09/27/2023 City of Clearwater
Main Library- Council Chambers
100 N. Osceola Avenue
Clearwater, FL 33755
e
Meeting Minutes
Wednesday, September 27, 2023
4:00 PM
Clearwater East Community Library - 2465 Drew St, Clearwater,
FL 33765 - Community Room
Charter Review Committee
1
City of Clearwater
Roll Call
Present: 9 - Nathan Hightower, Bill Jonson, Travis Norton, Mike Riordon, Cory
Chase, Jonathan Wade (arrived 4:09 p.m.), Patricia Rodriguez (arrived
4:05 p.m.), Kathy Milam, and Karen Cunningham
Absent: 2 - Ryan Cotton and Gladys Andrews
Also Present: — David Margolis — City Attorney, Rosemarie Call — City Clerk, and Nicole
Sprague — Deputy City Clerk
1.Call To Order
The meeting was called to order at 4:00 p.m.
2. Approval of Minutes
2.1 Approve the minutes of the August 23, 2023 and September 13, 2023 Charter Review
Committee meetings as submitted in written summation by the City Clerk.
Member Cunningham moved to approve the minutes of the August 23, 2023
Charter Review Committee meeting as submitted in written summation by
the City Clerk. The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously.
Member Riordon moved to approve the minutes of the September 13, 2023
Charter Review Committee meeting as submitted in written summation by
the City Clerk. The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously.
Chair Hightower departed the meeting room at 4:03 p.m.
3. New Business
3.1 Discuss modifying language addressing the removal of the city manager, addressing the
uncertainty of the Manager's decisions during the interim between the two separate
meetings when only three councilmembers vote initially for termination (place city
manager on administrative leave and appoint acting city manager).
Vice Chair Jonson said a suggestion was made to amend the charter to
allow Council to appoint an interim city manager should the current city
manager be fired at one meeting with a simple majority vote of Council and a
second confirmation meeting is needed. It was said that when the previous
city manager was fired, due to the winter holidays, a second confirmation
meeting was delayed by three weeks and there was uncertainty at the staff
level regarding who was in charge. The previous city manager did not
designate an acting city manager, he did not take administrative leave, and
he never returned to the office in an official capacity after the first vote.
2
City of Clearwater
The City Attorney said the current city manager's contract specifies that she
must take administrative leave if there is a simple majority vote to fire her
and a second confirmation vote is required. In response to a question, he
said Council did not have the authority to appoint someone else as an
interim city manager because technically the previous city manager was still
employed and was not on administrative leave. The previous city manager
chose not to appoint an acting.
Vice Chair Jonson(?) moved to recommend amending Charter Section
3.02(b) by adding the following verbiage: If the majority, but not four
council members, votes to remove the city manager, then the city
manager shall be placed on paid administrative leave until the second
meeting vote. During this period the longest serving assistant city
manager shall function as the acting city manager. The motion was
duly seconded and carried unanimously.
3.2 Add preamble to the city charter.
Vice Chair Jonson provided proposed preamble language for the committee
to consider to recommend to Council to place on the ballot: We the people of
the City of Clearwater, under the constitution and laws of the state of Florida,
in order to form a more perfect City, with high performing government,
economic opportunity, community well-being, environmental stewardship and
superior public service, do hereby adopt this charter and confer upon the
City the followinq powers, subject to the followinq restrictions, and prescribed
by the followinq procedures and government structure.
Discussion ensued with a suggestion to include the words "equity and
inclusion".
One individual opposed the verbiage because there was no community input
provided for the recommendation.
Member Milam moved to the provided language as follows: We the
people of the City of Clearwater, under the constitution and laws of the
state of Florida, in order to form a more perfect City, with high
performing government, which affords equity and inclusion, economic
opportunity, community well-being, environmental stewardship and
superior public service, do hereby adopt this charter and confer upon
the City the following powers, subject to the following restrictions, and
Prescribed by the following procedures and government structure. The
motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously.
Chair Hightower returned at 4:30 p.m.
3.3 Set agenda for next meeting.
Vice Chair Jonson said in response to the Committee's dissatisfaction
regarding Council's discussion related to Charter topics without waiting for
3
City of Clearwater
the Committee's recommendations, he sent an email to Council on behalf of
the Committee.
Vice Chair Jonson said he received information from a citizen regarding a
vacancy tax for vacant commercial properties and how to discourage
vacancies.
The City Attorney said the city has no authority or power to create and
impose any tax other than what the state allows. There may be a code
enforcement or a special assessment mechanism to deal with vacant
commercial properties. There must be a nexus between any fees levied and
what the city will do to benefit those properties. A special assessment may
not be used as a punishment.
Discussion ensued with comments made that Council, not this committee,
should address this issue and a special assessment would not help the
blighted properties in downtown. It was said that the target properties do not
have code violations and are available for rent, but with very specific terms,
including month to month leases.
In response to a concern, the City Attorney said if Council ever approved
such a program, the argument would be made that the issue is directly
related to regulatory responsibility and puts a strain on police enforcement
to keep up on vacant properties.
4. Citizens to be heard regarding items not on the agenda: None
5. Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 5:10 p.m.
Chair, Charter R /iew Committee
4
City of Clearwater