Thread by @shayshinecastle

Hello, #Boulder. It's city council night. I've no idea what to expect tonight in terms of length/craziness. I am in a MOOD. And that mood is: Over this BS.

But I'm going to try and focus on the 3 good things that have happened since I left the house:
1.) I had EXACT CHANGE to pay for my soda water at Alfalfa's
2.) A cute puppy licked me on the hand
3.) Councilman Sam Weaver is wearing a bolo tie

Tonight we're talking two main issues: Affordable housing and the citizen task force to study police oversight

boulderbeat.news/2019/03/31/as-…

boulderbeat.news/2019/03/31/bou…

Getting started. Nagle and Yates are missing but maybe they're just in the back somewhere.

Oh shoot, I also forget a v. important discussion happening tonight, bc I didn't have time to write about it: Changes to what can be built in Boulder's business districts. Not a public hearing or anything; just a preliminary discussion

Some highlights: single-family homes won't be allowed in some high-density zones, and more zones will be opened to retail and housing (if the housing is not on the ground floor). Offices will be discouraged or outright prohibited in these zones.

Weaver speaks about his bolo tie: It's his grandfather's Rotary Club bolo tie. Awww :)

He is reading a declaration about the 100th(!) anniversary of the Boulder Rotary Club.

We're getting a quarterly update from the Boulder Municipal Court. Tonight's theme: Racial equity

Linda Cooke, used to be an alternative sentence counselor. She "understood" the racial equity issues bc a "disproportionate" amount of her clients were people of color, she says.

"There are places where there is the potential for racial disparity" :
Pretrial (Black + Latinx ppl are more likely to be detained pending trial than white ppl with similar criminal histories)

Over 99% of ppl are giving summons to appear rather than being arrested in Boulder's muni court, Cooke says. Most ppl in custody missed court date. City also adjusted their bonds to mostly be less than $50; none are more than $100.

Actually some really interesting figures in her presentation. It can be found here: www-static.bouldercolorado.gov/docs/1C_Muni_C…

Another place where disparities can occur is in sentencing. Boulder's muni court is flexible with the monetary fines it levies, also has payment plans and allows for adjustment of sentence to community service if the defendant can't pay.

Cooke going over what training court officials do in terms of implicit bias and racial equity.

"Our court does not have the benefit of having any African American employees. We do have four Latina employees."

Cooke suggests maybe incorporating training into the monthly meetings. "One of the things I've learned is that cultural competence training is not enough. What makes a difference is one-on-one interactions with ppl who are different from you."

She notes that could be POC, homeless, etc.

Interesting that this is coming tonight: elsewhere on the consent agenda (which means council doesn't really discuss it) is a re-up of the employment contract of Assistant Judge Jeffery Cahn, who Cooke referenced as leading these training efforts bc he has a black daughter

Cahn issued two pivotal rulings nearly a decade ago in Boulder's camping ban: One, that a sleeping bag counted as "shelter" (the ban is really on sleeping with shelter in public) and the other that a mattress surrounded by belongings counted as shelter.

Here's an old Daily Camera story on that: dailycamera.com/boulder-county…

Council will also be voting on a 2.5% merit raise for Cahn, who scored very good or excellent on "most" of the criteria in his performance review

I was going to write about it but, again, I didn't have the time.

OK, that wraps the court update. An announcement from Mayor Jones: Boulder still recruiting for 7 of the city's boards and commissions.

Jeffrey Boyd, a homeless citizen, asks what council is doing to reduce police brutality. "I've heard and seen them tamper with (their) body cam(s)."
Going over a variety of issues facing people experiencing homelessness.

Lisa Spaulding from PLAN is saying that the community hasn't had enough time to review the proposed use table standards. "Lifting the moratorium has become the focus of the opportunity zone process rather than developing an overall vision for the area."

Correx on that spelling: It's Spalding.

Jude Landsman is asking that the Boulder NAACP be allowed to pick who sits on the citizen task force. "It's curious that city council and city manager want to micro-manage" the creation of the group. "We want to be partners; we want to be respected as partners."

"Current proposal set forth by city manager does not set us up as partners."

Leonard May, also speaking for PLAN, "Given such short notice on the staff memo, PLAN hasn't had time to conduct analysis." But "cursory examination" raises question if the changes "serve the needs of the family."

One of the suggestions is to allow more efficiency units. May says those aren't inherently affordable and don't serve families. "It's pure additional profit for developers."

Also wants to look at the suggestion to remove some small biz uses in mobile home parks. "Does it preserve those communities or deny them opportunities" to make money for themselves?

Morzel reminds ppl that this is just the first step in this discussion: Public engagement is ongoing, there is a study session on this April 28, and then it will have to go through the usual planning board/city council rigmarole.

