Aurora is a city with near limitless potential. With one of the most diverse populations in the country, a world-class medical research industry, leading aerospace companies, a quickly growing population and a significant amount of undeveloped land, Aurora’s future is one defined more by its possibilities than its limitations.

This is where the Aurora City Council fits in. Council has a responsibility to set a vision for the city’s future and to set policy that will allow it to reach its potential by empowering innovation and growth rather than putting up roadblocks to improvement.

Central to achieving its full potential is ensuring that Aurora is a safe place to live, work, start a business and raise a family. As a newly elected member of City Council, I am committed to prioritizing, not politicizing public safety.

Over the last two years, the city has seen shocking and deeply troubling spikes in violent crime, property damage and auto theft. This needs to change, drastically.

We need to get past the political slogans and dig down into serious policy changes that can be made to stem the tide of crime and turn Aurora into one of the safest cities in America – a path it was on only a few years ago.

We need to get past the false premise that you either support our Police Department or the community and acknowledge that improving public safety will require us to work together with law enforcement and the community.

We need to support our law enforcement community, including police, fire and dispatch, and work to understand the staffing, resources and training they need to make Aurora safe. That doesn’t happen with policies that seek to defund the police or undermine their credibility, but from honest, fact-based conversations focused on results rather than slogans.

To improve public safety, we also need to refuse to allow homeless encampments to spread unabated across the city. The encampments are creating dangerous environments for residents and harming small businesses’ ability to operate. The encampments themselves are neither safe nor humane locations for our homeless population.

A safe Aurora is foundational to the larger vision for Aurora becoming the most job-friendly city in Colorado. While Denver continues down the path of higher taxes, attacks on private property rights and mounting public safety concerns that are chasing businesses out of the city, Aurora has an opportunity to lead by example and present a better way forward.

We can work to create better, higher-paying jobs by encouraging businesses to grow and thrive in our city. Aurora can become the leading creator of jobs and opportunity, not just for those of us who call Aurora home but for the region and the state.

To kick off this new direction, I am proposing a “Red Tape Roundup” commission that will survey our city’s businesses and leading industries to understand what hurdles the city is putting it their way to grow and expand. What rules, regulations and city processes are hindering job creation that are also unnecessary or duplicative?

We need to send a loud and clear message to businesses, not just in Colorado but across the country, that Aurora is open for business.

With our incredibly diverse population — over 160 languages are spoken in Aurora Public Schools — we have a unique opportunity to support entrepreneurs from across the globe who chose to pursue the American dream right here in our city.

With our world-class medical research campus in Anschutz, we can attract capital — both human and financial — at incredible rates.

With Buckley Space Force Base and the growing aerospace industry, there are many opportunities for smaller businesses to leverage that growth and for our schools to build internship and apprentice opportunities through STEM programs.

We also have a responsibility to support and work with our family-owned small businesses so they can continue to create more jobs and opportunity.

To create a city that is job friendly, it is not enough to just pass new laws and organize commissions, we need to ensure that all departments are connected to the larger vision and clearly understand their role in making sure Aurora is open for business.

Ronald Reagan once quipped, “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.” That’s exactly the customer-focused mindset we need to instill throughout the Municipal Center. We need to connect everyone to that central pro-job vision for Aurora.

A new day is dawning in Aurora. The voters spoke and endorsed a new direction for the City Council and the city.

I am honored by the opportunity to serve and ready to work together with my colleagues on council to make Aurora a safer, more prosperous city in which every resident can work, live and raise a family.

Dustin Zvonek was elected on Nov. 2 as an Aurora City Councilman At-Large.