to participate in activities in our communities without fear of being separated from their homes and people they love thank you for your support and your vote for these ordinances thank you thank you kevin is max go ahead you have three minutes hi my name is kevin i'm speaking on behalf of a community member my name is beth salas i'm calling on the aurora city council members to vote yes on paper city aurora immigration is an important issue to me because it hits close to home growing up no growing up knowing that ice could deport my dad at any time to please cause a lot of trauma to my family and to me i remember being so scared every time i heard the knock at the door thinking that today would be the last the day that my dad would um get deported or all the time i woke up because i would hear my mom crying somehow stress and worried she was i was forced to make major life decisions around this possibility such as going to college that was close to home commuting every day and even on even to this day not being able to move out on my own our families deserve to live without fear of deportation voting yes on safer aurora ensures that aurora the police department is doing u.s is not doing u.s immigration and customs importance enforcement's ice job a yes vote on safer aurora ordinance and the legal defense fund would live up to the promise that many of you including the mayor um to make and maintain the fabric of our prizing and multicultural community and affirm that immigrants are welcome here and on a personal note i would like to remind folks of um some american ideals um that are that that guide this country um so i'll quote give us give me your tired your poor your huddled masses yearning to breathe free the rush is refused of the of the teaming shore cindy's homeless tempted toss to me i lift my lamp besides the golden door thank you thank you barbara is next go ahead you have three minutes uh good evening mayor city council um good evening and thank you for your time i'll be meeting in a minute on behalf of vivi an aurora immigrant but first i'm learning a senior citizen and former teacher who cares very much about the plight of our immigrant community in colorado they have lived in fear much of their lives made it to the united states taken our promises of a better life seriously and now turn to us to make their hopes reality immigrants enrich our lives and our communities in so many ways fact immigrants pay taxes and are not a financial liability long term but immigrants start new businesses at twice the rate of u.s citizens so this things are ordinances where you can vote yes with both your heart and your head and i hope you do now please listen to vivi in her own words i hope you can hear her pain and her plea to you my name is weeby a community member in aurora people have always strived for a better life and if we can't allow them to do that then what is the point in trying to raise the standard of living for anyone else it may not seem like it but there is enslavement nowadays and we're keeping them from living their lives you keep people in an eternal cycle of poverty and if someone tries to fight back or speak you get murdered or thrown back into an environment where you could be tortured nobody should be punished for running better for their kids and family that is what we are all here to do many people live in so many bad situations in their countries dealing with gangs and drugs and poverty this country was supposed to give us a dream to get out of those situations i hope you can look into people's lives and make a good decision today please vote yes on the safer aura and legal defense ordinances thank you vivi thank you next is david go ahead david hi my name is david i'm an ally as a voter and as someone who has called the war home for the last few years i feel the need to speak up today and express my support for the safer aurora and legal defense fund ordinances although i'm not an immigrant my partner is an undocumented immigrated and so is her family many families like hers live in a war undocumented immigrants and other immigrants have helped make aurora the most diverse city in colorado full of different cultures and languages we need to ensure our immigrant neighbors feel safe in their home passing these ordinances will help ensure local resources are not allocated to enforce federal immigration law we need to also make sure the community members who are in deportation proceedings have access to the due process and to the right to legal representing that cut out for us y'all i don't know what's going on we seem to have lost david we'll go next to connie i um thank you for allowing us to speak i am just calling to ask the council members to vote no on 13 a and 13b um i you know i also don't want to see families broken up nobody does but um i do believe for for example if um uh somebody was detained for a felony um by aurora that i should be notified because that's the law and i think if we don't like that law then we need to urge you know our con our congress people on the federal level to change that law not just to simply say we're not going to follow that law um and as far as 13b goes um the defense fund um you know there's nothing wrong with wanting people to have you know legal representation of course but i just don't think it should be at a taxpayer's expense especially right now with what's going on resources during a pandemic and we have thousands of wonderful lawyers in this state and we have great organizations here i'm sure we can come up with a plan um for people to donate hours volunteer we all volunteer i'm sure within our respective industries and expertise i'm sure we can figure out something other than creating another expense another taxpayer drain especially now during you know strained resources during a pandemic thank you so much for your time and again i just urge a no on 13a and 13b let's try to work within the law thank you thank you carla is next you have three minutes go ahead tyler go ahead you have three minutes hello hey can you hear me yes ma'am go ahead okay great thank you um hi my name is carlos i am a citizen of the united states i have lived in the city of aurora for 23 years i have gone to elementary school middle school high school and college in east aurora my family live has lived in aurora for about 27 years my family is also made up of immigrants they are also the most law-abiding kind-hearted and hardest-working humans i know aurora is our home and we love to be a part of this diverse community throughout the years our family has built strong relationships with other immigrant families in allura these families have children who strongly depend on their own and their families safety in order to learn grow and thrive these families are all working toward a better life and we cannot allow for them to be separated we are all human we all work every day to contribute to society to the best of our abilities being immigrants should not mean being unprotected against being detained being immigrants should not mean being vulnerable to being separated from our loved ones living in fear every day at work at school at the grocery store while driving and at home leads to high levels of stress the stress would ultimately lead to physical and mental health complications across the immigrant communities this is contrary to the reason why our families immigrated to the united states in the first place my family and others my family like others immigrated to the youth states in search of a safer life with abundant opportunities for that i am grateful if my parents would have not made the decision to immigrate here i would have i wouldn't have the same opportunities to follow my dreams in education and work however these opportunities should not come at the expense of being separated from one another it should not come at the expense of the physical and mental health of our community we are much more than immigrants we are parents sisters brothers friends students teachers employees because of this i strongly urge you to vote yes in ordinance on ordinance 13 a and 13b thank you thank you we have david back david go ahead with the remaining remainder of your comments hi sorry about that so my name is david i'm an ally and as a voter and someone who has called aurora home for the last few years i feel the need to speak up today and express my support for the safety of aurora and legal defense when oriented although i am not an immigrant my partner is an undocumented immigrant and so is her family many families like hers live in aurora undocumented immigrants and other immigrants have helped make aurora the most diverse city in colorado full of different cultures and languages we need to ensure our immigrant neighbors feel safe in their home passing these ordinances will help ensure local resources are not allocated to enforce federal federal immigration law we also need to make sure community members who are in deportation proceedings have access to due process and the right to legal representation this is a fundamental