09-11-14 Minutes v Minutes
Charter Review Committee Meeting
September 11, 2014
City Hall, 800 Seminole Road
In Attendance:
Committee Members Staff Members
Don Wolfson, Chairman City Manager Nelson Van Liere
Mark Tomaski,Vice Chairman City Attorney Richard Komando
Joan Carver, Secretary City Clerk Donna Bartle
Mike Borno
Sally Clemens
Tom Goodrich
Judith Leroux
David Vincent
Absent:
Katherine Carithers
Call to Order
Chairman Don Wolfson called the ninth meeting of the Charter Review Committee (CRC) to
order at 5:00 p.m. on September 11, 2014.
Approval of Minutes
Chairman Wolfson asked if there were corrections or changes to the minutes of the meeting
of August 21. Ms. Clemens stated that her recollection was that the committee had
suggested that the manager live within a fifteen-mile radius of the city of Atlantic Beach.
Chairman Wolfson pointed out that in the discussions fifteen miles had been suggested
initially but twelve miles was decided on subsequently because that was the distance to the
St. Johns River. With no additional comments, Mr. Borno moved the approval of the
minutes as distributed. Dr. Tomaski seconded the motion and the minutes of August 17
were approved as distributed.
Unfinished Business from Previous Meetings
Proposed Amendments - III. The City Manager. Sec. 22. Qualifications
Chairman Wolfson noted that the City Attorney had distributed a revised Sec. 22 based on
the discussion of the Charter Review Committee at the August 21 meeting. A lengthy
discussion followed on the issue of whether there should be a requirement in the charter
that the city manager live in Atlantic Beach.
Dr. Tomaski stated that he was raising the residency issue for discussion and would
probably move for a change in section 22 when it was appropriate. He said he had talked to
people about the change from requiring the manager to live in the city to the twelve-mile
radius. An overwhelming number told him that they wanted the city manager to be
required to live in Atlantic Beach. They felt if was important for the city manager to have
the same experiences as the residents. They asked why the residency requirement was
being changed. He told them that was the view of the current city manager and also
suggested they listen to the audiotape of the discussion. Dr. Tomaski stated that the main
reason he is on the committee is to represent the views of the people in Atlantic Beach
Mr. Borno pointed out that the residency requirement puts a hamstring on anyone selected
whether he rents or buys. He probably owns a home elsewhere that he will have to sell. The
twelve-mile radius opens up many more possibilities for housing.
Dr. Tomaski reasserted that it is critical for the city manager to live in Atlantic Beach. He
said he felt the comments of the current city manager caused the committee to get off track.
He suggested there are only two questions: first, do we want the city manager to live in the
city and second, do we want to give him more time, say six months, to do so.
Mr. Goodrich stated that Atlantic Beach has high-end housing on one side and lower-end on
the other side and not so much in the middle. He believes we are excluding a lot of qualified
candidates with the residency requirement.
Ms. Leroux asked City Attorney Komando about the residency requirement in other cities.
He stated that it is across the board, some requiring residency and some not. Neptune
Beach does not have a residency requirement; Jacksonville Beach has the same
requirement as Atlantic Beach.
Mr. Vincent stated that he agrees in principle with requiring a city manager to live in the
city, but realistically this might cause a hardship for the manager. He supports the
compromise reached at the last meeting.
Chairman Wolfson stated that if the applicant is required to live in Atlantic Beach after he
or she is hired, that person is making a commitment to the community. Rather than a
requirement to live in the city in thirty days, he suggested a six-month requirement would
be satisfactory. In his opinion residence in the city is an investment in the community. He
noted that the former city manager lived in Ocean Walk. He pointed out that although the
current city manager had stated that when he is driving from his home outside the city
limits into Atlantic Beach, he observes city needs, any city manager needs to drive around
the city.
Mr. Borno stated that in reality someone should not accept the position without knowing
where he would live and that the thirty-day provision was prudent. He held that the issue
should be negotiated when the manager is hired and suggested leaving the provision in the
charter as it is.
Ms Leroux stated that a manager could be invested in the community without living here.
She voiced support for City Attorney Komando's version mainly for economic reasons.
Mr. Goodrich considers the residency requirement an arbitrary barrier that could narrow
the pool of applicants for economic reasons.
Ms. Leroux asked how close to the city would a manager need to be to respond to an
emergency.
