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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCRC 09/15/2008 City of Ocoee Minutes of the Charter Review Commission Meeting Held September 15, 2008 Call to Order Chairperson Grafton called the meeting to order at 6:42 p.m., in the Commission Chairperson Grafton Chambers of City Hall, located at 150 N. Lakeshore Drive. gave Chairperson Grafton the invocation. led the pledge of allegiance to the flag. Recording Clerk Moseley called roll and declared a quorum to be present. Roll Call Present: Chairperson Grafton, Vice-Chair McKey, Member Barnes, and Member Amey. Also present were City Clerk Eikenberry, City Attorney Palmer, and Recording Clerk Moseley. Absent: Member Howell Approval of Minutes of September 3, 2008 Chairperson Grafton explained that in discussion with Recording Clerk Moseley, she is requesting that the approval of the minutes be tabled until the next meeting. Chairperson Grafton then stated that the past minutes reflect direction to the City Attorney Palmer Attorney. stated that he researched the Statute that was referenced in City Attorney Rosenthal’s memo. He explained that Statute allows the City Commission Attorney to appoint someone in charge in an emergency situation by Ordinance. Palmer stated that it also stated that in the absence of that appointment, the Chief of Police would step in. He also explained that it states the specific powers of the City as Attorney Palmer well. stated that in regards to past discussions with this Commission, this would be the time to make the changes. Continue review of the Charter Item 34. Section 20. Topic: Powers of the Mayor Chairperson Grafton stated that in prior discussion, this Commission’s intention was to change the title of Section C-20. She stated that the current title reads “Duties and Emergency Powers of the Mayor”, and the proposed title is “Mayor’s Powers and Vice-Chair McKey Duties”. requested an opinion from the Attorney of what the State Statute recommends regarding the City Manager type of government.He then Attorney Palmer questioned if there are any allowances or variances. stated that the Vice-Chair McKey City has a disaster plan adopted which sets the procedures. Attorney Palmer questioned if the plan superseded the State Statute. stated that it would not, but the State Statute would allow it. Charter Review Commission September 15, 2008 Chair Grafton reiterated the current Mayor’s concerns. Discussion was made regarding the roles of the City Commission, Mayor, Fire Chief, and the City Manager in the event Vice-Chair McKey of a disaster and/or State of Emergency. stated that there is an Ordinance or Resolution that has been passed by the City Commission that outlines the Chairperson Grafton policy. stated that she has read that the Governor addresses the Mayor in an emergency situation. She further explained that this is an issue, as it conflicts Attorney Palmer with the current rules and procedures. explained that in his notes the following sentence has been marked through: “In time of insurrection, general conflagrations, catastrophe or great or widespread public emergency, the Mayor shall become the head of the government and shall exercise those powers delegated to the Mayor under the laws of Florida”. ChairpersonGrafton questioned if the duties of the Mayor are spelled out in the Attorney PalmerChairperson Grafton Statutes. advised that they are not. questioned if Member Barnes deleting the sentence would still cover the duties of the current Mayor. stated that by Ordinance, the City Commission could grant powers to whomever they Clerk Eikenberry deem necessary. stated that the concerns discussed are covered in the Member Barnes EOC manual. stated that the wording could state “refer to the Disaster Recording Clerk Moseley Plan”. explained that the process taken in the event of a hurricane is that the Fire Chief is informed and once the prediction of the storm is determined, he then advises the City Manager, who then will call a meeting of department Directors. She explained that the City Manager is actually in charge. Member Barnes reviewed the proposed changes of Section 20 as: 1) changing the title to “Mayors powers and duties”, 2) deleting the portion of the first sentence of “and by the Governor of the State of Florida for the purposes of military law, civil law and service of Member Barnes process”. explained that four bullet points to remain in the Charter Section 20 would be: ? “the head of the City government for all ceremonial purposes, which will have no regular