Much like his predecessor, new Aurora Mayor John Laesch chose to focus on diversity and unity at his big night on Tuesday.
A large – and yes, diverse – crowd of about 1,100 nearly filled the Paramount Theatre at the inauguration of Aurora’s 60th mayor.
“I was surprised,” Laesch told me early Wednesday morning as he waited to go into his first meeting in his new job leading the state’s second largest city.
The new mayor was humbled and grateful so many people showed up to celebrate his hard-fought win over two-term incumbent Mayor Richard Irvin.
But was he excited?
I put that question to Laesch for a reason: A week earlier he’d informed me “I don’t get excited” when asked about what he was feeling as he prepared to take on such a challenging role.
While the huge crowd “invigorated me,” Laesch said he was upset by a political move at the City Council meeting earlier that day. And he told me his elation was also “suppressed” by “the enormity of what is ahead,” referring to slashing the budget to deal with the city’s “serious debt” that he admitted to the audience will already require raising property taxes.
All of which must be done, of course, while trying to maintain the momentum that has put this once crime-riddled city on the map as an entertainment destination.
It was the Debbie Downer part of his acceptance speech, for sure, but “I want people to know what to expect,” in his quest to “pull back the PR machine” and the flurry of ribbon-cuttings to figure out ways to make Aurora “a more solvent place,” said Laesch.
Unlike Irvin, whose initial inauguration in 2016 – and pretty much every State of the City address that followed – was filled with pomp and circumstance and the energy level of an old-fashioned tent revival, Laesch went more low-key (and less expensive).
It was a mood matched by Aurora Director of Communications (and evening emcee) Clayton Muhammad who, as Laesch correctly pointed out, always does a “masterful” job of quickly reading the audience and matching the mood of the moment, which in this case was certainly celebratory but had the “authenticity” and “matter of factness” the new mayor deemed necessary.
That being said, the evening was certainly entertaining, with musical performances by Ballet Folklorico Quetzalcoati and Paramount School of the Arts. And it had moments of high energy, not to mention stirring words that did indeed focus on unity and diversity, starting with Laesch’s father Jim, a one-time missionary who, before giving the invocation, spoke about his family’s experience working in a village in Liberia, where John Laesch was born and raised until 13, and where the emphasis was on all voices being heard for the good of the community.
Then there was Ald. Dan Barreiro, 1st Ward, who used a significant chunk of his acceptance speech to praise the opponents who ran against him; new Ald. Jonathan Nunez, 4th Ward, who focused on the words “pride” and “responsibility” when recalling the legacy of his Hispanic family, who arrived in Aurora in 1917; new Ald. Javier Banuelos, 7th Ward, who ran for public office as a way of “giving back” to those who were “here for me” when his daughter died of cancer two years ago; new Ald. Keith Larson, at-large, who moved to Aurora from Geneva because of the city’s diversity and did what more should do – instead of complaining about how things are run, get involved to make a difference.
And I have to mention Abigail M. Dior, an Auroran who represented the Liberian Embassy, and had the timing of a stand-up comedian as she described how she first heard about a “man named John” from Liberia who was running for mayor of the state’s second largest city, and her subsequent grilling of him to make sure he truly was from that tiny West African nation.
Like I said, there was plenty of diversity on display, much of it on stage when members of Laesch’s large volunteer campaign team surrounded him as he took the oath of office and then delivered his inauguration speech that focused on the positives going forward as well as the negatives.
While the new mayor may come across as cool and calm, he got plenty emotional when he stood at the podium to thank Aurora for putting him in this tough but important job. And included in his many thanks were words of praise for former mayors, including Irvin, for all the work they did in “bringing downtown back to life.”
There’s no question plenty of angst still remains, at City Hall and in the neighborhoods, about the next four years under a mayor with a different personality and a different agenda.
But Laesch, who says his number one priority is to get the city’s financial house in order, insists he’s ready to listen.
And so, I just had to ask: If “excited” doesn’t describe Aurora’s new mayor as he takes office, what words fit?
“Calm,” he replied. “And ready.”
dcrosby@tribpub.com.
