A proposal to empower Aurorans through their city government is circulating petitions to place a question on this November’s ballot. It will tighten the term limits for Aurora’s mayor and City Council – and change the system of government to one where the chief executive for the city is directly accountable to voters.

It’s a smart reform deserving of Aurora’s support.

At present, the chief executive for the city is not the mayor but an unelected bureaucrat: the city manager. The mayor’s office is largely ceremonial. The person vested with the power to hire and fire all department heads, including the police chief; oversee the day-to-day operations of the city, and even create new government departments out of whole cloth, never has to answer directly to voters. That is wrong.

In a city of 400,000, voters should have more say over how their city is run. Currently, they have to rely on the City Council to oversee the city manager, who in turn oversees the city. Voters deserve to hold the head city official accountable directly.

Under the proposed reform, often called a “strong mayor” system, voters will get to choose the city’s chief executive. That takes the reins away from an unelected bureaucrat and places them in the hands of the people. The mayor becomes the city’s chief executive and will have to answer directly to the voters.

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That type of system makes a lot more sense for a large and growing city like Aurora.

It is the way we elect our president and governor. Can you imagine if Congress got to hire a bureaucrat to run the country and voters had no direct say in choosing the president?

It’s also how Denver, Colorado Springs and Pueblo structure their city governments. Aurora is certainly in the same league.

A majority on the Aurora City Council have made clear they oppose the measure. That’s not surprising, because the new system would dilute City Council’s power, no longer giving the City Council total control over who runs the city. The proposed measure also shortens the terms limits from three to two, another reason City Council members may not like it.

Importantly, the reform also vests power in leaders with a clear interest in the city of Aurora. While city managers are often hired from out of state, mayors have spent years living, working or raising families in their cities.

Of the three largest cities in Colorado, Aurora is the only one using a city manager. In 2010, Colorado Springs made the switch to a strong-mayor system. As with the current opposition in Aurora, when the Springs measure was placed on the ballot, virtually everyone in the city’s government vehemently opposed it. Thirteen years later, you can’t find anyone in Colorado Springs who says it was the wrong choice.

Maybe that’s because a genuine mayor who served and loved the city he grew up in – not a bureaucrat hired by the City Council – oversaw growth in the community’s GDP of $10 billion in eight years. That means high-wage jobs, better streets, more businesses and better public safety.

Last month, Colorado Springs elected Mayor Yemi Mobolade – a small-business owner, nonprofit founder and Nigerian immigrant. His historic win was made possible by the fact that now, in Colorado Springs, the citizens decide who leads the city.

By adopting a strong mayor, the people of Aurora will take a great stride forward. The change will create accountability by making the head of government answer directly to the people; it will create new checks and balances by letting voters decide who runs the city; and it will ensure that Aurora is governed by one of its own.

Denver Gazette Editorial Board