element of our judicial system as a voter that will hold you accountable and remember your voting record i urge you to do the right thing and support our immigrant community please vote yes on these ordinances help keep families together thank you jared is next jared do you have three minutes go ahead uh thank you council members for letting me uh join you guys tonight as a citizen of aurora i grew up here i went to sagebrush elementary laredo middle school and smokey hill high school and call rohrer my home i live in ward 6 right now and love the city being in aurora i've celebrated immigration and diversity of life and known many people that have immigrated here to the united states i want to make three quick points one that's already been made but two that haven't the first one is consider those that have come before that have done it uh legally we've had a couple callers tonight that have said that they did this legally they went through the correct channels to do this uh they are immigrants to the aurora area they are celebrated here they are contributing to our community and we don't want that to be in vain we want to make sure that everybody does this through the legal manner and that they all believe currently that aurora is safe two other points of that haven't been discussed that i want the council members to pay close attention to first is a safer aurora doesn't mean safer colorado doesn't mean safer denver doesn't mean safer jefferson county adams county douglas county arapahoe county for the most part these are other areas that these immigrants have to still live in but you're only covering a part of the issue and not covering the greater peace and what i want to make as my third and final point is council members instead of introducing ordinances that circumvent the law introduce ordinances that instead educate and help facilitate a legal means of obtaining citizenship create new committees new councils that can help illegal citizens here become legal citizens cure the issue don't circumvent the law that only further erodes our community thank you next is a fatima team of your your next go ahead uh hello council members oh hello thank you for listening to me tonight my name is fatima i am i work for colorado people's alliance i deserve um and today i want to speak on a personal experience um i do have engaged with the community and seen the devastating impacts that isis had on many members in the community throughout my years that i've lived here in colorado and during my pregnancy i was a good experiences for myself when my child's father was detained or stopped for going five miles over the speed limit and then later detained um and i was left to fight his deportation case as a three months pregnant while also teaching a public school no one deserves to go through that um i my daughter did not deserve that i did not deserve that i don't no one else deserves that i'm sure that that's not what the people's intended there's many folks who have spoken to um their taxpayer dollars their taxpayer dollars are going to continue people um so then i do have to call out the hypocrisy of not wanting taxpayer dollars to support quote unquote people who are already contributing their own money but they're happy to have their taxpayer dollars going towards detaining people detaining fathers who are on their way to work detaining families and deporting them and i also want to point out that those who have spoken to the laws um i must remind them that if we want to abide by the laws we must also remember the dark history we're lost our laws don't have a glorious history and there have been many times when our laws have represented things are unjust tonight council members you have an opportunity to follow along the path of rectifying some of those policies and laws that have that have led to devastating impact in our community and to change things for the better so that my daughter doesn't have to grow up with the same fear that other community members have called in explaining the fear of their fathers or their family members their parents being pulled over and detained while they're at school or losing a family member to a deportation just because of an of going five miles over the speed limit the night council members you have the the ability to change that many of council members many of you council members have spoken to the great impacts the positive impacts that the immigrant community has had here and it's not right to allow people to live in constant fear and thank you for your time thank you next is cynthia cynthia go ahead three minutes good evening my name is cynthia my parents and i immigrated to colorado when i was a year old back in 1993. we have spent the majority of our life in aurora we have worked gone to school shopped and commuted in aurora every day for the last 26 years this is home this is not only my story but of many stories a family that call aurora home this is why it is important for not only my family but to everyone that our rural families are safe and do not live in fear of federal overreach i strongly support and believe that local funding should be used to support and provide needed resources for its community members and not to enforce federal law we need to keep ice out and away from school so our children can feel comfortable while getting an education courthouses so the public can feel safe while using administrative facilities hospitals so everyone can feel at ease while getting the care that they need and deserve in all other sensitive locations so that all community members have a right to feel safe it is also very important that if the time wherever to arrive that all aurorians have the access to public attorneys including in cases of immigration nature in order to support and keep family immigrant families together i know family members and many friends who find themselves in fear of even asking for help from law enforcement due to the possibility of being asked for some sort of information prohibiting police who work alongside ice and collect unnecessary data would make them feel valued and protected this is a place we have chosen and continue to choose for its diversity and familiar faces this is the place that i grew up in and envision growing a family in it is my hope that current families and future families can call aurora home and feel safe while being viewed as valued community members thank you for your time let's make aurora paper for all by voting yes on the aurora safer order bins 13a and 13b thank you thank you next is nadea apologize if i mispronounced go ahead you have three minutes nato all right we'll come back games lewis your next three minutes go ahead uh good evening thank you all for being here tonight i am calling in to oppose to 13a and 213b um this is obviously a hot button issue and since everyone has shared a lot of stories what came to mind for me sitting here thinking what to say is my great grandfather came to this country many many years ago and had to make the impossible decision to stay here by himself or to return back to europe when his one-year-old sister contracted a pink eye on the boat right over and he chose to stay and they all had to go back and that man never had one resentment towards this country for everything that this country afforded to him because he said we are a nation of laws we are a law and order nation and without that with without those type of principles nothing good could come of that and so despite what councilwoman combs alluded to in the beginning there are many many different numbers and statistics we could point to out there uh that that show that sanctuary cities do harbor criminals crime rates do go up by in some cases over 60 percent a lot of loopholes come into play you can look up stories in maryland you can look up stories in california covering both coasts and anywhere in between where a loophole was taken advantage of and somebody in the community was lost and so i i would just ask the question of you tonight if if any one of you counselor or i'm sorry councilman gardner councilwoman johnson councilwoman lawson and councilman gruber who i can see on my screen here if if one of your family members if your father your mother uh your sibling your son your daughter became that statistic because we don't get to pick and choose the laws that we want to abide by and and we just get to throw feelings up in the face of the constitution could you live with yourself if it was one of those because if it's someone else in the community you shouldn't be able to live with that either thank you thank you kathy is next go ahead you know three minutes um yes thank you i am with um my name is kathy i'm calling into a pose 13a and 13b i've been listening to this all evening and i am very sympathetic to people who are separated from families however i do believe that we are a nation of laws and that we do have to reap what we sow if someone breaks the law then you are separated from your family just as as a american citizen you commit a crime you go to jail for 20 30 years you're