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Dr. Tomaski stated that if you live at the beach, you have a different understanding. You
can't separate the human quality or think that those who don't live here have exactly the
same interests as those who do. He believes living here gets into your blood.
Chairman Wolfson noted that four members of the CRC had expressed concern about the
economics of a residency requirement. Dr. Tomaski suggested that the economic limits
were not so great. Many candidates would be able to sell a home else where, perhaps for
more than the cost of homes here. He expressed the view that even if the residency
excludes some younger applicants, sometimes you sacrifice for the overall good.
Chairman Wolfson recounted a conversation that he had with a former city manager that
was very aware of the problems created by a dump truck spilling asphalt because he had
driven through it. His comment was, "I am not letting them do this to my city." As a resident
and property owner, he had a strong reaction.
Ms. Clemens expressed support for the proposal that the manager live in a twelve-mile
radius. She suggested it could be an advantage to have a manager's family outside the city
during a hurricane because he could focus on city problems without worrying about his
family.
Mr. Vincent pointed out that the purpose of the charter is to provide guidance. The
proposed change allows a wider applicant pool. It gives greater freedom to the commission.
He believes the charter should provide broad parameters.
Ms. Leroux stated that the committee doesn't know how people will respond. She could see
hiring someone in Neptune Beach who does a great job. She suggested that if there were
strong feeling the manger should live in the city, the public would make that feeling known
to the commission at the time of hiring.
Dr. Tomaski pointed out that the city commissioners all have to live in Atlantic Beach. He
believes the city manager should have to live here as well. He noted the city manager is the
highest paid city employee and the most prominent.
Ms. Clemens suggested that the choice of schools for a manager's children might affect
where the family wanted to live.
Chairman Wolfson suggested that perhaps we should not change the provision if it hasn't
been a problem in the past. Mr. Borno noted that the residency could be negotiated at the
time of hiring.
Chairman Wolfson pointed out that Dr. Tomaski had moved that the twelve-mile radius be
deleted from the proposed Section 22. Dr. Tomaski withdrew his proposed change.
Mr. Borno moved that the last three lines in the draft by City Attorney Komando providing
that the city manager live within a twelve-mile radius of the city within thirty days be
struck and replaced with the language currently in the charter. The motion was seconded
by Dr. Tomaski. The vote to strike the provisions was defeated by a vote of four to four.
Ms. Leroux moved the acceptance of the revision of Section 22 as drafted by City Attorney
Komando providing that the city manager should live in a twelve-mile radius of Atlantic
Beach. Mr. Goodrich seconded the motion. Mr. Goodrich suggested that the citizens who
opposed the provision were not aware of the arguments in its favor. He is concerned that
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requiring residency would really limit the pool of applicants. He stated that a manager
would have a professional ethic about his work and that he would be informed about any
problems from the commissioners and the public. The motion was defeated by a vote of
four to four.
Mr. Borno moved and Ms. Clemens seconded the motion to strike the last two lines of
Section 22 and substitute the following: the residency requirement for the city
manager will be established by ordinance passed by the city commission. The
motion passed unanimously.
Ms. Leroux stated that she liked the flexibility the revised Section 22 provided. Chairman
Wolfson stated that we have to trust the commission.
Discussion
Section 23. Powers and Duties.
No changes.
Section 24.Absence of the City Manager.
Mr. Borno moved and Ms. Clemens seconded the motion that the words "or the city
commission" be added to the provision. The motion passed unanimously. The last
line of Section 24 then reads: "of the city designated by the city manager or the city
commission."
Section 25. Removal of the City Manager.
Chairman Wolfson stated that Performance and Removal could be covered in Section 25.
He believes it would be helpful to have guidelines for the evaluation and for the removal of
the city manager and that there should be public input. Consideration should be given as to
whether the public as well as the city attorney and city clerk can work with the city
manager. Chairman Wolfson put forward a cautionary note regarding public input. The
Internet can give a few voices wide impact and as the "Save Atlantic Beach" campaign
illustrated accusations can be made that are unfair. He believes that the evaluation process
should be transparent and public.
Dr. Carver raised the question of whether a public evaluation, especially if negative, could
cause embarrassment for the city manager and perhaps undermine the public's confidence
in the manager.
Ms. Clemens said the commission should meet as a group and evaluate the manager,
considering both strengths and weaknesses. She believes members of the public should
have the opportunity to submit evaluations of the manager that they have signed.
Mr. Borno expressed a wish to think about the evaluation issue; there is nothing in the
charter regarding an evaluation.
