[bouldercouncilhotline] Hotline: Charter Amendment re council compensation

[kohls at bouldercolorado.gov]

Sender: Appelbaum, Matt

A heads-up on some concerns I have with the proposed charter amendment on council compensation:
First, if we're going to put this on the ballot, it is likely any other modifications to compensation won't happen for many years.  As such, and even though it of course makes sense to have a yearly, not monthly, limitation on paid meetings, I think that simply having a limit of 48 does very little good.  I'll be suggesting a limit of 60 meetings per year.
Second, I still have a question about the definition of "meeting."  I can understand a desire to not put such a definition in this section of the charter, but I think one is needed.  I don't even really understand how we currently define the term!  For example, I assume that interviews for board members don't count, even though those sessions take longer than study sessions and sometimes replace SS's.  Or do they count so long as at least 5 councilmembers show up, even if only for a moment, so there is a "quorum?"   As another example, if council were to meet with, say, the commissioners or BVSD or our legislative delegation during a study session, that would be a meeting; if we meet with the same group, for the same amount of time, and discuss the same issues during a breakfast session, is or isn't that a meeting too?  And who decides?
--Matt