separated from your family i hear a lot of people talking about the rights that they have of how they should feel a certain way and the rights that they should have in the community i believe that the rights that are given to citizens are through our constitution we are a nation of laws i believe in legal immigration i come from a family who came here legally and and abide by those laws but for people to enter our country illegally and then demand certain rights and privileges that our law does not afford i think is wrong if i went to any other country and committed a crime or entered a country illegally i would not be afforded rights and privileges of that country and so i think in order to encourage legal immigration we have to speak out against having laws that give special privileges to people who come here illegally so yes people do get representation by the law but that is when you are a citizen so rights and privileges that are affordable from our constitution are reserved for american citizens so i asked that the council enforced that our laws as as as citizens as elected officials that's what we ask for you to do is to speak on behalf of the citizens thank you thank you nida again nina you have three minutes go ahead hi i'm reading a community member's testimony who was not able to be here tonight my name is yumenda and i want to ask you to support the ordinances of safer aurora and the aurora legal defense fund i am originally from nayari i am 19 years old and a resident of aurora and live with my family my three children are u.s citizens they were born here and believe in this great city i'm here because it is my duty to raise my voice the aurora community lives in fear of being separated as parents we have a duty to provide for our children but we expose ourselves to being discriminated against and detained for the simple fact of being immigrants i came to this country this i came to this country to study and improve my life and that of my family like you our goal is to move forward and give our children a future i live in fear that if something were to happen to me and my husband my children would be left alone in this country helpless and they are afraid of not being able to see us anymore the protections are necessary for people to be safe when going to work and the city benefits from the economic contributions tax taxes and cultural diversity that makes us immigrants unique we have to think about the integrity of the families that these ordinances are impacting i ask you to reflect on the lies that are in your hands and vote yes on these proposals thank you our last speaker on 13 is hugo go ahead you go you have three minutes yes this is wayne mont and i'm reading on behalf of hugo coronado i'm a community leader in our church throughout kovid we have helped many people in our community i wanted to share my experience as an immigrant in the u.s it's really hard to come to a new country and settle in i think programs that help people adapt and that provide legal and financial resources are very important for our community my wife and i came here without any documentation we are lucky to have family that supported us financial and otherwise after a while were able to fix our status it was really hard not to fear that immigration could come knocking on our door at any time it's very important that we the community are able to trust law enforcement that they will not work for ice or share our private information i think it's important that elected officials consider voting in support of measures that help protect public safety in my experience as a latino we have come here to work and support our families each of us contributes something to the society and having access to information and resources is crucial in how our community is able to succeed we should support each other i ask you please to vote yes on the safer aurora and legal defense fund ordinances thank you thank you uh that concludes uh public testimony further discussion mayor uh councilman mcconnell thank you sir so i want to thank everyone who uh called in uh to testify regardless of which side of this you're coming down on uh i just think it we need to repeat that our immigration laws have changed dramatically over the course of this country's history different folks from different nationalities and races have been permitted or denied immigration to suit the politics of the time most of us look back now on those arrows and we can shake our heads with shame and think about how barbaric those people were and that we would not behave that way today but we need to understand that we are having that exact same conversation right now it's at a different level but it's the same context the same damn conversation and in the interim we have also made immigrating to this country much more difficult in a myriad of ways for specific groups of people for folks who are talking about abiding by the law i need to clarify that both of these ordinances are in compliance with federal law our constitution affords certain rights to states and their subordinate jurisdictions which the city is one of and allows us to cooperate limit how we cooperate with federal agencies within the balance of the law that's all part of american federalism for better or worse for those of y'all who mentioned that we are a nation of laws i need to i would be remiss if i didn't mention that in my parents lifetime it would have been illegal for me to marry my wife okay that changed with loving in half of this country give or take go back a little further and it would have been unlawful for some members of this body to vote to own property and in some places hold elected office go back a little further and some of us would not have been considered people and you go back a little further and some of us would have been considered property so that's a very dangerous argument and a very dangerous mentality because it allows us to succumb to the worst of the people that we put into positions of power and we need to be better than that as a country we are all sworn to uphold the laws of our city and our nation and we are doing so but it is critical for us to remember that what is legal is not always just and that is why we must continue to bend the arc of history toward justice it is why we have many revolutions in the form of elections every few years to continue to create a more perfect city state and union we have to do better and i'm hoping that i can count on every single one of you to do better tonight and i also just want to add that my experience growing up in texas as a puerto rican i'll remind you that i am a perfectly legal citizen just by being born in the right place i was called a wet back it's called a puddle jumper i was told to go back to mexico to go back to guatemala some places i didn't even know where they were at the time just because of my complexion and my name juan marcano doesn't matter if i went by john or by tony it was all the same and when we continue to stigmatize people and to make the worst assumptions about the people who make up the fabric of our city and our country you reify that behavior in the current generation and those yet to come people look to us to do better we need to do better i am begging you guys to do better further discussion i see none uh uh jose mourinho thank you um you know i i'm shaking a little bit um but i just hearing all this testimony um i guess there was a couple points i just wanted to hit home again and um i guess my thoughts apply to both this ordinance and the the one we'll be voting on afterwards but you know i talking about law and in our constitution and our government um again i'd be remiss without bringing up the fact that we have built into our system our legal system a separation of power and that includes a separation of that that no one branch or level of government federal state local can unilaterally make decisions that impact people's lives that we have checks and balances and being able to clearly delineate the difference in in between our local government and the federal government's role in this conversation i think is exactly what we're talking about when we talk about the separation of powers um i know that we have had conversations um you know the point um around around this conversation we've had conversations around the value of people's lives and intersectionality and part of the reason why we're having this conversation is is not just because of kobe but because of the social awakening that we're having around black lives mattering and i hope that that we can prioritize and be intersectional around immigrants um in the same in the same vein that we are prioritizing black lives at this moment um it is by no means the same plight but we know that there are despair impacts um and to give people the opportunity to have access to core pillars of our our democracy i just is underscored with what's happened in this last month um after the and before the election um i think we are codifying what we already do in policy um we are following the law in fact we're giving