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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCRC 07/30/2008 City of Ocoee Minutes of the Charter Review Commission Meeting Held July 30, 2008 Call to Order Chairperson Grafton called the meeting to order at 6:34 p.m. in the Commission Chairperson Grafton Chambers of City Hall, located at 150 N. Lakeshore Drive. gave Recording Clerk Moseley the invocation and led the pledge of allegiance to the flag. called roll and declared a quorum to be present. Roll Call Present: Chairperson Grafton, Members Barnes and Howell. Also present were City Clerk Eikenberry, City Attorney Paul Rosenthal, and Recording Clerk Moseley. Absent: Vice-Chair McKey and Member Amey (excused) Guests: Commissioner Keller. Approval of Minutes of July 9, 2008 Member BarnesMember Howell , seconded by , moved to approve the minutes of the meeting held July 9, 2008. Motion carried unanimously. Approval of Minutes of June 25, 2008 Member BarnesMember Howell , seconded by , moved to approve the minutes of the meeting held June 25, 2008. Motion carried unanimously. Chairperson Grafton announced that they had all received a printout of an email from Pete McNeil of the Fire Department regarding the Emergency Procedures of the City. Member Barnes said that item was on the list of things to revisit later, so it was decided to wait until that time to discuss the email. Review of the Charter The Charter Review Commission continued to review the Ocoee Charter from Article VI. City Manager, Section 22, while comparing certain sections with the Model Charter. Section C-22. Termination. Member Barnes said he had a note to simplify the section and remembers an City Attorney Rosenthal issue with removing a former city manager. said Ocoee’s Charter provides a very high level of due process protections for the city manager, who is in many respects an at-will employee. Commissioner Keller arrived at 6:43 p.m. Section C-23. Acting City Manager. All agreed it looked fine as is. Charter Review Commission Meeting July 30, 2008 Section C-24. Powers and Duties of the City Manager. Recording Clerk Moseley read a section of past minutes, whereas Lester Dabbs suggested some additional items be added to this section. Lester Dabbs [ requested that they add an Item K to read that “In conjunction with the Human Resources Director, or other appropriate personnel, they establish an in-service training requirement to ensure Lester Dabbs that directors/officers stay current in their field”. also suggested adding an Item L “to hold quarterly individual meetings with director(s) to ensure teamwork and leadership development leading to efficient job performances”.] Consensus of the board was that the suggestions involved managerial issues and Section C-24 looked fine the way it read. Section C-25. General Provisions. City Clerk Eikenberry stated that Section C-25.B. was one that Utilities Director Charles Smith recommended removing because it was already handled in the City Attorney Rosenthal prior sections and was a duplication. said if a city manager wanted to run a department, and it was not prohibited by charter or code, then it could probably happen. There are other state requirements involved to be a Police Chief or Fire Chief. Historically, in some communities the City Commission approves the City Clerk and Police Chief. Consensus of the board was that Section C-25 looked fine the way it read. Section C-26. City Attorney. Chairperson Grafton said the City could not expect to have an attorney on staff because one person could not handle everything and our current City Attorney has City Attorney Rosenthal an organization of staff to assist him. said the only thing they may not always follow is in terms of hiring special counsel when Foley & Lardner is in conflict with the City. Generally, the City Manager would hire special counsel more administratively, rather than going before City Commission Commissioner Keller for approval as stated in the Charter. did not recall this Member type of item on a commission agenda since he has been in office. Howell inquired if they should change the wording of that section so it can be followed more efficiently; he felt the City Manager should be authorized to City Attorney Rosenthal handle that. stated his opinion, that it was efficient to have the City Manager hire special counsel administratively, but was not sure Commissioner Keller what the Commissioners would think of that. commented that adding the word “or” in the section between the City Manager and City City Attorney Rosenthal Commission would technically correct any issues. said, the way it reads now, if the City Manager handles it and nobody objects, and then it is fine. However, if the City Manager did something and City Commission objects, then they can come in make him undo it. The board decided the section