AURORA | The Aurora City Council is expected to formalize its appointment of Todd Chamberlain, a former commander of the Los Angeles Police Department, as the city's new police chief on Monday.
If the request is approved as expected, Chamberlain will earn $250,000 a year and become the seventh person to lead the city's beleaguered 700-person department in five years.
The city's appointment of Chamberlain was announced on August 21, without the public having an opportunity to comment on his appointment.
Meanwhile, the city is also preparing to replace Dan Brotzman, who resigned as city attorney earlier this summer. The only internal finalist is Pete Schulte, a former police officer and public safety account manager in the Aurora District Attorney's Office who made headlines in 2023 when he was choked by a man he tackled to the ground during a ride with then-Police Chief Art Acevedo. Three other outside candidates, whose names have not yet been released, are also being interviewed to lead the city's 65-person legal department.
City officials hope to have the new prosecutor in place by September, preferably shortly before Chamberlain is sworn in as police chief on Sept. 9.
On Monday's City Council agenda is the introduction of an amendment that changes the chain of command and duties of the city's internal auditor and internal audit office. Instead of reporting to the city manager as they do now, the auditor and office would report to the City Council's Administration and Finance Committee. They would also be given “the authority to discuss important and sensitive matters with members of the City Council, including concerns about interference with duties, without city management being present.”
City officials say these changes are intended to make the internal auditor more independent. Denver has an independent audit department headed by an elected chief.
But other proposed changes could expose the auditor to political pressure or interference by giving the City Council power over the auditor's budget and requiring the city manager to seek the council's advice when hiring and firing the city auditor, as well as when evaluating his performance and setting his salary. The ordinance would also require the auditor to notify the City Council and the city manager when he initiates an audit that the office did not plan in advance — for example, an audit prompted by unexpected suspicions of abuse of office in the city.
Also, the city is introducing an ordinance Monday that would update Aurora's election code. Among the proposed changes is a rule that prevents a recall petition from being filed against a city official who is up for re-election within six months. Another change would no longer require city elections to be conducted under the requirements of both the city's election code and Colorado's Uniform Election Code. Instead, Aurora's city's election code — the city's own election guidelines — would take precedence, and the city clerk would have the freedom to choose to “follow the Uniform Election Code” if necessary.
In their study session with city staff beginning at 5:15 p.m., council members will discuss permanently expanding mandatory minimum prison sentences for various types of theft in the city.
One proposal would remove the “sunset clause,” or expiration date, of a shoplifting ordinance that is set to expire on October 26, two years after it goes into effect in 2022. That proposal would permanently set the mandatory minimum sentence for shoplifting goods valued at over $100 at a minimum of three days in jail for first-time offenders. The minimum sentences for second- and third-time offenders would remain indefinitely at 90 and 180 days, respectively.
The proposal would also indefinitely extend the minimum sentence for stealing food or shelter valued at more than $15 to at least three days in jail. For people convicted of auto theft in Aurora, the minimum sentence would remain at 60 days in jail for first-time offenders and at least 120 days for repeat offenders.
If the proposal is passed, failure to appear on a theft conviction would continue to be punishable by a mandatory minimum jail sentence of 10 days.
Another related proposal calls for amending the city's code to make it easier for city officials to review the effectiveness of the minimum penalties for shoplifting that council members passed two years ago. The current language of the code limits their ability to assess whether those penalties prevent shoplifting, a persistent problem in the city.
In addition, the City Council is scheduled to discuss a plan on Monday to create a legal process to confiscate stolen shopping carts from public and private property. The city considers the presence of these carts outside the stores they belong to a “visual blight” that is “aesthetically detrimental to the community.” City officials also argue that the carts are a public nuisance because they pose potentially harmful “hazards to pedestrians and motorists,” “block public rights-of-way, impede stormwater runoff, and become trash receptacles.”
The plan would allow city officials to confiscate the shopping carts when they break up encampments of homeless people, who often use them to transport and store their belongings. It calls for the city to develop a process for people who believe their carts were improperly confiscated to challenge the confiscation.
The council will also discuss creating a program to collect and return stolen shopping carts to retailers. The city government wants to work with local businesses, property owners and community groups to not only reduce the number of abandoned shopping carts, but also “educate retailers about their responsibility to prevent the removal of shopping carts from their premises and to pick up abandoned shopping carts in a timely manner.” A team of city employees or contractors, funded in part by fees from the sale of shopping bags at grocery stores, could be formed to collect the shopping carts and return them to the appropriate retailers.
Also for discussion at the learning session on Monday:
- A regulation that requires police officers to impound stopped motor vehicles if the driver does not have a valid driver's license, vehicle registration, and proof of insurance for the vehicle. The regulation provides exceptions for persons in emergency or extraordinary circumstances.
- An ordinance that would prevent the public from being denied access to Aurora Reservoir due to private or special events taking place there. The city currently allows individuals and organizations to reserve the entire reservoir for private or special events at any time during the year, preventing non-invitees from using the reservoir during those times. This proposal, introduced by Councilwoman Danielle Jurinsky, would no longer deny others use of the reservoir during those events.
- Changes to the city's plan to begin hearing domestic violence cases in district and county courts, rather than in January 2025, beginning in July 2025. Another change would require the city court to continue hearing domestic violence cases filed before July 1, 2025, until those cases are concluded.
Mayor Dustin Zvonek argued that the change would save taxpayer money that could otherwise be spent on law enforcement, adjudication and providing public defenders in these cases, while also investigating future privatization the Aurora Public Defender Office. Opponents see the move as the council's latest attempt to gut that office. They also counter that there are not enough district judges to hear domestic violence cases, that the plan has not received enough public input, and that the issue should be adjourned until a new judicial district is created and a new district attorney takes office (both in January).
- An update on the Cherry Creek School District's phased tax increase and $950 million bond proposal. District officials will update the council on the funding package the CCSD board approved Aug. 12 for a Nov. 5 vote. The plan includes, among other things, covering more than $300 million in planned and deferred maintenance for CCSD's school buildings, the vast majority of which are more than 20 years old. It also plans to allocate about $40 million annually for maintenance, the district said. It also plans to hire trained security guards to monitor school buildings. It also plans to provide healthy meals for all. It also plans to provide additional mental health support for students. It also plans to update technology and digital tools for students and staff. It also plans to hire “the very best teachers.”
