"Mr. Baumgarten’s religion is one of, if not the sole, motivating factor for its prosecution of Mr. Baumgarten," claims a motion for discovery filed on Thursday, April 3, by Baumgarten's attorney, former Boulder County District Attorney Stan Garnett. "The Baumgarten Family are members of the Jewish faith and follow Chabad Orthodox Judaism. ...Mr. Baumgarten’s religious affiliation has not gone unnoticed by the city."
Since August, the City of Aurora been trying to bring Baumgarten to trial to prosecute him for about two dozen code violations — like failing to remove weeds, graffiti and unlawful cars — at the Whispering Pines apartments, 1357 Helena Street, and the former Edge of Lowry apartments at 1218 Dallas Street.
These properties were both run by CBZ Management, a Brooklyn-based company, but they're owned by various LLCs. Garnett argues that the city doesn't have any evidence that Baumgarten owns these properties or CBZ Managament, and is instead being targeted for his Jewish faith.
"From the first day I got involved in this case, I couldn't understand why the City of Aurora was so focused on Zev," Garnett says. "Why they focused on him — whether to make an example out of him or something — has not made sense to me from the very beginning."
Garnett says the code violations could result in more than six months of jail time for Baumgarten if he's found guilty. The motion for discovery requests the city share more evidence to defend its claim that Baumgarten is the owner of CBZ Management and the properties at the Edge and Whispering Pines, while Garnett says the same evidence could be used to support Baumgarten's claim of Aurora's religious bias.
Baumgarten has stayed out of the public eye, and details on him are hard to come by, but the April 3 defense motion sheds a little light, noting that "Mr. Baumgarten and his family daily wear the religious garb of their faith," arguing that this is why the city is targeting him with "selective enforcement" of city codes.
"Mr. Baumgarten dons the long, uncut beard maintained by men of his religion, as well as a yarmulka/kipa on his head. He also wears a Tzitzis, a vest worn under his garments with tassels that protrude from underneath his clothing," according to Baumgarten's defense motion. "Mr. Baumgarten is conspicuously of the Orthodox Jewish faith."
"Mr. Baumgarten dons the long, uncut beard maintained by men of his religion, as well as a yarmulka/kipa on his head. He also wears a Tzitzis, a vest worn under his garments with tassels that protrude from underneath his clothing," according to Baumgarten's defense motion. "Mr. Baumgarten is conspicuously of the Orthodox Jewish faith."
Ryan Luby, a spokesperson for the City of Aurora, says that "the city has compiled extensive documentation over the last several years to validate the numerous problems at the properties connected to CBZ Management and its principals including Mr. Baumgarten."
"We have shared those records publicly. The city only learned of Mr. Baumgarten’s latest accusations against the city in the last eighteen hours," Luby adds. "Despite many interactions with Mr. Baumgarten and his teams of attorneys over the years, this is the first time the city has heard these new claims. We have no indication that any of them hold any merit."
"We have shared those records publicly. The city only learned of Mr. Baumgarten’s latest accusations against the city in the last eighteen hours," Luby adds. "Despite many interactions with Mr. Baumgarten and his teams of attorneys over the years, this is the first time the city has heard these new claims. We have no indication that any of them hold any merit."
CBZ Claimed Venezuelan Gangs Took Over
Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman responded to CBZ's claims of a TdA takeover by calling them "out-of-state slumlords" during an interview in the same month.
A few weeks later, a resident at the Edge, another property run by CBZ Management, shared footage of armed men walking through the building's halls, saying it was proof that TdA had taken over the building. National media picked up the story right away, and soon the front pages were saying Aurora was taken over by TdA.
In the wake of the media storm that came, an Aurora judge signed off on court summons for Baumgarten to resolve his code violations at Edge and Whispering Pines. The city spent months looking for him at residences and offices in Lone Tree, Denver and Thornton.
However, Baumgarten hasn't lived in Colorado since July 2024, according to Garnett. On February 14, Baumgarten authorized Garnett, who works with the Denver-based law firm Garnett Powell Maximon Barlow & Farbes, to start accepting court documents on his behalf.
Even though the City of Aurora spent months looking for Baumgarten, it never had strong evidence that Baumgarten owns CBZ Management or any of its properties. In December, Aurora judge Billy Stiggers told city prosecutors, "I have yet to see any evidence beyond a preponderance that Mr. Baumgarten is in fact the owner of these properties."
The April 3 motion asserts that Baumgarten "was neither the owner nor even a property manager" of the Edge or Whispering Pines.
The April 3 motion asserts that Baumgarten "was neither the owner nor even a property manager" of the Edge or Whispering Pines.
"Mr. Baumgarten does not own the Properties, but he is related to family members with controlling interests in some of the buildings," the motion reads. "Mr. Baumgarten moved to Lone Tree, Colorado, in 2019 with his family. While domiciled in Colorado, Mr. Baumgarten assisted the owners, including family members, with property-related issues, often appearing on the premises."
Baumgarten's defense then brings up conversations with Breezy Maynes, an Aurora code enforcement officer supervisor, as evidence that the city is targeting him because he's Jewish, and not because it can prove he owns any property.
"Mr. Baumgarten pointedly asked Ms. Maynes to explain why she was being so hard on him. Ms. Maynes retorted, 'because you are an Orthodox Jew,'" the motion alleges. "Other city officials echoed these antisemitic sentiments."
According to the defense's motion, an assistant district attorney said Baumgarten came from "East Coast money" and suggested he receive jail time because a fine wouldn't be harsh enough. The motion also accuses a code enforcement officer of more aggressively requesting court summons against Baumgarten than it typically would for anyone facing code violations.
"There can be no dispute that Mr. Baumgarten, an Orthodox Jew who conspicuously dons the religious garb of his faith (i.e., long beard, yarmulka, and Tzitzis), has been singled out by the city’s enforcement of code violations," the motion argues. "Defendant is aware of no other openly Orthodox Jews who own and/or manage the similarly situated properties" in north Aurora.According to the defense's motion, an assistant district attorney said Baumgarten came from "East Coast money" and suggested he receive jail time because a fine wouldn't be harsh enough. The motion also accuses a code enforcement officer of more aggressively requesting court summons against Baumgarten than it typically would for anyone facing code violations.
The City of Aurora closed the Edge in February. In March, a Denver judge issued an arrest warrant of Zev and Shmaryahu Baumgarten, who are brothers, after the two failed to appear for a trial regarding another CBZ property, the William Penn. Garnett is not representing either Baumgarten in their Denver cases, and did not comment on the matter.
