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Resident alleges harassment, online interference by local activist during council public comment
Summary
Wendy Franco used her three-minute public comment at the Jan. 28 Aurora City Council meeting to describe alleged intimidation, photography at her home and interference with her husband's aldermanic Facebook page by John Lash and associates; she urged the council that such behavior should disqualify him from representing the community.
Wendy Franco told the Aurora City Council during public comment on Jan. 28 that she and her husband experienced multiple incidents of what she described as disturbing and intimidating behavior by John Lash and his affiliates.
Franco began her remarks by saying: "My name is Wendy Franco, and I am here today to validate what last week's speaker described as despicable behavior by John Lash and his affiliates." She recounted incidents she said occurred during her husband's campaign and afterward, including repeated photographing near their home by a person she identified as Sandy Schmidt, whom she said "does not live in our neighborhood. This was an invasion of our privacy," and that the behavior was "absolutely abhorrent." Franco also alleged online interference: "They also hacked my husband's Aldermanic Facebook page, and they intercepted messages directed to Carl. Then, they responded very rudely via private messages to Carl's constituents, and they signed Carl's name."
Franco further alleged that Lash and his affiliates had made false claims about Aurora police officers at a previous council meeting, saying that body-camera footage later disproved those claims and that the accusers did not attend the meeting when that footage was shown. She characterized the behavior as a pattern and said, "The lack of morals and integrity by John Lash and his affiliates is absolutely astonishing." Franco concluded by saying such a pattern should disqualify Lash and his associates from representing the community.
Why it matters: Franco's remarks were delivered during the council's public-comment period, which the council's procedures allow but do not equate with official findings. The council's rules read before comment state staff will follow up with members of the public "within the scope of the city's authority." The council did not take formal action on the allegations during the meeting.
The comments are allegations made by a member of the public and are presented here as such; the meeting record does not contain independent verification of the claims and the council took no action on them at the meeting.
