AURORA | Operators of Aurora’s troubled homeless Regional Aurora Navigation Campus say the city moved too quickly to open the $38 million facility last November, launching operations in a building that was not ready, contributing to ongoing problems that continue to frustrate residents and worry city officials.
City council members and the center’s operator said Tuesday that it was a misstep to open the center last November inside a hotel-turned-shelter before critical systems, repairs and infrastructure were fully in place.
“My answer is no, we should not have,” Jim Goebelbecker, CEO of Advance Pathways, the nonprofit group operating the facility, said during a March 31 City Council committee meeting. “We weren’t ready. The building wasn’t ready.”…