Aurora Mayor Pro Tem Dustin Zvonek announced Monday night that he will be prematurely leaving his position on the City Council at the end of the month.

While Zvonek did not specify his reason for leaving, he said it had to do with family and “curveballs” thrown his way.

Zvonek has served on the Aurora City Council for three years, with his current four-year term set to expire in November 2025. However, he will instead vacate his position by the end of the month, he said at the end of Monday night’s council meeting.

He recently joined public relations firm 76 Group as a principal, the company announced in mid-September. Prior to joining the firm, he was the president and CEO of Young Americans Bank and Young Americans Center for Financial Education.

Aurora City Code states that vacancies on the council are filled by remaining council members. They will have 45 days after Zvonek leaves his seat to appoint by majority a person who meets the qualifications to fill it.

In Monday night’s meeting, Zvonek expressed gratitude to his fellow councilmembers, saying he is proud of the council’s work over the years.

“Serving on this council has been a wild ride, to say the least, and yet it’s something I wouldn’t trade for anything in the world,” Zvonek said. “Sometimes in life you get thrown a curveball, or in my case, it was several all at once. After much reflection and a few tough conversations, I’ve made a decision that’s in the best interest of my family.”

Zvonek emphasized his pride in the council’s work on cleaning up homeless encampments, paving roads, and enacting mandatory minimum jail sentences for vehicle and retail theft.

He thanked the people of Aurora is his speech as well, saying he is “forever grateful” for the trust people have put in him and sorry that he cannot fulfill his four-year commitment.

Mayor Mike Coffman thanked Zvonek for his leadership, saying he’s “taken on some of the toughest issues that we’ve confronted.”

Zvonek has been a major part of road maintenance pushes in the city as well as a recent push to privatize the city’s Public Defender’s Office.

Before Zvonek was on the council, he presented the idea for Build Up Aurora, a program to improve roads across the city. As a councilmember, he sponsored the program to close a two-decade funding gap for road maintenance.

Zvonek also partnered with fellow Councilmember Danielle Jurinsky in a push to figure out if the city could save money contracting out for indigent defense rather than funding an internal public defender’s office.

However, a request for proposals sent out by the city in January came up empty.

In his Monday speech announcing his resignation from the council, Zvonek also acknowledged the tension among councilmembers, particularly between the conservative majority, of which there are seven members, and progressive minority, of which there are three.

He referred to the discrepancies between members as a “reality TV show.”

“I know that for many of you who’ve tuned into our meetings, it sometimes feels like you’re watching a reality show where nobody’s going to get voted off the island,” he said. “We may not always agree, and some of us less than others, but I can promise you this: every single one of my colleagues genuinely cares about the city and its people.”

Despite their differences, Zvonek said he has learned something from every member of the council.