Aurora’s New City Council Faces Questions About Police, Flavored Tobacco in 2026

Aurora residents aren’t as ruthless as they seemed a month ago, but being a city councilmember still comes with pressure.

At the November 17 Aurora City Council meeting, residents got their last licks in against outgoing conservatives who had just lost their seats in the November 4 election, and they showed no mercy.

Not only did residents tell former conservative Councilman Steve Sundberg that his “beard sucks” and Amsalu Kassaw, another right-wing councilman who lost reelection, that his name is difficult to pronounce. At the same meeting, Republican Councilwoman Stephanie Hancock was told her “bald-headed ass” would lose her seat in the 2027 election, along with Republican Mayor Mike Coffman.

Aurora’s conservative mayor and councilmembers are outnumbered, 6-5, by a progressive majority for the next two years after Aurora voters exclusively elected left-leaning candidates on November 4. It was the first city election since President Donald Trump won his reelection bid in 2024.

On December 1, the four new council members and Ruben Medina, a returning progressive, were sworn in to begin their new terms.

Rob Andrews, a former professional Canadian football player who ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 2023, won the most votes to take an at-large seat representing all of Aurora. Young upstart Alli Jackson, a thirty-year-old social worker, took the other at-large seat, beating Danielle Jurinsky, a high-profile councilwoman known for her aggressive demeanor, and Kassaw for at-large seats.

Amy Wiles, a small business owner and healthcare professional, beat the incumbent Sundberg, while Gianina Horton, a Colorado Public Safety Department employee, won the seat of Crystal Murillo, a progressive fixture on council who decided not to run for reelection.

The swearing in ceremony on December 1 didn’t have a general comment period, but residents showed up December 15 to welcome Aurora’s new councilmembers during their first regular meeting — and they came with specific problems they want addressed in 2026, including nicotine and tobacco sales, housing and the development of downtown Aurora.

But first, more drama…

Getting Personal

Some of the same Aurora residents who lashed out at the outgoing conservatives warmly welcomed the new council on Monday, but some were there to keep old beef stewing.

Aurora resident Kevin Detreville, who routinely signs up to speak at meetings with his YouTube name “Kdot,” called conservative Councilwoman Stephanie Hancock “bald” at the November 17 meeting. Detreville, who has thousands of subscribers to his videos criticizing the Aurora Police Department, said on Monday that Hancock’s son confronted him at the swearing in ceremony on December 1, though Detreville didn’t offer too many details.

“He put his hands on me, not once but twice,” Detreville said at the December 15 hearing. “I encourage the council, especially the new council, to look into this. I’m allowed to have a First Amendment right.”

Detreville targeted Hancock with comments because of her vocal support of law enforcement and APD Chief Todd Chamberlain as well as her frustration with protesters calling for stronger action against Michael Dieck, the officer who fatally shot Black Aurora resident Kilyn Lewis in May 2024. Aurora never fired Officer Michael Dieck, but Lewis’s family is suing the city.

In July 2024, Hancock said protesters with the Justice for Kilyn Lewis movement were acting like “terrorists, anarchists and opportunists” after their demonstration disrupted multiple council meetings, which led to a switch to virtual meetings for five months.

Hancock’s son, Michael, has been part of local debates on race and policing since 2018, when he spent sixteen months in jail during his trial for fatally shooting an Uber driver in self-defense. Michael was found not guilty in October 2019.

Detreville again referred to Councilwoman Hancock as “the bald-headed lady” on Monday, and called Michael “the seed she should’ve swallowed.”

Hancock hasn’t commented on anything Detreville said, but when his comments about her son caused her to shake her head and audibly smack her lips in disapproval during the meeting.

Calls for Aurora Police Chief to Resign

MiDian Shofner, the co-founder and CEO of the Epitome of Black Excellence & Partnership, a public safety advocacy group, told the council on Monday that the Justice for Kilyn Lewis protesters will adopt “a storytelling movement” at every council meeting, during which a protester will “come and give you a story about someone who has been impacted by the authority of Aurora.”

