An Aurora City Council member plans to propose the creation of a new appointed position for the city with the goal of holding city officials more accountable.

At-large Councilmember Curtis Gardner announced in a press release Thursday that he will introduce a referred measure at the city council’s next study session to create the new position of city auditor. 

Currently, the city has ten elected councilmembers and an elected mayor. The city council appoints a city attorney, currently Dan Brotzman, a presiding judge, currently Shawn Day, a city manager, currently Jason Batchelor and a court administrator, currently Candice Atkinson.

The city also currently has an Internal Audit Department that reports to the city manager and audits other city departments under the city manager’s chain of command. 

Gardner’s proposal will go to voters in November, he said, asking Aurora’s residents if they want their elected officials to be able to appoint a city auditor. 

If approved, the position would transition the existing Internal Audit Department from under the city manager, creating a position selected by majority council vote, Gardner said in the release.

Gardner is not suggesting the position because he has concerns about current city management, he said, but rather to make the internal auditing process “more accountable and transparent.”

“It would remove the inherent conflict of interest that exists today with the Internal Audit Department sitting in the same reporting structure with the leadership and departments they are supposed to investigate,” Gardner said in the release. 

Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman disagrees, he told The Denver Gazette Thursday.

“I think it’s a really bad idea,” Coffman said, adding Gardner has not discussed it with him directly.

Coffman said Gardner is looking for a solution for a problem that doesn’t exist and that the position would allow the majority of council to “weaponize the office for their own purposes.”

Currently, any councilmember can request an audit, Coffman said. 

“There’s no problem to be solved,” Coffman said. 

The city of Denver, in contrast, has an independently-elected auditor, currently Timothy O’Brien, who serves as a check and balance on Denver’s government, which is a “strong mayor” system.

In a council-mayor form of government, or a “strong mayor” system, the city manager position is eliminated and the mayor becomes the executive in charge of running the city. “Strong mayors” typically prepare the budget, hold veto powers and appoint key department heads, among other duties.

Aurora, on the other hand, has a council-manager form of government, meaning the elected city council sets policies and there is a council-appointed city manager who administers them.