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CHARTER REVIEW COMMITTEE
FEBRUARY 13, 2006
The Charter Review Committee met on February 13, 2006 at the City of Palm Beach
Gardens Municipal Complex, 10500 N. Military Trail. The meeting was called to order at
7:05 PM and opened with the Pledge of Allegiance.
I. ROLL CALL
Members Present: Paul Auerbach, Terry Brady, David Clark, Gary Fields, Tim Frohling,
Don Kiselewski and Len Rubin and Thomas Baird who arrived late.
Members Absent: Warren Freedman
II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
The Board did not approve the minutes from the January 9, 2006 meeting because Tim
Frohling stated that he did not vote yes on a motion that was indicated in the minutes.
The recording secretary will listen to the recording and make the appropriate changes.
III. COMMENTS BY THE PUBLIC
Pat Hughey of Reed Road asked the Committee to reconsider their decision regarding the
election of a Mayor instead of the City Council appointing the Mayor every year. She
would also like the Committee to consider increasing the number of Councilmembers
from five to seven members. She would like to see five Councilmembers elected in
specific districts and two be elected at- large.
Alice Sallee also asked the Committee to consider adding two additional
Councilmembers. This would mean City Council having seven members instead of five
members.
Marilyn Jacobs of 16 Bermuda Lake Drive, stated that she does not agree with districting
in the City. She also does not want to see the City have a Strong Mayor form of
Government. She does feel the Mayor should be elected by the residents as opposed to
City Council appointing the Mayor. She stated the City needs a vision and strong
leadership and the Council should not have the opportunity to change the Mayor every
year.
Joan Elias of Diamond Head Way, stated that she does not agree with having districts.
She also does not think the City Council needs more than five Councilmembers. She
stated that many cities that are larger than Palm Beach Gardens have five Council
Members and it works fine. She would like to see the Mayor elected by the residents for a
three year term. She added that people think they are electing a Mayor when they vote.
Most residents do not know that the Council appoints the Mayor.
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Richard Jacobs of 16 Bermuda Lake Drive, also feels the Mayor should be elected by the
residents. He does not feel a one year is a long enough term for the Mayor.
John Chaplik of 705 Hudson Bay Drive commented on how ugly the last election was.
He added that developers have a lot of money that could be contributed to the campaign
of the Mayor.
IV. DISCUSSION BY THE COMMITTEE
Don Kiselewski stated he has several issues he would like to discuss. He also wanted to
have a further definition of the different kinds of government including Strong Mayor
and Elected Mayor. He presented the following issues:
1) He would like to see the Charter be made gender neutral.
2) He would like to see the Council change to a City Commission and have
Commissioners and a Commission Chairperson as opposed to a Mayor.
3) He would like to remove any mention in the Charter to groups or seats.
4) He would like the Committee to consider changing the Charter to hold
elections in November as opposed to March. He stated there would be many more
people that would come out and vote in November and it would also save the City
money.
5) He would like to see the voting system changed where the candidates with the
most votes will win the election. Candidates would not run for a specific seat. All
the candidates would run against each other and the five with the most votes will
win.
6) He would like the Committee to consider implementing a 3rd Party who would
monitor the administration and report back to Council every few months.
There was discussion among the Committee regarding Mr. Kiselewski's comments. Tim
Frohling stated he would like the Committee to consider revisiting the sections of the
Charter they voted on at the last meeting. After hearing the comments from the public,
he feels they Committee needs to reconsider the issues of the type of government, voting
for a Mayor and districting.
Gary Fields agrees that the Charter should be gender neutral. He also agrees with the
elections being held in November. He does not agree that there should be a 3rd Party
monitoring the administration.
David Clark would like to see City Council have four year terms instead of three.
Terry Brady agreed with changing the elections to November.
Thomas Baird stated that elections are held in March because they are non - partisan. He
would prefer to keep them in March. He feels the Charter needs a few tweaks but does
not think it is necessary to make any major changes.
Paul Auerbach also does not feel elections should be in November. He does not agree
with revisiting the issues of the type of Government, elected Mayor and districting that
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were discussed at the last meeting. He stated that this Committee had serious discussion
regarding these issues and there was a true consensus of the Committee not to
recommend these changes. He agrees the charter should be gender neutral.
Len Rubin stated he would find out from Staff how much it costs to hold an election in
November compared to March.
There was discussion regarding Don Kiselewski's suggestion of using a plurality method
of election. Council members would be chosen by the largest number of votes as opposed
to running against candidates for a specific seat. Mr. Fields stated that a lot of
Homeowner Associations hold plurality elections and it seems to work well. Len Rubin
also liked the plurality method because the candidate can focus on promoting themselves
instead of focusing on the candidate they are running against.