more clarity to a gray area of the law and it gives when we talk about police reform around the black lives matter movement we have an entire entire task force around building trust and part of that is equipping our police officers with the proper direction and consistency that has been afforded um to them with our past chief and our current chief in their direction on this on this subject matter and i don't think it should be up to an individual to change that all of a sudden we turn over all the time and i think it's the right thing to do in terms of good process good process means that if it's if it's a good policy we codify it and i think that's exactly what we're trying to do here um so you know underscoring everything that's been said and thank you to everyone who has commented um for your personal testimony in addition to all of that um this is this is good process this is how we treat other issues um that come about we we codify them in language so that it's clear not only to the public but to our police officers thank you for the discussion uh councilmember hilton and councilmember lawson thank you i just wanted to say that i i fully support this i supported this before um before i was elected i supported this before it was fully drafted i supported it through the amendment process um and i still support it now and you know we have um some things in here that differentiate this from just being similar to the apd non-enforcement this allows other protections for our immigrant community and we can have a conversation about reform and what's federal law and what's state and what's local but at the end of the day we're talking about providing you know safe spaces for human beings in the city of aurora while still maintaining compliance with federal law and i don't understand why providing that sliver of dignity to human beings is so difficult because we are still complying with federal law so i just wanted to point that out um and make that distinction because to me this is just so simple um and it's and it's really disappointing to hear some of the comments that are so quick and eager to dismiss um people really um just for not having the privilege that that i do for example um you know i i've heard some say well we're all from an immigrant family but sure if we want to go back multiple generations i guess we can claim that but that's that's not how i'm not talking about anyone on council specifically i see one council member raising her hand i'm talking about generally speaking this conversation has come up before um and and i don't have that experience and not recently um and not anything that's impacted me directly and so it's my job to listen to the experiences of the people who are living this and who have lived this and thank you to councilmember marcano for sharing that story because i know that was difficult for you to share um and i'm sorry that that happened to you and that probably still continues um to happen and so you know i think for those of us on council who are not impacted by by this directly um in a generation that impacts us i think we need to you know really consider that and acknowledge that and listen to the stories of the people who who are directly impacted um and with that i still fully support it and i hope i hope i got my message across it's a it's a it's a big issue and there's a lot to say but i'll leave it there so thank you further discussion council member i'm sorry lawson councilmember lawson yes thank you mayor thank you for giving me time to speak um you know for the past month that this has been brought up i've been getting phone calls from people stating that because i'm not supportive of this particular ordinance then i'm not supportive of the immigrant community i have a record i've been on council for uh this is my sixth year and if you look at the things that i have supported from my colleagues versus what i haven't supported on immigrant and refugee on the immigrant community and things that i have done and supported outside of this this particular just law making process i find it just very disingenuous from even some of my colleagues to even kind of push that agenda amongst groups and people who have called me and said that i'm i'm anti-immigrant i'm not for immigrants it's it's not true i have been very supportive of the immigrant community i will not be supporting this particular ordinance and i won't be supporting the next one based on the reasons that i stated in this in the study session and i want to go in a little bit further you know we're talking councilman mario brings up bml black people are still being subjected and hunted and and racial profiled um for for centuries i mean we're still dealing with that i mean even today and to and the plights are different the plights are kind of the same and you know i i when you're comparing this to bml there's some differences there we are still being disregarded disrespected and i see this on social media even by some of my colleagues who who are just always i'm a black woman but then i'm not this because i don't support this i have my own framework my own mind but black people we're still dealing with the journey of being racially profiled being killed this happens every single day in our plight in our life so um you know to say that the reason why i'm not supporting this i understand where we're coming from but we're already doing this we're already if we're putting government on top of government and i just don't support this ordinance nor will i support the next one um but it doesn't mean that i don't support immigrants and the idea and i know it's going to go on social media after i do this angela doesn't support immigrants she doesn't and it's not true because again when we look at the record the six years i've been on council this is my sixth year i have been very supportive but just because i'm not supporting this does not mean i don't support the immigrant community and to take you know just being a black woman and the things that have been said about me and just in general by even members of this council and people out in this community to say that just like councilmember mcconnell i can't even say some of the words have been told talk said to me even within the past month by some of the callers um so again i i thank you for letting me speak again i understand the premise of this i understand the purpose of this but we are already doing this we are already doing this and i have talked to some immigrant commute immigrant um individuals especially from the african community not everybody just some and some of them are saying that they're not understanding some of the fear of this of what's kind of going on and i understand that there's fear on our side there's fear for black people just to even step out so the fears i understand what fear is and i understand what some of my my brothers and sisters are going through every single day because we live this place every single day so thank you for allowing me to speak mayor i will not be supporting this one and i will not be supporting the next one and the reason i said for the next one was because of what we're going to be talking about is because i i looked i brought this issue up about the city actually delegating all of the work this is going to be more money and that was not in the proposal um it's going to be more than 50 000 to support this effort this city person is going to have to get paid to actually figure out who you know to set up the executive committee to organize to do the fundraising 50 000 is not going to be enough for that and that's all that's been initiated for this proposal so um thank you for letting me speak and i will not be supporting um this this particular ordinance further discussion on item number 13a mayor we do have somebody that was screened two hours ago their call had dropped so i was going to ask if they could speak right now very well wait one moment please okay lori you have three minutes go ahead thank you uh thank you mayor kaufman and council members for the opportunity to speak to you guys this evening i'm an unscripted and legal resident of aurora speaking on behalf of over 500 legal citizens of aurora who are not able to participate this evening or speak personally this evening in regards to item 13a that will require the city to provide sanctuary from federal authorities to any non-resident in any public building and further make it against the law to inform immigration and customs enforcement which is ice of the date and time a non-resident felon will be released from the aurora detention the majority of the arguments that were presented this evening while compelling and i feel very compassionate about are addressing immigration law at a much higher level having absolutely nothing to do with this ordinance i think it's super important to understand what this ordinance is proposing aurora is a community that supports legal immigration support families immigrant families and support citizens from every country who have come here legally who contribute to our amazing city from