About 75 people turned up at the Waubonsie Valley High School learning center in Aurora the morning of June 14 for a town hall meeting hosted by Mayor Richard Irvin — a turnout better than even he expected.
The group included business leaders, government officials, educators, police officers and other residents.
“We need to communicate with each other,” Irvin said. “This shows we’re all interested.”
The town hall was part of Irvin’s transition effort, an attempt to gather information and input from people. The information will be included in Irvin’s plan to guide the next four years of his administration, a plan he hopes to have finished by the end of the month.
“We are looking for this transition to be community-led,” Irvin said. “Today isn’t about me, or my ideas — you already know those. This is for me to hear what you have to say.”
Adrienne Holloway, the city’s new chief innovation officer, jumped right in to organize and run the event, a day after she was appointed by Irvin to her new mayor’s office position.
She divided the room into tables featuring eight general topics: government and administration; economic development; transportation, environment, sustainability and infrastructure; education and workforce development; culture, arts and recreation; public safety; intergovernmental relations; and housing and community development.
Groups around the tables were to discuss ideas on one of those topics. The groups switched tables several times during the two-hour event so people could get involved in discussions on several different topics.
“We want you to share your ideas on how we can move Aurora forward,” Holloway said.
Holloway will collect the information, and combine it with information from the next town hall, which is at 6:30 p.m. June 19 in the lower cafeteria at West Aurora High School.
People can also give their ideas on the mayor’s transition website, OneAurora.org.
When the mayor hits his 100th day in office — which will happen in about 65 days — he plans on making a presentation report on the work of the transition team at a school in the East Aurora School District, most likely the high school, city officials said.
Alex Alexandrou, the city’s chief management officer and a director of Irvin’s transition team, said Aurora has been blessed to have good resident input during past mayoral administrations. He said it has grown through the years, and Irvin intends to make that input a regular part of his administration.
“This is not one and done, this is the beginning,” he said. “We’re looking to take this to a level that is unprecedented.”
