City Council meetings are held in the municipal building on Broadway. (Ken Lund/Flickr)
In early January, the Boulder City Council voted 7-2 to move upcoming meetings to be held virtually instead of in person. The motion came amid recent demonstrations and protests regarding the Israel-Hamas war, which has led to disruption in the council chambers.
City council meetings on Jan. 16 and Feb. 6 were held virtually. However, this move did not prevent conversations related to the war during the meeting, as some community members urged the council to divest from the weapons industry.
In the council’s Feb. 6 meeting, an agenda item on the discussion – a request to revisit the city’s investment portfolio – was briefly addressed but failed to gain the “nod of 5” needed to progress forward and add an excluded industry.
A “nod of 5” requires five council members to agree to move the item forward. Only three members, Taiyasha Adams, Lauren Folkerts and Ryan Schuchard were in favor.
Adams initially requested the agenda item and began the discussion by noting that, in the Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan, a top issue was climate action and sustainability.
She drew connections between the weapons industry and climate by quoting the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and agreeing with their calls for “significant and rapid investment in clean energy,” as well as “immediate and deep reduction of emissions, including military and weapons.”
“I would be remiss if I didn’t bring up some of the incredible public comments around wanting to be in harmony with all things, wanting to make sure that we are a peacemaking community and not a war-sponsoring community,” Adams said. “Although this will require a light lift, I think it is one that values align, and I think it is one that is supported by our community members.”
Boulder’s investment portfolio, which has not been updated since 2017, does not have a regularly scheduled updating timeline.
According to the most recent agenda, the last update to the city’s investment portfolio excluded several types of investments, including firearms and weapons not being used for national defense.
Council member Nicole Speer looked for clarification on the definition of what ‘firearms’ and ‘weapons’ mean in the portfolio and whether or not Boulder is currently invested in weapons being used for non-national defense purposes.
Council member Matt Benjamin also questioned the subjectivity of the phrasing and whether there was any clear definition of “national defense,” which there is not.
Mayor Pro Temp Lauren Folkerts and Schuchard agreed that the portfolio’s wording is poorly defined.
Among these concerns of clarity, council member Mark Wallach also expressed worry over the use of the council’s time and resources.
“The continued purification of our portfolio is a never-ending process,” he said.
Folkerts and Schuchard agreed with other council members that this revisit of investments may take a significant amount of the council’s time. They also agreed with Speer’s suggestion to turn the endeavor into a two-part plan that would encourage community engagement.
Mayor Aaron Brockett opposed revisiting the portfolio due to a lack of “capacity,” citing concerns over prolonged public engagement and use of council and staff time.
If the council were to revisit their investment guidelines, they would be required to hold a public hearing with further open comment. Council member Tara Winer joined Mayor Brockett in voicing concern over this hearing given recent demonstrations in council chambers and online.
“While I appreciate council member Adams’ discussion on climate, I feel like this is really about (the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement),” Winer said. “If we want one more thing to tear the community apart, this will be just that thing. I can’t even imagine what a public hearing would look like.”
The next regular council meeting on Feb. 20 is scheduled to resume in person at the Penfield Tate II Municipal Building at 6 p.m.
Contact CU Independent City Council Beat Writer Camryn Montgomery at Camryn.montgomery@colorado.edu
