HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Charter Review 031306CHARTER REVIEW COMMITTEE
March 13, 2006
The Charter Review Committee met on March 13, 2006 at the City of Palm Beach
Gardens Municipal Complex, 10500 N. Military Trail. The meeting was called to order at
7:06 PM and opened with the Pledge of Allegiance.
I. ROLL CALL
Members Present: Paul Auerbach, Terry Brady, David Clark, Tim Frohling, Don
Kiselewski, Thomas Baird, Warren Freedman. Len Rubin arrived at 7:25.
Members Absent: Gary Fields
II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
The Committee approved the minutes from the January 9, 2006 and the February 13,
2006 meetings with the correction of the word candidate on Page 2. The Recording
Coordinator will make the change and ask the Committee to sign the minutes at the next
meeting.
III. COMMENTS BY THE PUBLIC
None
IV. DISCUSSION
Preliminary Report to City Council
The Committee recognized that according to Resolution 124, 2005, the preliminary report
to City Council is due on April 1, 2006. The Committee agreed that they will not be able
to have the report completed by April 1, 2006 and will ask City Council for an extension.
Tim Frohling will attend the City Council meeting on Thursday, March 16, 2006 and
request an extension on the report. The Committee will compile the details and produce a
report at the May meeting. They suggested a public meeting in June and to advertise it
the newspaper, by press release and on the City website. They would like to present their
report to City Council at the 2nd Council meeting in June and have the final report
completed approximately 30 days after.
Cost of City Elections
Don Kiselewski requested a breakdown of election costs to be able to compare a March
Municipal and November County elections.
Charter Article VI — Administration as Council — Manager Government
Section 6 -1 City Manager
Section 6 -2 City Attorney
There was discussion among the Committee regarding Section 6 -2(c) which addresses
hiring a special Attorney to handle matters when the City Attorney determines that
outside Council is necessary. The consensus of the Committee is that the City Attorney
should be the person that makes the recommendation to City Council to hire an outside
attorney. A motion was made by Don Kiselewski and seconded by Thomas Baird to
strike the wording in 6 -2(c) that says "The City Attorney or City Manager may appoint
one or more special counsel." It will be replaced with the wording "The City Attorney
may appoint one or more special Counsel.... ". There was further discussion about the
motion. The motion passed in a 5 -3 vote.
Auerbach Yes
Baird
Yes
Brady
No
Freedman
Yes
Clark
No
Frohling
No
Rubin
Yes
Kiselewski
Yes
The Committee continued discussion on Section 6.1 which states that "The City Council,
by a majority vote of its membership, shall appoint a city manager who shall serve at the
pleasure of the City Council........ " Tim Frohling recommended in Section 6 -1 (a) and
(b), that a standard line of succession be established for the absence of the City Manager,
especially in case of an emergency. After some discussion, the Committee agreed that
the City Manager should create a standard line of succession designating who will take
his/her place in case of a temporary leave of absence. Don Kiselewski made a motion
and was seconded by Tim Frohling.
The motion passed 6 -1.
Auerbach - Didn't vote — was out of the room
Baird No
Brady
Yes
Freedman
Yes
Clark
Yes
Frohling
Yes
Rubin
Yes
Kiselewski
Yes
The Committee continued with discussion of Section 6 -1 (e). Thomas Baird made a
motion to delete Section 6 -1 (e) in its entirety. This section states that "The City Council
may suspend or remove the City Manager by resolution approved by a majority of the
total membership of the City Council." The motion included substituting language that
states that "City Council may suspend or remove the City Manager in accordance with
the provisions of his contract with a majority vote." The motion was seconded by Paul
Auerbach. The motion passed in a 8 -0 vote.
Auerbach Yes
Baird
Yes
Brady
Yes
Freedman
Yes
Clark
Yes
Frohling
Yes
Rubin
Yes
Kiselewski
Yes
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Thomas Baird made a motion and David Clark seconded the motion to delete Section 6 -1
(f) which states, "By letter or memorandum filed with the City Clerk, the City Manager
shall designate a City officer or employee to exercise the powers and perform the duties
of the City Manager during the Manager's absence or disability. However, the motion
included moving the sentence that reads "The City Council may revoke such designation
at any time ......." into Section 6 -1 (e), regarding the line of succession. The vote passed
8 -0.
Auerbach Yes
Baird
Yes
Brady
Yes
Freedman
Yes
Clark
Yes
Frohling
Yes
Rubin
Yes
Kiselewski
Yes
Don Kiselewski spoke about Section 6 -1 (c) (2). He does not feel the word
"Consideration" is appropriate. He would like to see the word "Approval" David Clark
suggested it read "Consideration and Approval ". A motion was made by Don Kiselewski
and seconded by Tim Frohling to add "Consideration and Approval to Section 6 -1(c) (2)
which reads "Prepare and submit an annual budget to the City Council for it's
consideration." The Committee moved on to discuss of other topics in the charter and
then came back to vote on this motion. The motion passed 8 -0
Auerbach Yes
Baird
Yes
Brady
Yes
Freedman
Yes
Clark
Yes
Frohling
Yes
Rubin
Yes
Kiselewski
Yes
There was discussion regarding Section 6 -1(c) (8). A Motion was made by Paul
Auerbach to include the phrase "excluding special Counsell" in Section 6 -1(c) (8) which
reads, "To retain such specialized professional services as may be necessary to
effectively and efficiently conduct the city's affairs in accordance with state and local
laws." David Clark seconded the motion and it passed 8 -0
Auerbach Yes
Baird
Yes
Brady
Yes
Freedman
Yes
Clark
Yes
Frohling
Yes
Rubin
Yes
Kiselewski
Yes
There was discussion regarding Section 6 -1 (c) (4) on whether to delete the last phrase
which reads "To keep the City Council fully advised as to the financial condition and
needs of the City and to submit for it's consideration an annual budget." This phrase is
already covered Section 6 -1 (c) (2). Paul Auerbach made a motion to delete the phrase
and Tim Frohling made the second.. The vote passed 8 -0.
