The Truth About Barbecues

A few years back, I wrote that:

... the Boulder City Council "accidentally" passed a law against barbecuing. This does not make sense to me. A law cannot be passed accidentally. I realize that our municipal code is complex, and a definition in one section might unintentionally impact a rule elsewhere. But, somebody wrote the words that created this law. That person should have understood the impact. I would hope that at least one person (and hopefully more) from the city attorney's office would review a proposed new law and understand any consequences. And, bottom line, the city council members are responsible for knowing just what they are voting for.

I have no problem with our city council discussing and voting on controversial subjects. But there is no excuse for this instance, in which a majority of the council members voted for a law they did not completely understand. I would like to hear from the council members on how this can happen. Additionally, I hope that this is a wakeup call to improve the process of creating and reviewing laws. Ultimately, I would hope that no council member would ever vote for any change without fully understanding what it means.

At the time, it appeared that the council had inadvertently banned barbecues in apartment buildings. When this was discovered, they had an emergency session and revoked the ban.

Well, it turns out that there was more to this story than meets the eye. A few days ago, a 16-year-old girl was killed in a traffic accident at 30th and Euclid here in Boulder. Her car was broadsided by an ambulance when she turned onto 30th Street. That ambulance was headed to what turned out to be a false alarm caused by, you guessed it, a smoky barbecue on an apartment balcony.

It turns out that the city council was prescient in this case. I apologize for not trusting our elected officials. If only we, the public, had given them leeway and believed in their ability to predict the future, Hannah Boemker might be alive today.

Who is Gary Hobson, and when did he get elected to the Boulder City Council?