Aurora

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurora,_Colorado

Aurora Demographics

Population	Median Age	Median Household Income	Registered Voters	Presidential Results (Adams County)	Religion (Adams County)	Poverty	Cost of Living Index	Median House Value	Median Rent	Race	Age	Education	Foreign Born	Marital Status	Unemployment	Air Quality Index
353,108 (Female: 52.2%) (Male: 47.8%)	33.5 years (-2.9 years to CO)	$49,142 (-$9,681 to CO)		2016: Clinton 50% Trump: 42% 2012: Obama 56% Romney: 41% 2008: Obama 58% McCain: 40% 2004: Kerry 51% Bush: 48%	None: 70.6% Catholic: 16% Evangelical Protestant: 7.8% Other: 3.9% Mainline Protestant: 1.6%	18% Other Race: 37.4% Native American: 30.4% Hispanic/Latino: 29% Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander: 21.5% Black: 18.7% Two or More Races: 18% White: 9.5%	108.2 (+8.2 to US)	$176,200 (-$64,300 to CO)	$987	White: 45.4% Hispanic/Latino: 29.1% Black: 15.7% Asian: 5.1% Two or More Races: 3.8% Native American: 0.3% Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander: 0.3% Other Race: 0.2%	Older Adult 40-64: 30.4% Younger Adult 22-39: 27.6% Children 0-17: 27.2% Senior 65+: 9.44% College 18-21: 5.32%	High School: 25.6% Some College: 24.6% Bachelor's: 18.3% Associate's: 9.3% Some High School: 7.3% Master's: 6.3% Less than High School: 5.4% None: 1.4%	19.7% (+10.2% to CO)	Now married: 47.5% Never married: 34.1% Divorced: 11.4% Widowed: 4.4% Separated: 2.6%	3.7% (+0.4% to CO)	107 (+32 to US)

Aurora City Council

Max of 3 consecutive 4-year terms. Extended term limit in 2011 with 5.1% majority.

Campaign Finance Reports: https://apps.auroragov.org/CampaignFinance/(S(00dxi255spsepg55njdla445))/Public/Default.aspx

Title	Name	Party	Next Election November	Contact	2019 Margin	2017 Margin	2015 Margin	2013 Margin	2011 Margin
Mayor	Steve Hogan	Republican	2019	303.739.7015 shogan@auroragov.org			UNOPPOSED (Markert considered running)	X	7.3% (37.5%) (Another GOP got 30.2%) (6-way race)	X
Ward I	Sally Mounier	Republican	2017	303.739.7502 smounier@auroragov.org			X	16% (58%)	X (Miller resigned 2012 / Council voted Mounier)	4.6% (33.7%) (Melissa Miller) (Dem incumbent out) (4-way race)
Ward II	Renie Peterson	Uncertain Registered Unaffiliated	2017	303.739.7506 rrpeters@auroragov.org			X	20% (60%)	X	14.5% (57.2%)
Ward III	Marsha Berzins	Republican	2017	303.739.7508 mberzins@auroragov.org			X	UNOPPOSED	X	5.1% (52.5%)
Ward IV	Charlie Richardson	Republican	2019	303.739.7516 crichard@auroragov.org			11.5% (55.7%)	X	43.9% (71.9%) (Molly Markert)	X
Ward V	Bob Roth	Republican	2019	303.739.7510 broth@auroragov.org			42.5% (62.5%)	X	32.3% (66.1%)	X
Ward VI	Francoise Bergan	Republican	2019	303.739.7015 broth@auroragov.org			19.4% (49.7%) (Declared Dem got 19.8%)	X	6.7% (36.2%) (Bob Broom)	X
At-Large	Barbara Cleland	Republican	2017	303.739.7524 bcleland@auroragov.org			X	Won with 19.9%	X	Won with 18.4%
At-Large	Angela Lawson	Republican	2019	303.739.7518 alawson@auroragov.org			Won with 28.5%	X	Won with 22.9% (Debi Hunter-Holen)	X
At-Large	Bob LeGare (Also served 1995-2003)	Republican	2019	303.366.0113 blegare@auroragov.org			Won with 28.1%	X	Won with 26.5%	X
At-Large	Brad Pierce	Republican	2017	303.739.7514 bpierce@auroragov.org			X	Won with 21.5%	X	Won with 23% (Bob Fitzgerald)

