06/14/2023 Charter Review Committee Meeting Minutes June 14, 2023
City of Clearwater
Main Library- Council Chambers
100 N. Osceola Avenue
Clearwater, FL 33755
e
Meeting Minutes
Wednesday, June 14, 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 June 14, 2023
Roll Call
Present:10 - Gladys Andrews (departed 5:15 p.m.), Bill Jonson, Nathan Hightower,
Mike Riordon, Karen Cunningham, Patricia Rodriguez, Cory Chase,
Jonathan Wade, Ryan Cotton, and Kathy Milam
Absent: 1 - Travis Norton
Also Present: — David Margolis — City Attorney and Nicole Sprague — Deputy City
Clerk
1. Call To Order
The meeting was called to order at 4:02 p.m.
2. Approval of Minutes
2.1 Approve the minutes of the May 24, 2023 Charter Review Committee meeting as
submitted in written summation by the City Clerk.
Committee Member Rodriguez moved to approve the minutes of the
May 24, 2023 Charter Review Committee meeting as submitted in
written summation by the City Clerk. The motion was duly seconded
and carried unanimously.
3. New Business
3.1 Discuss date of elections.
Member Riordon said he forwarded information to the City Clerk to provide
to the committee regarding the relevance of election dates. He said research
shows that the best way to increase voter turnout is to hold local elections
concurrently with national elections.
In response to a question, the City Attorney said he believes a bill regarding
the requirement for a candidate to declare their political party will come back
to the legislators next year. He said the bill would have converted all
municipal elections into partisan elections.
Discussion ensued regarding districting and its impact on voter turnout.
Member Jonson moved to postpone the discussion regarding election
dates to a different meeting. The motion was duly seconded and carried
unanimously.
In response to a question, the City Attorney said at the last council
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City of Clearwater
Charter Review Committee Meeting Minutes June 14, 2023
meeting, Vice Mayor Bunker requested to discuss election dates at
a future meeting.
3.2 Discuss June 28, 2023 committee meeting.
Chair Hightower said June 28, 2023 is the grand opening of Imagine
Clearwater and Coachman Park, and also the next scheduled Charter
Review Committee meeting. Due to traffic and events scheduled that
evening, the City requested the Committee cancel the June 28, 2023
meeting.
There was consensus to cancel the June 28, 2023 Charter Review
Committee meeting.
3.3 Discuss run-off elections.
Member Jonson said he requested a discussion regarding ranked choice
voting (RCV). RCV makes run-off elections unnecessary. He said he would
like the committee to recommend to Council or the voters to adopt RCV for
when it is allowed by the Florida Legislature. He requested a speaker on
RCV and knows of an advocate that is willing to speak to the committee.
Discussion ensued with comments made that the voting method seems
confusing and might be hard for voters to understand. Comments were
made that a downside to this voting method could allow a candidate who
was not ranked highly to be voted in and a benefit would be it is a less
expensive voting method because there is no need for a run-off election.
It was said that in the last election, a candidate with 27% of the vote won
the seat because of the number of candidates in the race. It is not perceived
as a problem, but a run-off election would allow voters to choose between
the top two candidates instead of being voted in by the plurality system
currently used. Since 2001, there have only been six races where the
winning candidate did not get 50% plus 1 vote to win their race.
Member Riordon moved to leave the current voting system in place
and to take no action to change it. The motion was duly seconded and
carried with the following vote:
Ayes:6 — Gladys Andrews, Jonathan Wade, Ryan Cotton, Karen
Cunningham, Kathy Milam, and Michael Riordon
Nays:4 - Nathan Hightower, Bill Jonson, Patricia Rodriguez, and Cory
Chase
3.4 Discuss districting.
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City of Clearwater
Charter Review Committee
Meeting Minutes June 14, 2023
A comment was made that creating districts would require redistricting
every census period. There is also an issue of gerrymandering when
redistricting which is a disadvantage to districts. It was said that the cost to
run a campaign is significantly less expensive when running in a district
and redistricting is done every ten years and is not difficult to do.
Clearwater's geographical set-up creates districts, such as Countryside, the
beach, Downtown, etc. Districting brings people together, brings costs to run
for office down, and provides a community representative.
A comment was made that Dr. Paine's presentation to the 2019 committee
said the benefits of districting depends on the size of the city and Clearwater
is not large enough to support districts. It would divide the community rather
than bring it together. Clearwater is not big enough to where a candidate
from one area would not understand the issues in another part of the city. A
concern was expressed that a districted council would not be able to
prioritize a citywide budget when the councilmembers priorities lie in their
district. It was said that districting would make it affordable for more
individuals to run for council and allow for someone to champion an area
and have a voice on the dais.
In response to a question, the City Attorney said if nobody runs in a
district, the remaining Council would have to appoint someone. He said
if candidate qualifications were residency restricted based and elected at
large, the process would not have to go to referendum to adopt.
3.5 Discuss Ranked Choice Voting.
See motion for Item 3.3
4. Citizens to be heard regarding items not on the agenda: None
5. Adjournment
Attest:
(1/4",(0&
Dep tyity Clerk
City of Clearwater
The meeting adjourned at 5:30 p.m.
Chair, Charter Rthiew Committee