Lisa Sweeney-Miran sues City of Boulder claiming free speech violations
Former Police Oversight Panel member Lisa Sweeney-Miran claimed in a lawsuit filed Jan. 9 that the City of Boulder violated her First Amendment rights when it removed her from the Police Oversight Panel in a 5-2 vote in May 2023 following a months-long dispute over her criticisms of policing and police violence.
The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court of Colorado, also claims that pressure from the City to withdraw from a lawsuit relating to the City’s camping ban before joining the Police Oversight Panel violated Sweeney-Miran’s right to petition the government and that the City violated her 14th Amendment right to due process when City Council removed her from the panel “without providing her even the most basic opportunity to participate and to present evidence and testimony.”
Sweeney-Miran has faced reputational harm and suffers emotionally as a result of the City’s actions and circumstances surrounding her removal, the suit claims.
The Police Oversight Panel was formed in 2019 after a police officer held a Black college student at gunpoint outside his apartment.
“I am bringing this lawsuit because Boulder not only can be, but must be, a leader in police reform and accountability. Our city guaranteed that things would be different after the terrible events of 2019,” Sweeney-Miran said in a Jan. 9 press release. “Yet we are not a month out from the most recent police killing with no real information publicly available, no accountability on the part of the police department, and no sense of safety or trust between the people of Boulder and the police department.”
In addition to statements declaring that the City’s actions violated her First and 14th Amendment rights, Sweeney-Miran is also seeking monetary compensation. The suit did not name a specific dollar amount.
Goodbye Millennium Harvest House hotel, hello Buffs housing
The Millenium Harvest House Hotel will be torn down in early 2024, making way for more than 930 beds to increase Boulder’s stock of student housing, a Landmark Properties press release announced Jan. 3.
Landmark Properties officially acquired the site this month, but discussions between the City and the developer have been in the works since 2021.
The four-story, 303-unit apartment building on the 15-acre property at 1345 28th St. is set to be completed in 2027, according to the press release.
The development received some pushback from organizations like Historic Boulder, which vouched for the historic, social and architectural value of the hotel, and the Boulder Convention and Visitors Bureau, citing the loss of hotel and convention space in a Daily Camera article.
The development will not include any affordable housing, meaning Landmark Properties will instead pay an estimated $18.9 million to the City’s Affordable Housing Fund, Boulder Reporting Lab reported in August 2023.
Rocky Flats lawsuit
When federal agencies approved an 8-mile trail through the Rocky Flats Wildlife Refuge Area, they failed to consider other options, violated the National Environmental Protection Act and put public health at risk, a federal lawsuit seeking to halt the trail filed Jan. 8 in U.S. District Court claims.
“Our concern is that people using the proposed Greenway will be exposed to dangerous levels of plutonium and other toxic substances,” said Deborah Segaloff in a Jan. 8 release. Segaloff is a board member of Physicians for Social Responsibility Colorado, a plaintiff in the case. “Public access could also transport contaminants off site.”
Rocky Flats Wildlife Refuge Area was formerly the site of a plant that manufactured plutonium triggers for nuclear weapons. It was raided by the FBI and EPA in 1989 over environmental concerns.
This isn’t the first time the Refuge has faced opposition since it opened to visitors in 2018. The Town of Superior filed a federal lawsuit to delay its opening over safety concerns, and at least seven Denver-area school districts have banned field trips to the Refuge. Officials maintain its safe to visit, according to previous Boulder Weekly reporting.
Plaintiffs in the suit also include Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center, Environmental Information Network, Rocky Flats Downwinders, Candelas Glows/Rocky Flats Glows and Rocky Flats Public Health Advocates.
Spokespeople for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration, all of which are defendants in the suit, said the agencies do not comment on ongoing litigation.
Trump on the ballot
Donald Trump will appear on Colorado’s primary ballot after all, following Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold’s certification of the ballot Jan. 5.
“Colorado’s 2024 Presidential primary ballot is certified. The United States Supreme Court has accepted the case, and Donald Trump will appear on the ballot as a result,” Griswold said in a Jan. 5 press release.
The Colorado Supreme Court decided 4-3 to bar Trump from the ballot on Dec. 19, citing the Constitution’s insurrection clause. The U.S. Supreme Court agreed on Jan. 5 to hear Trump’s appeal.
The presidential primary election will be March 5. Voters affiliated with the Democratic or Republican party will receive a ballot for that party. Unaffiliated voters will receive a ballot for each party and can only vote on one of those ballots. Voters affiliated with a minor party will not receive a primary ballot. You can check your party affiliation at bit.ly/VoterRegBW.
In other news…
• Boulder County residents requested stricter monitoring and greater transparency from the CEMEX plant at a Jan. 5 hearing hosted by the Colorado Air Quality Control Commission, the Daily Camera reported. The hearing, requested by the Good Neighbors of Lyons, was to determine if the plant — which has faced decades of criticism for its pollution — would have its permit renewed. Officials at the meeting did not give a timeline for next steps on the permit.
• Boulder residents can weigh in on the City’s snow and ice removal as part of an analysis focused on clearing streets, bus stops, multi-use paths, the bike network and shoveled areas maintained by the city’s Transportation and Mobility Department. The survey
is open through Feb. 8. View the on-demand open house and fill out the questionnaire at
bit.ly/SnowSurveyBW.
