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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Charter Review 041006CHARTER REVIEW COMMITTEE April 10, 2006 The Charter Review Committee met on April 10, 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, Don Kiselewski, Thomas Baird, Warren Freedman, Gary Fields and Len Rubin Members Absent: Tim Frohling and David Clark II. APPROVAL OF MINTUES The Committee directed the Recording Coordinator to review Page 3 of the minutes from March 13, 2006 and determine if a vote was taken on item 6 -1(c). The Committee will review and approve at the May 8, 2006 meeting. III. COMMENTS BY THE PUBLIC Richard Orman asked the Committee to reconsider their decision to allow voters to elect the Mayor instead of City Council appointing the Mayor every year. He would also like the Committee to reconsider the subject of districting and a seven member City Council. He feels there is a major disconnect in the City, and that the City Manager has too much power. He feels the Mayor should be the policymaker and should be responsible "for bringing the public to the arena of decision - making ". There was discussion regarding Mr. Orman statements. Don Kiselewski asked Mr. Orman questions about his comments and why he feels that one person should be in charge of setting policy instead of the entire Council as the Charter currently states. Mr. Orman stated that he feels, at this time, no one on the City Council sets policy. Mr. Kiselewski explained that it is City Council's job to set policy and the City Manager carries them out. Discussion ensued. Linda Hughey spoke about Section 9 -3, Powers, and Duties of the City Treasurer. Linda stated that since there is no City Treasurer she would like to see the section changed to the Powers and Duties of the City Attorney. She would like to see some specific definition of the City Attorney's job description and who the City Attorney reports to. Linda said the City Attorney's compensation has gone up and made a made a gesture using her hands and to indicate the performance has gone down. She would like to see the Charter be specific on the City Attorney's duties. She would also like the Committee to consider hearing comments by the public at the end of the meeting as well as at the beginning of the meeting. Don Kiselewski went over the memo regarding the cost of holding an election in November as opposed to March. The recording coordinator, Susan Bell, explained the memo and stated that the difference in the election fee is mostly for the salaries of poll workers. She also explained that the difference is not whether an election is held in March or November, but whether the City is able to piggyback off the County election. The County only holds elections on even years and the City will have to hold elections in i �- odd years too. Regardless of what month the election is, if there is no County election the City would be responsible for paying those fees. Discussion About Preliminary Report The Committee discussed City Council's decision regarding the date the preliminary report would be due. Susan Bell explained that even though the City Council agreed to extend the report date to June 15, the City Clerk's recommendation is to have the report in by May 15. There are very strict guidelines regarding advertising and there's a possibility of missing deadlines if they wait until June to present a report. The Committee agreed that at their next meeting they will discuss what will be in the report, and should be able to have the report ready by May 15, 2006. IV. CHARTER DISCUSSION Len Rubin explained to the Committee that Tim Frohling is unable to attend the meeting and therefore, submitted comments for them to review which are attached to these minutes. Article VIII: Department Heads Section 8 -1 Salary, duties, powers and complaints There was discussion about the wording in Section 8 -1 that states the City Manager shall "establish "....... Paul Auerbach proposed using the words "recommend" as opposed to "establish ". The conversation went on to discuss City Council approving the appointments of department heads as opposed to the City Manager. Tom Baird stated that this is contrary to the Council /Manager form of government because this allows the City Council to appoint department heads based on political bias. He went on to say that the City Manager goes through an extensive interview process when looking for the right candidate and there is no political motive. A Motion was made by Gary Fields to add the language the City Manager is "To appoint all department heads subject to confirmation by the City Council..... The Motion Passed 5 -2 Auerbach Yes Baird No Brady Yes Freedman Yes Fields Yes Kiselewski Yes Rubin No Don Kiselewski asked the board who at the City handles complaints regarding the City Manager. Paul Auerbach suggested that all complaints that come in against the department heads or the City Manager be filed with the City Clerk. Paul was concerned about the process for handling complaints against the City Manager and Department Heads. Paul would like it stated that all complaints against the City Manager be forwarded to City Council. There was discussion about whether this item requires a referendum and if it should be placed on the ballot. It is pointed out that if someone 2 makes a complaint against the City Manager, they would probably send a copy to City Council too. Gary Fields explained that the Charter states that complaints should be handled within 15 