{"id":1815,"date":"2026-06-03T12:33:22","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T12:33:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=1815"},"modified":"2026-06-03T12:33:22","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T12:33:22","slug":"aurora-city-council-to-review-proposed-decorum-changes-for-public-speakers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=1815","title":{"rendered":"Aurora City Council to review proposed decorum changes for public speakers"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

AURORA<\/strong> | In an effort to calm the occasionally raucous city council meetings, Aurora\u2019s elected officials will consider changes to the city\u2019s decorum rules, including a protocol for public speakers who surpass the time limit.<\/p>\n

City council meetings have a recent history of regular combativeness among council members and between public commenters and council members.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Heated meetings peaked in 2024 and 2025 after police shot and killed Kilyn Lewis while he was being arrested in Aurora, culminating with a meeting where council members fled the council chambers because of raucous protesters. Council meetings were temporarily held virtually to avoid conflict, though they have returned to in-person.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On June 8, the city council will review the proposed decorum changes during its study session. The proposed changes come from the City Council Rules Committee, which has been discussing the public comment process since March. The committee presented its changes at a May 26 meeting.\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Due to First Amendment protections, the council is limited in how it can regulate public comment and can\u2019t prohibit certain kinds of speech, like profanity or name calling, according to City Attorney Pete Schulte.<\/p>\n

Instead, the decorum changes focus on encouraging council members to act as role models for respectful dialogue and requesting commenters follow suit. In an effort to set the tone, the city attorney would read the decorum rules ahead of the public comment period.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The biggest change would be implementing consequences for speakers who go over the city\u2019s three minute comment limit.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Under the proposed rules, if a speaker goes over their allotted time, the mayor will ask the speaker to wrap up and allow them a 10 second grace period. If the speaker continues past the grace period, the mayor will issue a final warning and if the speaker ignores the final warning then the mayor can ban the speaker from public comment at the next meeting. The ban would only last for one meeting and would not apply to public hearing items.<\/p>\n

Some speakers at the May meeting pushed back against the plan, questioning whether it\u2019s right for the council to cut speakers off, especially those who may be grieving or emotional.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just don\u2019t know what it looks like to tell a grieving mother or a grieving child or a grieving father, you\u2019ve got three minutes and that\u2019s all we\u2019ll give you,\u201d activist Midian Shofner said. Shofner regularly speaks about the Kilyn Lewis issue. \u201cI don\u2019t even know how to fathom what it looks like for a grieving parent to get a piece of paper that says you cannot come back next time because you went over this rule that we have.\u201d<\/p>\n

The only proposed rule regarding the content of speech is that comments should be directed at city council and not audience members.<\/p>\n

No changes have yet been proposed for the city\u2019s disruption protocol, which allows meetings to be held virtually if there\u2019s a disturbance. However, Councilmember Alison Coombs said potential changes may still be identified.<\/p>\n

To help de-escalate disruptive behavior, local activist Auon\u2019tai Anderson suggested the city should identify a qualified and trained staff member to act as a third-party mediator and step in if conflict arises among audience members during the meeting.<\/p>\n

The committee also proposed changes to the order of the meeting and dedicating a public comment period for youth.<\/p>\n

The proposed decorum and meeting changes include:<\/p>\n