11-06-14 Minutes Minutes
Charter Review Committee Meeting
November 6, 2014
City Hall, 800 Seminole Road
In Attendance:
Committee Members
Don Wolfson, Chairman City Manager Nelson Van Liere
Mark Tomaski,Vice Chairman City Clerk Donna Bartle
Joan Carver, Secretary
Mike Borno
Katherine Carithers
Sally Clemens
Judith Leroux
David Vincent
Absent
Tom Goodrich
Call to Order
Don Wolfson, Chairman, called the thirteenth meeting of the Charter Review Committee
(CRC) to order at 5:00 p.m. on November 6, 2014. He stated that there were a number of
errors in the minutes and pointed out several. At the suggestion of Ms. Carithers the
minutes of the October 23 meeting will be corrected, distributed and considered for
approval at the next meeting of the committee.
Chairman Wolfson stated that the CRC will meet only once in December on December 4.
Unfinished Business from Previous Meetings
Article IX. Elections. Sec.43. Canvassing Board, duties.
Chairman Wolfson brought the committee's attention to City Attorney Komando' s revision
of Sec. 43. Canvassing Board. Ms. Carithers asked who certifies elections, the canvassing
board or the supervisor of elections? City Clerk Bartle stated that she forwards the results
prepared by the supervisor of election to the candidates.
Chairman Wolfson asked who comprises the canvassing board. Ms. Carithers stated that by
state law the board must be composed of representatives of all three branches of
government, legislative, judicial and executive. Mr. Holland or his designee represents the
executive. Chairman Wolfson wondered who was in charge of the Duval County Canvassing
Board.
Chairman Wolfson suggested that Supervisor of Elections Jerry Holland should be
contacted to ensure that he supports the change. Chairman Wolfson assumes that Mr.
Holland will check with the other members of the canvassing board to be sure that they
agree with the change. City Clerk Bartle suggested a draft of the amended section be sent to
Supervisor of Elections Holland for his comment.
Dr. Tomaski observed that the Atlantic Beach elections were off the usual election cycle so
the Duval County Canvassing Board should be available.
Ms. Carithers moved that the committee accept the revised section 43 on the Canvassing
Board submitted by City Attorney Komando. Dr. Tomaski seconded the motion.
Ms. Clemens stated that she felt the first sentence of the revision was not clear. Ms.
Carithers read the statement on the Jacksonville Beach referendum that delegates
canvassing responsibilities to the Duval County Canvassing Board, suggesting that we
adopt that language.
Subsequently, Ms. Carithers withdrew the motion to accept the City Attorney's version, as
did Dr. Tomaski with his second.
Ms. Carithers recommended that the first sentence of the revised Art. 43 read: " The City of
Atlantic Beach delegates the canvassing responsibilities to the Duval County Canvassing
Board for all city elections."
Mr. Borno noted that the Jacksonville Beach language referred to was the language of a
referendum, not necessarily the language of the charter. He suggested that before the
committee acts on the proposed change in language, it be referred to City Attorney
Komando for his review. Chairman Wolfson concurred.
Discussion
Sec.40. Elections: Primary and Sec. 41. Elections: General
Dr. Tomaski brought up Sections 40 and 41 relating to primary and general elections. He
was concerned about the fact that if there are two or fewer candidates, the primary
becomes in fact the general election. This is a problem because the primary is held in late
August when many people are on vacation or focused on school opening, so turnout may be
depressed for this important election.
Dr. Carver suggested that the primary might be held later in the year, perhaps in late
September.
Minutes of the Charter Review Committee Meeting on November 6, 2014 Page 2 of 5
City Clerk Bartle noted that in setting dates consideration must be given to the time needed
by the Supervisor of Elections office.
Dr. Tomaski reiterated that he had a problem with the primary being the general election.
He suggested that if there were only two candidates, the primary could be skipped and the
selection could be made in the general election.
Mr. Borno responded that if there were more than two candidates, the primary would
operate as a primary election. He noted the CRC is establishing criteria, not dealing with
"what if' situations.
Sec. 51. Submission to electors.
Ms. Leroux raised a question regarding the word "may" in the last sentence of this section.
This wording suggests that the city commission has an option to submit to the voters or
not, but this should not be an option.
Mr. Vincent wondered if that wording meant that the commission might not call for a
referendum. Chairman Wolfson recommended that this section be clarified.
Mr. Borno moved that in the last sentence of Sec. 51 the word "shall" replace the
word "may." The motion was seconded by Mr. Vincent and passed by the CRC. The
revised last sentence reads: "If no regular election is to be held within the specified
time frame,the city commission shall provide for a special election.'
