05/11/1998 (2)
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CHARTER REVIEW COMMITTEE
CITY OF CLEARWATER
May 11, 1998
Present: Timothy A. Johnson, Jr. Chair
Richard Fitzgerald Committee Member
William Justice Committee Member
Mayme Hodges Committee Member
Grant Petersen Committee Member (arrived 4:16 p.m.)
Pat Greer Committee Member
Douglas Hilkert Committee Member
Judy Mitchell Committee Member
Carolyn Warren Committee Member
Pamela Akin City Attorney
Cyndie Goudeau City Clerk
Brenda Moses Board Reporter
Absent: Jackie Tobin Committee Member
The Chair called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m. at City Hall.
To provide continuity for research, items are in agenda order although not
necessarily discussed In that order.
Approval of April 27, 1998, Minutes
Member'Mitchell moved to approve the minutes of the regular meeting of
April 27, 1998, as recorded and submitted in written summation to each Committee
member. The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously.
ITEM #1 - Establish Rules of Procedure
Consensus was 6 committee members must be present to'constitute a
quorum, and 6 affirmative votes are necessary for action to be taken.
Member Greer moved to elect Douglas Hilkert as Vice-Chair. The motion
was duly seconded. Member Justice moved the nominations be closed. The motion
was duly seconded. Motion carried unanimously.
It was requested members be supplied dividers for notebooks entitled: 1)
charter; 2) minutes; 3) notes; 4) other material; 5) recommendations; and 6)
members.
ITEM #2 -Discuss Review Process
A. Technique
As discussed at the last meeting, it was agreed to review individual sections
of the Charter.
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B. Public input
It was agreed to schedule: 1) a public meeting to give citizens an
opportunity to discuss items they feel should be included or excluded from the
Charter, 2) Committee meetings to review each section of the Charter; and 3) a final
public input meeting before final recommendations are made to the City
Commission.
ITEM #3 - Preliminary List of Substantive Issues for Consideration
A. City Commission Mandate
The City Commission's mandate to the Charter Review Committee is to
conduct a global review of the Charter; 2) identify changes that will facilitate the
City's Vision and implementation of One City. One Future.; and review purchasing
and property provisions, emergency and maintenance dredging, lease uses, and term
limits.: Members will receive a copy of the mandate for their records.
B. City Staff Requests
The City Attorney reviewed a list of suggested City staff requests for Charter
review and explained why staff feels those items should be changed. The
purchasing provision requires Commission approval for items above $10,000.
Exceptions need to be made for emergencies, an RFP (Request for Proposal)
process, and for services that are not capable of being bid. In response to a
question, the City Attorney said the existing purchasing ordinance is inconsistent
with the current Charter. The City Attorney agreed to formulate some less
restrictive language for committee review.
The current maintenance/emergency dredging limitation restricts the City
from dredging a retention pond or cleaning Stevenson's Creek. Dredging also
requires numerous approvals from various agencies such as the Department of
Environmental Protection, U.S. Army Corps of Engineering, Pinellas County, and in
some cases, the U. S. Coast Guard.
The surplus property provision prohibits donations to charitable organizations
and requires a sale to the highest bidder, regardless of the type of business. Staff
suggests this section be deleted or changed to allow an option to declare City-
owned property as a redevelopment site, allowing designation of acceptable uses by
the successful purchaser, regardless of highest bidder. A comment was made that
the verbiage "acceptable uses" could pose future title problems when the property
is re-sold. The City's practice of giving the CRA (Community Redevelopment
Agency) City-owned property because they are exempt from the bidding process
was questioned.
An existing provision requires the City Commission's approval for employing
any outside legal counsel. One suggestion is to allow the City Manager and City
Attorney to employ outside legal counsel up to $100,000 annually for any one
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contract without Commission approval. Consensus was to delete this from
consideration.
C. Review List of "Interesting" Issues Prepared by City Attorney
The City Attorney distributed a copy of Pinellas and Dade County's citizens'
rights provisions. In response to a question, she said no Florida model charters exist
for committee use. She will provide members with excerpts of other cities' charter
provisions that are substantially different than Clearwater's. Most charters are
driven by the form of government chosen.
D. Review List of Issues Requested for Consideration by each Committee
Member
Members viewed the Charter as the constitution of the City, providing
guidance to the Commission with operational restrictions. It was suggested a
mechanism be developed to encourage more citizens to participate in government.
It was felt the Charter should be streamlined by eliminating unnecessary details.
Some items could be better served by ordinances.
ITEM #4 - Set Meeting Schedule
Consensus was to limit meetings to one and one-half hours per meeting. It
was agreed to schedule meetings as follows: 1) a public input meeting June 1,
y,} 1998; and 2) Charter Review Committee meetings June 29, 1998, July 20, 1998,
August 10, 1998, August 31, 1998, September 21, 1998 and October 5, 1998.
All meetings to begin at 4:00 p.m.
ITEM #5 - Other Business - None.
ITEM #6 - Adiourn
The meeting adjourned at 5:10 p.m.
Attest:
Board Reporter
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Mir, Charter Review Committee
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