my understanding this is not an ordinance that will quote unquote put children in cages as so disappointingly indicated in others emotional arguments or separate legal immigrant families who are positively contributing to our society following u.s law raising their families but only will impact non-resident spellings first this ordinance focuses on non-resident felons not legal immigrants this was debated and defeated during the study session yet again council members coons and marillo have taken their their right as council members to bring this ordinance back by bypassing the study session which in my opinion is a backhanded method for ignoring the people and pushing forward an agenda that does not serve the residents of aurora i ask our council members specifically coombs and murillo who support approval of this ordinance to provide rationale for why non-resident felons that you refer to as quote unquote community members in your presentations escaping require sanctuary and what are the reasons the city of aurora would provide such sanctuary for non-resident felons further i ask you to explain how this ordinance benefits legal residents of the city of aurora your time is as a legal citizen thank you a so i just want to be clear that a person does not have to be a felon or even a person who does not have legal status in order to be subject to removal proceedings um there only has to be a question of that so i just want that to be very clear to frame these members of our community which they are as non-resident felons is a false and inaccurate narrative about what it can actually mean for a person to be subject to those proceedings and just have to also highlight as my colleagues have that the conversation of reiterating the word legal ignores so much of our history including our recent history my own marriage would be illegal during most of my lifetime and only became legal during my adult life so i just want us to be very clear that that rings really hollow for a lot of us to just keep hammering on the word legal as a status because so many of us have been unable to access legal status of various of various types further discussion on the adoption of item 13b mayor i'm sorry 13a um i'm sorry uh councilman mario thank you um yeah i was a little confused by that last um testimony um i think we've talked over and over again about the benefits to safety and productivity to our community in enacting an ordinance like this um you know i won't belabor that point um but you know i just want to also express some disappointment in in an opportunity to be intersectional in my comment i was very um intentional about not equating um the the plight of our black and african american you know brothers and sisters in this community um but drawing some parallels um with uh systems of oppression right and and over policing um in different communities and you know we had an opportunity we still do have an opportunity to create a policy um that acknowledges that there are different ways that people navigate our legal system and that regardless of immigration status people are people and deserve human rights and deserve the opportunity to have access to legal representation access to safety um in our public spaces and i'm not here to get in a back and forth argument with you know specific council members but i am disappointed that a narrative um a narrative to uplift one community and and dis dissent you know empower another um because i think again intersectionality demands that the way that we prioritize black lives and again that is not the same experience that our immigrants face um but that we also prioritize and understand that they our immigrant community um has different challenges and this is one way that we could support them um and i will advocate loud and hard for um this policy and the next one to be passed just the same as i would for police reform um to be passed i don't know that lived experience but i listen to the community members and to my community members when they plead for their lives to matter um so i am disappointed um to hear some of the remarks um but i i do you know we haven't yet voted i do hope that you know we can move this forward um add clarity to our process um add certainty to our community and the way in which we um create and in uh separation of powers between our levels of government and branches of government and that that we are preserving to due process um for community members because they're humans and they their lives deserve to be deserved to matter in that same way so um you know i yeah i don't know if this is gonna pass but um you know this is this is the conversation we're having and i am disappointed and i i hope we can step up as a city right to to be more transparent and and to support our immigrant community in this way mayor uh thank you can i call for the vote we're going round and round in circles i believe the the motion is call for the question yeah is there a second second second uh second by uh it's been uh called the questions have been removed by councilmembers and second invite mayor for tim um uh manfred bergen uh uh it is a non-debatable motion when clerk please call the role on the motion to call the question mayor kaufman yes council member marcano yes councilmember johnston yes councilmember combs yes councilmember hiltz yes councilmember lawson what are we calling for the motion or on this vote yeah what are we calling on the motion which is the call for the question which is to whether or not to end debate at this time okay yes councilmember gruber yes councilmember gardner yes mayor pro tim bergen councilmember berzins yes and council member mario yes the motion has passed okay and i do believe i vote on emotions um oh i did vote i'm sorry okay uh then the question before us is the adoption of item number 13a with the clerk please call the roll yes councilmember health yes councilmember lawson no council member gruber no council member gardner no council member mercano yes council member johnston yes councilmember coombs yes mayor pro tim bergen no councilmember berzins no and councilmember muriel yes okay there's a thai vote right now mayor votes no okay mayor votes no the motion did not pass uh clerk now please read the title of item number 13b 13b is ordinance 2021-02 an ordinance of the city council of the city of aurora colorado adding division 5 to article 5 of chapter 2 of the city code pertaining to the establishment of an immigrant legal defense fund motion name uh councilman move to approve 13b it's moved by councilmember mcconnell seconded by coombs councilmember coons to adopt it number 13 b uh discussion mayor uh councilman mario yeah um i i've spoken to some of my colleagues and i just wanted to create some some nuance on our vote today um the you know i've talked to some colleagues around their support for um having access to legal representation and then supporting that um and then the the other side of the conversation whether or not that should be um a funded through through the city and so i just want to make a distinction i think we've been very clear with our intent that we intend if this is if this passes do ask for city funding but the vote today is not that the vote today is do you agree that people should have access to legal representation regardless of who's funding it um it's going to be set up as a grant program i do hope that if it passes that the city will allocate money but that is a majority of council's decision um at a later time um for that to to be determined so um today we're not voting on that i'm again clear that i will be asking for for funds there but that's not what we're voting if you support the foundation and the philosophy behind access to legal representation um and that should be afforded to our immigrant community i just want to make that distinction that it is possible to vote for this and then to have a different conversation about who should and how much should be funded um towards this fund at a later time further discussion mayor uh council member johnston thank you um i'm always speaking my my colleagues but um i i know how this may go so i'm also talking to the public is when we talk about as councilman maria said legal representation when we talk about reform legally in our judicial system many of us support the public defender's office we have i i shared a personal experience and study session of a constituent reaching out and resources not being there when a child's only parent was taken away by ice it is it is not the case where there is this abundant of legal resources that may be provided to folks again this is just the simple vote to say that there can be this this defense fund if you don't support it later for reasons of fiscal you know be more fiscal conservative and say we can't do it then vote then don't support it later but this is a vote to support some representation just as many of you support a public defender's office it's it's just like that so i encourage if there's any way vote yes with that later on hope you would support a request for budget