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HomeMy WebLinkAbout629 - MINUTES - City Commission MINUTES OF WORKSHOP to DANIA BEACH CITY COMMISSION CHARTER REVIEW COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2004 - 2:00 P.M. 1. Call to Order Mayor McElyea called the workshop to order at 2:03 p.m. City Manager Pato distributed a timeline to the Commission for their consideration in placing a Bond Referendum on the March 2005 ballot. 2. Roll Call Present: Mayor: C.K.McElyea Vice-Mayor: Bob Mikes Commissioners: Bob Anton Patricia Flury City Manager: Ivan Pato City Attorney: Thomas Ansbro City Clerk: Louise Stilson Absent: Commissioner: Robert Chunn Charter Review Board Members: Kurt Ely Gary Luedtke Jay Field John Bertino 3. Discussion City Attorney Ansbro provided a synopsis of the review to date. No further workshop has been scheduled pending today's outcome. He believes he has a draft of what the Commission desires on the City Manager. He read from the Charter and from his proposed change. Vice-Mayor Mikes remarked the intent was that the City Manager could be removed with a 4/5 vote. The revision makes it sounds like he can't be removed at all. He asked the City Attorney to rewrite the section that says he can't be removed for six months. He suggested adding:At any point in time, a City Manager can be removed with a 415 vote. City Attorney Ansbro brought up the issue of a City Commissioner serving a two-year term. This was the proposal where the low vote-getter would only serve a two-year term, as opposed to a four-year term. The Commissioners remembered that they did not approve this issue. Vice-Mayor Mikes wants this because he thinks four-year terms are too long. By having the third person serve a two-year term, it would provide the voters the ability to vote for a majority of the Commission at every election. Charlene Scalese arrived at 2:17 p.m. Vice-Mayor Mikes commented he was striving for the Commission to have a higher level of accountability to the people. Commissioner Flury opposed it because it is not in the public interest. She commented the lowest vote-getter could be the most qualified, and could serve on the Commission for ten years. Commissioner Anton likes the present system. He commented the people support the eight-year term limit, and he sees no reason to change. He remarked there are more pressing issues to deal with. Mayor McElyea remarked the Commission had two-year terms in the past. He wants to leave it alone and he feels term limits is the worst thing we ever did. Vice-Mayor Mikes remarked he would not fight this, but he thought it was a way to tweak the system. He contended that term limits are what the people want. City Attorney Ansbro suggested eliminating the forty pages of metes and bounds legal description and placing a map in the City Clerk's office. The map would be inserted in the Charter and could be amended as needed. The consensus of the Commission was to eliminate the boundary description from the Charter. City Attorney Ansbro recommended leaving pages 7-11 as is. Pate 12, Section (e) City Attorney Ansbro advised this section is being rewritten. Page 14 City Attorney Ansbro remarked this section will go back to what we currently have. Minutes of Workshop 2 Dania Beach City Commission Charter Review Committee Recommendations Friday,November 12, 2004—2:00 p.m. Page 16, Section 6 Vice-Mayor Mikes suggested wording for second year election of the Vice-Mayor to read: At the organizational meeting of the City Commission to be held on the first anniversary Tuesday following the municipal election, the City Commission shall select from among themselves a Vice-Mayor. Page 16, Section 8 City Attorney Ansbro advised the Board got this wording from the Weston City Charter. The City Commission felt they should be allowed to contact Department Heads to obtain information, but they should not contact employees. They should not give direct orders to the Department Heads, and they should keep the City Manager advised of their contacts with the Department Heads. Vice-Mayor Mikes suggested everyone try to develop wording and bring it back to the next meeting. He commented the Commission needs their own staff person to deal with correspondence. Page 17 -Elections • City Attorney Ansbro remarked he needed to change this section back to the original version, except the section that delegates the selection of poll workers to the Supervisor of Elections office, because this will be changed by Ordinance at the next Commission meeting. Page 23,Article 4 City Attorney Ansbro commented the two-thirds vote requirement is from Statute 166.041, but he will research this again. He remarked that an emergency affects life, health, safety, property, or the public peace. He will also check on the public notice provisions. Page 24 —Initiative and Referendum Vice-Mayor Mikes does not like the proposed wording; he prefers the one that is currently in the City Charter. He also feels that 60 days should be changed to 90 days to collect signatures. Commissioner Anton commented that Section 5, page 26, should be changed from 5 days to 20 days. Vice-Mayor Mikes does not want any longer than a five day period. City Attorney Ansbro commented he needs to check to see if we have been overridden by State Law. • Minutes of Workshop 3 Dania Beach City Commission Charter Review Committee Recommendations Friday,November 12,2004—2:00 p.m. • Vice-Mayor Mikes remarked State Law does not define Municipality procedure. We can make it more or less. He does like the fact that half way through the petition drive it can go to the Commission and they can see if they can compromise with the Committee before it has to go to ballot. Page 30, Section 5 Commissioner Flury questioned what actions could be taken at a Special Meeting. City Attorney Ansbro responded they could pass an Ordinance on first reading, and they could take actions. Vice-Mayor Mikes suggested that Special Meetings need a unanimous vote of the Commission for any action taken. Page 30, Section 7 City Attorney Ansbro commented this is a new provision. The consensus of the City Commission was to keep this section, with the dollar figure to be determined by Ordinance. • Page 31, Section 2 The consensus of the City Commission was to leave this section as it is in the current Charter. Page 33 & 34—City Manager City Attorney Ansbro commented everything on these two pages is currently in the City Charter. Commissioner Anton has a problem with Section 3, where it