01-23-2012 - Appointment of Committees - M. Beckanbach January 17, 2012
Dear Fellow Commissioners—
As discussed at the end of the January 9, 2012 Commission Meeting, the City
Commission has the ability to clarify the meaning of certain sections of the charter
through the writing or amending of ordinances that will better define the meaning of
those sections deemed to require clarification.
For the clarification of the authority of the City Commission to approve and appoint
committees, the following amendment(in italics) is proposed to Section 2-19 (8) of the
City of Atlantic Beach Code.
Section 2-19 (8) of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Atlantic Beach, Florida, is
hereby amended to read as follows:
Rule 8. The mayor-commissioner may appoint, from time to time, such special or select
committees as in his or her discretion he or she deems desirable, or as may be desired by
the city commission, to expedite the handling of the business and affairs of the city.Any
committee so appointed by the mayor-commissioner shall be approved by a majority vote
of the commission. Additionally, the authority to appoint set forth in this Rule 8, in no
way affects the commission's power to appoint any committee by majority vote.
(Atlantic Beach Code of Ordinances, Part 2 Code of Ordinances, Chapter 2
Administration, Article 2 City Commission, Section 2-19, Rule 8.)
(Section 1-9 was used in the wording of the Amendment to the present Section 2-19 (8))
The following lends credence to the opinion that the City Commission has the power to
appoint any committee:
Sec. 3. -Form of government.
The municipal government provided by this Charter shall be known as"Commission-
Manager Government."Subject only to the limitations imposed by the Constitution and laws of this
state and by this Charter,all powers of the city shall be vested in an elective commission,
hereinafter referred to as"the city commission."
*Note: There is no reference to a Mayor in the form of government section. Our
form of government is not a Commission with a Weak Mayor or a Commission with
a Strong Mayor. It is a Commission-Manager Government.- MEB
Sec. 5. -Number of commissioners; selection; term.
The city commission shall consist of five(5)electors of the City of Atlantic Beach who
have the qualifications as defined in section 6 of this Charter, elected at large without regard for
any designation of political party affiliation.The seats shall be known as seats 1 through 5
respectively,and seat 1 shall be designed as the mayor-commissioner. Seats 2 through 5 shall be
designated as district commissioners,with each commissioner required to reside within the district
from which he or she is elected.The four(4)districts shall be created using the precinct lines
existing as of November, 2007, as a beginning point, shall be established by ordinance, shall be as
equal in population as possible, and to the extent possible shall maintain the integrity of
neighborhoods and communities of interest. The mayor-commissioner shall be elected for two-year
terms and the terms for seats 2 through 5 shall each be four years. Effective with the municipal
election in October, 1993, anyone elected or appointed to the office of mayor-commissioner shall
not serve more than four(4)consecutive two-year terms; and any elected or appointed to
commission seats 2 through 5 shall not serve more than two (2)consecutive four-year terms.
Serving any part of a term shall be considered a full term. Nothing contained herein shall prevent
anyone who has served as a city commissioner from being appointed or elected to the position of
mayor-commissioner and then serving in that capacity four(4) consecutive two-year terms
*Note: mayor-commissioner is seat 1. The mayor-commissioner is selected as 1 of 5
commissioners with a single vote on all matters. Majority rules. - MEB
Sec. 8. - Presiding officer: Mayor.
The mayor-commissioner shall preside at all meetings of the city commission and shall be
recognized as head of the city government for all ceremonial purposes and by the governor for all
purposes of military law.When directed to do so by the city commission the mayor-commissioner
shall execute all instruments to which the city is a party, unless otherwise provided by the Charter
or by ordinance.The mayor-commissioner shall have no regular administrative duties except as
authorized in this Charter but may appoint,from time to time, such special or select committees as
in his discretion he deems desirable or as may be desired by the city commission,to expedite the
handling of the business and affairs of the city. In the temporary absence or disability of the mayor-
commissioner, all duties of the mayor-commissioner shall be performed by the mayor pro tempore
who shall be appointed by the city commission from its members.
*Note: The mayor-commissioner presides over meetings, is the ceremonial head of city
government, may appoint committees. There is not a limitation placed on the commission
to appoint, dissolve, direct committees or their members. The "shall" authority resides
in the city commission. - MEB
Sec. 9. - Powers.
