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Home My WebLink About07-20-2023 Minutesflorldo Chafter Review Commission Ocoee City Hall 1 N. Bluford Avenue Ocoee, Florida July 20, 2023 MlIfUTES 6:15 p.m. Call to Order Chair Forges called the meeting to order at 6:15 p.m., in the Commission Chambers City Hall, located at 1 N. Bluford Avenue. He led the Pledge of Allegiance to the Fl followed by a moment of personal reflection. Recording Clerk Sibbitt called roll a declared a quorum present. I Present: Chair Forges, Vice -Chair Sills and Members Chacon, Lovejoy, Lowrie, anm Alternate Member Butler (2nd Alt.). Also present were CRC Facilitator/Board Attorn-'� Geller, and Recording Clerk Sibbitt. I Absent: Alternate Member McTavish (1st Alt.) Minutes as presented; Moved by Member Chacon, seconded by Member Lowriei Motion carried 5-0. CRC Facilitator/Board Attorney Geller briefly explained the proposed ordinance reporl ?nd procedures and suggested how they could bring forward questions. Chair Forges ,i,uggested they begin with the items in the report shown in red. Charter Review Commission July 20, 2023 • Page 2 and 6 — Clarification was provided on the swearing in process, and it was decided to not include the proposed wording, "upon commencement of". • Page 9 and 10 — Explanation was provided by CRIC Facilitator/Board Attorney Geller on newly proposed language that was not discussed by the Board tit Section C-8, Powers of the City. C-8. Powers of the city. The City of Ocoee shall have all governmental, corporate and proprietary powers •TX **We of Florida as fully and completely as though they were specifically enumerated in this Charter. EXGept as athe i Ir r ided hereinAjhe fo4owing powers of the city shall be construed liberally and in favor of the city to effect their intended pILToses, and the specific mention of particular powers in the Charter shall not be construed as limiting, in any way, the powers granted to the city under the Constitution and the laws of Florida. and ballot Question #11; Moved by Member Lowrie, seconded by Vice -Chair Sills; Motion carried 5-0. Member Chacon suggested that Question #1 be separated into two separate questions as there are two changes being proposed for C-8, and if the voters do not agree with the first change, it may affect the second change to that section. 1111111 11 11'' 1, 111 11�:111 L 311 iiiiiii� a= IN #1 into two separate questions; Moved by Member Chacon, seconded bV Vic Chair Sills; q 2 1 P a g e Charter Review Commission July 20, 2023 Shall § C-8 of the Ocoee City Charter be amended to provide that the City of Ocoee's powers be liberally construed in favor of the city to effect their intended purposes? YES M 111pill 11 1,, 111 %1 �1111 1111i'111� I I � , Shall § C-8 of the Ocoee City Charter be amended to provide that the City's enumerated powers shall include the right to acquire or dispose of property, including real property, by exchange? YES M CRC Facilitator/Board Attorney Geller shared there was a discussion at a previou meeting about the donation of property as well as the exchanging of property. Only th exchange of property was added for consideration unless the Board would like to mak a change. Brief discussion ensued, and consensus was to keep the proposed languag presently in the ordinance report. Page 12 — Explanation was provided on an addition that was not discussed by the Board to Section C-17 (C), and further discussion ensued on how to revise this section to be gender neutral. 'M91 I MMETIIIII M- If any vacancy, other than the Office of Mayor, occurs in the City Commission, an eligible person shall be selected by the City Commission within thirty (30) days of the vacancy to serve as an interim Commissioner until the successor is elected. If a vacancy occurs in the office of Mayor, the Mayor pro tem shall serve as an 3 1 P a g e Charter Review Commission July 20, 2023 interim Mayor until the successor is elected. The City Commission shall appoint an interim Commissioner to fill the vacancy created by the Mayor pro tern serving as Mayor; such interim Commissioner shall serve until such time as a Mayor is elected. The Mayor pro tem shall resume representation of his or her single -member district for the remainder of the term. representation of their single -member district for the remainder of the term."i Moved by Member Chacon, seconded by Vice -Chair Sills; After a brief discussion, CRC Facilitator/Board Attorney Geller inquired if the Board would support the change to read, "The Mayor pro tem shall resume representation o a single -member district for the remainder of the term." I 111-13 MOP M! IfflIffiffiffig V R11111IFT11,131911P.1 IN carried 6-0. After reviewing all items in the report shown in red, the Board discussed how they could inform the public on the proposed changes to the Charter, and it was discussed that finalized ballot questions with explanation can be placed on the City's website. ---------- The Board continued discussions on the following ballot questions within the ordinance report: N M Mel i toil To =_" 11 Shall § C-1 1 of the Ocoee City Charter be amended to provide that candidates for Mayor shall reside in the City of Ocoee for at least one year before qualifying as a candidate and to require candidates for City Commissioner to reside in the Charter Review Commission July 20, 2023 district they seek to represent for at least one year before qualifying as a candidate? 9M M NEWER bl-MM-11.1 0 CRC Facilitator/Board Attorney Geller brought the Board's attention to C-52, Ballots for o4i-tRices a-i4l CWP, ter quiet4metts. An ordinance, a charter amendment or any other matter to be voted on by the electors of the city shall be presented for voting by ballot title. The ballot title of a measure may differ from its legal title and shall be a clear, concise statement describing the substance of the measure without argument or prejudice. Below the ballot title shall appear the following question: "Shall the above -described (ordinance) (amendment) be adopted?" Immediately below such question shall appear the words "yes" and "no." The elector shall cast a vote by choosing either 11yes" or "no" in the manner required by the Supervisor of Elections. rk "10MOT13111111111 th 1507�� IT-71111POM 103C#M�� 011�" Mal ;M 11=1U11111 J1 1501 *1 , . q I CRC Facilitator/Board Attorney Geller addressed the question about redistricting and advised that Section C-69 (C) would allow for any member of the City Commission who ceases to be a bona fide resident of the district which such member represents as a result of redistricting or a change in district boundaries by the City Commission shall continue to hold office for the duration of such members'term and shall continue to represent such district. The Board continued discussions on the following ballot questions within the ordinance report: Question #4 (page 13) — Discussion ensued on the word "shall". No changes were made. Charter Review Commission July 20, 2023 • Question #5 (page 14) — No comment • Question #6 (page 15) — No comment • Question #7 (page 16) — No comment • Question #8 (page 18) — No comment • Question #9 (page 18) — No comment • Question #10 (page 19) — Correction to include "—dates of qualifying period... and remove the word (Conduct of Elections) in the title. • Question #11 (page 21) — Remove (Certification of results; canvass of returns; notification of successful candidates). WWW'*1,11911INNO , M.W71""IFTIMM W Mml "MINTI "M WMI Motion carried 5-0. M9 CRC Facilitator/Board Attorney Geller further read aloud the additional proposed ordinance amending Section 5-3 of the City Code to allow the Board to make corrections as needed. Brad Lornneck, Ocoee Resident, asked a hypothetical question on the qualification process if the Charter amendment to move the qualifying date to December had been in place. He further asked the attorney's interpretation of the vacancy of a seat and confirmed that a person who vacates a seat could not be the successor of the seat they vacated; and further, requested confirmation that the interim could be a successor. CRC Facilitator/Board Attorney Geller addressed his questions, and provided his interpretation of C-17 C. of the Charter. Log[ oADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 8:31 p.m. Melanie Siblift, Recording Clerk 6 1 P a g e