days and he would like to see this remain in the Charter. Len Rubin stated that if a change was to be made, it should be made in Section 6.1 and not in this section, because Section 6.1 addresses the City Manager and this section address Department Heads. Paul Auerbach made a motion to add the sentence "Council will review all complaints against the City Manager within 15 days." to Section 6.1. Don Kiselewski seconded the motion. Gary Fields stated he was concerned about this because if Council does not have the opportunity to review a complaint within 15 days they will be in breach of the Charter. He stated that if there is an issue that a large amount of complaints come in about, City Council might not be able to review all the complaints in that time period. The chair called for the vote, and the vote failed in a 4 -3 vote. Auerbach Yes Baird No Brady No Freedman Yes Fields No Kiselewski Yes Rubin No Section 8 -2 Compensation of Mayor and Council members Terry Brady feels that City Council's salary should be approved by the voters and not by Council setting their own salaries. He stated that the process would be that City Council would ask for a raise and at the next election the voters would decide. Terry Brady made a motion that City Council's salaries would be decided by a referendum vote. The motion was seconded by Don Kiselewski. The vote failed in a 5 -2 vote. Auerbach No Baird No Brady Yes Freedman No Fields No Kiselewski Yes Rubin No Article IX: Appointment, Powers, and Duties of City Officers Section 9 -1 Powers and duties of the Mayor Don Kiselewski discussed paragraph 2 of this section. There was discussion about what defines a disability and what happens if a Councilmember is disabled. Len Rubin stated that if the Mayor's disabled the Vice -Mayor would take over until the next re- organizational meeting. There was discussion about proposed language but no action was taken on this matter. Section 9 -2 Powers and Duties of the City Clerk The Committee discussed the language in this section being standard language and no changes were recommended to this section. Section 9 -3 Powers and Duties of the City Treasurer Since there is no City Treasurer Paul Auerbach made a motion to deleted this section from the Charter and Thomas Baird seconded it the motion. It passed in a 7 -0 vote. Auerbach Yes Baird Yes Brady Yes Freedman Yes Fields Yes Kiselewski Yes Rubin Yes Article X: Removal of Councilmen Section 10 -1 Procedure There was discussion about the difference between the words "citizen" and "taxpayer ". The Committee members felt the word should be "resident ". The Committee decided to call this to the attention of the City Council and let them decide if this should go on the ballot. Article XI — Reserved Article XII: Creation of City Offices, Bonds of City Employees Section 12 -1 Creation of Offices The Committee discussed the definition of the creation of offices and after some discussion decided to take no action on this article. Section 12 -2 Bonds of Employees The Committee discussed who pays for an employee to be bonded and at no action was taken on this article Article XIII: Annual Audit This article is prepared by Florida statute and cannot be changed. Article XIV: Reserved Article XV: The Recall This article is part of the Florida State law and cannot be changed. Article XVI: Elections Section 17 -1 Regulation by ordinance 4 P .,r Section 17 -2 Qualification of electors These articles are part of the Florida State law and cannot be changed. Article XVIII: Ordinances and Resolutions Section 18 -1 Meeting and procedure of City Council Len Rubin talked about the fact that the Charter has a 14 day requirement between readings of an Ordinance but the Florida Statute only requires 10 days. He would like to change this to 10 days to be in compliance with the State Statute. In addition, having a 14 day advertisement requirement does not allow for an Ordinance to be read at back -to- back Council meetings. Thomas Baird made a motion to delete Article 18 -1 because the article is covered by the Florida Statutes. Don Kiselewski seconded the motion and the motion passed in a 6 -1 vote. Auerbach No Baird Yes Brady Yes Freedman Yes Fields Yes Kiselewski Yes Rubin Yes Section 18 -2 Reserved Section 18 -3 City Council meetings Don Kiselewski would like to change the Charter to state that the City Council must meet a minimum of twice a month. The Charter now states that City Council must meet once a month. After some discussion the Committee decided not to make any changes to this section. Section 18 -4 Posting or Publication of Ordinances No comments or action was taken on this section. Section 18 -5 Franchises No comments or action was taken on the section. Article XIX: Reserved Article XX: Reserved Article XXI: Reserved Article XXII: Charter Amendment Section 22 -1 Charter review No comments or action was taken on this article. 5 V. NEXT MEETING At the next meeting the Committee will go through the Charter again and come to a consensus on the items they would like to recommend be revised and /or changed to the City Council and discuss the preliminary report. VI. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at 8:25 P.M. Approval: Leonard Rubin, Chair Person Attest: vz>�' Paul Au ach, Committee Me Thomas Bair mitt ember Te dy, Committee I e ber David Clark, CoyrfmiWe Member Gar elds, Committee M Zer .�Q Warren F ed m, Committee Mem/b�er - /"-� % on KiseVWski, Committee Member Susan Bell, Public Information, and Recording Coordinator