Without Jurinsky, Sundberg and other conservatives whom Shofner often addressed during council meetings, she turned her attention to appointed officials.

“As I do this storytelling series I am going to talk to you directly, Jason Batchelor,” the Aurora City Manager, Shofner said. “And there is going to be a time when I talk to you directly, Pete Schulte,” the Aurora City Attorney.

At the hearing, Shofner said she witnessed the shooting of Rajon Belt-Stubblefield. In August, an unidentified APD officer fatally shot Belt-Stubblefield after a traffic stop that resulted in a fist fight.

Aurora resident Cassandra Hill reminded new councilmembers of their promises to change APD during their campaigns, and asked for a change of leadership. Hill identified herself as a member of the Denver-Aurora Community Action Committee (DACAC), a group advocating for police reform and a local chapter of the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression.

“Many of you on this new council ran on explicit platforms of police reform and transparency,” Hill said. “We demand you begin that work by correcting a grave injustice enacted by your predecessors: the appointment of Police Chief Todd Chamberlain.”

Chamberlain was appointed in August 2024 after a string of five APD chiefs in two years. Hill described the appointment by the conservative-dominated council as “anti-democratic” and a “betrayal to Aurorans decided behind closed doors.” She alleged that Chamberlain has “repeatedly lied” about police shootings of Black men since.

A handful of other DACAC members called on the new council to fire Chamberlain or for him to resign. Neither Shofner nor Detreville echoed those calls however. Aurora lawyer and DACAC member Tiera Brown said that under Chamberlain, “Aurora police have not practiced accountability and transparency.”

With nothing on the agenda about APD, policing didn’t come up on the dais on Monday.

Flavored Tobacco

Like kids lining up to sit on Santa’s lap, a long list of Aurora residents signed up to tell the new council of their local desires.

Three teenagers asked the council to “crack down” on smoke shops selling vaping and nicotine products to teenagers with a “tobacco retail license,” but the young women didn’t identify themselves as part of a group.

“We need to crack down on the retailers,” said Avalon McDowd, a recent Smokey Hill High School gradiate. “It’s clear that there’s a problem in Aurora with teens smoking tobacco products. From personal experience, I’d say that almost every time I used the bathroom in high school during normal school hours, there was some number of girls vaping in there.”

The council started considering a tobacco retail license in July and then brought it up again early November, at the last council meeting before the election. Progressive Councilwoman Alison Coombs has been spearheading the idea with support from Medina and Murillo, as well as conservatives Hancock and Lawson. In July, Sundberg called it “anti-business,” and Jurinsky proposed a plan targeting predatory businesses instead.

According to the City of Aurora, lawmakers are considering a prohibition on new tobacco retailers in Aurora, like gas stations and smoke shops, from opening within 2,000 feet of each other; the city may also require a local tobacco retail license to operate in Aurora. While Colorado requires a state-issued license to sell tobacco, Aurora currently only requires a general business permit. (Ironically, Aurora is poised to become one of the largest nicotine pouch producers in the world by 2027, when the city expects to open the $600 million Zyn factory.)

North Aurora resident Robin Otay told the council that her community is “keeping an eye” on the new Downtown Development Authority (DDA) around East Colfax Avenue. Approved by voters in November along with the new councilmembers, the DDA is a quasi-government body that will use new property tax revenue to improve infrastructure and business in Aurora’s historic downtown. A presentation on the governing mechanics for DDA took place during a council study session before the public comments.

Otay said the DDA’s description “sounds like gentrificationese,” and told the new council to be “mindful and considerate” of who it appoints to the DDA governing board.

She also asked them to get along.

“Congratulations to the incoming and returning councilmembers,” Otay said. “I expect great things in these next two years, and I pray that you all choose to play well together.”

Others were there just to encourage the council to start out on the right foot.

“The past is behind us. Its lessons remain, but today is about a fresh start,” Aurora resident Tanya Tabachek said. “We might not always agree, but we can choose respect.”