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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04112011CRC3. ROLL CALL Present: Bob Daberkow John Danise Linda DeSanctis Ed Dodd Dan Dragonetti Jeanne Hill Louise Kautenburg, Chair Janet Kennedy Mary McGee Bob McPartlan Carolyn Sartain Anderson Ruth Sullivan Bob Zomok, Vice Chair Absent: Adrina Davis (excused) CITY IF Staff Present: City Attorney, Robert Ginsburg City Clerk, Sally Maio Deputy City Clerk, Jeanette Williams HOME OF PELICAN ISLAND CHARTER REVIEW COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES MONDAY, APRIL 11, 2011 6:00 P.M. CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS 1225 MAIN STREET, SEBASTIAN, FLORIDA ALL AGENDA ITEMS MAYBE INSPECTED IN THE OFFICE OF THE CITY CLERK 1225 MAIN STREET, SEBASTIAN, FLORIDA OR ON THE CITY WEBSITE 1. Chairperson Louise Kautenburg called the meeting to order at 2. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited. 4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A. March 14, 2011 MOTION by Mr. Dragonetti and SECOND by Mr. Zomok to approve the minutes passed on unanimously. Charter Review Committee Meeting April 11, 2011 Page Two 5. PUBLIC INPUT None at this time. 6. OLD BUSINESS: A. Consider Conducting Two Public Hearings in May and Making Presentation to City Council on June 8 in Keeping with Charter Provision for City Council to Call General Election by Resolution by End of July (Memo, Calendar) Chairperson Kautenburg suggested holding this item in abeyance until it could be determined whether extra meetings would be needed, and there was no objection. In response to Mrs. Sullivan, Ms. Kautenburg said the committee will touch on each issue previously addressed again. 7. NEW BUSINESS A. Continuation of Priority List Review and Discussion Section 3.03 Removal fof Charter Officer/ Mr. Dodd said the existing removal language needs to be rewritten because it does not indicate a clear path or sequence of events. The City Attorney, at the request of Mr. Dragonetti, who noted the City Attorney had brought this to the committee's attention previously, said that Charter Officers work at the will of the Council and if Council is not comfortable with the Charter Officer they should have the ability to deal with it. He read suggested language eliminating the procedures for removal, which would leave it at removal with or without cause. Mr. Danise asked if the Charter officer contracts spell out a period of time, and said he understands the "with cause" clause, but noted in this country people have also been gotten rid of because they get in the way. In response to Mr. Zomok, the City Clerk said their contracts have no expiration, they are evaluated each year, and in her opinion and that of her predecessor, if three people want you gone, it's time to go. Mr. Dodd noted the way the last Charter Officer was fired opened up the City to liability, and Mr. Dragonetti said the public would have input as well if it were being considered. Sal Neglia spoke from the audience, suggesting that a portion of paragraph (b) should remain in (a), and the City Attorney responded, from his point of view, under the Sunshine Law any anticipated action to terminate a charter officer would have to be done at a public meeting, and that he believed there was no necessity for written charges. Mr. Zomok asked him whether we are working under the doctrine of employment at will, and the City Attorney said yes, the Charter Officers work at the pleasure of the City Council, and the doctrine of at will employment applies here, though a Charter Officer couldn't be fired for an illegal reason such as "no women can work here 2 Charter Review Committee Meeting April 11, 2011 Page Three MOTION by Mr. Daberkow and SECOND by Mr. Dragonetti to accept the City Attorney's wording (eliminating paragraph b) passed. Section 3.04 City Manager; powers and duties Chairperson Kautenburg said the City Manager's duties should be very vague and outlined by Council from time to time. Mr. Zomok read from the model charter language he had previously provided, and said the Charter language should be more detailed. Mrs. Sullivan said we need specific outlines for the City Manager duties, and Ms. Kautenburg agreed but that it should not be so specific. Mr. Danise said he would like to see the language stay as it is, because if we propose too many things we won't get anything done. Mr. Daberkow agreed with him. Mr. Zomok said coming from the perspective of the employee, the model lists more of what is expected and is more detailed than what is in our language now. Mr. Dodd said he served as a CEO, and while adding to the list may be appropriate, delineating all the responsibilities in the Charter would be impossible. He said quantifiable objectives need to be set each year by Council. Ms. Kennedy asked if there had ever been a problem where the City Manager went against the will of the Council. Following some further discussion, and question by Ms. Sartain- Anderson, the City Attorney said he would not propose any changes to 3.04. MOTION by Mr. Danise and SECOND by Mr. Dragonetti to leave 3.04 as is passed on a 12 -1 vote (Zomok nay) Section 3.06 Police Department Mr. Dodd suggested this section be removed because the City Manager manages the Chief and it should not be in the Charter. Mrs. Sullivan said she would be concerned if it were removed, that we would not have the protection of keeping a Police Department. Ms. Kennedy noted that a Police Department was turned over to a county in another area and Mr. Dodd said this also happened in Deerfield. Ms. Kennedy said removing the language from the Charter may confuse voters as to the motive for doing so. Ms. Kautenburg said there are people here who want to merge, and Mr. Danise said there are some people who think the Police Department is not professional and said removal of this language might create a problem. Mr. Dodd said this should have all been pulled out five years ago, and keeping it in may be an impediment to the City Manager. MOTION by Mr. Zomok and SECOND by Ms. Sartain- Anderson to remove 3.06 failed (3 for Zomok, Dodd and Sartain- Anderson] 10 against) 3 Charter Review Committee Meeting April 11, 2011 Page Four Section 4.04 Special election for other purposes Mr. Dodd asked if we need to propose renumbering Charter sections to eliminate breaks in the section numbers, and the City Attorney responded he had brought this up earlier in their discussions for an administrative clean up question but the committee decided not to do that, and suggested maybe in the future this could be done. The City Attorney explained Section 4.04 and recommended it