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11/09/1988 CHARTER REVIEW COMMITTEE MINUTES November 9, 1988 The Charter Review Committee met at City Hall on Wednesday, November 9, 1988, at 6:31 P.M. with the following members present: John Tsacrios, Vice-Chairman Ron Crawford Joanne Faruggia Marian Justice Carol Nielsen Vic Spoto Jackie Tobin Absent: Trish Muscarella, Chairman Mary Lou Dobbs Roy May Also present: Cynthia E. Goudeau, City Clerk Minutes of October 26, 1988. There being no corrections noted to the minutes they were approved unanimously. Review of Changes To Date. The Board reviewed the recommendations they have approved thus far in the Committee's activities. Finalize Article II. The Vice-Chairman recommended that, as three of the members were absent, that finalizing the Board's recommendations regarding Article II and review of Article V (Item 4) be continued until the next meeting. Jackie Tobin moved to continue review of Item 3 finalizing Article II and Item 4, Article V, until the meeting of November 16, 1988. The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously. Article VI - Initiative, Referendum, and Recall. Section 6.05(c) - Affidavit of the Circulator - Questions were raised regarding the circulator having to file an affidavit regarding the number of signatures on petition paper. It was explained that the affidavit verifies the number of signatures on the petition and would not allow additional signatures at a later date. Discussion ensued regarding the wording of Section 6.07(4). There were concerns that the language is not clear. Ron Crawford moved to amend Section 6.07(4) to read "tabulation of the ballots cast by the qualified voters of the City on the ordinance has been certified." The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously. Section 6.08 - Action on Petitions - The City Clerk requested that an amendment be considered to subparagraph (b) submission to voters as the current maximum 120 days in which to hold an election regarding an initiative or a petition does not give enough time to meet the county's requirements for preparation for an election. Jackie Tobin moved to amend the first sentence of Section 6.08(b) to read "the vote of the City on a proposed or referred ordinance shall be held not less than 90 days and no later than 150 days from the date that the petition was determined sufficient. The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously. Discussion ensued regarding Section 6.08(c) and concerns were expressed that after a petition had been circulated and signed by the required number of people that it was not warranted that four members of the petitioners' committee could withdraw the petition 15 days prior to the scheduled vote. Discussion ensued regarding this concern, with it being stated, that if four members of the originating committee were to withdraw their support the issue would probably not pass. Concerns were expressed regarding the expenditures that would have been made by the City up to the point of 15 days prior to the election and whether or not 15 days should be expanded. No action was taken. Section 6.09 - Results of the Election - Discussion ensued regarding the wording of Sections A and B and whether or not it was too lengthy and the need to be consistent using "voters" throughout the Charter instead of "electors." Jackie moved to amend Section 6.09(a) to amend the first sentence to read "if a majority of the qualified voters vote in favor of the initiative, it shall be considered adopted upon certification of the election results and shall be treated in all respects in the same manner as an ordinance of the same kind adopted by the Commission." The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously. Joanne Faruggia moved to amend Section 6.09(b) to read "if a majority of the qualified voters vote against the referred ordinance, it shall be considered repealed upon certification of the election results." The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously. Article VII - General Provisions. Section 7.01(a) Charter Amendments, (a) Initiation by Ordinance - Discussion ensued regarding whether or not the Committee had determined to use the verbage "qualified voters" throughout the document, and a suggestion was made that the Committee consider going back and in the beginning of the Charter designate the verbage defining a qualified voter. This will be considered at a later time. A suggestion was made that the first three words of the fifth line were unnecessary. Vic Spoto moved to amend Section 7.01(a) by deleting the words "of the electors" at the beginning of the fifth line. The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously. Section 7.01(b) - Initiation by Petition - Further discusison ensued regarding the verbage "qualified voters" and it was determined it would be discussed later. The City Clerk requested that consideration be given to changing the time frames required for submission to the voters as set out in subsection (2). Current requirements require that votes on Charter amendments be held not less than 60 days or not more than 90 days after certification of the petition. Jackie Tobin moved to amend Section 7.01(b) as follows: In subsection (1), insert the word "qualified" prior to "voters" in the first line. In subsection (2), delete the words "to a vote of the electors" in the second line and to change the "60 to 90 day" requirement to "90 to 150 days." Discussion ensued regarding whether or not 150 days would be too long for consideration of Charter amendments. On the vote being taken, the motion carried unanimously. Section 7.02 - Charter Review Advisory Committee - The City Clerk had submitted a recommendation that consideration be given to reducing the number of members required on the Charter Review Committee. Currently, the Charter calls for ten members and the Clerk indicated it has been difficult to coordinate the schedules of ten individuals. Discussion ensued regarding the difficulties caused by a large committee versus the need for as much input as possible regarding Charter issues. It was the consensus of the Committee to consider the alternatives regarding this issue and to make a determination at a later date. Setting Agenda for Next Meeting. The Vice-Chairman suggested that the agenda for the next meeting be to return to the two deferred articles, Article II and Article V and to finalize those recommendations, to complete discussion regarding Section 7.02 - Charter Review Advisory Committee, and to complete review of Articles VIII, IX, and X. This would complete the initial review of the Charter. The Committee would then cancel the meeting for Thanksgiving week. The City Clerk would provide a complete compilation of the Committee's recommendations to the Committee and this would be discussed at the final meeting of November allowing the Committee to make its presentation to the City Commission the first of December. Consensus of the Committee was this was an appropriate agenda for the next meeting. The meeting adjourned at 7:45 P.M.