This would give city council more control over boards and commissions, the citizen groups that advise on policy for housing, transportation, environmental policies, etc.
Because Boulder’s boards and commissions are controlled by Section 130 of the city’s charter, voters have to approve most changes to board and commission policies and procedures. Voters OK’ed changes in 1998, 2013, 2018 and 2022.
If this measure passes, council could make changes to boards and commissions by a simple majority vote at a public meeting.
“Our intent, if passed in November, would be to come forward with an ordinance shortly afterward,” Assistant City Manager Mark Woulf said at an Aug. 15 meeting.
Which boards and commissions would it apply to?
All but five city groups: the Arts Commission, Planning Board, Parks and Recreation Advisory Board (PRAB), Open Space Board of Trustees (OSBT) and the Police Oversight Panel (POP).
These groups are largely exempted from proposed changes because their powers, responsibilities and removal procedures are dictated by other parts of Boulder’s charter. (At least in theory — more on this later.) Every other board and commission will be governed by policy set by city council, if this measure passes.
What’s changing?
- Term lengths
- Criteria for appointees
- Rules for removal
Term lengths – things to consider
- Right now, all boards and commissions specify five-year terms. Council members are hoping shorter terms might widen the pool of people who would be willing to volunteer. Council specifically mentioned college students as a group who could benefit from shorter terms.
- More turnover might make it harder for board members to get up to speed on city processes or current issues.
Criteria for appointees – things to consider
- Right now, the charter specifies that members must live in Boulder, be older than 18 and be “well known for their ability, probity, public spirit, and particular fitness to serve on such respective commissions.”
If this measure passes, that language would be removed, and councils could create their own criteria for different boards and commissions. They could allow members who are younger than 18, or members who do not live in the city of Boulder (two current rules that would be removed).
- Depending on what elected officials decide to change, this could encourage more and more diverse people to volunteer. But it is a bit of a blank check: Council has not explicitly said what new requirements it would have for board and commission members (although the two above examples, pertaining to age and residency, were mentioned in public meetings).
- Setting policy by ordinance also allows more flexibility. Different rules could be set for different boards depending upon their own unique missions and recruitment challenges.
Rules for removal – things to consider
- The current language says council may remove members “for non-attendance to duties or for cause.” The proposed change would add “conduct unbecoming a member, and any other reason not prohibited by law” to the list of removable offenses, giving council broad legal cover to remove members.
- Removals from volunteer boards and commissions are rare, but there were two last year. Neither were on boards that would theoretically be impacted by these changes, but a lawsuit over the removal of Lisa Sweeney-Miran from the POP does cast doubt on the city’s claims that these changes will not impact certain boards.
In the city’s request to dismiss the lawsuit, attorneys argued that Sweeney-Miran’s dismissal was allowed by Section 2-3-1 of the charter — even though POP, like the other groups listed above, has its own rules for removal of members written into the charter (2-11-13).
That conflicts directly with the city’s own statements that this measure will not impact boards and commissions whose removal policies, term lengths and other policies are governed by their own respective charter sections.
The city does apply other provisions from charter 2-3-1 to all boards, including requirements for record keeping. It’s not entirely clear (at least to us) what sections of the charter apply to what groups. A ruling in the Sweeney-Miran lawsuit may provide more clarity.
- Because board and commission members are political appointees, the removal of members has the potential to become, well, political. (Appointments certainly have been, at least in recent years.) The process would still be public, with plenty of opportunity for public input, but losing the “for cause” language for removal of members opens the door gives significantly more leeway to elected officials.
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