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Aurora's mayor didn't select new police chief; The city manager did

Aurora is actually like most of Colorado municipalities, with a council-manager form of government. City Manager Jim Twombly hires the department heads.

AURORA, Colo. — When Aurora City Council approved the appointment of a new police chief on Monday, it did so on the recommendation of the city manager.

Last month, when Denver appointed a new sheriff, Mayor Michael Hancock made the pick on his own.

What gives?

Aurora is actually like most of Colorado municipalities, with a council-manager form of government.

Aurora's City Manager, Jim Twombly, hires the department heads and only needs council approval when picking the police and fire chiefs.

Does Twombly feel more like the mayor, than Mayor Mike Coffman?

"Oh, no. No. I sure don't. The mayor position is the face of the city, and I think he's doing a good job at being that," said Twombly. "I think we're pretty well in alignment, I mean there's obviously going to be things that we differ on, but they're not really substantive."

Denver, Colorado Springs and Pueblo have "strong" mayor systems that give the mayor more individual power for hiring department heads and approving certain contracts.

In Aurora, Twombly brought the council the person he thought should be hired to be the next police chief.

"I would like to have the approval of the mayor and council for the appointment of Vanessa Wilson as the next police chief for the city of Aurora," Twombly said in Monday night's meeting.

Council approved her selection as Aurora's next police chief 10-1.

"We need to have the charter reviewed where the city manager does not have the authority to appoint a police chief," said Councilwoman Angela Lawson, who was the only councilmember to vote no.

"I am going to affirm City Manager Twombly's choice, but with some reservations," said councilwoman Alison Coombs.

"I, too, will affirm this decision with reservations," said councilwoman Crystal Murillo.

"I want to emphasize in our city charter, our city manager is the one who makes that appointment," said Mayor Pro Tem Nicole Johnston.

"I must have their approval in order for Vanessa Wilson to become police chief," Twombly told Next with Kyle Clark.

Had the majority of council voted against his pick, he would have had to make another recommendation.

"I feel like coming out of the finalists interviews, in talking with councilmembers, I think to a person, they all liked certain things of the finalists. I heard it more than one time, 'Boy, I wish we could take a little bit from this finalist and something more from another one, and then we'd have our perfect candidate.' So, I think really that was recognition that there is no perfect candidate out there."

The finalists included Wilson, Aurora Commander Marcus Dudley, Baltimore County Police Colonel Alexander Jones and Dallas Police Deputy Chief Avery Moore.

Twombly picked the first female police chief of Aurora. He passed over three African American candidates at a time when Aurora is in the national spotlight because of police officer behavior with African Americans, most notably the August 2019 death of Elijah McClain.

"I don't want to say that it was a totally color blind decision because I get exactly what you're saying, and I think that there's arguments for looking to appoint a black police chief. I will say we've also had a black police chief for the prior, almost five years, and we've got a black fire chief. I think those things speak well to Aurora, and it's just, in this case, that it came down to Vanessa was the best person for our police department," said Twombly, referring to former police chief Nick Metz and current fire chief Fernando Gray.

Twombly explained that his decision was guided by Wilson's direction of the department since she was named interim chief at the end of 2019.

"She probably had a little bit of a leg up because she was interim during a very difficult time, and really had to relate with the community, and I think that is a very strong point on her part. If there's any issue, she reaches out immediately. She tries very hard to maintain the relationships that she has in the community. I think that people feel that she's very genuine and authentic, and that if there is a problem, she will respond to it in a respectful and empathetic way, and she comes across that way."

SUGGESTED VIDEO: Full Episodes of Next with Kyle Clark

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