Auerbach Yes
Baird
Yes
Brady
Yes
Freedman
Yes
Clark
Yes
Frohling
Yes
Rubin
Yes
Kiselewski
Yes
Len Rubin continued discussion on Section 6 -1 (c)(5), which now states "To appoint all
department heads subject to confirmation by the city Council, to employ and remove all
other employees of the City." There was discussion regarding the fact that the Charter
states that the City Manager needs Council's approval to appoint a Department Head, but
he can remove a Department head without Council's approval. There discussion
continued for clarification purposes, but no changes were recommended.
Don Kiselewski discussed Section 6 -1 (c) (6) which states "To make such reports as the
City Council may require concerning the operations of the City departments." He asked
if there should be a quarterly report due to City Council. There conversation ensued and
the Committee did not feel there should be changes made to this article. Stipulating a
quarterly report is not necessary because City Council can ask for a report whenever they
want, and the City Manager gives a report at every Council meeting.
Paul Auerbach asked to discuss Section 6 -2 (b) (2) which states "Appointing such
assistant City Attorneys to perform the duties of his office as may be approved by the
City Manager." There was discussion about this clause and David Clark suggested
deleting this section. Discussion ensued and a motion was made by Paul Auerbach and
seconded by Thomas Baird to delete Section 6 -2(b) (2). The motion passed 8 -0.
Auerbach Yes
Baird
Yes
Brady
Yes
Freedman
Yes
Clark
Yes
Frohling
Yes
Rubin
Yes
Kiselewski
Yes
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SECTION VII. — MERIT SYSTEM
Tim Frohling feels that Section 7 -1 Merit principle and Section 7 -2 Personnel system
should be reversed on the Charter. Len Rubin discussed Section 7 -2, and suggested the
personnel system being established by Resolution instead of by Ordinance. Thomas
Baird recommended changing the Charter to say that the City Manager should provide
for the creation and regulation of the personnel system. Thomas Baird made a motion,
and David Clark seconded Section 7 -2 to read "Consistent with all applicable Federal and
State Laws, the City Manager shall provide for the creation, regulation and maintenance
of the personnel system......" This will be done by Resolution as opposed to Ordinance.
The motion passed 8 -0.
Auerbach Yes
Baird
Yes
Brady
Yes
Freedman
Yes
Clark
Yes
Frohling
Yes
Rubin
Yes
Kiselewski
Yes
David Clark also suggested that they reverse Sections 7 -1 and 7 -2 and change the title to
Personnel Systems since this really is not a Merit System article at all. Paul Auerbach
made a motion to reverse the sections and Thomas Baird seconded the motion. The
Motion passed 8 -0.
Auerbach Yes
Baird
Yes
Brady
Yes
Freedman
Yes
Clark
Yes
Frohling
Yes
Rubin
Yes
Kiselewski
Yes
Len Rubin announced that he was invited to speak at Frenchman's Creek External Affairs
Committee about what the Charter Review Committee does and the process of changing
the charter. The meeting is being held on Wednesday March 15, 2006 and he is unable to
attend. He asked if someone from the Committee would like to take his place. Since it
was such short notice, none of the Committee members were able to attend. Len said it is
not a problem and he will reschedule with Frenchman's Creek.
V. NEXT MEETING
The next meeting will be held on Monday April 10, 2006. The Committee will discuss
the remainder of the charter which includes:
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Article VIII: Department Heads
Section 8 -1 Salary, duties, powers and complaint
Section 8 -2 Compensation of Mayor and Council members
Article IX: Appointment, Powers and Duties of City Officers
Section 9 -1 Powers and duties of the Mayor
Section 9 -2 Powers and duties of the City Clerk
Section 9 -3 Powers and duties of the City Treasurer
Article X: Removal of Councilmen
Section 10 -1 Procedure
Section 10 -2 Incumbent officer to turn over records to successor
Article XI — Reserved
Article XII: Creation of City Offices, Bonds of City Employees
Section 12 -1 Creation of offices
Section 12 -2 Bonds of employees
Article XIII: Annual Audit
Section 113 -1 Preparation and publication
Article XIV: Reserved
Article XV: The Recall
Section 15 -1 Mayor any Councilman or any elected official may be recalled.
Article XVI: Initiative and Referendum
Section 16 -1 Passage of repeal of ordinance, petition procedure
Article XVII: Elections
Section 17 -1 Regulation by ordinance
Section 17 -2 Qualification of electors
Article XVII
Section 18 -1
Section 18 -2
Section 18 -3
Section 18 -4
Section 18 -5
l: Ordinances and Resolutions
Meeting and procedure of City Council
Reserved
City Council meetings
Posting or publication of ordinances
Franchises
Article XIX: Reserved
Article XX: Reserved
on
Article XXI: Reserved
Article XXII: Charter Amendment
Section 22 -1 Charter review
VI. ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at 8:15 P.M.
Approval:
Leonard Rubin, Chair Person
Tim FrohlKa. V
Paul Auerbach;' Committee Membe
homas Baird, C6nmyMfeeSAtIQber
uLM x'-aAe
Terry B y, Committee ber
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