Boulder City Council removes Police Oversight Panel member, prompting threat of legal action

By John Herrick, Boulder Reporting Lab

The Boulder City Council has voted to remove a member from the Police Oversight Panel, the latest flashpoint in a dispute that has dominated Boulder headlines for months. The decision was seen by some as a rebuff to the community organizations that helped appoint the member, and it may prompt a lawsuit against the city. 

Council members voted 5-2 to approve a recommendation by a special counsel to remove Lisa Sweeney-Miran from the panel due to her outspoken advocacy for police reform, and involvement in a lawsuit against the city’s police chief seeking to overturn the city’s camping ban. The recommendation was based in part on a provision in city code prohibiting anyone with a “real or perceived bias, prejudice or…