but if you don't because of budget reasons that's another issue so i just want to bring that up thank you further discussion there councilmember mcconnell thank you i just want to echo councilmember johnson's points and also uh stress that just even giving this institutional legitimacy will make it easier to reach out to the private sector and to other nonprofits to raise grant money for legal protection as we learn during study session yeah some of that funding does exist through other organizations but it is not close to enough so anything we can do to help grow that pie would be beneficial even if we don't ever contribute a single penny from the city further discussion uh seeing none the question before says the adoption of item number 13b with the clerk please call the world councilmember mercano yes councilmember hiltz yes councilmember berzins no councilmember gruber no council i'm sorry mayor pro-tem bergen no council member gardner no councilmember lawson no council member muriel yes councilmember coombs yes and council member johnston yes okay it's a thai vote mayor how would you like to vote your votes no no the motion did not pass would clerk please read the title of item number 13c item 13c is ordinance 2021-06 an ordinance authorizing the city of aurora colorado to exercise the power of imminent domain for acquisition of certain properties for the i-70 piccadilly road interchange project motion uh it's been moved by councilmember gruber seconded by councilmember johnson to approve item number 13 uh discussion uh sitting down the question before says the adoption divide number thirteen student clerk please call the role councilmember johnston yes councilmember coombs yes council member muriel yes councilmember hiltz yes councilmember mark cono yes councilmember lawson yes councilmember gardner yes mayor protem bergen councilmember gruber yes councilmember berzins the motion passed record now please please read the title bottom number 14a okay there are a few callers in the public line and for 14 a which is an ordinance 2021-03 an ordinance of the city council of the city of aurora colorado amending section 2-769 of the city code pertaining to residency requirements for persons appointed to boards commissions committees or authorities please proceed okay would you like me to open the call in line mirror uh yes please do you need time to do that um the time is now uh 9 36 the council will stand at recess until 9 41. [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] my [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] the regular meeting of the city council is is reconvened um and uh republic invited to be heard okay again this is for for item 14a ordinance 2021-03 i'm going to unmute the public line all right first is kristen you have three minutes go ahead hello kristin thorburn ward 6 just wanted to state my opposition for 14 a thank you thank you next is kathleen go ahead you have three minutes thank you thank you i want to i am not in favor of this uh 14a at all the u.s citizenship is a very precious and meaningful to each of us and it is not right for our council to demean and discount the value of our citizenship any committee or group that directs or influences how all the residents of aurora will be governed should be made by only legal citizens our local government should be guided by law and not by emotions or the personal ideology of a few thank you thank you next is loretta go ahead loretta you have three minutes i agree with the lady who just spoke she took the words out of my mouth but i also want to thank the council you've had a very long evening thank you for hanging in there and i am definitely in opposition yes you should be a u.s citizen to serve in any capacity any government be it a town state etc and thank you again for all of your hard work thank you next is jared you have three minutes go ahead yep uh jared dreyer ward 6 again again thank you council members for hearing the constituents tonight i am against 14a i feel that to remove the voter registration removes the citizen requirement to serve on the government council boards and other committees and i believe that you it should be required that you're a citizen to serve in any capacity in government influence all the way from local municipalities all the way up to the federal government thank you max is next you have three minutes we've lost max let's go to lori next lori you have three minutes hi thank you [Music] the hold music is playing let me get with roger and see what's going on on there and i'm not quite sure why that started to happen one moment aurora have the right to apply for a position on a city board committee commission we have a medical can you hear me you can start now uh okay item 14a eliminates the requirement to use a voter registration to apply for a position on the city board committee or commission an existing law essentially assumed that people were citizens based on the voter registration requirement this is a simple issue but we need to clarify it that is voter registration requirement is removed clarification in the law is necessary to ensure that only citizens of aurora have the right to apply for a position on the city board committee or commission if non-citizens are able to apply i believe our board committees and commissions will be compromised by agendas that do not serve the legal citizens of aurora and as a legal citizen of aurora i would request our representatives to vote against this ordinance 14 a and i thank our council members who support defeating this ordinance and see if we can get him up this time hold on max go ahead you've got three minutes go ahead yes sir okay great thank you i appreciate your time um good evening again i want to kick it off by saying that thank you very much for uh allowing me to be heard at the encounter [Music] um it eliminates the requirement to use a voter registration applied for position and city board council information uh and commissions in fact this would literally allow non-citizens to have undo over um governance over other aurora citizens the council is intended to represent the citizens of aurora and enacting the best interest uh uh passing this ordinance is not investing for the state physical war and it ignores the rule of law enables the non-citizens to govern under citizens and would encourage uh further illegal immigration and use of tax dollars to defend these illegal actions so with that said i respect the request that the royal accounts will not approve this ordinance and uh i appreciate your time for allowing me to be heard thank you that's everyone in line thank you audrey uh i don't believe i don't believe we moved item 14b i think they went to the public hearing first uh councilmember close move to approve 14a you're involved by councilmember coombe seconded by second councilman mcconnell to approve item number 14b discussion mayor i'm sorry i'm 14a uh i stand corrected i'm number 14a further discussion councilmember coombs yep so i'll state this again for the record um though i've said it at every committee and study session where we've had this discussion just clarify how this came about and what it's intended to do so in 2019 or early 2020 i was contacted by a member of our community who has been here legally since that's a concern of some folks um for years has been trying to serve on our boards and commissions as a contributing member of our community who cannot register to vote because he's not a citizen but he is a contributing member of our community and i reached out to our staff to ask them if the voter registration requirement in verifying residency on boards and commissions was intended to be a de facto citizenship requirement and they said emphatically no and so i requested from those staff the ability to proceed on accepting other ways of determining residency for the purposes of serving on boards and commissions i received some technical legal support from mr dave lathers who can certainly comment as well and i would like him to comment on this process um and we went through the committee and the study session process to bring this forward and this is so that people can have other methods of verifying verifying their voter registration i will also add that there are people who are citizens who do not have a public voter registration because they are confidential voters and i encountered with our city clerk's office in 2020 a situation with one of my cabc appointees that they were a confidential voter and so their voter registration was not readily available and they had to get a copy of it and send it to the clerk so this is for the purpose of simplifying that process and enabling anyone who is a resident of our city to serve on boards and commissions as was the intent of the law regarding verification of residency uh someone just unmuted um but so and then um sorry i lost my train of thought with that unmuting yeah so that was the process that we went through that's the intent behind this um and i hope that my colleagues who have supported this in the past will