Housing committee gives Civic Engagement Commission six months to revive membership

Aurora City staff told the Housing Committee on Tuesday that the Civic Engagement Commission has dwindled to only two active members and needs a targeted recruitment and governance refresh, and committee members agreed to give staff roughly six months to implement new strategies and report back.

City staff member Jesse, who has been attending commission meetings since joining the City, told the committee the commission has struggled with quorum and “highly inactive members.” He said staff and the commission’s two active members, Emma and Glenn, have been working on a package of steps to clarify mission and scope, improve onboarding, and pursue targeted outreach.

The commission’s bylaws currently require 80% attendance for an active member, Jesse said; staff is contacting inactive members to confirm whether they wish to remain and is preparing proposed bylaw language to make expectations clearer. "In order to be an active member, they need to have 80% participation in the meetings throughout the year," Jesse said.

Jesse outlined outreach options that include an asset‑mapping exercise with the city clerk’s office, targeted invitations to community leaders and businesses, and recruitment of applicants who previously applied for other boards or commissions but were not appointed. He said staff time devoted to the commission is “pretty significant” — typically two staff attending monthly meetings, about two to three hours per meeting, plus an estimated one to two hours per week supporting members.

Committee members expressed support for reviving the commission but emphasized the need for clear purpose and measurable benchmarks before large-scale recruitment. "I do think, though, before we do that, we need to be really clear about the purpose of this commission," Councilmember Murillo said. Murillo added that commissions should have mechanisms in their rules for cleaning up inactive membership and said he was "comfortable with 6 months" as a trial period.

Vice Chair Councilmember Angela Lawson, who founded the Civic Engagement Academy, said she values the work and would rather give staff time to show measurable progress than immediately ask Council to disband the commission. "I don't want to give it over to council right now. I really want to see if there's some progress, and some measurements, and some success that we could possibly do to keep the commission," Lawson said.

Staff said the Civic Engagement Academy — a separate, staff‑led training program tied to the commission’s work — remains a priority and is being expanded, including plans to add youth components, but noted that the academy is currently staff driven because the commission lacks active membership capacity.

Committee members asked staff to pursue the recruitment and bylaw revisions and to return with a status report in about six months; no formal motion or roll‑call vote was recorded in the transcript. If recruitment efforts are unsuccessful, council-level review of whether the commission should continue was discussed as the next step.

Committee members and staff also discussed practical outreach steps, including asking council members to attend commission meetings when possible and using city events (such as town halls) as recruitment opportunities. Staff said commission co‑chairs Emma and Lehi (who had agreed to serve as chair and vice chair) support continuing the commission.

The committee did not take a formal vote; the transcript records consensus among members present to allow staff a six-month runway to implement recruitment, clarify bylaws and onboarding, and report back to the committee or Council as appropriate.

The committee moved on to other agenda items after the discussion.