Aurora City Council Appointments

Position	Name	Contact
City Manager	George "Skip" Noe
City Attorney	Michael Hyman
Civil Service
Presiding Judge	Shawn Day
Court Administrator	Zelda DeBoyes

Aurora City Manager Appointments

Title	Name	Contact
Deputy City Manager	Jason Batchelor
Deputy City Manager	Nancy Freed
Deputy City Manager	Michelle Wolfe
Assistant City Manager	Janice Napper (also City Clerk))
Assistant City Manager	Roberto Venegas
Police Chief	Nicholas Metz
Fire Chief	Caine Hills (Interim)
Communications	Kim Stuart
City Clerk	Janice Napper (also Assistant City Manager)
Finance	Terri Velasquez

Aurora City Council Election 2017

Aurora will elect a city council rep from Wards I, II, and III, plus two At-Large seats on Nov 7, 2017. These are the candidates.

• NOTE: At-Large Council Member Barb Cleland will NOT be running for reelection. Plus Brad Pierce is termed out of his At-Large seat and Renie Peterson is termed out of her Ward II seat.

• Therefore Ward II and both At-Large seats are WIDE OPEN.

2017 City Council Candidates

"There are currently 26 candidates in the running for the five available seats, which include Ward I, II and III along with the two at-large seats," as of 8/14/17 according to the Aurora Sentinel.

(i) = incumbent

Ward	Name	Party	Endorsements/Info	Contact
Ward 1	Sally Mounier (i)	Republican	Aurora Firefighters Association Local 1290	Email Website
Ward 1	Crystal Murillo	Democrat	Emerge CO Denver Area Labor Federation Colorado People's Action Conservation Colorado Our Revolution Metro Denver Colorado BlueFlower Fund	Email Website
Ward 2	Nicole Johnston	Democrat	Emerge CO Denver Area Labor Federation Aurora Firefighters Association Local 1290 Colorado People's Action Conservation Colorado Our Revolution Metro Denver Colorado BlueFlower Fund	Email Website
Ward 2	Bernard Celestin	Democrat	previously ran in 2013; lost by 20 pts
Ward 2	Robert O'Riley	Unaffiliated	Aurora Police Association (The Union also endorsed Trump)	Email [www.orileyforaurora.com Website]
Ward 2	Glenn Ressmeyer	Unaffiliated
Ward 2	Jeff Wilson	Libertarian He told an IFRR Wiki Researcher that he was registered unaffiliated, but his registration that matches the address he gave us says Libertarian		Email Website
Ward 3	Marsha Berzins (i)	Republican	Aurora Firefighters Association Local 1290	Email Website
Ward 3	Debi Hunter Holen	Democrat	Colorado BlueFlower Fund	Contact Form Website
Ward 3	Martha Lugo	Democrat	Denver Area Labor Federation Colorado People's Action Our Revolution Metro Denver	Email Website
Ward 3	Naquetta Ricks	Democrat	Former HD-42 candidate Colorado BlueFlower Fund	Email Facebook Website
Ward 3	Robert Hargrove (?)
At-Large	Brian Arnold	Republican		Email Website
At-Large	Dave Gruber	Republican	Air Force vet	Email Facebook Website
At-Large	Reid Hettich	Unaffiliated	Pastor of Mosaic Church Founding member of Aurora Economic Development Council	Email Website
At-Large	Allison Hiltz	Democrat	Emerge CO Denver Area Labor Federation Colorado People's Action Colorado BlueFlower Fund	Email Website
At-Large	Timothy Huffman	Republican	Aurora Police Association (The Union also endorsed Trump)	Email Website
At-Large	Abel Gebre Laeke	Democrat		Email Website
At-Large	Tom Tobiassen	Democrat	Aurora Firefighters Association Local 1290 Denver Area Labor Federation Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1001	Email Website
At-Large	Russell Wagner	Unaffiliated	Aurora Police Association (The Union also endorsed Trump) Supports the "Entertainment District" measure	Email Website

Former Candidates

Candidates who are no longer running in 2017 for Aurora City Council.

