Aurora councilmembers approved a resolution Monday night that changes the rules of public comment, adding a separate speaking session before meetings that will not be livestreamed. 

The resolution, sponsored by Councilmember Danielle Jurinsky, passed with seven ‘yes’ votes and three ‘no’ votes from councilmembers Crystal Murillo, Alison Coombs and Ruben Medina.

The proposed resolution comes after months of back-and-forth between councilmembers and protesters for Kilyn Lewis, who have attended every meeting since July to request action from the council.

Lewis was shot and killed by an Aurora police officer who was trying to arrest him on a warrant for attempted murder. He was unarmed. Both the district attorney and an internal Aurora Police Department investigation cleared the officer’s actions as justified.

Councilmembers have made various efforts to quiet the protesters, who have found ways to dodge those efforts and work around them.

The new resolution requires the council to meet in regular session starting at 6:45 p.m. on the already scheduled Mondays, rather than at 6:30 p.m.

Public comment listening sessions, limited to 40 minutes and not part of the council agenda, will be held from 6 to 6:40 p.m. on the days of the meetings.

Speakers can sign up with the City Clerk online before 1 p.m. or in-person before 5:45 p.m. the day of the meeting. Those who provide proof of Aurora residency are prioritized, followed by those who are not Aurora residents on a first-come, first-served basis, according to council documents.

“While I appreciate my colleagues’ acknowledging the continued need to have a public forum, I’m concerned about the way this is being done,” Coombs said. “We’re saying you can’t use your First Amendment to protest. You can only use it to say things that fit within the confines of what we want to hear and how we want to hear it.”

Jurinsky said the council listens to the protesters and hears them every time, but the council does not have the jurisdiction to do anything about the Lewis case.

The councilmembers get emails frequently from upset residents who have things to say, but can’t, she added.

“We hear you loud and clear. To LaRonda Jones, my heart absolutely breaks for you,” Jurinsky said. “But we have said time and time again that we have no authority at our level to do anything.”

Coombs argued that the consent decree that came from Elijah McClain’s death was “largely the result” of organizing in front of the council, saying the claim that the council can’t do anything about Kilyn Lewis is false.

The Lewis case and the McClain case were completely different, Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman said, saying Lewis had a “long criminal history” and McClain did not.

Coombs called his statement “disrespectful.”

“It is not acceptable to be dragging the name of dead people before this council and before the public,” she said. “I would think we could have this conversation without playing the whole ‘we’re going to talk about how the person who got shot by the cop is the bad guy’.”

“Read the report,” the mayor replied.

Jurinsky told The Denver Gazette that her proposed resolution is a way to “minimize theatrics.”

“I think that what our public comment has unfortunately turned into is theatrics and folks get up to the microphone and it’s their stage and they want to perform. So, we’re going to try to minimize that,” Jurinsky said. “We certainly want to hear from our constituents.”

If it does not work, Jurinsky said, they might consider moving toward running public comment like Denver does. This would mean anyone who has spoken at recent council meetings move to the end of the list at the next ones to allow more people to speak.