After some contention Monday night, Aurora city councilmembers voted to sponsor an Aurora Pride event at the Aurora Reservoir in the amount of $7,500.

The Aug. 3 event will have an estimated economic impact of over $487,000, according to council documents. 

In the original proposal, from Councilmember Alison Coombs, councilmembers were to vote on a $15,000 sponsorship. On Monday, however, councilmembers slashed that amount in half.

The amendment came after some heated discussion about finances and whether the city should allow organizations, like Out Front Foundation hosting Aurora Pride, to reserve the entire Aurora Reservoir for their use. 

Councilmember Stephanie Hancock started the conversation, moving to postpone the item “indefinitely,” citing concerns about the city budget and the reservoir use. 

Councilmember Francoise Bergan secured $7,500 through private partners to help sponsor the event, she said, and Coombs said she would be willing to lower the amount the city is dedicating to the sponsorship by the amount raised by Bergan, she said.

“Ultimately, even if we only made a symbolic contribution, much less than the amount that’s being asked for, it’s just that,” Coombs said. “It’s sending a message to our community. Removing it from the agenda or voting no tells the LGBTQ+ people in this city that uniquely this council, not any of the previous conservative city councils, doesn’t believe we should have a safe space for one day to celebrate our community.”

Hancock also doesn’t think it’s fair to close the whole reservoir for one organization, she said. 

“So the public can have access to the parks they pay their taxes for, it’s unfair to have one group rent out the entire park,” she said. “We’re setting a bad precedent and we never should have done it in the first place.”

In past years, the council has allowed the organization to rent the reservoir for Aurora Pride. Hancock said it has never been a good idea, but she wasn’t on the council to make that call.

Councilmember Danielle Jurinsky agreed, and said that no matter what the event is, she finds it “disturbing” that the reservoir could be shut down to the public. 

Jurinsky plans to bring forward an ordinance “that our reservoir cannot be shut down for any reason,” she said, adding that when she bought her annual reservoir pass, she wasn’t given any blackout dates.

Councilmember Curtis Gardner said there is validity in the conversation about whether they should be able to shut down the reservoir, but “that’s not the conversation we’re having tonight.”

“I do think, bigger picture, we should have a conversation in terms of our facilities and how we rent those out,” Gardner said. “But the conversation today is whether we want to sponsor this event and I support that.”

Councilmember Crystal Murillo said the city is “stating our values through our budget right now.”

“We know what message this is going to send,” Murillo said. “Our openly queer councilmember is telling us that this is going to have an impact on our queer community, and nobody is listening.”

Hancock’s motion to table the item indefinitely did not pass, with seven “no” votes. 

The item itself passed with an amendment, changing the sponsorship amount to $7,500, with nine “yes” votes. Hancock abstained from voting.