Ward	Name	Party	comment	Contact
Ward 3	Kevin Cox	Democrat	Instead running for Aurora Public Schools	Online Contact Form: http://kevincoxforaurora.com/contact/
At-Large	PK Kaiser	Democrat	Dropped out to concentrate on 2018 County Assessor race	email: vote4kaiser@gmail.com web: https://jsfulton.wordpress.com/
At-Large	Eric Mulder	Libertarian
At-Large	Julie Weinheimer	Unaffiliated	Votes for Mike Coffman	contact form: http://weinheimerforaurora.com/contact-us-or-volunteer web: http://weinheimerforaurora.com/

2017 Campaign Finance

Here we will detail by each candidate their total campaign contributions, total expenditures, and remaining cash on hand, sorted by filing date. We will also record individual contributions from notable donors and note special interests where applicable.

(One source for Aurora Wiki Researcher: https://apps2.auroragov.org/campaignfinance/(S(ufv5vlr2u1l1ycq23lwnhoqs))/Public/Default.aspx)

First Report

90 days pre-election.

Seat	Name	Party	Total Contributions	Total Expenditures	Total Cash On Hand	Total PACs	Notable Individuals
Ward 2	Robert O'Riley	Unaffiliated	$0	$0	$0
Ward 2	Jeff Wilson	Libertarian	$219.12	$101.78	$117.34		In-kind contributions: $250.00 for production of campaign materials Mostly self-funded: $200 from Jeff Wilson
At-Large	Dave Gruber	Republican	$4,285.00	$1,112.55	$3,172.45		Mostly $100-$200 from individuals
At-Large	Abel Gebre Laeke	Democrat	$4,390.00	$4,112.08	$277.92		Mostly small contributions ($10-$50) from individuals Gaim Tedia - $2,000
At-Large	Tom Tobiassen	Democrat	$28,925.00	$2,017.04	$26,907.96		Many contributions in $100-$500 range from both individuals and businesses, in Aurora and other cities. Loan from Tom and Carol Tobiassen - $13,000

2017 Ballot Measures

Failed to get on Ballot

"Entertainment District"

No official name as of yet, but it is known locally as the "Entertainment District" measure, or for the "Racetrack", or noted for it's proposed removal of the provision against elected city officials having the authority to promise public funds to subsidize privately-owned racetracks.

This will be the third such time this measure will be attempted since 1999. The previous measure lost by 1,000 votes in 2015.

It will go to the ballot via a City Council vote, with 7-3 voting for it. Barb Cleland (At-Large), Charlie Richardson (Ward 4), and Marsha Berzins (Ward 3) voted against it, with Richardson claiming the proposed amendment never went to committee.

Sally Mounier (Ward 1) championed both the 2015 and 2017 efforts, calling Richardson "a bully".

The Ballot language is written as follows:

[Awaiting language]

The Charter Amendment language is as follows:

[Awaiting language]

Arguments For

• Sally Mounier, Councilmember Ward 1: "The plan is to reap the benefits of tourism and new jobs in order to invest in Aurora." (Source)

Arguments Against

• Charlie Richardson, Councilmember for Ward 4: "...purposefully confusing in order to induce a different outcome than the previous votes." (Source)

Lawsuit

Aurora citizens Jason Legg and Kristin Mallory of Aurora Residents For Transparency filed a lawsuit against the city of Aurora, arguing that the ballot language was misleading and ambiguous.

The petition was ultimately dismissed by 18th District Judge John L. Wheeler (an Owens appointee).