Candidates are lining up quickly for five Aurora City Council seats that are up for election at the end of the year, with campaigns including those from a former Aurora councilmember, a former mayoral candidate and a current councilmember.

As of Tuesday, Aurora’s campaign finance system showed five candidates for Ward I, one candidate each for Wards II and III and two candidates for two at-large seats.

The Aurora City Council is made up of a mayor and 10 councilmembers, with six of them representing individual wards and four elected at-large to represent the entire city.

Councilmembers are part-time elected officials, while the mayor’s position is full-time. Aurora’s elections are non-partisan and the councilmembers serve staggered four-year terms.

Ward I

Currently, Crystal Murillo holds the Ward I seat. She is serving her second term as a councilmember. She has not replied to The Denver Gazette’s inquiry into her future on the council.

Recently, State of Colorado Coordinator Gianina Horton announced her candidacy and launched a campaign website at gianinaforaurora.com.

Four other candidates have also filed campaign documents to run for Murillo’s seat, including Pastor Reid Hettich, product development manager and former Denver City Planner Stephen Elkins, Christopher Belila and Leandra Steed.

Belila and Steed do not appear to have active campaign websites yet and neither have replied to The Denver Gazette’s request for interviews.

Horton is a fifth-generation Coloradan and daughter of an immigrant who has spent most of her career in criminal justice reform, she said.

Horton’s top priorities on the council would be public safety, affordable housing and embracing newcomers, she told The Denver Gazette Tuesday.

Public safety needs to be addressed through the lens of public health, she said, with an emphasis on addressing things like de-escalation, implicit bias and mental health. She values independent civilian oversight of law enforcement, she added.

Affordable housing is “deeply personal” to her, she said, as she has lived in “every type of housing,” and thinks “people need to have a place to sleep at night that is consistent, safe and stable.”

Her third priority is embracing newcomers and ensuring Aurora’s immigrant population is welcomed and given the resources they need to be successful, she said.

Along with her professional experience in civilian oversight, program building to bridge youth, law enforcement and community, and in nonprofits, Horton said her life experience makes her a good candidate.

“Vote for me because I have lived experience as a fifth generation Coloradan, the daughter of an immigrant, someone who is multiracial, and who grew up poor,” she said. “An important aspect of a democracy is being reflective of the community you’re representing … I’m going to show up, be present, ask thoughtful and critical thinking-based questions to make sure our voice and power is represented in a place where people don’t always feel included.”

Only Hettich has raised money for his campaign so far, with more than $12,600 in contributions as of Tuesday.

Ward II

The Ward II council seat is currently held by Mayor Pro Tem Steve Sundberg, who is serving his first term on the council.

Gayla Charrier, a former correctional officer and government security professional for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and United Launch Alliance, is the only candidate registered to run.

Charrier is running because she is frustrated by the arguments and “lack of empathy” she sees among current councilmembers, she told The Denver Gazette Tuesday.

She is also a mother of a non-verbal autistic son, who she said is her “driving force behind anything that I do.”

Charrier said she cares deeply about her community and wants to make sure people feel heard and supported. Currently, she said, the council as a whole does not listen to the community and spends its time in-fighting instead.

“I’m frustrated at what I see, the lack of empathy and the overall dismissiveness,” she said. “If you’re elected, you’re speaking for people who voted for you, and if you can no longer do that objectively, then why are you taking up space when there are so many things that need to be done in this community.”

Her top priorities as a councilmember would be addressing what she described as a mental health crisis and ensuring there are resources available to everyone, educating people and families on the resources available to them, and being transparent with the community when it comes to what’s happening in government, neighborhoods and schools, she said.

She has experience that makes her “see things objectively,” she said, and when she speaks on issues, it comes from a place of empathy because “I’ve lived it.”

“I’ve lived paycheck-to-paycheck. I’ve lived in my car. I’m not self-serving because I see things objectively. I’m not just speaking about something I don’t know,” she said, adding that her work as a correctional officer means she also understands what it’s like to be in an enforcement position in tricky situations.

Her campaign does not show any financial contributions as of Tuesday.

Ward III

The Ward III council seat is held by Ruben Medina, who is also serving his first term on the council.

One candidate, former City Councilmember Marsha Berzins, is running for the seat. She has not raised any money for her campaign as of Tuesday, the campaign finance website shows.

Berzins served on the Aurora City Council from 2009 to 2021 and is a small business owner who has lived in Aurora since 1979, according to her campaign website. 

Her top priorities are enhancing public safety, making Aurora affordable for all, and supporting her community, according to her website.

She is running for re-election “because she knows there is much work left to be accomplished, and she knows she is the one to get it done for you,” her website says. 

The Denver Gazette plans to talk to Berzins about her campaign in coming days. 

At-large 

At-large positions are currently held by Danielle Jurinsky, Alison Coombs, Curtis Gardner and Amsalu Kassaw — who replaced former member Dustin Zvonek late last year when Zvonek resigned. Kassaw is serving the remainder of Zvonek’s term.

Two at-large seats, held by Jurinsky and Kassaw, are up for election in November.

Jurinsky announced her campaign for re-election earlier this month and said public safety and a new animal shelter for the city sit atop her priority list if elected for another term.

On Tuesday, community leader Rob Andrews announced his campaign for an at-large seat on the council, saying he is focused on economic opportunity, affordable housing and public safety.

Andrews, who ran for mayor of Aurora in 2023 but dropped out of the race two months before the election, is the founder of One Voice Coalition, which helps vulnerable populations re-enter the workforce, according to a news release from his campaign. 

“I love this city and I believe in its potential,” Andrews said in the release. “I’m running for City Council because we need housing that people can afford, economic opportunities that lift up our entire community, and safer neighborhoods that work for all who live there. I’ve spent years working to improve lives in Aurora, and I’m ready to take that work to City Hall.”

Andrews is a Colorado native who has worked in nonprofit leadership and public service, including serving on the Colorado Workforce Development Board, Denver County Workforce Development Board, and the Colorado Judicial Performance Commission. 

Jurinsky has more than $3,500 in financial contributions as of Tuesday. Andrews does not have any contributions shown on the campaign finance website so far.