continue to support thank you further discussion uh seeing none uh the question before us is the adoption of item number 14 a uh will clearly please call the roll council member gardner yes councilmember lawson yes councilmember mercano yes sorry i was muted doubly councilmember hiltz yes council member mario yes council member coombs yes council member johnston yes council member berzins no councilmember gruber no and mayor pro tim bergen no the motion passed start with cory now please read the title of item number 14b 14b is ordinance 2021-04 an ordinance of the city council of the city aurora colorado amending sections 2.6.2 point c point a of the udo pertaining to the 60 ldn sub-area removing general aviation as a descriptor of airports in order to provide consistent regulations with the noise contours of airports in and near the jurisdictional boundaries of aurora uh motion may remove to approve 14b moved by councilmember gruber seconded by kim's councilman coons to approve item number 14b uh discussion ascending now in the question before says the adoption of number 14b would please call the roll mayor pro tim bergen yes councilmember gruber yes count councilmember berzins yes councilmember johnston yes councilmember hiltz yes councilmember coombs yes councilmember mcconnell yes councilmember lawson yes council member gardner yes and council member muriel yes the motion has passed and i'm sorry mayor did we get a second on 14a oh was there's uh who was the second on 14a i was i believe okay thank you uh no planning members before planning matters before small annexations uh with the clerk please read the title of number 17a 17a is reconsideration of resolution 2020 22 review of the powers granted to the city manager by resolution 2020 22. login uh councilmembers to prove on number 17 a discussion saying 911 with the clerk please call the roll and item number 17a councilmember hiltz yes councilmember johnston yes councilmember conversions yes mayor pro tim bergen yes councilmember muriel yes councilmember gardner yes councilmember lawson yes yes councilmember coombs yes yes the motion has passed uh no report by the mayor uh let's see um mayor there is a civil service commission interview process we'd like to update council about but please proceed okay we received 24 applicants for the civil service commission the city council ranked these applicants in the top three where leandra steed brooke gabrielli and harold johnson and two two we have early and chris steele we would like uh council to advise us on how many candidates they would like to interview and which individuals they would like to interview a discussion mayor um council um councilmember johnson and uh councilman gardner um yes i just um i i'm open to always exploring exploring more so i'm open to more than three but i do i do have a question slash concern and i just want to get it addressed is one of the people actually received seven votes um and is not in the in the five um i i will just say for myself you know some of them were pretty much at the same level i mean i would i put my number one who i definitely wanted my one but if we even consider um it was miss early um so while she didn't get maybe the top scorer of that you know receiving seven council member votes um could also be a consideration so i don't know if we're just going to do the math of that top score or look at the council member votes uh claire if i understand the process uh question of the clerk is that the issue tonight is how many people we want to interview is that correct yes and we would like to to see which interviews or which candidates they would like to interview at the discussion okay councilmember gardner uh so i'd like to propose bringing the top five um candidates in four interview which would be lander steve brooke gabrielli harold johnson chris steele and jeanette earley is there objection to that proposal mayor uh councillor combs um i'd like to amend that to include the top six since we had six rankings to go by and it gives us an adequate pool um because i also think there was and limited information on each candidate available through the application process does the sponsor councilmember gardner consider that a friendly amendment that's fine very well now we're at six uh is there any objection to six council members i have a question um my one of mine was kind of messed up um so i was would like to ask katie uh when she added my top person in to where my top person was supposed to be did that change it at all councilmember did not it i did add it to gabrielli and it's still the same ranking order so leandra steed has 39. brooke gabrielli has 37. harold johnson has 27. jeannette early has 20. chris still has 17 and moulder had 15. so it didn't change the the order of the rankings uh i'm sorry who's that birkin oh american um i would prefer to have five interviews rather than six um you know their lengthy interviewing times that um that i think we allow i can't remember if it's 20 minutes per person but we have the question and answer as well as as the time for them to present um so i would prefer to interview five um rather than the six well uh councilmember cloons just moved the number to six and i didn't hear any objection um councilmember combs okay um i mean i i will leave the motion as it stands and we can discuss and then vote on it okay i have a question customer versions thank you and and i don't have the chart up in front of me um but if you look at the top i think it's the top three they have or the top four have seven council members that voted for them and then you go to the fifth person and it only has five council members voted for them and i don't know uh councilmember coombs what did the sixth person have i'm just thinking if if that person had less than five what are the chances that he could get or that person could get six votes i think by that argument we would technically drop both five and six but i think that also calls into question why we have interviews at all if folks have already made up their minds okay uh since there's objection let me see if there if there's a majority uh in support of uh six can um let me know if you're this is not a formal process i think we're just going to give direction to staff i'm sorry can i ask the clerk mayor bertown yes the member berzins asked how many council members voted for the sixth person on the list yes there were five council members i'm sorry three council members that voted for the for the six six okay um councilmember lawson are you okay with six yes mayor i am uh councilmember hilt six yes that's fine uh councilman gruber six no i don't think it's worthwhile but we'll do it okay councilmember gardner that's fine uh councilman maria yep councilmember johnson yes that's reversants customer versions you're muted oh thank you no i'm not now um look at what it does to the people that come in you know they get their hopes up and well it'll be virtual now but just knowing that three people voted for him i i i don't think i can getting there putting their walking in their shoes i don't think it's fair to them to know that only three people will vote because remember yeah i'm fine with six uh councilmember coombs you're in motion so yes uh councilman bragging mayor dunbar no okay the majority have uh arisen uh in support so uh we will be interviewing six members um council reports uh councilman councilmember lawson a mayor um i guess along with myself and two other of my colleagues um councilmember burzin it looks like councilmember gardner um i was re i got back on to the nlc transportation committee today was our kickoff meeting so i don't know if other council members want to do their reports for their committees but i know that um the two have been on our on nlc committee for nlc and may want to talk about that um as far as the pfizer update um the u.s senate has agreed to organizing a resolution that sets rules for the chamber for the 117th united states congress senator mcconnell dropped his request for senate senator majority leader schumer to pledge to uphold the legislative filibuster so those are something that just kind of happened as we were on this meeting um as far as rtd reimagine i don't have anything to report on that um cml we had our last meeting on the 15th and that is all i have to report right now mayor thank you uh councilmember hilt thank you but no report councilmember no report councilmember gardner as council member lawson started to say i was appointed to nlc's the finance administration and intergovernmental relations committee so we'll look at things like municipal bonds pensions labor relations finance and then unfunded mandates from the federal government our kickoff meeting has not happened yet but once that happens i will be sure to update my colleagues that's it for me council memorial uh thanks mayor my first town hall is this thursday at 6 p.m every year we kind of talk about all of the topics that constitutes talk about um so this is an opportunity to help shape the future topics so um i hope everyone can join um updates