administrative duties” ? “Sign deeds, contracts, agreements, bonds, notes, obligations, and other legal documents” ? “Prepare and present the Annual State of the City Address message” ? “Accept service of process” Member Barnes suggested that this item could be forwarded to the joint meeting with Chairperson Grafton the Commissioners. requested that everyone review Section 2.03, section (a) of the Model Charter. Consensus of the board was that substituting Ocoee Charter Section 20 with the Model Charter Section 2.03 (a) would be beneficial. Member Barnes stated that this Commission could recommend to the City Commission that if they feel they need someone else with special powers, they could create an Ordinance. Discussion ensued regarding the need tocreate a new section for the Ocoee Charter regarding emergencies. 2 Charter Review Commission September 15, 2008 Consensus of the board was to have the City Attorney draft a paragraph to include updating and maintaining of emergency procedures to be added to the Charter, under Section C-24, Item K. Article IV Section 21 Item 36 & Item 37- Section 21 City Manager. Appointment; qualification; compensation. Chairperson Grafton stated that a consensus has not been reached on this item. Member Barnes stated that the concern should be up to the City Commission to handle Member Amey on a case by case basis. stated to leave the item the way that it is. Member Amey, Member Barnes seconded by , moved to recommend leaving the section Vice-Chair McKey as is. Motion carried 3-1. opposed. Item 38. Section C-22 - Topic: Delete A thru E and consider a more simple process of one super majority vote, without any preliminary resolution process, etc. Chairperson Grafton stated that this item was requested by Mr. Carnicella. She explained the current process includes a hearing along with the need of a super majority Clerk Eikenberry vote. explained that this process was implemented to give the City Vice-Chair McKey Manager the right to appeal. explained the current process for the Member Barnes removal of the City Manager. stated his concern with not changing the process. Discussion was made regarding the super majority vote and due process. Consensus of the board was to substitute Charter Section 22 with Section 3.02 of the Model Charter. Item 39. Section C-22. Topic: relating to the termination of the City Manager requiring a Public Hearing. Item 40. Section C-22 Termination. Chairperson Grafton stated that City Clerk Eikenberry has an issue with this section in Attorney that she needs to advertise for a Public Hearing, and the timing is not defined. Palmer recommended changing the advertising requirement to more than ten days but less than fifteen.Discussion ensued regarding advertising timeline. Consensus of the board was to have the Attorney draft a new section and bring it back for review. 3 Charter Review Commission September 15, 2008 Item 41. Section C-24A, Page C25 addressing resident Fred Wilson‘s comments “employees should be singular not plural” Chairperson Grafton explained the concern of Fred Wilson regarding the change of Clerk Eikenberry “employees” plural to singular. suggested referencing the “s” in parenthesis i.e., employee(s). Consensus of the board was to remove the “s” from employees. Item 42. Section C-24. Topic: Powers and Duties of the City manager Consensus of the board was to leave this item as is. Item 43. Section 24 - Commissioner Johnson comments Chairperson Grafton reviewed this item. Discussion was made regarding the Commissioners having input regarding hiring. No action was taken on this item. Article V Item 44. Section 25. Topic: C-25-b: remove paragraph. Chairperson Grafton stated the Commission was awaiting more information from Clerk Eikenberry Utilities Director Charles Smith. stated she received an answer from Charles Smith and he said it was “redundant”. She also stated that previous consensus of the Commission was to leave it in. Consensus of the board was to leave this item as is. Item 45. Section 27. Topic: Section C-27, Who has done the oath? Item 46. Section 27. Topic: Clean-up items suggested by Fred Wilsen Chairperson Grafton explained that item 45 was previously researched and this item is ok the way that it is. She then stated that Fred Wilsen recommended substituting the wording of “entering the duties of office”, to “commencing the duties of office”. Consensus of the board was to substitute the word “entering” with “commencing” in Section 27. Clerk Eikenberry questioned if the definition of the word “official” had been Attorney Palmer determined for item 45. questioned if the Commission would like for him to define “officials”. Discussion ensued. Consensus of the board was to change the word “officials” to “elected officials” in section C-27. 