Aurora’s five new councilmembers-elect on Friday discussed policing and the consent decree, decorum among members and public comment.

The five new members, all progressive candidates, shifted Aurora’s previously seven-to-three conservative majority to a six-to-four progressive majority.

While votes are still being counted, Rob Andrews, Alli Jackson, Gianina Horton, Amy Wiles and Ruben Medina hold significant leads over their opponents.

The two new at-large councilmembers, Andrews and Jackson, are ahead of incumbents Danielle Jurinsky and Amsalu Kassaw. As of Thursday evening, Andrews had 32,606 votes (26.4%), Jackson had 32,408 (26.2%), Jurinsky had 26,480 votes (21.4%), and Kassaw had 21,730 votes (17.6%). Watson Gomes trailed with 10,380 votes (8.4%).

In Ward 1, Horton held a strong 34-point lead, with 1,873 votes (61%) over Stephen Elkins, with 824 votes (27%) as of Thursday. Reid Hettich trailed with 380 votes (12%).

Amy Wiles maintained an 18-point lead over conservative incumbent Steve Sundberg in Ward II. Wiles had 5,138 votes over Sundberg’s 4,445.

Incumbent Ruben Medina maintained his Ward III seat by a 30-point margin, with 6,015 votes (65%) over former councilmember Marsha Berzins, who got 3,179 votes.

In a news conference, the five new candidates talked about the future of the council, specifically the Aurora police, the tension over public comments and decorum on the council.

Medina’s first priority in December is nominating Councilmember Alison Coombs as mayor pro tem to get councilmembers more evenly represented on boards and commissions, he said.

In his next term, he will also prioritize mental health resources, financial stability for elderly people and opportunities for youth, he added.

“We are only as strong as our weakest link,” he said. “I want to make sure that we help each other … when we come together as a community, not only do we succeed, but the whole community succeeds.”

With a new council comes the need to review the rules for decorum, Medina said.

Having differences in opinion is OK, but, he said, councilmembers have been “nasty” to each other and that’s not a good way to lead.

“We’ve had people on council who’ve been divisive and don’t want to work with everyone,” Medina said. “I’m hopeful we can bring back some decorum and work together.”

Wiles wants to address public comment first, she said.

The council has been grappling with how to deal with activists protesting the shooting of Kilyn Lewis, who was killed by an Aurora Police officer last year during an operation to arrest him on a warrant for attempted first-degree murder. Lewis was not armed.

The protesters have attended every council meeting for more than a year, often speaking over time limits and interrupting meetings.

The council has gone back and forth with in-person and video conference meetings following the Lewis protests.

“The two minutes that they get to talk right now is an insult to the community and their voices,” Wiles said. “I think we can quickly get rid of that.”

Wiles also wants to transition domestic violence cases back into Aurora Municipal Court, she said. Since July 1, all of Aurora’s domestic violence cases have gone to county courts, rather than to the city’s municipal court. Wiles called the move a “disservice to the victims.”

Aurora City Council passed the resolution in September to stop prosecuting domestic violence cases, pointing to the money the city could save in doing so.

In Ward II, specifically, Wiles wants to focus on infrastructure gaps, she said, specifically pointing to the ward’s food desert.

“We have large infrastructure gaps, we don’t have services and amenities that we need in order to live full, active lives,” Wiles said Friday. “While I love gas station hot dogs at times, we are going to get our community members a grocery store so they can eat healthy food and shop and not have to travel 9 miles away.”

Jackson wants public bathrooms and trash facilities for homeless people and the public both for the sake of helping them and helping businesses with the pressure of street cleanliness, she said.

She will also focus on bringing back full public comment right away, she said. In general, she wants to improve communication between the public and councilmembers, she said.

“As a homegrown Aurora resident, it was very intimidating engaging with City Council,” she said. “I want to break down some of those barriers.”

Horton talked about the Aurora Police Department’s consent decree with the Attorney General’s Office, saying councilmembers and city leaders need to look more closely at what accountable policing looks like.

Andrews also pointed to the consent decree as his top priority, he said.

“I want to look at how we can work on that and make sure that we make policing a little different in Aurora,” he said.

He also pointed to decorum on the city council, saying poor communication among councilmembers has been a roadblock for getting things done for the city.

“When we show up in January, it’s about service,” he said. “This about about how we can support everyone. We have some things going on in Aurora City Council we’re going to have to change … I want to make sure we’re all able to have conversations.”

Mayor Mike Coffman, a Republican, said on social media Wednesday that he looks forward to working with all of the new councilmembers-elect “to make the City of Aurora the best that it can possibly be.”

Initially, Coffman said he was “shocked” by the results.

With the council swinging left, Coffman said on election night that he worries for the city’s business community and law enforcement.

Despite his concerns, he is ready to work with new councilmembers to focus on getting things done in the city, he said. Many of those things, such as the revitalization of Colfax Avenue and the development of the homeless navigation campus, are not necessarily left-and-right issues, he said.

In Friday’s press conference, the candidates-elect all thanked voters.

“This is proof that when you give people something to believe in, they will show up and they will vote and we flipped all five seats,” Jackson said. “To our immigrant neighbors, Latinos, Asians, Palestinians … and beyond, I want you to know Aurora is your home.”