from the rtd accountability committee um we were able to speak with the governor on our legislative recommendations and he was in part of the reason why this task force was created and he he agrees that the direction with the direction that we've been going with our legislative recommendations and particularly how they could have a nexus with uh development affordable housing you know transit oriented development and since those are housing and small business development i should add our priorities of his um for his administration so he was going to be working with the state legislature so i'm excited to see any nexus that we could help advance with particularly on affordable housing and small business development um in our rtd conversations even though the nexus may not be completely clear um so and then tomorrow me and my co-chair uh will be presenting to the ritd board of directors um to you know start a series of uh presentations on our initial recommendations so um that's the update on our tv accountability committee um councilmember johnston thank you mayor um on our next study session meeting on monday february 1st we will be reviewing the draft version of the oil and gas manual on thursday the fourth i'm going to be hosting another town hall meeting um it's ward 2 but all are welcome to answer questions get more information since the study session is not a public dialogue on oil and gas that's at 6 30 and that the information is on the website also i'd like to bring up as many of you know thursday is the denver business journal state of the city i understand that mayor kaufman and mayor hancock will be discussing issues i just want to say publicly mayor i hope that when you if you discuss the issues of homelessness that you frame it that it is your opinion and not the city of aurora's or the city councils um council member mario facilitated a discussion led by our region community nonprofit groups dasher and other groups put out a press release it has caused a lot of damage and the continued narrative is continuing a lot of damage so if you are speaking on that i i hope that that there's some sensitivity and some listening to what our nonprofits are and that we continue to have that as part of the dialogue and not just specific talking points that you've continued with thank you councilmember rosens wow um i would like to say in memory of a we lost aurora lost a wonderful patriot and a lover of the city on the 18th jean hogan many of you know gene hogan he was 93 and he passed away on the 18th he served in the air force for 21 years and then taught in aurora middle school for 17 years after that he started the neighborhood watch program in chambers heights and i if you didn't know him you probably saw him at some of our study sessions and council meetings he would come and actually his son would drive him with his veteran hat on and down in his walker and you know he would he would give us a piece of his mind because he loved aurora so much so i i just want to say rest in peace jean we will miss you and your your wonderful personality so um back to business uh ward 3 will have its virtual meeting um on february the 10th at 6 30 to 8 and please go to the city website to get the webex link to tune in or go to my city facebook page it'll be on both so february 10th and also it's march 10th also so the way the calendar falls thank you that's all i have councilman mcconnell uh thank you mayor so uh for rochester cities um the japan committee is putting together a virtual bullet train ride event on february 6th at 4 pm this is a really awesome opportunity to get a feel for what modern mass transportation looks like along with the option to enjoy a real ekiben kit which is like a bento box that you would get on a train um to complete the experience so you can get more information on this event at aurorasistercities.org newsroom um and then our next ward 4 meeting will be on february 10th at 6 30 pm via webex and facebook live we will be talking about hoas with city staff and joined by representatives iman judah and mike weissman both of which represent ward 4 at the capitol to hear your feedback and to take your questions on hoas have a good night everybody councilor combs thank you and apologies in advance for a slightly lengthy report most of my boards met this last week um so my next ward meeting will be on february 3rd at 6 30 p.m and from now on the ward meetings will be held the first wednesday of the month at 6 30 p.m which is a departure departure from the previous schedule on the third we will have staff folks from the county and provider presentations and a discussion on homelessness and homeless services and then other topics of interest that will be scheduled throughout the year are water conservation a council at large debate and presentations on hoas registered neighborhood organizations and special districts if folks have an interest in other topics please let me know those are the ones that came up at our january meeting for visit aurora we're working on recruitment for our committees and so i will let you guys know which committee i end up serving on within visit aurora in the coming year when we make those decisions i also have a report from bruce dalton that uh information that blizzard aurora received from smith travel research indicates that the national hotel occupancy fell 33 uh from 2019 in 2020 um and the outlook for 2021 is that it will recover later in the year after folks have been vaccinated and are eager to travel again and that full-service and high-end hotels were disproportionately hit by these uh it are these drops in demand because they usually have corporate and group uh events which were largely cancelled um and that aurora hotels ran about a 36 occupancy which was 8 less than the national average that was significantly impacted by gaylord rockies being closed for a few months um so then dr cogg some of the funds from the most recently passed coronavirus relief program have been allocated to dr cogg um for or to sorry to colorado and will be distributed through dr cog for transportation projects and that will include several waitlisted projects including two from aurora and then there are also grants available from cdot for telework including potentially grants that could be used for fiber optic projects and then there were some very interesting public comments from the arts and culture network for emergency preparedness we had a lot of thoughtful ideas about how we can use the skills of currently out of work uh special event professionals to um to set up safe outdoor spaces that can help address some of the impacts of homelessness in our community well mayor cool nice laughing at that so the cherry creek basin water quality quality authority also had their first meeting on thursday i was sworn in and council member or mayor pro-tem bergen was recognized for her years of service to that board as a director there was also leadership elections and the uh sorry approval of stream reclamation a stream reclamation project and then we had reports on uh cd phe rules pertaining to cherry creek basin and an initial presentation of the draft water quality monitoring report which we will take more action on in uh our meetings in the next few months so sorry again for the lengthy report and thank you oh and then mile high behavioral health care has our board meeting tomorrow so i'll have a report next time for that we're protein bergen thank you mayor um so i'll start with my e-470 report and meeting um and discussed board officer elections so i was elected to be the secretary as an officer on the e-470 board and then we discussed the adams county open space request for a project that they're doing and then being an officer one of my duties is to help with the executive director performance review so we had that actually on friday morning and did that review and then i am new now on the mile high flood district so we had i had my first meeting um on that and then just wanted to say that my council meeting is this wednesday from six o'clock to eight o'clock my area has really had a lot of concerns about the increase in crimes we've it's just exploded in terms of car thefts vandalism robberies burglaries that type of thing so um because of the concerns of the the constituents i'm having commander parker talk about what we're doing to mitigate that and then also following him i'll have our new district attorney for the uh 18th judicial john kellner who will talk about more on the judicial side of that because i think a lot of people get confused on um on the the justice parts so we'll have that update and then i'll have update on the rec center um it sounds like the grand uh or the ground breaking will be in february so i will talk about that and i also wanted to just um give my sincere condolences to gene hogan's family very sorry for your loss the public invited to be heard we do not have anybody on the line right now for public invited to be heard thank you everybody meek adjourned [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] foreign