4 Charter Review Commission September 15, 2008 Item 47 and Item 48. Section 28. Topic: Section C-28-b regarding the City Clerk designating a Deputy City Clerk in her temporary absence. Clerk Eikenberry stated that this item has been addressed. She explained that “Deputy” City Clerk will change to “Acting” City Clerk. Item 49. Section 30. Topic: Section C-30, Personnel System. Item 50. Section 30. Topic: Section “what is Ordinance #99-07 which amended the Personnel Board section? Consensus of the board was to change the title of Section C-30 to Personnel Board and to leave the wording in the section alone. Article VI Item 51, Item 52, and Item 53. Section 25. Topic: City of Winter Garden’s Charter Section 35(2) and (3) relating to the Chief of Police. Clerk Eikenberry stated that this came about due to Member Howell’s concern when Vice-Chair McKey hiring a Police Chief. stated that this item has been previously Chairperson Grafton discussed. asked everyone if they received the City Manager’s e- Vice-Chair McKey mail regarding the Charter Review Boards past actions. stated that they are looking at the Charter that pertains to the entire City and the City Manager is just one realm of that. Although he respects the City Manager’s opinion, he feels the citizens have the right to scrutinize and/or review the actions that the City Manager takes. Chairperson Grafton Discussion followed. said if you want to hire a City Manager who has the extensive training and experience needed to run a business, and then you want to tell them what to do, then you should hire someone with a less experience and education City Clerk Eikenberry and let others do it all.said the City Manager is in charge of the city and will step back and let the Department Director’s take control of their area of expertise. She said it is the City Manager’s role to hire the right people the run the City. She added that City Commissioners only have a residency requirement to be elected, and no experience requirement. She reminded them that the current Commission has many long-term Commissioners with considerable experience in dealing with these issues, but Chairperson Grafton it may not always be that way. said the City Manager made a good point that the Commissioners hire the City Manager to handle the operational part of the City; their job is to make the policies and his job is to enforce them. Item 54. Section 35. Topic: Page C-35, Article 7, Section C-45 Election dates and terms of office. Vice-Chair McKey stated that this item is to be under a different Article and will be discussed then. 5 Charter Review Commission September 15, 2008 Item 55, Item 56, Item 57. Section 37. Topic: Section C-37 regarding the advertisement for the adoption of the budget and Adoption of the Budget. Chairperson Grafton introduced this item. Clerk Eikenberry stated that the budget is advertised in order to meet TRIM compliance. She explained the required size and location of the ad as required by TRIM and the ad required by the Charter. She added that not placing the 30 day time frame on the Charter ad would allow her to place only one notice advertising the entire two month budget schedule. Chairperson Grafton explained that this was placed in the Charter so there would be an additional way of informing the public. Discussion followed. Consensus of this Commission was to delete the wordinf! "no more than 30 davs" trom Section 37. Chairperson Grafton stated that item 56 is to stay in the Charter per the previous discussion. Article VII Item 58. Topic: C-45 Election dates and terms of office. Member Barnes stated that Item 54 needed to be discussed as it relates to Section 45. Set Next Meetine: Date Chairperson Grafton stated that the next meeting will be October 1 st, and 15th. She then stated that a tentative joint meeting with the City Commission will be October 29th. She stated that the next meeting will begin with this topic, Item 54 and 58. Topic: C-45 Election dates and terms of office. Clerk Eikenberry reviewed the timeline for the submittal of the referendum to the Supervisor of Elections. She also advised Attorney Palmer that the Attorney for the Supervisor of Elections has agreed to meet with him regarding the Elections section. Clerk Eikenberry stated that Attorney Palmer would simplify C-A9 and bring back to this Commission. Adjournment The meeting adjourned at 8:26 p.m. 6