04/12/2023 Charter Review Committee Meeting Minutes April 12, 2023
City of Clearwater
Main Library- Council Chambers
100 N. Osceola Avenue
Clearwater, FL 33755
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Meeting Minutes
Wednesday, April 12, 2023
4:00 PM
Main Library - 2nd Floor Board Room
Charter Review Committee
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City of Clearwater
Charter Review Committee Meeting Minutes April 12, 2023
Rollcall
Present: 7 - Gladys Andrews, Bill Jonson, Travis Norton, Mike Riordon, Karen
Cunningham, Cory Chase, and Kathy Milam
Absent:4 - Nathan Hightower, Patricia Rodriguez, Ryan Cotton, and Jonathan
Wade
Also Present: — David Margolis — City Attorney, Rosemarie Call — City Clerk, and Nicole
Sprague — Deputy City Clerk
Call to Order— Vice Chair Jonson
The meeting was called to order at 4:04 p.m.
1. Approval of Minutes
1.1 Approve the minutes of the March 22, 2023 Charter Review Committee meeting as
submitted in written summation by the City Clerk.
Committee Member Andrews moved to approve the minutes of the
March 22, 2023 Charter Review Committee meeting as submitted in
written summation by the City Clerk. The motion was duly seconded
and carried unanimously.
2. New Business
2.1 Discuss Council Salaries
The City Clerk said she provided the salary comparables that was
included in Council's agenda item when HR presented the information at
a recent council meeting. In response to questions, she said the City of
Gainesville held a referendum in November 2022 that passed to
increase the council and mayor salaries. She said when she researched
data, she queried peer FL cities with a population range of 95,000-
150,000 and a council-manager form of government.
Discussion ensued with suggestions made to base Council's salary on a
percentage of the median income and to base it on the starting salary of an
entry level administrative position.
Committee Member Andrews moved to set the mayor's salary at 95% of
area median income and the councilmember's salary at 90% of area
median income. The motion was duly seconded.
In response to a question, Committee Member Andrews said her motion
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City of Clearwater
Charter Review Committee Meeting Minutes April 12, 2023
was meant to include an annual COLA.
Comments were made that additional information would be necessary to
support the motion and requested additional peer cities and the formulas
used to calculate council and mayor salaries.
Committee Member Milam moved to postpone the discussion to the
next meeting when additional information would be available. The
motion was duly seconded and carried with the following vote:
Ayes:5 — Bill Jonson, Travis Norton, Karen Cunningham, Cory Chase, and
Kathy Milam
Nays:2 - Gladys Andrews and Mike Riordon
In response to a question, the City Attorney said the motion to postpone is a
subsidiary motion that takes precedence over the main motion.
The City Clerk said she emailed the audio and meeting minutes of a
presentation provided to the 2019 Charter Review Committee by Dr.
Scott Paine regarding districting. She provided a map of the City to show
its boundaries and where every Councilmember has lived in the past 27
years. She also provided a printout of population data per the 2020
census tracks and that a link to the interactive data had been emailed to
the Committee. She said she will ask Planning and Development to
include demographic information in the interactive map.
Discussion ensued regarding the pros and cons of districts. In response to
a question, the City Attorney said the committee should think through the
sequential order of the things that the committee would want in districts. A
few things to consider would be candidate qualifications, voter qualifications,
and what goals are trying to be accomplished with districts. There are
several factors to be considered, for instance, does the candidate have a
residency requirement within a certain area and/or does the voter have to
reside within a certain area to vote for a candidate. All forms of districting
have advantages and disadvantages.
Discussion ensued regarding the timing of elections and how it effects voter
turnout. In response to a question, the City Attorney said referendum
questions can include more than one issue and tie the election date question
with a question on districting. He said the Supervisor of Elections dictates
when elections can be held. He said the only charter provision that does
not have to be amended by referendum is the date of an election. In
response to a question, the City Clerk said there is a significant cost savings
if the City's election is held in conjunction with another election. She said
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City of Clearwater
Charter Review Committee
Meeting Minutes April 12, 2023
most municipalities in Pinellas County hold their elections in March.
In response to correspondence received regarding conflicts of interest
and Council's duty to vote, the City Attorney said by state law, Council
must cast a vote and not abstain unless limited criteria are met, which
typically involves a direct financial benefit or harm. He said state law
requires an elected official to disclose any issues rather than recusing
themselves. He said the City has no meaningful ability to deviate from
what is dictated in state law.
2.2 Set agenda for next meeting.
The City Clerk said the Finance Director would provide a presentation at
the next meeting to include the history, policy, and best practices regarding
the City's financial reserves.
3. Citizens to be heard regarding items not on the agenda: None.
4. Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 5:31 p.m.
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Chair, Charter Riew Committee
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City of Clearwater