Except as may be otherwise provided in this Charter, all powers of the city and the
determination of all matters of policy shall be vested in the city commission.Without limitation of the
foregoing,the city commission shall have power to: ....
*Note: City Commission has the power vested in them. - MEB
Sec. 10. -Appointment of city manager.
The city commission shall appoint ...
*Note: The word shall is used throughout the charter with the city commission being the
entity required to act. The shall authority resides in the city commission as shown
throughout the charter, not in the mayor—commissioner. - MEB
Sec. 63. -Removal of members of boards, commissions, or agencies.
Except as provided in this Charter,an agent, a member of any board,committee,task
force,commission or agency of the city who has been appointed by the city commission, may be
removed by the city commission in the same manner as provided for the removal of the city
manager in Section 25 of this Charter.
*Note: Since there is nowhere in the charter giving the mayor-commissioner the authority
to remove a member of any board, committee,task force, commission or agency of the
city, the city commission is empowered to do so and therefore the mayor—
commissioners appointment of members must be accepted by the commission either by a
required vote or a lack of a challenge to the appointment. In either case, the final
approval to the process lies within the authority of the city commission. - MEB
History
Unfortunately, the history of the charter change in section 8 is not documented in the
minutes of the 1992-1993 commission meetings nor the 1992-1993 minutes of the
Charter Review Committee. There are no existing audio files or cassettes available for
review. The charter, prior to 1993, did not contain the partial sentence, "...but may
appoint, from time to time, such special or select committees as in his discretion he
deems desirable or as may be desired by the city commission,to expedite the handling of
the business and affairs of the city..." and therefore it is an enigma as to the insertion of
this sentence fragment. It is noted in the January 18, 1993 minutes of the Charter Review
Committee that there were no recommended changes to Section 8 by the citizen's
review committee. In the July 26, 1993 Commission Meeting Agenda, the Ordinance
described in item 7D"Introduction and First Reading of an Ordinance Relative to
adoption of a new city charter.", is considered for a vote. The"Final Draft Copy" of the
city charter that was given out in the July 26, 1993 agenda package is noted on pdf page
137. Page 131 of the pdf file clearly shows Section 8 without the sentence fragment in
question. Motions, discussions, references and votes are noted in the July 26, 1993
minutes for Sections 10, 11, 12, 13, 22, 23, 35. Section 8 is not addressed. Therefore, the
sentence fragment was inserted after the July 26, 1993 commission meeting without
documentation.
Reviewing the August pdfs,(page 148), an amended charter's front page had a note
stating that the changes to the August document were according to the amendments made
during the commission meeting of July 26th. The sentence fragment is in the charter copy
at this time, but the recorded minutes have no reference, vote or discussion pertaining to
this change. Also noted was a change made to Section 9 in the "amended" charter again
without documentation in the minutes of the July 26th meeting. The undocumented
changes in Section 8 & 9 pertained to the mayor—commissioner.
The July 26 Final Draft Section 9 Powers (3) reads as follows: "appoint members of
official boards or advisory groups".
The August Amended Draft Section 9 Powers (3) reads as follows: "appoint members of
official boards or advisory groups; Establish official boards and elect the members
thereof as recommended by the mayor."
All pages of the minutes of the July 26th meeting are numbered and in order, therefore
one can only assume that the minutes taken by the clerk at the meeting were incomplete
or the charter was amended at a"special meeting" where minutes were lost. In either case
the discussion between the commissioners is not available to review, but one must
assume that the commissioners of that time did not perceive the inserted wording in
Section 8 or 9 diminishing their authority. If there was concern at that time, by the
powers vested in the city commission by the city charter, a vote of the majority would
have rectified their concerns.
Thus we are back to the original intent of this letter to the commissioners: The City
Commission's ability to clarify the meaning of certain sections of the charter through the
writing or amending of ordinances that better define the meaning of the sections deemed
to require clarification, and a discussion as to the recommended amendment to Atlantic
Beach Code of Ordinances, Part 2 Code of Ordinances, Chapter 2 Administration, Article
2 City Commission, Section 2-19, Rule 8.
I look forward to the discussion.
Respectfully,
Mark E. Beckenbach
City of Atlantic Beach Commissioner