Sec. 52. Form of ballot for initiated and referred ordinances
Ms. Clemens raised questions about the wording of this section.
Chairman Wolfson stated one is either for or against the measure.
Sec. 53. Availability of list of qualified electors.
A question was raised as to the appropriateness of stating in the charter that lists of
qualified electors can be purchased from the Supervisor of Elections Office. Chairman
Wolfson pointed out that now the lists can be obtained electronically from the Supervisor
of Elections Office without cost.
Ms. Leroux stated that it was important for citizens to know how they can obtain this
information. Mr. Vincent pointed out that this would be a stage in the steps you might take
if you planned to run for office.
City Clerk Bartle stated that she could not find the statute referenced at the end of Section
53. Chairman Wolfson stated that this item would be referred to City Attorney Komando for
information.
Sec. 54. Results of Election.
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There was discussion of how the situation of conflicting ordinances might arise.
Chairman Wolfson stated that he had seen situations with conflicting ordinances. As an
example he noted that you might have a commission ordinance that stated a candidate
must live in a district, but is elected at large and an initiated proposal that the candidate
would be elected by those in the district.
Mr. Borno stated that the charter provision is referring to referred ordinances. He pointed
out that you might have two sets of initiatives on the ballot that might have different sets of
supporters and that might be in conflict.
City Clerk Bartle stated that Section 54 relates to Power of Initiative in Section 44 and
Power of Referendum in Section 45.
Chairman Wolfson pointed out that in the committee's revision of the initiative it takes ten
per cent of registered voters to propose an ordinance (Sec. 45). He stated if there were a
conflict,a judge would look at it and say the charter takes precedence.
Sec. 55. Repealing ordinances.
There was discussion of the provision that initiated and referred ordinances may be
amended or repealed only by a four-fifths vote of the full city commission following a
public hearing.
Dr.Tomaski stated that the city commission keeps getting an additional bite of the apple.
Ms. Leroux thinks that the power to repeal initiated or referred ordinances is too broad.
Ms. Carithers stated that the commission should not be able to repeal a citizen-initiated
ordinance. She stated that this provision undermines the democratic process. She
suggested the provision could be a violation of a citizen's right to petition.
Mr. Borno pointed out that this provision relates to the general powers granted to the city
in Article I, Section 4 and he noted that state law was also referenced.
Chairman Wolfson stated that if you elect commissioners, you should trust them to act
responsibly. They represent the majority. Sometimes messaging is not accountable on a
particular issue. He noted in a worst-case scenario you might get an unwise measure on the
ballot, promote it heavily and in a low turnout election get it passed.
Ms. Carithers stated that she had more faith in the electorate.
Dr. Carver suggested that there could be complicated issues that the electorate did not fully
understand.
Ms. Clemens stated that she liked the four-fifths requirement for repeal, but she would
recommend at least two public hearings.
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Chairman Wolfson stated that he felt the four-fifths vote was important.
Dr.Tomaski would like the requirement to be unanimous, five votes to repeal.
Chairman Wolfson observed that it takes only ten percent of the electors to initiate a bill.
Mr.Vincent suggested that the language should be clarified so there is no confusion as to its
meaning.
Mr. Borno noted that the charter requires a super majority to repeal initiated or referred
ordinances.
Chairman Wolfson stated that the CRC would begin the next committee meeting with
further consideration of Article 55.
Report to the City Commission
Chairman Wolfson stated that the consensus of the CRC's earlier discussions of the report
to the city commission regarding the committee's work was that the report should be brief.
Ms. Carithers agreed that it should be a brief report. Mr. Borno suggested that the report
state that we have met twice a month, we are making good progress and we expect to
submit the final report by the end of February.
Ms. Carithers moved that a brief progress report be made to the city commission. The
motion was seconded by Ms. Clemens and passed.
Chairman Wolfson stated he would draft a brief report, e-mail a copy of his interim report
to the members of the CRC for comment and then to forward it to the city commission. The
Committee further discussed what should be in the report and decided to leave it up to
Chairman Wolfson to write and send it to the City Clerk to send the City Commission.
Courtesy of the Floor
Chris Jorgensen, 92 West Third Street, stated that he thinks the committee is doing well. He
is concerned about transferring canvassing board responsibilities to the county canvassing
board. In general he does not agree with transferring small city responsibilities to the
county.
The meeting adjourned at 7:15 p.m.
e V�J skr
D olfson, Chairman
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