Several proposed changes to Boulder’s city charter could substantially change longstanding policies on local elections and how the City Council does business in the public eye.
The council on Tuesday will consider a handful of changes to the charter. The measures, which are up for an initial discussion rather than a vote, include:
• Requiring three times the current number of signatures needed to run for a council seat.
• Allowing taller buildings in some areas of the city.
• Reducing the amount of time that voters have to collect signatures for a ballot initiative.
• Giving the City Council the power to hold private meetings through executive sessions.
• Paying council members for more meetings per year.
Each of the measures was suggested by individual council members or by the City Council’s Charter Committee.
Council member Macon Cowles is suggesting that the city allow taller buildings in some areas, specifically for the planned Boulder Junction development.
The council memo indicates that allowing some buildings to exceed the city’s 55-foot height limit would “permit greater density and more interesting buildings in that part of the city.”
Another measure could fundamentally change how the City Council does business by allowing the leaders to meet behind closed doors in executive sessions.
Boulder has long had a charter provision prohibiting the nine elected leaders from meeting away from public eyes.
While most municipalities — and Colorado law — allow elected officials to meet behind closed doors to discuss things such as real-estate negotiations and personnel matters and to receive legal advice, Boulder voters have rejected the concept.
In 2008, 62 percent of Boulder voters rejected a proposal to allow the council to hold executive sessions.
Councilman Matthew Appelbaum is suggesting that the council put the question to voters again.
“I prefer not to have executive sessions,” he said. “But there are certain issues that have come up where it is very clear we have been hamstrung.”
As an example, he cited negotiations last year to purchase property at 6400 Arapahoe Ave. for the city’s “Recycle Row” project.
“Everybody knew exactly how much money we had and how much money we could spend,” he said. “So it was an absurd negotiation, essentially.”
The charter committee also wants the council to discuss whether the officials should be paid for more of their meetings.
The charter now limits council pay to $100 per meeting, although the current rate is $185.87 per meeting because of inflation, up to four meetings a month.
According to city records, the council held 55 meetings in 2010, but the officials were paid for only 46 meetings because there were more than four meetings in some months.
The charter change would allow the council to be paid for up to 48 meetings a year, regardless of when they are held.
