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05/13/2003CHARTER REVIEW COMMITTEE MEETING CITY OF CLEARWATER May 13, 2003 Present: Melody W. Figurski Vice Chair John Doran Committee Member Jay Edwin Polglaze Committee Member William Joe Fisher Committee Member Nicholas C. Fritsch Committee Member Thomas D. Calhoun Committee Member Timothy A. Johnson, Jr. Committee Member Jay F. Keyes Committee Member Lawrence (Duke) Tieman Committee Member Absent: Daniel Dennehy Chair Katherine Elliott Cole Committee Member Isay M. Gulley Committee Member Also Present: Pamela Akin City Attorney Cyndie 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 April 22, 2003 minutes Member Keyes moved to approve the minutes of the regular meeting of April 22, 2003, as submitted in written summation to each board member. The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously. Review of Proposed changes City Attorney Pam Akin referred to a handout and reviewed previous changes that begin with Section 2.08. In response to a question regarding Section 2.07 – Vacancies, forfeiture of office, filling vacancies; advisory boards, Ms. Akin said if an election already is scheduled within 46 days, and this section refers to a vacancy being filled within 45 days after it occurs, it is highly unlikely that the governor would be able make an appointment in that time period anyway. Ms. Akin said Section 2.08(a) Meetings was changed to read “…All meetings shall be public, except as provided by law.” Regarding Section 2.09(e), Ms. Akin said there is no state statute that prohibits borrowing of money by emergency ordinance, therefore that prohibition can be deleted. Consensus was to delete the prohibition of borrowing money by emergency ordinance from Section 2.09(e). Ms. Akin said “and shall enter all charter amendments was deleted from sentence three Section 2.10(b) Recording, which now reads “The city clerk shall also maintain the city charter in current form.” Ms. Akin said in Section 3.01 City Manager, she deleted “…chief administrative officer and…” from sentence one, which now reads “The city manager shall serve as the chief executive officer of the city.” She added “…but shall establish and maintain residency…” to sentence three. Ms. Akin said the last sentence, allowing the City Manager to request a public hearing prior to a vote for removal, in Section 3.02(b) Removal was deleted. In response to a question, Ms. Akin suggested that the language in Section 3.03(a) “..except as otherwise provided by law” remain as is because the City has contracts that address discharge for SAMP employees that are not necessary covered by law. Ms. Akin said it had been proposed that language be added to Section 3.03(b) that would require a referendum prior to discontinuing the police and/or fire department(s). She also submitted proposed language to create Article V, Departments. She said Article V would require there be a Police and a Fire department and specifies what their responsibilities will be. She was concerned that the language proposed for 3.03(b) would allow for shell departments. One member said he spoke to each Commissioner regarding the future potential for abolishing the police and fire departments. He said three Commissioners stated they believed in a referendum; one felt that decision was the Commission’s responsibility, however would agree to requiring a super-majority vote; and one would insist on a referendum with respect to abolishing the police department but not fire. Concern was expressed that too many limitations in the Charter can create significant problems. It was remarked that if the objective is to prevent something from ever happening, then it should be in the charter. It was felt that it is the Commission’s responsibility to discuss and make decisions with respect to merging police and fire departments with other departments or with the county. It was remarked that fire and police departments already have civil service and union safety nets. Some members supported language in the charter that a referendum should be required before the police and fire departments could be abolished or combined with other entities. Member Keyes moved to accept Article V, Departments as proposed by Ms. Akin. The motion was duly seconded. Upon the vote being taken, Members Figurski, Polglaze, Keyes, and Tieman voted “aye”; Members Fritsch, Johnson, Fisher, Calhoun, and Doran voted “nay”. Motion failed. ITEM #3 - Section 4.01 City Attorney; Legal Department Consensus was to delete “when appointed and authorized by the Commission” from the second sentence of Section 4.01 as it appears to be redundant. ITEM #4 – Section 4.02 City Attorney, appointment, removal, compensation, qualifications and duties Consensus was to delete “…members voting for removal.” from Section 4.02(a). Sentence one would read “The city attorney shall be appointed by the affirmative vote of four council members and may be removed by a majority of the members of the council.” Discussion ensued and it was further suggested deleting “.. the members…” from sentence one. Sentence would ultimately read “The city attorney shall be appointed by the affirmative vote of four council members and may be removed by a majority of the members of the council.” ITEM #5 – Section 4.03 Assistant City Attorneys, Special Counsel No changes were recommended to this section. ITEM #6 – Section 4.04 Compensation No changes were recommended to this section. ITEM #7 – Set Agenda for May 27 meeting Consensus was to review Articles VI, VII and VIII at the next meeting, and to review the property sections the first meeting in June. In response to a question, Ms. Akin said she would research how Clearwater’s initiative and referendum provisions differ from general law. ITEM #8 - Adjourn The meeting adjourned at 4:56 p.m.