AURORA — The face of the City Council could change significantly after Election Day, and there isn’t even an Aurora council race on the ballot.
Three of the 10 current City Council members — not including the mayor — are up for other offices Tuesday.
Councilman Ryan Frazier is trying for the 7th Congressional District seat, Councilwoman Sue Sandstrom is running for Arapahoe County treasurer, and Councilman Bob Fitz Gerald is seeking to become an Arapahoe County commissioner.
If all three are elected, the council, by charter, gets to appoint three replacements. The new members would serve until the November 2011 election, said City Attorney Charlie Richardson.
Three new members were elected last fall, a new city manager was just named, and Mayor Ed Tauer’s term ends at the end of next year. Aurora could usher in an era of new leadership after years of minimal change.
“It’s a huge leadership change coming,” said Kevin Hougen, president of the Aurora Chamber of Commerce. “It’s refreshing to bring in new viewpoints and get new people involved in our community.”
In 20 years, Aurora has grown from a bedroom community to one that boasts one of the finest medical campuses in the country. In that time, it had to deal with the closing of the Lowry and Fitzsimons military bases.
The current council faces different issues, mainly managing the need to provide services in a sluggish economy.
Hougen said he envisions the council possibly would appoint people who have run unsuccessfully for its seats in the past, such as Alfonso Nuñez and Bob Roth. Former members such as Deborah Wallace may also be tapped to serve again.
Jim Frye of Citizens for Responsible Aurora Government questioned how the new members would be appointed.
“You don’t get the voters making these decisions,” he said. “You get a small group of the council making these decisions. That would be a concern.”
Former member Steve Hogan, who is considering running for mayor when Tauer’s term is up next year, said the dynamics of the council would certainly change if three new members are appointed.
He said new blood might help to “move on things you couldn’t move on before.”
“With new leadership sometimes comes new ideas or new ways of implementing old ideas,” he said. “That’s not always a bad thing.
“That’s not a knock on where we’ve been. We’ve had stability and purpose and leadership. Those kept us overall in better shape than surrounding communities.”
Carlos Illescas: 303-954-1175 or cillescas@denverpost.com
