Aurora City Council members will earn more after they retire than on council

While Denver City Council's vote to raise councilmembers' salaries continues to raise questions -- and tempers -- on the Denver mayoral campaign trail, an activist in cash-strapped Aurora has determined that retiring councilmembers there will get an even bigger payday...

By Patricia Calhoun

May 17, 2011

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While Denver City Council's vote to raise councilmembers' salaries continues to raise questions -- and tempers -- on the Denver mayoral campaign trail, an activist in cash-strapped Aurora has determined that retiring councilmembers there will get an even bigger payday.

As Duane Senn, a member of Citizens for Responsible Aurora Government, recently testified before Aurora City Council, "a councilmember serving three terms, current term limits, will receive a larger retirement check than they are receiving as salary."

Digging into Aurora city code, Senn also found that in addition to their retirement plans, current Aurora councilmembers have a package that includes a $760 monthly car allowance, a $150 monthly expense allowance, a $1,047 health-insurance deal, and a $4,000 annual travel expense -- as well as annual cost of living adjustments.

Compared to CRAG, the Denver activists that Chris Romer and Michael Hancock encounter on the campaign trail seem like a day at the beach.

Watch Senn's testimony here:

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Patricia Calhoun is editor-in-chief of Westword, the alt-weekly she co-founded in September 1977. She’s been inducted into the Colorado Press Association Hall of Fame, the Association of Alternative Newsmedia Hall of Fame and the Colorado Restaurant Association Hall of Fame. She’s also received dozens of local, state and national awards for writing, including first place for feature writing and first place for column writing with the Society of Professional Journalists. Patricia is a weekly commentator on Colorado Inside Out, PBS 12's public affairs roundtable, which has won two Emmys.

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