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03/04/2003CHARTER REVIEW COMMITTEE MEETING CITY OF CLEARWATER March 4, 2003 Present: Daniel Dennehy Chair – departed 5:51 p.m. Melody W. Figurski Vice Chair Thomas D. Calhoun Committee Member Katherine Elliott Cole Committee Member – arrived 4:35 p.m. John Doran Committee Member William Joe Fisher Committee Member – departed 5:51 p.m. Nicholas C. Fritsch Committee Member Isay M. Gulley Committee Member – arrived 4:35 p.m. Timothy A. Johnson, Jr. Committee Member Jay F. Keyes Committee Member Jay Edwin Polglaze Committee Member Lawrence (Duke) Tieman Committee Member Also Present: Pamela Akin City Attorney Cynthia E. Goudeau City Clerk Rosemarie Alfaro Administrative Analyst Brenda Moses Board Reporter The meeting was called 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. ITEM #2 – Approval of February 11, 2003 minutes It was remarked that Rule #4 and Rule #7 of the Rules of Procedure were contradictory. It was explained that as the review of various Charter sections progresses and some sections may be related, the Committee wanted the ability to change previous actions or motions should they feel it necessary. Member Figurski requested the page number be deleted in sentence one, page two, under Item #5 of the February 11, 2003, minutes, as some members’ copies of the Charter reflect different page numbers. Member Johnson moved to approve the minutes of the regular meeting of February 11, 2003, as changed. The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously. ITEM #3 – Rules of Procedure Member Johnson moved to approve the Rules of Procedure (Rev. 2/13/03) as submitted. The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously. ITEM #4 – Article I It was suggested that the first sentence of paragraph one of Article I under Section 1.02. Corporate Boundaries read “…charter takes effect. The City may change its …” Member Figurski moved to approve Article I as submitted with the above change. The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously. ITEM #5 – Presentation by Dr. Susan MacManus Dr. Susan MacManus distributed a handout from the Executive Director William H. Hansell, Jr., ICMA (International City/County Management Association) dated August 2001 entitled Municipal Form of Government, 2001 Trends in Structure, Responsibility, and Composition. The survey is sent to municipal governments in an effort to obtain comprehensive information on forms of government and related operations. In response to a question, she said some larger governments do not always complete the survey. Dr. MacManus presented information regarding municipal government structures in the United States and in Florida. She said structural changes are not a common occurrence. Only 21 governments out of 176 or approximately 12% of all Florida cities have tried to change their governmental structures. Mayor/Council type governments tend to be in place in bigger cities. She said there is no perfect one size fits all form of government. She said Florida has a Charter review process, whereas other states do not. She said the ICMA data does not distinguish between strong and weak mayor-council governments. Dr. MacManus reviewed 1) form of government by population size; 2) four types of Mayor-council forms of government; 3) three types of Council-Manager forms of government; 4) the minimal number of attempts to change the structure or form of government since 1996; 5) successful structural changes in Florida in the past five years; 6) the role of department heads and chief elected officials and how they are selected or appointed in some types of government; 7) length of terms; 8) number of positions on various councils; 10) council member salaries; 11) frequency of council meetings; 12) citizen authorities, boards, and commissions; 13) council member election methods; and 14) three types of council Member At-Large election structures. In response to a question, Dr. MacManus said any city with a population of 250,000 or more is considered a “big city”. She said there are many hybrid forms of government in Florida. She said unless there has been a scandal or corruption, very few cities have changed their governmental structures. She said there is no correlation between form of government and size of budget or tax base. City Manager tenure in Florida is generally three to four years. In response to a question, Dr. MacManus said in a Council/Manager with Empowered Mayor form of government, the Mayor sits and votes with the Council. Dr. MacManus said the pure At-Large form of government is rare. The Mixed (combination) form of government is gaining ground. It includes some At-Large and some Single Member Districts, particularly in communities with larger groups of minorities. She said the trend in Florida is to appoint department heads rather than elect them. Who appoints them depends on the form of government. She said the switch to term limits was in the early 1990s. Citizens routinely vote for term limits and to keep them once in place. The predominant number of Council members is five. The number of Council members often increased from five to seven members when governments shifted to Single Member Districts. The predominant pattern in Florida is to meet twice a month in a formal session. Florida greatly uses citizen authorities, boards, and commissions. Officials’ terms are generally staggered. There has been a larger increase over the last ten years in cities with Mixed/Combination systems versus Single Member Districts. The At-Large form of government tends to occur in smaller cities and is popular in counties and school boards. In diverse communities, At-Large-systems have been somewhat abandoned for another type of government such as Single Member District or Mixed. In response to a question, Dr. MacManus said there is no correlation between dysfunctionality and a Mixed system. She felt personalities pay a larger role than structure when a government is dysfunctional. In response to a question, Dr. MacManus said she did not have data on the highest compensated City Council of the same or similar size as Clearwater. She said she could check with ICMA regarding how many communities in the last five years have switched to a strong mayor form of government. She said it would take approximately one half day to determine the percentage of minority Councilpersons in Florida. There is no data regarding the types of government in cities currently in a redevelopment mode or that have recently undergone major redevelopment. It was questioned whether a Strong Mayor form of government ever has been the driving force for major redevelopment. Dr. MacManus said in her study of who loses elections in Florida, it appears that being on the wrong side of growth is a key factor. Dr. MacManus said there is no data regarding a trend or the number of Council members per capita. In response to a question, Dr. MacManus said districting is a formal process. Some jurisdictions in Florida must abide by Section 5 of the Justice Act, however Pinellas County does not. She said she did not think that districts had to be determined prior to a referendum for single member districts. In response to a question, Dr. MacManus said the major advantage of a Strong Mayor government is accountability. The disadvantage is the Council is intimated or fears the Mayor or CAO, especially since that position has an inordinate amount of input into policy or budgetary process. She said the structure of government is far less important than personalities. She emphasized that although a very strong personality could be intimidating to the rest of the Council, other Council members, employees and the media provide great checks and balances. Dr. MacManus offered a list of suggested readings and encouraged everyone to contact Ms. Goudeau with any questions, comments, or requests. Committee members thanked Dr. MacManus for her presentation. ITEM #6 – Questions and Answers One member stated he had difficulty obtaining the Charter on the Internet. He will contact staff regarding the matter. ITEM #7 – Setting Agenda for March 11, 2003 Meeting Ms. Goudeau said at the next meeting, the agenda would entail discussion of forms of government, including strong Mayor versus Council form, length of terms, At-Large versus Single Member Districts, etc. Ms. Goudeau said the minutes from today’s meeting probably would not be ready for approval at the next meeting, as it is only one week from today. Ms. Goudeau will provide larger copies of the charts presented in Dr. MacManus’ presentation. ITEM #8 - Adjourn The meeting adjourned at 5:54 p.m.