AURORA | City council are slated to decide Monday whether to require new city policy legislation to go through council committees unless certain emergency circumstances apply.

Councilmembers Stephanie Hancock and Rob Andrews sponsored the proposal to route all proposed policy changes first through council committees before they come to a study session or regular council meeting. Exceptions could be made for emergencies, such as a public health or safety incidents, legal concerns or a significant negative budget impact.

At the Oct. 12 study session, Hancock said she proposed the protocol to ensure that policies are receiving due consideration and council members have a fair chance to voice concerns or ideas and make amendments before having to vote.

“Rather than have us have these lengthy discussions on the floor, we can have them in policy meetings, then make changes that are acceptable both to all the members that are on the committees and in study session,” Hancock said. “This is where that should actually happen.”

That process has been the protocol for the city for decades, even if it hasn’t always been followed.

“From a policy perspective, we want to make sure that we go through committee and study sessions so we can deliberate and have conversations and then take it to the floor so we have time to talk and the public gets to know about it,” Andrews said. “I fear that emergency resolutions don’t allow the public to respond quickly enough to some of these issues.”

Andrews agreed, adding that sending policy to committees first also gives more time for public engagement and participation on controversial topics.

Currently, council members can bypass committees and send policies straight to study sessions and council meetings for a quicker vote. Under the new proposal, policies would need to meet one of the outlined exceptions and get approval from two-thirds of council members to skip committee meetings.

The protocol would also prohibit policies that have been through the appropriate processes from being removed from an agenda, unless the sponsor agrees.

Councilmember Gianina Horton said she was concerned the protocol requirements don’t provide enough flexibility to respond to fast-moving situations and called the protocol “rigid.”

Despite Horton’s objection, the majority of council supported the proposal moving forward. The protocol is on Monday’s council meeting agenda for a vote.

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