REGULATIONS NOT FOR EVERYONE

Deputy Mayor Suzy Ageton and City Councilwoman Robin Bohannan say the
new rules they've proposed for people who serve on the city's boards
and commissions are meant to apply to the City Council as well.

But if the rules are adopted, they won't have the same bite for the
City Council as they do for everyone else. While board and commission
members could be removed for breaking the new rules, City Council
members could not.

That's because the rules governing how City Council members are
expected to behave are spelled out in the city's charter, a document
that supersedes ordinances.

But the charter itself could see changes this spring, too.

The City Council will decide Tuesday night whether to hire outside
legal help to decide whether City Councilman Richard Polk, who was
pulled over on suspicion of driving while smoking marijuana in
October, should be able to keep his seat. Polk pleaded guilty last
week to reckless driving.

Boulder's city charter says a City Council member convicted of a
"crime or felony" loses his seat. Ariel Calonne, Boulder's city
attorney, has suggested hiring former state Supreme Court justice
Jean Dubofsky and Longmont City Attorney Clay Douglas to decide
whether reckless driving, a misdemeanor, qualifies as a crime.

The City Council might also ask Dubofsky for advice on amending the
charter language to make clearer what kinds of offenses should lead
to dismissal for its members.