A community activist is considering suing Aurora for a chance to run for city council
Andrew Bray
Community activist Candice Bailey is considering suing Aurora for a chance to run for city council. Current city charter bans Bailey from running due to a previous felony conviction.
and last updated 2021-03-02 21:02:05-05
AURORA, Colo. â An Aurora community activist who has been vocal in the Black Lives Matter and demands for police accountability movements wants to run for city council but is banned from doing so.
On February 10, Candice Bailey announced her intentions to run for an at-large council position with the city via Facebook.
The flagpole isn t in front of the home in unincorporated Jefferson County. Instead, the pole is mounted in the backyard, where it s visible to commuters on Bowles Avenue, one of the major east-west routes in the area. As a result, thousands of people passing by every day see the display: an American flag flying upside down, in the international symbol of distress, over a Don t Tread on Me banner.
In a neighborhood a mile or two away, a Trump 2020 flag flew alongside the traditional stars and stripes outside a house for more than a month after the homeowners association for the community sent out a letter reminding residents that the election was over and all political displays needed to be removed. The Trump flag finally vanished following last week s big snowstorm, but multiple pro-police Thin Blue Line flags, which some people criticize as racially insensitive (a blue stripe is laid out between two black stripes, with white stripes beyond), continue to wave in the area.
Against the backdrop of continuing controversy over local homeowners associations trying to prevent residents from displaying flags or signs that support the Black Lives Matter movement, David Pendery is suing the metropolitan district in the Arapahoe County neighborhood where he lives. The suit, filed February 23, argues that the district is violating his constitutional right to fly a Pride flag and post a sign that underscores his family s belief that Black Lives Matter, Women s Rights Are Human Rights, No Human Is Illegal, Science Is Real, Love Is Love, Kindness Is Everything.
Pendery understands that the suit, filed by the ACLU of Colorado in federal court for the District of Colorado, could have the effect of preventing districts and HOAs from banning Pride flags and BLM messaging across the state. But it s also a matter of principle.
The dispute between Littleton s Kara and Ben Wilkoff and their homeowners association over a Black Lives Matter flag flying on their property has stirred widespread debate and it s hardly an isolated incident. There s a similar standoff in Lafayette between residents Kristen and John Freaney and their HOA over a sign that mentions the BLM movement, and the conflict could inspire legislation intended to prevent what the ACLU of Colorado considers to be a violation of free speech.
Kristen Freaney sums up the situation in the most straightforward manner imaginable: I want to have signage that promotes our values of diversity and inclusion on our own private property.
The fallout from Senator John Hickenlooper s vote in favor of a non-binding amendment that called for restricting stimulus payments to undocumented people has resulted in criticism from friends and praise from enemies, including the
Gazette, which suggested in a February 10 editorial in both its Colorado Springs and Denver editions that he switch his affiliation from Democrat to Republican.
A Hickenlooper spokesperson brushes off the idea with a pithy statement: This is hogwash.
Hickenlooper was actually one of eight Democrats to vote for the amendment, which passed by a 58-42 margin on February 4. But even though he initially shrugged off the vote because of its non-binding nature, he took plenty of heat anyhow. On February 6, restaurateur and DACA recipient Alejandro Flores-Muñoz ripped Hickenlooper, whom he d supported in 2020. Two days later, on February 8, the ACLU of Colorado, joined by approximately 300 signatories representing some of the state s most progressive voi