06/28/2011
CHARTER REVIEW COMMITTEE MEETING
CITY OF CLEARWATER
June 28, 2011
Present: Jack Geller Vice-Chair
Norma Carlough Committee Member
Bud Elias Committee Member
Keith Protonentis Committee Member
Ana Tuzzo Committee Member
Donald van Weezel Committee Member
Sara Weber Committee Member
Douglas Williams Committee Member
Olin Wright Committee Member
Absent: Cyndie Goudeau Chair
Nicholas Fritsch Committee Member
Stan Vittetoe Committee Member
Howard Warshauer Committee Member
Also Present: Pamela Akin City Attorney
Rosemarie Call City Clerk
Nicole Sprague ORLS Coordinator
The Vice-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 June 7, 2011 Charter Review Meeting as submitted in written
summation by the City Clerk,
Committee Member Carlough moved to approve the minutes of the June 7, 2011 Charter
Review Committee meeting. The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously.
3. New Business
3.1 Districting Discussion - Mayor Frank Hibbard.
Mayor Hibbard expressed his concerns regarding districting. There have been times where a
majority of councilmembers have been from one concentrated area, but that they always have
to balance the needs of all neighborhoods. He said to be cautious about trying to create a
result, which is what districting does.
Charter Review 2011-06-28 1
The Mayor pointed out that for the city to go to districts, it would have to increase the number of
councilmembers to 7. With more councilmembers comes more costs, cost for administration,
more office space, salary, etc. He said that the city has done well with 5 members.
Committee Member Wright moved to make no changes to Section 2.01(a). The motion was
duly seconded and carried unanimously.
3.2 Discuss Election Dates.
In response to questions, the Mayor supported changing the election date. The City and
bargaining units are in the process of pension negotiations that have been going on for the past
3 years. He thought it would be valuable to keep the same council together to get through the
process, and noted that it's important for the council to have experience should the negotiations
go to an impasse hearing. Mayor Hibbard noted the low voter turnout during the 2010 elections,
and said the turn out in the November general election is substantially higher. If the municipal
election coincided with the general election, there would be higher voter turnout, but then, he
noted, you would be dealing with ballot drop off. He said the more people voted the better, as
there is better representation at the ballot box.
There was consensus to invite Vice-Mayor Cretekos and Councilmember Jonson to come
speak regarding their opinions on changing the election date at the July 12, 2011 meeting.
In response to a question, the City Attorney said that there are provisions in the Florida Statutes
that allows municipalities to change the election date permanently to coincide with state, county
and federal elections by ordinance. The City Attorney reviewed recent Attorney General
Opinions and statutory provisions regarding the subject.
Consensus was to hold discussions regarding the waterfront for the meeting of July 26, 2011.
4. Citizens to be Heard — None.
5. Adjourn
The meeting was adjourned at 5:23 p.m.
ChaVharter Review Committee
Attest:
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