Mr. Vincent raised the question of whether there was a way to address the current inability
of the commission to talk privately about the evaluation of the manager. City Attorney
Komando stated that because of the Sunshine law that is not legally possible.
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Dr. Tomaski pointed out that individual commissioners could talk to the manager about
any issues. He believes it is his duty to tell one of the commissioners if something is not
being done.
Chairman Wolfson pointed out that negative public reactions to the manager might be the
result of his implementation of city commission decision. They may not mean that he is
doing a bad job.
Mr. Borno stated that when he was mayor, he did an annual review of the manager and had
a checklist of areas of evaluation. He noted if there were policy or financial issues, they
were not the city manager's responsibility.
Chairman Wolfson stated that he felt it would have been helpful when he was mayor if the
commissioners had been able to share any concerns they had with the performance of the
manager.
City Attorney Komando cautioned against putting evaluation and removal in the same
article to avoid the implication one leads to the other.
Chairman Wolfson stated that the committee would return later to the issue of evaluation
of the city manager.
Returning to the question of removal of the city manager, Ms. Clemens suggested that the
number of commission votes required for removal be increased to four. Mr. Borno stated
that would tighten up the process. There was no further discussion of the issue, so the
provision for removal was not changed.
Sec. 26. City departments.
No change.
Sec. 27. Governance of departments.
No change.
Art. IV. The City Clerk. Sec. 28.Appointment; duties
Dr. Tomaski stated that in some other communities, including Neptune Beach, the city clerk
serves as parliamentarian, suggesting that might be appropriate for Atlantic Beach. City
Attorney Komando stated that he currently serves as parliamentarian. Chairman Wolfson
stated that the current city attorney is direct and on top of issues and that the city clerk has
many other responsibilities. Chairman Wolfson is comfortable with the current situation.
In response to a question from the CRC about any concerns she had, City Clerk Bartle
pointed out that she works for the Commission, not for individual commissioners. If each
commissioner could assign her special tasks, some of interest only to that commissioner,
she could be overwhelmed with work.
Mr. Borno stated that the city clerk undergoes continuing training Her office catches
outdated ordinances and corrects things that need correcting. Many things go through her
office.
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Dr. Tomaski stated that it was frustrating to see the city clerk doing jobs that should be
assigned to others, for example, setting up rooms for meetings. He feels this demeans her
position and may take time from her other duties.
Chairman Wolfson stated that he holds the position in high esteem. She is an executive
officer. She works for the city commission, not the city manager. She has a wealth of
training, experience, knowledge and serves as both a gatekeeper and a keeper of the
records.
Dr. Tomaski raised a question as to the meaning of item four in the list of tasks for the city
clerk. City Clerk Bartle stated that she did not know what the item meant. There was
discussion of number four of the duties calling for periodic reports on the efficiency and
effectiveness of legislative programs of the city. City Attorney Komando suggested that the
requirement dated from the era when computers weren't available to track bills.
Ms. Lemoux moved that provision four under duties be amended deleting "periodic
reports" and "about the efficiency and effectiveness of legislative programs" and
insert "information" so the revised number four would read: Provide the city
commission with information as requested about programs of the city government.
The motion was seconded by Mr.Vincent and approved unanimously.
Courtesy of the Floor
Michael Hoffman, 176 Camellia Street, suggested members of the committee should look at
the debate that occurred a few years ago regarding district elections. He stated that Atlantic
Beach does not have free and fair elections. His representative has not received majority
support in the district in either of his elections. The district does not have one man, one
vote and so is in violation of federal laws.
He stated both former mayors on the CRC made good statements in favor of two year or
four year terms for mayor. However, he favors the two-year term because it increases
responsiveness.
He commented on the consolidation charter of the City of Jacksonville, pointing out that the
state legislature changed the city council from 21 members, each elected from a district to
14 district council members and five-at-large, thereby diluting one man, one vote.
Chris Jorgensen, 92 West Third Street, stated that we attempted to have a referendum on
the Human Rights Ordinance. This brought out that the percentage of voter signatures
required is 25 percent whereas most communities only require ten to fifteen percent.
When the committee gets to number 45 in the charter, he would like it to consider reducing
the percentage of voters required for a referendum from 25 to 15 percent.
Mr. Borno moved and Dr. Tomaski seconded the motion to adjourn. The motion passed and
the meeting adjourned at 7:10 p.m.
Don Wolfson, Chairma
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