As Boulder prepares to host its first “community-council forum” next week, a spokesperson said the city believes the new meeting format complies with the Colorado Open Meetings Law.

In lieu of hosting a study session on Sept. 26, the City Council will have an interactive forum-style meeting designed to bring community and council members together to discuss key local issues.

The first community-council forum will center on economic development in Boulder. The city plans to invite a handful of community members, especially people who are strongly involved with the local economy, to participate.

The new meeting format is the first of its kind in Boulder. It will start with a presentation from city staffers. Community members and council members will then break into groups, and staffers will facilitate discussions on the topic of economic development.

Afterward, the council and community members will reconvene and share the main themes from each group’s conversation.

The open meetings law requires meetings with three or more council members discussing city business to be public and minutes to be taken.

City staffers will take notes during the breakout sessions, but the sessions won’t be recorded or broadcast, and there is no clear way for observers to observe all parts of the meeting.

At least one person has said the meeting format raises potential transparency concerns. Jeff Roberts, executive director of the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition, said the breakout sessions are unusual and could make meetings harder for the public to follow.

But Boulder spokesperson Sarah Huntley pushed back on the notion that the breakout sessions would run afoul of the open meetings law. She said the format of the meeting is unusual “by design” and that it was created in response to community frustration around not feeling able to adequately engage with council members before major policy decisions are made.

” We’ve heard from community members for many years … that people get frustrated if they feel like they’re brought into the process after key decisions have already been made,” she said. “(We are seeing if) we can impact a feeling or perception that the city is not engaging authentically.”

The community-council forum evolved from an “open study session” concept, where the council would hold a more typical study session but allow community members to participate.

City staffers originally recommended the meeting be held in a larger group format, but some council members expressed a desire for breakout sessions so that issues could be discussed in smaller groups.

Huntley said that it’s not feasible with the current system that’s set up to broadcast City Council meetings to record the breakout sessions, which will be held in separate areas in the municipal building. However, she said those rooms will be unlocked and accessible to the public.

“The city’s position is that we are upholding open meeting laws,” she said, reiterating that the designated staff note-takers in each discussion group will report back to the full group at the end of the meeting and relay the themes of what was discussed.

The presentation and discussion at the beginning and the end of meeting will also be livestreamed.Huntley conceded it had been a challenge to balance a “meaningful” experience for participants with the level of transparency that’s expected at public meetings, but she said she believed the city had landed on “the right balance” and added that changes can be made for future community-council forums if needed.

According to Huntley, 20 community members will be able to participate in next week’s meeting. Ten of those participants will be invited by city staffers.

Those invitees include representatives from economic vitality groups like the Boulder Chamber and Visit Boulder. The other 10 seats are open community seats.

If more than 10 community members want to participate, participants will be chosen via a random lottery, similar to the system used to choose open comment speakers at council meetings.

The Sept. 26 forum will start at 6 p.m. and will be held in the Penfield Tate II Municipal Building at 1777 Broadway. Members of the public are invited to attend and observe any part of the meeting.

Community members interested in participating in the meeting have until 4 p.m. Monday to sign up for one of the open seats. More information on the meeting and how to sign up can be found at bouldercolorado.gov/events/community-and-council-forum.