03/08/2011
CHARTER REVIEW COMMITTEE MEETING
CITY OF CLEARWATER
MARCH 8, 2011
Present: Cyndie Goudeau Chair
Jack Geller Vice-Chair
Norma Carlough Committee Member
Bud Elias Committee Member
Nicholas Fritsch Committee Member
Keith Protonentis Committee Member
Ana Tuzzo Committee Member
Donald van Weezel Committee Member
Howard Warshauer Committee Member
Sarah Weber Committee Member
Douglas Williams Committee Member
Olin Wright Committee Member
Stan Vittetoe Committee Member
Also Present: Pamela Akin City Attorney
Rosemarie Call City Clerk
Nicole Sprague ORLS Coordinator
The Chair called the meeting to order at 4:30 p.m. at City Hall.
To provide continuity for research, items are in agenda order although not necessarily
discussed in that order.
2. Approval of Minutes
2.1 Approve the minutes of the February 8, 2011 and the February 22, 2011 Charter Review
Committee Meeting as submitted in written summation by the City Clerk.
Member Warshauer noted a scrivener’s error on page 2, and requested the statement
be amended to read: “Staff was directed to provide copies of an article from Michael Sanders…”
Member Fritsch moved to approve the minutes of the February 22, 2011 meeting as
amended. The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously.
3. New Business
3.1 Discuss form of government - Mayor Frank Hibbard.
Mayor Hibbard reviewed the City’s current form of government and noted most citizens
are unaware that the City of Clearwater has the Council-Manager form of government. Most
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people assume we have a Strong Mayor form because the Mayor has the most contact with
citizens instead of the City Manager.
In response to questions, the Mayor said that if he had been a Strong Mayor, he would
have been able to focus more on economic development to perhaps bring in more jobs to the
City. He stated that he would have been involved in the hiring of department directors. The
Mayor said that he did not believe in districting because it promoted parochialism. Past
Councils have had more than one member from one geographical area and have managed to
keep the entire City in mind when making decisions.
3.2 Discuss form of government - City Manager Bill Horne.
The City Manager reviewed how the City Manager functions in our current form of
government. The City Manager is accountable to five Councilmembers and therefore makes
him highly accountable for a full range of needs in our community. A professional City Manager
requires specific education, whereas anyone can run for Mayor, regardless of experience. It
was also commented that a City Manager is not a politician and the job is to implement the laws
of the City and to make sure everyone is treated equally according to those laws.
In response to questions, the City Manager said that both staff and Council initiates
policy, and sometimes a citizen will call a Councilmember who will take the issue to the City
Manager. The point was made that the City has a traditional form of government and that he
could only take on more power if the Council allowed it. Developers and business owners may
first deal directly with Council regarding projects but Council has set the tone to lead and the
City Manager has adapted his role to work with the Council.
3.3 Set Agenda for next meeting.
Consensus was to discuss forms of government and determine if a public hearing on
form of government needs to be scheduled at next meeting.
4. Citizens to be Heard
4.1 Citizens to be Heard.
Consensus was to limit public comment to three minutes.
Beth Rawlings - expressed concerns with the Strong Mayor form of government.
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5. Adjourn
The meeting was adjourned at 6:00 p.m.
Attest:
Chi Charter Review Committee
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City Clerk
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