stay in place in the event of the need for a special election. MOTION by Mr. Dodd and SECOND by Ms. Kennedy that no changes be made to 4.04 passed unanimously. The City Clerk said she and the City Attorney had discussed Section 4.07 prior to the meeting and asked that the City Attorney explain their concerns. The City Attorney said he would prefer to see this section out because the Charter already requires us to follow Florida law, it is awkward in its time frame, and certain of its provisions are repetitive. Mr. Dodd asked if 4.08 would change the need for canvassing if we went to every other year terms. The Clerk noted that we would still need to canvass special elections if they were to occur. Ms. Kautenburg suggested putting this on hold to see what the resulting list looks like. Mr. Dragonetti suggested we not put anything on hold but vote on it. Ms. Kennedy suggested grouping items together and looking at the whole picture. Mr. Dodd suggested looking to the City Attorney to see if it can be put into one question. Mrs. Sullivan asked if it will be explained to the public that the County will be taking care of these things and said with this long list of things, putting them together is a good idea. The City Attorney said questions are legally limited to 75 words and the courts require we explain what the change is and where it is coming from. He said he will do that when he attempts to draft the new language, and with regard to legality, you can address many sections in a single question. He said some things ought to be removed like 4.07, but if you combine issues and for instance, the public rejects the four year terms, they may vote down other issues. Mr. Dodd said maybe 4.07 needs to stand on its own. MOTION by Mr. Dodd and SECOND by Mr. Dragonetti to remove 4.07 passed unanimously. Mr. Danise asked for a show of hands of the people for whom more than a half dozen people have contacted them about the Charter. A little less than half raised their hands. 4 Charter Review Committee Meeting April 11, 2011 Page Five Section 4.08 (c) [Monday special meeting may change/ The City Attorney noted the conflict in this section is in paragraph (c) which references the Monday special meeting for swearing in, citing it is also in Section 2.03, reminding the committee that he had suggested pushing back the swearing in to accommodate state law on certification of results by the Supervisor of Elections, which the committee has agreed to. He said, however, even if voters agreed to every other even numbered year elections, paragraphs (a) and (b) requiring city canvassing should remain in the event of the call of a special election. There was no objection to the change to paragraph (c). Section 4.12 Election procedures; tie vote The City Attorney said at one time in Sebastian, ties were decided by lot then changed to requiring a special election, that he and the City Clerk agree with going back to lot in keeping with Florida Statutes, and consistent with this Committee's policy on special elections. Ms. Kennedy asked if paragraph (a), which refers to two year terms, would have to be changed if we go to every other year elections, and the City Attorney said yes to make it all consistent. MOTION by Mr. Dodd and Ms. Kennedy to agree with the recommendation on 4.08 passed unanimously. Section 4.13 Conduct of candidates for election office The City Attorney said 4.13, a repeat of 2.09, should be deleted, and said he had provided new language for 2.09 (see attached). He said this gives authority for determination of violations to the courts rather than the City Council. MOTION by Mr. Danise and SECOND by Ms. DeSanctis to delete 4.13 passed unanimously. Section 5.03 Charter Review Committee Mr. Daberkow suggested the committee meet every four years. Mr. Danise said there is no need to meet Tess than every ten years. Mr. Zomok said he would like to meet every two years. Mr. Dodd said he was in favor of a longer term. Mrs. Sullivan suggested no less than five years, reminding the members it is a charter not an ordinance. Ms. Kautenburg said five years is fine, noting it started out at every seven years, and said this group works well together so the size of the committee is fine and would vote for no change. Mr. Zomok said we are leaving things undone and perhaps it could be done in smaller pieces. Mr. Dodd said the worst thing they can do is inundate voters. MOTION by Mr. Dragonetti and SECOND by Mr. Dodd to leave 5.03 as it is passed on a 12 -1 vote (Zomok opposed). 5 Charter Review Committee Meeting April 11, 2011 Page Six Sally A. Discussion took place on the schedule and public hearings. The City Attorney said the City Clerk needs to be authorized to advertise the public hearings. Mrs. Sullivan asked if scheduling the public hearings will eliminate the possibility of making other changes and will both hearings be on the same issues. The City Attorney said there will be two hearings on anything the public wants to address and the committee can make changes to their recommendation based on input received. At this time, the Committee chose April 26 at 6 pm for an additional meeting to review all of the changes previously recommended, and May 12 and 26 at 6 pm for the advertised public hearings. Mrs. Sullivan suggested that language be included in the Charter that requires Council Members to submit documentation for payment of the $300 per month expense account that is set out in the Code of Ordinances, or put a provision in the Charter for a cost of living increase. Ms. Kautenburg said the expense account is not part of the Charter, and Mrs. Sullivan said we can add it. Mr. Dodd said expense account language is in the Code and is an IRS issue, and Mrs. Sullivan said verification of expense should be provided. Ms. Kautenburg said she did not disagree, but that it could be done at a Council meeting by ordinance. The Clerk noted the $300 expense account includes all their travel within 75 miles, so the Council does not get extra mileage for that travel as other employees do. Sal Neglia asked from the audience, what if you spend more than $300 and Mrs. Sullivan said that is why she suggested a COLA. Mr. Danise said this topic gets them off track and they should stay away from it for now. Mr. Dodd suggested that the committee stay after the May 26 hearing to complete their recommendation to Council and all agreed. The City Attorney submitted his final draft 2.03 amendment for review (see attached), 8. Being no further business, Ms. Kautenburg adjourned the meeting at 7:34 p.m. Approved at the April 26, 2011 Charter Review Committee meeting. Louise Kaut: burg, Chairm A TTEST: MMC City Clerk 6