The Committee discussed revisiting the items that were voted on at the last meeting.
Tim Frohling made a motion to table the votes from the last meeting regarding the form
of Government, electing a Mayor and districting, until such time that the Committee can
research and review material regarding these issues. Paul Auerbach seconded the motion
to open it up for further discussion. Tom Baird does not agree with revisiting these
issues. He feels that based on his experience the City does not need to make any
changes. He feels the Committee made an informed decision when making this vote and
will not vote to revisit the issues. Gary Fields stated that he understands why people
would want districting but he personally does not feel it is right for this City and he is
very strongly against it. He does not want the City to be split. He has listened to the
comments that the residents made about electing a Mayor and feels that this could
become a popularity contest and the wrong person could be elected for a three year term.
He feels the Council members are more in tune to what happens on a day to day basis and
should be able to choose the Mayor. He also feels that if the system is not broken and
does not need to be fixed. Len Rubin does not want to revisit the issue either. He stated
that the Committee needs to get specific issues out of the way so they can continue to
move forward. Since the Committee already discussed and voted on these issues they
should move on to other parts of the Charter. Don Kiselewski reiterated that he would
like to see the Council become a Commission and have a Chairperson of the Commission
instead of a Mayor.
The Committee voted against revisiting the issues that were previously voted on in a 5 to
3 vote.
Paul Auerbach: Against
Tom Baird:
Against
Terry Brady:
For
David Clark:
For
Gary Fields:
Against
Tim Frohling:
For
Don Kiselewski:
Against
Len Rubin:
Against
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Tim Frohling asked if this means these issues are dead. Len Rubin stated that this can be
discussed again, but the consensus of the Committee is to move forward with reviewing
the remainder of the Charter.
V. ARTICLE IV
The Committee gave their comments on what they think needs to be discussed regarding
Article IV. Tim Frohling feels the following items need to be discussed; the number of
Council members, how Council is elected which may include districting or possibly
switching to a plurality method, changing the election from March to November, the term
of office, filing dates and how a candidate can qualify to run for office, which is either by
fee alone or by civic interpretation. Len Rubin feels the filing dates are standard for all
Cities but he will check into this.
There was discussion regarding the term of office that a Councilmember serves and
problems that arise if a member resigns midterm. The Committee discussed the
possibility of having the existing Council appointing an interim Councilmember if a
member resigns midterm and there is less than one year left in the term of office. They
also discussed the possibility of not allowing the interim member to run in the next
election. There was conversation regarding what happens if a Councilmember is
suspended. The Charter is not clear on the consequences of this action. Len Rubin is
going to research the suspension policy and bring this back to the Committee at the next
meeting.
VI. ARTICLE V
Paul Auerbach suggested making modifications to Page 24 of the Charter regarding
waivers. He would like to see the Charter specify that no modifications and waivers will
be given for more than 15% of what is currently approved. An example would be, if a
parking space is approve for a certain amount of feet than a waiver could not be issued
for more than 15% of the approved amount. The same would apply to height restrictions
and usage. He also feels that the Charter should limit the amount of waivers City Council
can give. He feels the public should decide and the waivers should be put to a referendum
for the public to vote on. Don Kiselewski does not feel this power should be taken away
from City Council. They are voted in by the public and they should be trusted to make the
right decision. Gary Fields is concerned about putting limitations on waivers in the
Charter. He feels this is restricting growth in the City.
Len Rubin and Tom Baird suggested eliminating Article V from the Charter except for
Section 5.1 that prescribes the powers for municipalities. David Clark also agreed with
eliminating Article V with the exception of Section 5.1.
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Don Kiselewski asked what policies the City has in place for acts of terrorism and what
emergency operations procedures are in place. Len Rubin said he will ask the City
Attorney for more information regarding this matter.
VII. NEXT MEETING
Follow up on Handout's and Questions from February 13, 2006
Meeting
Charter Article VI — Administration as Council — Manager
Government
Section 6 -1 City Manager
Section 6 -2 City Attorney
Charter Article VII — Merit System
Section 7 -1 Merit Principle
Section 7 -2 Personnel System
VI. ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at 8:27 P.M.
Approval:
Leonard Rubin, Chair Person
Tim Frohl , V'c hair Person
t 4;
Paul Auerba , Committee Member
omas Baird, itt e er
$ �
Terry Brady, Committee Member
David Clark, Committee Member
Gary Fields, Committee Member
Warren Fr mmittee umber
DodkiseW i, Committee Member
Attest:
Sus ell, blic Information and Recording Coordinator