states the contract shall not extend beyond the date of the next regular municipal election. Vice-Mayor Mikes has a problem with it being open-ended. City Manager Pato advised that most City Managers receive a five year contract. He commented the Commission could negotiate a contract on an individual basis; it did not need to be in the Charter. Commissioner Anton agrees with Vice-Mayor Mikes that there should be a time limit in the Charter. Vice-Mayor Mikes remarked he put the protection of a 4/5 vote in the Charter. He stated you may have to pay more for a City Manager who does not get a long contract, but in reality that is why they walk away with a big bag of money. • Minutes of Workshop 4 Dania Beach City Commission Charter Review Committee Recommendations Friday,November 12,2004—2:00 p.m. Commissioner Flury remarked you won't get anyone to relocate for a two-year contract. She would be happy with a maximum of three years. The contract would define what benefits would be received upon termination. City Manager Pato remarked a three-year contract, with a 4/5 vote for termination, should help the Commission to attract a professional City Manager in the future. Vice-Mayor Mikes commented if you have to pay more to get a City Manager without a contract, so be it. Commissioner Flury suggested changing the wording to: the employment contract shall be subject to review at the next municipal election. Commissioner Anton is agreeable to a three-year contract. He does not want to see a City Manager in the political arena. The consensus of the Commission was for a maximum three-year contract for a City Manager, if a contract was offered. It is not mandatory to give a contract, or to give a three-year contract. Page 35 (d) City Attorney Ansbro advised he would amend this section. ® Pa a 37 City Attorney Ansbro prefers to take the whole thing out and put it into an Ordinance. Vice-Mayor Mikes would like some wording for Competitive Bids to require a 4/5 vote when they exceed a specific dollar amount. He suggested the City Attorney look at other cities for ideas. Page 38 (k) City Attorney Ansbro will change 30 days to 60 days. Pate 40,Article 5 - City Clerk City Attorney Ansbro will delete this section, as approved by the Commission. Pate 41 Article 7 - Internal Management Commissioner Flury remarked this is a once a year internal management and procedures audit. She commented most companies do not do this on an annual basis, and it is very expensive. She does not think this belongs in the Charter. She commented the City Manager has brought in companies to audit some of the City Departments, but she does not think it should be done on an • annual basis. Minutes of Workshop 5 Dania Beach City Commission Charter Review Committee Recommendations Friday,November 12, 2004—2:00 p.m. • The consensus of the Commission was to delete this section. Page 43,Article 4 - Transfer of Funds Mr. Bertino wants to make sure the Commission receives notice of all transfers within a budget. It should be in writing and in a monthly report. Commissioner Flury thinks they receive that information. Vice-Mayor Mikes agrees with Mr. Bertino because it adds transparency to government. He agrees the Commission needs to know what the employees spend money on. Patty Varney, Director of Finance, advised this report is done by computer, but all transfers are in one line item. She would need to pick the expenses out and pull the ones that are budget transfers. She does agree that certain dollar amounts should be reported to the Commission. City Manager Pato asked if we could do it on a quarterly basis. The consensus of the Commission was for a quarterly report on transfers exceeding $2,000. Ms. Varney asked if we could put it in an Ordinance instead of the Charter. • The Commission agreed to change the wording to: The Finance Director shall notify the City Commission on a quarterly basis of any transfer of funds exceeding $2,000, or the sum as defined by City Ordinance from one fund to another. Page 41 —Levy Ms. Varney is okay with this section. She would like to change Page 42 (c), to read current fiscal year. Page 44,Article 1 - Sale of Public Property Commissioner Anton wants to insure that the Commission cannot sell parks or the IT Parker Center. City Attorney Ansbro responded the City does not have anything that is valued under $250,000; therefore, any sale would require a referendum. Page 45, Section 3 Vice-Mayor Mikes suggested changing 15% to S% of the electors objecting to the sale. The Commission agreed to change to 5%. • Minutes of Workshop Dania Beach City Commission Charter Review Committee Recommendations Friday,November 12,2004—2:00 p.m. ® Page 44, Section 1 Mr. Ely suggested changing the last sentence to read: The provisions of this section shall not apply to vacations of streets, alleys, or utility easements, unless they are adjacent to a public park. The Commission agreed to this addition. Page 45, Section 4 The Commission agreed to delete the word recreational before the word parks. Page 47,Article 2 - Leases Section 1 The Commission agreed to delete the words recreational parks. Section 1 (a) Vice-Mayor Mikes would like to tightened up the wording for leases and require a 4/5 vote. ® Commissioner Anton is concerned about the 4/5 vote requirement. City Attorney Ansbro will review this section and tighten up the language. Page 51,Article 4 - Investigations City Attorney Ansbro recommended keeping this section. Vice-Mayor Mikes remembered concurrence of the Commission from the last meeting for language between Broward County and the City of Dania Beach affecting airport expansion and neighborhoods to be approved only by a 4/5 vote. He asked the City Attorney where this would be in the Charter. City Attorney Ansbro responded it would be under contracts. Vice-Mayor Mikes would also like to see language for contracts exceeding $1M, and modification to those contracts, to require a 4/5 vote. Page 53, Section 7— Charter Review Board The Commission agreed to amend the section to read: shall convene at least every eight years. Minutes of Workshop 7 Dania Beach City Commission Charter Review Committee Recommendations Friday,November 12, 2004—2:00 p.m. • 4. Adj ournment Mayor McElyea adjourned the workshop at 4:49 p.m. CITY OF DANIA BEACH -.ATTEST: C.K. MC L EA MAYOR-COM SSIONER -LOUISE STILSON 'CITY CLERK APPROVED: December 14, 2004 • Minutes of Workshop 8 Dania Beach City Commission Charter Review Committee Recommendations Friday,November 12,2004—2:00 p.m.