was fine as is. Section C-27. Oath required; form. This section was discussed at a previous meeting and is fine as is. 2 Charter Review Commission Meeting July 30, 2008 Section C-28. City Clerk. Member Howell inquired about the City Clerk attending all City Commission meetings, and inquired if her designee could attend in her absence. He was led to Section C-28.B. Deputy City Clerk. Discussion ensued regarding this section and the fact that there is a full time position of Deputy City Clerk, which is different from the Acting City Clerk designated in the City Clerk’s absence. The Deputy City Clerk position is second in command and generally appointed Acting City Clerk in temporary absence of the Clerk. However, if the Deputy City Clerk is absent or unable to fill in, then the City Clerk would designate another employee as Acting City Clerk in her temporary absence. Consensus of the board was to change the phrase “Deputy” City Clerk to “Acting” City Clerk, and change Section C-28.B (3), whereas it begins with “Acting City Clerk shall serve until such time…” Section C-29. City Prosecutor. City Attorney Rosenthal said we have a City Prosecutor and Police Legal Advisor. He said the problem was that court fees charged to pursue an action cost more than the fee you can charge. He explained that citations and parking violations that are not violations of State Law, but rather City Code, are sent only to the police department. Commissioner Keller left at 7:38 p.m. Section C-30. Personnel System. Chairperson Grafton announced that HR Director Carnicella recommend that the personnel board be eliminated because the Personnel Rules & Regulations (PRR’s) are now reviewed by the Employee Committee. She said the Personnel Board was created before there was an Employee Committee and the reason was City Attorney Rosenthal to have input from various layers of the City. said, his historical observation, was that this provision is a general statement that management does not like and is probably the cause of the section being City Clerk Eikenberry strengthened last time. said at the last the Personnel Board was given a list of proposed changes from the HR Director and City Manager to review and she thought the process was effective. She added that Chairperson people from the outside also had input and that was helpful. GraftonCity Clerk asked if there was any input on this from the City Manager. EikenberryMember Howell said no, but she would ask him for his input. said the Board should be able to discuss any issues with the PRR’s, not just the ones City Clerk Eikenberry brought to them by the City Manager. said that Board was welcome to review any sections of the PRR’s and make recommendations to the City Commission if they had issues, she did not feel that the they were limited to reviewing only the proposed changes presented by the City staff. Consensus of the board was change the title of Section C-30 to Personnel Board and to leave the wording of the section alone. 3 Charter Review Commission Meeting July 30, 2008 City Attorney Rosenthal said every word they change will be required to be added to the ordinance for housecleaning. He said the board would have a list of items they have chosen to revisit and then they will make a motion on a final list for City Commission to review and approve. Then the City Commission will approve items to put on the referendum. Article VI - Financial Procedures The only sections of Article VI that the board wished to recommend changing, was Section C-37. Adoption of Budget. City Clerk Eikenberry said the charter currently requires an additional advertisement for the budget, above the TRIM requirement which are ~ page ads in the newspaper. She added, if the time frame were changed in the charter, it would allow one budget add to be placed to cover the entire two-month schedule of meetings, instead of having to place an additional add for each meeting. She suggested leaving the sentence to read "Such notice shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the City of Ocoee at least seven (7) days before such meeting," but delete the "no more than thirty (30) days". Article VII - Nominations and Elections This section was previously discussed and noted during a meeting with the presence of Bill Cowles, Supervisor of Elections. Article VIII - Levy of Taxes and Issuance of Bonds All agreed it looked fine as is. Article IX - General Provisions Section C-56. Personal Financial Interest All agreed it looked fine as is. Comments No comments. Direction to Citv Attornev and Staff To proceed as intended. Set Next Meetin!!: Date The next meeting was scheduled for August 11, 2008, when they would continue reviewing the remaining Articles X and XI of the City Charter, as well as reviewing the initiative and referendum. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 8:35 p.m. J 4