Tom Carr: Investigation into March 1 incident is complete; sent to Chief Testa and immediate supervisor of cop involved. Will take 3-4 weeks to review that. An independent report will be concluded at roughly the same time.

Bob Troyer is the independent reviewer that Zayd Atkinson's attorneys OK'd.

Jones: Will we get a report?
City Manager Jane Brautigam: You will be getting a report from the police chief. At that point is when we'll be releasing body camera footage.

Q from Weaver: Will we all be able to see the report in its completion?
Carr: Chief plans to summarize his decision in written fashion. He doesn't usually do a report.

Brautigam on NAACP proposal to pick citizen task force members; says she is including that in her presentation later tonight.

That wraps open comment. Consent agenda approved unanimously. Yates and Nagle are still absent.

Hey @threadreaderapp please unroll. Thank you.

OK, adding some more stuff on the citizen task force: Applications for the task force would open April 8-April 29. Brautigam would review those through May 6, then council recommend members May 7.

As I wrote earlier this evening, the NAACP wants to pick the task force members.

City manager Brautigam says she wants to tap Dr. Carolyn Love as the facilitator. This might be her: kebayaconsulting.com/about.html

Dr. Love is apparently interested.

OK, council also is going to decide when the task force recommendations are due to them.

Here's what the task force will recommend to city council, no later than Oct. 31:
Number and qualifications of members of the oversight board; Manner of appointment of the board members...

....Responsibilities of the oversight board; A description of the investigative powers and decision making authority of the oversight board; How it will be staffed; Projected costs of staffing the oversight board.

We're going over the NAACP recommendations now. 60% of task force members should be black or Latinx.

Also wants a person who is/has experienced homelessness, someone identifying as LGBTQ+, an indigenous person and someone who has been incarcerated.

Brautigam says that differs from her recommendation bc she would have accepted members who filled one or more of that criteria.

NAACP also wants a Naropa student AND a CU student; and have some non-voting members, including a representative from the police union, DA's office, and a public defender.

2/3 vote of support would be needed, not consensus, on recommendations. Also wants a rotation of officers to attend the task force meetings. (Brautigam didn't recommend either of those)

NAACP wants anonymous communication, which may not be legal under the Colorado Open Records Act.

New deadline for recommendations to council may be Sept. 30

First question to council: Who should get to pick who is on the task force? City manager, NAACP/community, or a council subcommittee

I think they're leaning toward a council subcommittee to work with the NAACP and recommend members.

OK, next question: Does council want to preclude ppl who have served on another city board or commission?
Young: I don't want to preclude someone who might be very eligible. I'd say give priority to ppl who haven't been, but I wouldn't say be exclusionary.

Weaver agrees. It will be up to the selection committee. NAACP also said to give strong preference to ppl who haven't served yet.

Debating the $500 per-person stipend.
Jones: I like the idea, maybe we can provide childcare. But this could set a precedent. We don't pay our boards and commissions and they spend a ton of time.

Brautigam: We cannot provide childcare at every meeting (a stipend to cover it) But what we could do is ask those that need childcare to let us know and then we could reimburse them or reimburse them in advance.

Carlisle: Or other extenuating circumstances.
Young: Let's offer the stipend on an as-needed basis.
Jones: Maybe not call it a stipend. We'll cover costs...

Weaver: We'll reimburse ppl for barriers they had to overcome
Young: Reimbursement is after you've spent it. That doesn't work for some ppl
Weaver: We can do reimbursement before
Brautigam: We can ask members to estimate their needs and give them a check in advance.

Looks like council will require at least six members of the 11-person task force to be people of color (with priority to Latinx and black) and, if possible, have those or other members fill some of the other criteria (unhoused, student, disability, formerly incarcerated, etc.)

Morzel is OK possibly adding two more members, which was a community suggestion. Brautigam didn't go that route bc a larger group is more unwieldy.

Council OKs with that. So the charter will be written that the group can be up to 13 members, with the preference at 11.

No hard-and-fast rules on gender balance, because men of color are the ones who seem to be having a more difficult time with police.

NAACP wanted the police representative to be a non-voting member. Council doesn't seem to be going in that direction; the fact that the group doesn't need to reach consensus on recommendations provides some protection, Jones says.

Recommendations to council should include the diversity of opinions.

Brockett asking about anonymous communications. "Can't we set up an email address that we can receive anonymous emails?"

Yes, Brautigam said, but I read that as a private communications.

The communications themselves will be subject to open records laws, but if the content is sent anonymously, that should still protect ppl.

OK, now council picking the subcommittee. Two members to help select who is on the task force. Young volunteers.

Brockett, too. His wife is the treasurer of the local NAACP.

That's all for this one. Moving on, but ya'll can quit if you're even still following. I don't think anything else important is happening.