August 03, 2023 01:42 PM UTC

Mike Coffman: More Full of Shit Than Ever

• 2 Comments
• by: Colorado Pols

Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman, a Republican, has served in elected office since basically just after the dinosaurs went extinct. This year, Coffman is running for re-election AND pushing a ballot initiative that would give the next Aurora Mayor — which he hopes will be him — significantly more power.

As we discussed in this space in June, Coffman was initially playing coy about his involvement in the ballot initiative process, saying that he wouldn’t comment on the issue unless and until it made the ballot. This was silly, of course, since Coffman’s longtime political aide (Tyler Sandberg) dating back to his time in Congress was literally the spokesperson for the initiative campaign with the nonsense title “Term Limits for a Better Aurora.” (Note: It has since been renamed as the “Yes on Term Limits and Empowering the Mayor” campaign).

Now that the YTLEM initiative has received enough signatures to make the ballot, Coffman is saying what we all knew from the beginning: That he was not only involved with the “Strong Mayor” proposal, but that the whole thing was his idea in the first place. As 9News explains:

Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman previously said he would not confirm if he led the initiative to give his office more power until it made the ballot.

A spokesperson for the “Yes on Term Limits and Empowering the Mayor” initiative announced Tuesday that the measure had enough signatures to go to voters. Wednesday, Coffman told 9NEWS he was behind the proposal…

…If passed, the ballot issue would reduce term limits from three four-year terms to two four-year terms, but more importantly, it would change Aurora to a mayor-council form of government and give the mayor much more power. The mayor would have power over day-to-day operations, as well as veto authority over ordinances passed by the city council.

[mantra-pullquote align=”right” textalign=”left” width=”60%”]“I certainly initiated the process.”

— Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman, confirming that the “Strong Mayor” initiative in Aurora was his idea from the beginning.[/mantra-pullquote]

Marshall Zelinger of 9News sat down with Coffman to get the truth from Coffman in his familiar mumbling staccato. Zelinger got right to the point in asking Coffman about his involvement in the “Strong Mayor” movement [all emphasis ours]:

COFFMAN: “I was involved early on, in researching it, in talking to different people about what the best course of action would be…

…I certainly initiated the process.”

ZELINGER: If you initiated it, and you were involved early on, how come when we asked — while signatures were being collected — for input or comment from you, your response was, “I will comment if and when it makes the ballot.” Why were you avoiding transparency?

COFFMAN: Well, I just think that — in hindsight, who knows — but it’s not about transparency. To me it wasn’t an issue until it made the ballot. It’s hard for me because I have to focus on my own campaign for mayor, and then there’s this issue, and so, um, that was a decision that I made at that time.

Zelinger asked why Coffman allowed two other city employees to be the face of the initiative instead of standing up and saying it was his idea from the start.

“Well, I made a decision that it wasn’t an issue until it made the ballot. That was a decision I made. I’m certainly free to comment on it now, in terms of what my position was, [and] why I think it was important for the city to take this direction.” 

If you’re at all familiar with Coffman, this “just repeat the same thing you said earlier” response won’t surprise you at all. Back in 2012, the then-Congressman sparked a nationwide scandal when he told supporters at a Republican fundraiser that President Barack Obama was “in his heart, not an American.”

When Kyle Clark of 9News later caught up with Coffman to respond to those comments, Coffman delivered a master course in making a goddamned fool of yourself:

COFFMAN: I think that… Umm… I stand by my statement that I misspoke and I apologize.

CLARK: OK. And who were you apologizing to?

COFFMAN: You know, I stand by my statement that I misspoke and I apologize.

CLARK: I apologize, we talk to you all the time, you’re a very forthcoming guy. Who’s telling you not to talk and to handle it like this?

COFFMAN: I stand by my statement, that I wrote, that you have, and I misspoke and I apologize.

CLARK: Was it that you thought it would go over well in Elbert County where folks are very conservative and you’d never say something like that in the suburbs?

COFFMAN: I stand by my statement that I misspoke and I apologize.

CLARK: Is there anything I can ask you that you’ll answer differently?

COFFMAN: You know, I stand by my statement that I misspoke and I apologize.

CLARK: Thank you, congressman…

Five times Coffman said the same thing, practically verbatim. Brutal.

In last week’s interview, Zelinger also asked Coffman about his response to people who feel they were misled into signing something that appeared to be about term limits, since the first few sentences mention term limits before delving into the “Strong Mayor” argument. Coffman’s response, while less robotic, was to BLAME THE PEOPLE WHO WERE DUPED FOR NOT READING MORE CLOSELY:

“Well, I’m certainly sorry if they felt that way. I think, that, um, nothing, you know, precludes one’s responsibility to read the ballot language.”

Ah yes! Shame on you for allowing me to mislead you, silly voters!

After Coffman was crushed by Jason Crow in his 2018 bid for re-election in Congress, he quickly pivoted to an open seat for Aurora Mayor. After a narrow victory in 2019, Coffman immediately started working on stacking the City Council with confidantes such as “Mini-Mike” Dustin Zvonek and the astoundingly-racist Steve Sundberg. Coffman is now hoping he’ll get another four-year term in November and that voters will basically anoint him the King of Aurora forevermore.

If you are an Aurora voter and you have any self-respect whatsoever, you know what to do when ballots are mailed out in October.