9-8-11 public mtg MINUTES OF THE PUBLIC MEETING OF CURRENT ATLANTIC BEACH CITY
COMMISSION AND NEWLY ELECTED COMMISSION MEMBERS
HELD IN THE COMMISSION CHAMBER ON SEPTEMBER 8, 2011 AT 11:00 AM
City Commission Members present:
Jonathan Daugherty, Commissioner
Carolyn Woods, Commissioner
Newly Elected Commission Members present:
Mark Beckenbach
Maria Mark
Staff present:
Nancy Bailey, Recording Secretary
The meeting, which was held for the purpose of discussing City business and expressing ideas,
was called to order at 10:58 a.m.
Commissioner Daugherty welcomed and gave advice to the newly elected officials, sharing his
experiences when he first came on the Commission.
Mark Beckenbach stated the reasons he ran for Commissioner, pointing out he believes the
citizens should be more involved. He commended Commissioner Daugherty on his letter to the
editor of the Beaches Leader. He discussed having town hall meetings, including citizen input
into the format of the Strategic Planning meetings, and holding open meetings for the agenda
rather than just a one -on -one meeting with the City Manager and individual Commissioners.
Commissioner Daugherty explained his letter to the editor.
Mr. Beckenbach suggested a regular column for the Beaches Leader to be written on a rotating
basis by the Commissioners.
Commissioner Daugherty stated he believes his private meetings with the City Manager are not
as productive as sending an email. He expressed concern that there could be more productive
use of the City Manager's time than sitting down separately with each Commissioner.
Discussion ensued regarding the one -on -one meetings with the City Manager.
Maria Mark stated they ran on citizen involvement and she intends to insure they have citizen
involvement and open government and to move the community in a positive direction during the
four years she is a Commissioner. She further stated she believes it is important to be accessible
to citizens and make them part of the process. She stated the sooner they can start holding the
town hall meetings the better.
Discussion ensued regarding the format for the Strategic Planning sessions.
Ms. Mark stated she believes we need to implement a true community vision with a holistic
approach.
Minutes September 8, 2011
Page 2
Commissioner Daugherty suggested workshopping these ideas regarding what they need to have
more citizen input on.
Ms. Mark stated town hall meetings should probably be quarterly, and she realizes citizens
cannot drive the agenda 100 %. She stated she believes what they are saying is that they would
like more citizen input to give them more direction as to how they can do their job better and
serve them better.
Mr. Beckenbach stated he perceived the town hall meetings to be run by the Commissioner in
that district with the other Commissioners being invited. Commissioner Daugherty stated he
would like to have a town hall meeting with people from his district to tell him about issues in
the district but the problem in his district is that people are not as involved as in other districts.
Mr. Beckenbach explained the reason he called the meeting was due to the Sunshine Laws not
allowing him, as a newly elected official, to ask questions or have a conversation with the current
Commission or the newly elected Commissioner without a noticed meeting. He stated it made
no sense to wait for two and a half months to discuss anything and he would like to continue
having these meetings.
Commissioner Woods stated she is more of a big picture person and when she looked at this
election she saw a reflection of the national concerns. She believes it was not a mistake that Mr.
Beckenbach and Ms. Mark were elected and that their message was well received. She would
like to see the Commission restore the balance of power and agreed the strategic planning has
always been short sighted. She stated we could use the City's website to engage the citizens
through a survey regarding the town meetings and the committees they believe are the most
important. She stated she believes term limits for the Commissioners helped in the balance of
power. She stated so many times things have unintended consequences and believes the power
has naturally shifted to staff because they are here and have a more long -term outlook. She
believes power has been accumulated by staff and believes they would be remiss to not look at
their charter regarding how balance of power is distributed and how it can be maintained. She
stated if they are going to keep the citizens involved in their government they need to have a say
in the charter. She stated when she reads the charter she doesn't see citizens mentioned at all.
She agreed with Maria that this was an historical election because people nationwide are saying
they want to be involved again and this is our opportunity to put it in the charter and have it last.
She further discussed traffic issues in the City. She suggested how the newly elected
Commissioners can get with staff during the next two months.
Ms. Mark explained how she has met with staff and will soon meet with others. She stated she
believes in open communication with staff and citizens.
Mr. Beckenbach asked Ms. Mark about the survey Jacksonville Beach did. Ms. Mark stated
Jacksonville Beach contracted a company to do a complete visioning process, which she further
explained.
Another meeting was set for Wednesday, 9/21/11, at 8:00 a.m. to continue the conversation.
Minutes September 8, 2011
Page 3
Keith Kraegel, citizen, stated he was concerned about how the City is going to get the citizens
involved. Ms. Mark stated it was up to the City to use all the outlets to get the word out to the
citizens. Mr. Beckenbach agreed they need to make meetings accessible.
Commissioner Woods left the meeting at 12:06 p.m.
Mitch Reeves, 1663 Sea Oats Drive, cautioned each of them about their comments regarding
the balance of power in the Commission and the word "we ", stating they will be more successful
while on the Commission if they make their decisions as individuals, based on the issues and
vote from their heart and for what is right. He also discussed districts, stating it doesn't make
sense to him, because they are really representing everybody. He stated he liked the concept
Jacksonville Beach uses for the open agenda meetings.
Follow -up discussion ensued.
There being no further discussion, the meeting was adjourned at 12:19 p.m.
C-
Nancy E. Bailey J
Recording Secretary