The Aurora City Council voted not to remove a recently appointed member of the city’s civil service commission following the revelation that he had been fired from the Denver Fire Department after saying he was retired.

Harold Johnson, a former DFD captain fired in 2015, was unanimously approved to the civil service commission by the Council in February.

The proposal to remove Johnson was introduced by Councilman Dave Gruber.

“Members of the civil service commission, their integrity and character must be beyond reproach,” Gruber said. “(Johnson) missed the opportunity to clarify the fact that he didn’t retire and that he was terminated. … The only thing we can do is take action to remove him.”

The civil service commission is a paid city role that provides the final say on the hiring, firing and disciplining of Aurora’s police and fire department personnel.

“I really doubt that (Johnson) can be objective in those disciplinary hearings and even if he could, I think it taints it,” said Councilwoman Françoise Bergan. “Someone who comes forward in a disciplinary hearing will probably sue the city for a decision made if it was not in their favor.”

Johnson was fired in 2015 after working with DFD for 21 years. According to the termination letter, Johnson allegedly broke 13 of the department’s rules, including negligent performance of duties, lying to internal affairs and lewd and disrespectful communication.

The letter detailed alleged incidents where Johnson postponed putting out a dumpster fire to take a phone call and used explicit, pornographic language when speaking with coworkers.

However, Johnson has repeatedly denied all allegations since they surfaced in 2015, attributing them to an attempted character assassination based on his status as a Black man in a nearly all-white department and his tendency to call out racist policies.

Several council members, including Councilwoman Nicole Johnston, said they spoke with Johnson about the firing and believe he is telling the truth.

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“When I’m looking for a civil service commissioner, I want someone like Mr. Johnson who has experience of being a civil service employee,” Johnston said.

Johnson, who has lived in Aurora for three years, said he fought against his termination and allegations but did not have the resources to pursue a legal battle against the department.

“When people don’t have access to legal representation, they’re not able to defend their character,” said Councilwoman Crystal Murillo. “It’s hard for me to look past that.”

Murillo and other council members pointed to racial and economic systemic barriers as potential complications to the situation.

“It brings into question for me whether we can really say definitively that (Johnson’s termination) was not what he claims it is,” said Councilwoman Alison Coombs. “I don’t think we should allow for a person’s character to be assassinated and partake in doing so based on only partial information.”

Some of the council members said their issue was not with the firing, but with Johnson labeling himself as retired on his application, claiming that it was dishonest.

Gruber even went as far as to call the action “falsifying information” on Johnson’s application and during his interview.

“(Johnson) may very well have been unjustly terminated but that isn’t the point,” said Councilman Curtis Gardner. “The point is that he lied on an application. That action would lead to termination for a regular city employee.”

On the application, Johnson did not specifically claim he had retired from DFD, but simply put his current status as retired. He was not asked explicitly if he had been terminated, according to council members.

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According to the Sentinel, Johnson spoke with several people in the legal profession prior to listing his retirement status on his application and believed he was not being misleading in doing so.

Both Council Members Angela Lawson and Juan Marcano were strongly in support of removing Johnson from the commission in previous meetings, but voted to keep him on Monday after discussing the issues of his termination and retirement status.

“What he told me was compelling because I have had similar situations with people in my own family, people in my friend groups,” Marcano said. “We know that department has a history with race discrimination and lack of representation.”

Some council members, including Johnston, Murillo and Lawson, even argued that Johnson’s troubled history with DFD makes him better suited for a position on the civil service commission.

“I think it’ll be interesting to see someone who has personally faced some of these systemic issues in this role, to be part of the decision-making process moving forward,” Murillo said.

The final vote was 5-6 with Gruber, Bergan, Gardner, Councilwoman Marsha Berzins and Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman voting in favor of Johnson’s removal from the civil service commission. The Council would have needed a supermajority to remove Johnson.

Coffman provided a heated statement at the end of Monday’s discussion when it was clear that the votes were in favor of Johnson staying on the commission.

“(Johnson) is absolutely unqualified for this position,” Coffman said. “Somebody who has virtually no integrity, maybe they can do a great sales job over the phone with some of the members here, but they have no integrity and you’re choosing to believe him now.”

During Monday’s meeting, the Council also voted to move forward on two ordinances that would exempt menstrual products from taxation and implement a temporary cap on food delivery fees within the city.

Both ordinances were unanimously passed and will now have to pass a final Council vote during the next meeting on March 22.