Accusations flew at the Aurora City Council meeting Monday night, when councilmembers debated whether to keep the Human Relations Commission, which went on the chopping block in an initial vote at the last council meeting and then went back up for debate on Monday. 

That debate was delayed until a Sept. 22 council meeting, when councilmembers will recommend ways to restructure the commission. 

Aurora’s Human Relations Commission, chaired by council candidate Amy Wiles, has been under fire by several councilmembers. They claim the commission members are no longer doing what they are supposed to do. Several councilmembers said the commission has become an “activist commission.”

Wiles, a Democrat, is running for the Aurora City Council’s Ward II seat against incumbent Steve Sundberg, a Republican. She told The Denver Gazette on Tuesday that she has offered multiple times to step down as chair of the commission as she runs for office, but has not been told to do so. 

According to Aurora’s website, the commission’s purpose is to “promote a mutual understanding and respect among people” and “disseminate information and educational materials to eliminate prejudice, promote human relations and investigate complaints of this nature.”

Aurora councilmembers have been going back and forth over the fate of several boards and commissions for months, deciding at the previous council meeting to keep the youth and veterans commissions after debating cutting them.

Councilmembers also voted at that meeting to nix the Human Relations Commission. But when it came time for a final vote on Monday night, Mayor Mike Coffman proposed keeping it and changing the rules so that the commission meets less frequently.

After backlash from Councilmembers Francoise Bergan, Danielle Jurinsky and Stephanie Hancock, the council voted to delay a decision on the commission and instead bring forward recommendations for how to restructure it in September.

Jurinsky accused the commission of promoting a partisan council candidate forum, using city money to host a “know your rights event to help people evade law enforcement,” and turning into an “activist commission.”

“This commission has become absolutely partisan,” Jurinsky said Monday. “It has become a commission geared towards activism. It has become a commission that goes against everything that we as a council have stood for, have voted for.”

Wiles told The Denver Gazette Tuesday that Jurinsky’s claim about a candidate forum was untrue, saying the commission never hosted and would never host a candidate forum because it’s “not something this commission should do.”

Commission documents showed that members did bring up several upcoming community events in a May 7 meeting, which included a council candidate forum, Global Fest, Aurora Pride and a few others. 

Wiles said it is normal for the chair of the commission to mention any upcoming events in the community, and it is not a form of hosting or promoting them but rather a way to stay involved in what’s happening in Aurora. 

Councilmember Alison Coombs said that the “know your rights” event, which Jurinsky said showed people how to “evade law enforcement,” was an event to help people “understand their legal rights.”

“It is absolutely our responsibility to support our community members in appropriately exercising their legal rights,” Coombs said. “These are not actions we should be painting as wrong or horrible.”

Councilmember Curtis Gardner called Jurinsky’s reasons for getting rid of the commission “clearly retribution,” referring to a 2022 incident, in which Jurinsky went head-to-head with former member Aaron Futrell.

In May 2022, Futrell — who was on the Human Relations Commission at the time — posted on his personal Facebook account a claim that Jurinsky and Sundberg were “out of touch” with Aurora residents, according to Wiles.

Jurinsky called Wiles and told her to “shut (Futrell) up,” threatening to get rid of the commission if Wiles did not do so, Wiles told The Denver Gazette.

Futrell’s lashes at Jurinsky were repetitive and started right after she won the election, Jurinsky countered, saying Futrell would “bash” her during council meetings and then refuse to meet with her. 

“He started by attacking and slandering me while he was on the commission,” she said. “He would do this publicly.”

“Based on the reasons given tonight, this is clearly retribution,” Gardner said Monday. “To single out one commission for elimination under the guise of efficiency is disingenuous at best.”

Calling it retribution is “nuts to me,” Jurinsky countered, restating that the commission “goes against everything (the council) stands for.”

The commission is one of only a few that get a budget from the council, and Jurinsky said it uses the money to fund nonprofits, which the council no longer does itself.

Wiles confirmed that, saying the bylaws of the commission allow it to support nonprofits, hold events and purchase food for their meetings. Recently, the body donated to the Aurora Police Department for its Blue Backpack program, she said. 

“We are very careful with our money and the city signs off on it,” Wiles said, adding that city officials can bar the commission from donating to certain organizations if its against their desires.

The debate about the commission’s fate will resume at a meeting on Sept. 22.