Fort Walton Beach Council agenda — 06-08-04 Regular — reading text

proper channels. I Discussion on City Council Rules of Conduct - Protocol Guide for Elected Officials. Mr. Anderson referenced Sections 7, 13, 16 & 17 of the City Charter that talk about the general powers I I I and rules of the Council, the City Manager and appointment of the City Manager; referenced the Preamble that says Council is the legislative body of the City, referenced the City Council' s Rules of I Conduct adopted in 1989, and mentioned the Protocol Guide for Elected Officials that was published in I 2003 as an informational document for Council. He then mentioned recent comments and actions by a i Councilman that he thought were inappropriate and a persistent inmngement of the rules and noted I Council cannot caution a councilman. He expressed his desire that the rules of conduct as stated in the Charter become the protocol guide and for the City Attorney to review it for Council to establish a means I~ to sanction or censure behavior they think is inappropriate. I Mr. Tucker recalled the time Council reprimanded him and said he got the message, for which he had I apologized and learned from it, and wished to know if he had been out of order. Mr. Anderson clarified that the Mayor has control of the demeanor of meetings and that the actions he referenced had nothing to do with demeanor on the podium, but had to do with actions outside of the Council. I Dr. Pullen wished to make it clear he did not tell the Code Enforcer he was not doing a proper job and had stressed to him he was doing an excellent job. He said if Council members would attend some of the I Board meetings and see what goes on in the City, they would understand how things function and what I goes on. He said he established by the Attorney General' s opinion that he was allowed to speak at meetings. That Council members have a right to attend any Board meeting they wish, can even address that Board in the presence of other Board members as long as they don' t talk to each other. Mr. Anderson commented he is not challenging that a Council member can attend a Board meeting apd speak, but it is wrong to provide guidance to a Board on how they , should address matters. Dr. Pullen responded as to offering an interim City Manager job to a staff worker that he had asked an employee his aspiration in life and asked if something ever presented itself if that employee was interested in being an Interim City Manager. Dr. Pullen indicated he has told the City Manager he wants her to succeed. The City Manager commented when a Council member goes to her staff and ask them, whether it is in passing conversation, if they have an interest in being an Interim City Manager while she is still currently the City Manager and if an opportunity ever presents itself, that sounds like a threat to her as the Manager and sounds like offering a job to one of her employees. Dr. Pullen apologized if it was taken that way. He indicated he has run many clinics and allowed his employees to talk to anyone and tell them anything they wanted because if he was doing his job properly he didn' t care what they said to r- anyone. I I J  5- 18- 04 o o 219 F{[) i"" ,~:; l"';:.':()'r.,'" '.: ':~ Jt)..' i",:~~ 1 The City Manager responded that the inference she does not allow staff to talk to Council is untrue. She stated that everyone on Council has talked with her staff and directly she has been exceedingly patient with the questions asked, some of which she believes infringe on her authority as a Manager and trying to direct staff. She has been very compliant trying to work with Council to show them that she is not concerned with staff talking to Council, that she encourages them to talk with Council and wants Council to know all the information they need to know to make an informed decision. Dr. Pullen wished to establish who runs the City and it was stated that Council is the legislative branch and the City Manager administers the day- to- day affairs of the City. Dr. Pullen expressed his interpretation that the Charter states the City will be run by seven Council members, which is not collective but an individual responsibility, and it is his opinion it is Council' s responsib~1ity, as individual Council members~ to know what is going on and not only have a right to know, have a responsibility to find out. He said that is why he looks up information and other sources and he will continue to do it. Mr. Anderson expressed his point of view that when a Council member tells an employee that the City Attorney is wrong and that his boss is at fault for not taking action, it is undermining the City business; wherein Dr. Pullen stated he has told the City Attorney that he has disagreed with her. The City Manager reiterated that it is Council' s responsibility to tell her. when they perceive staff is doing something incorrectly and she in turn will go to staff with the problem so she can take corrective action. She expressed it is not for Council to terminate staff, it is not for Council to belittle her Department Directors', in front of their staff which undermines their authority, and it is not appropriate within the Charter. Mr. Kelley recalled a time when the previous City Attorney recommended Mr. Tucker stop before he " crossed the line with an employee issue, and posed the question to the City Attorney if she felt it was her ,.' responsibility to be forthcoming to Council at a time she sees someone strain and to tell Council they are going outside of their responsibility or the scope of their obligation. The City Attorney responded she likes things in black and white so there is a starting point. She said one Charter provision states that, basically, a Councilman cannot interfere with the administrative process of the City except for the issue of, . inquiry, and there is no definition of inquiry. She recalled in September she presented a resolution to~'" Council that would help define inquiry because she felt it would give better guidance in written form as to ;,;' the Code of Conduct. She said that would her the give ability to say, affirmatively, to one of the Councilmen they just stepped over the bounds. She said she could not censure a Councilmember, that will always be up to Council and with an affirmative four votes Council can do as they wish. She said likewise, there are other Charter provisions that state, if it is found that a Councilmember interferes with the administrative staff, it is a misdemeanor and other provisions. She is uncertain what that means because there is no municipal court that would affect that misdemeanor and it would have to be taken to civil court to have a Judge decide whether or not it reached that level of impropriety. , She agreed there is a very broad discretion area, but the guide is something that could help everyone to set out guidelines and better define what is in the Charter. She said her only opinion about the Protocol Guide is that many things duplicate what is in Roberts Rule of Order, and suggested removing those and stick to the Roberts Rules. She said while she may quietly tell someone they have stepped over the bounds, she would not publicly do so unless requested to give an opinion by another Councilmember. Mr. Kelley expressed he would appreciate if when the City Attorney saw an instance, she would alert Council so they do not cross the line. The City Attorney said without further guidelines it is hard to say when to blow the whistle. Dr. Pullen expressed any time he steps out of bounds he would welcome the City Attorney' s caution. He added that as far as Pirates Bay, he did not think he had done line; he found out some facts which he shared with the staff but anything out of he did not bring out the marina because that is not in the City' s purview and he will not go into it any further because that is DEP' s responsibility.  f. E;,. o:. 4.. ',~ o o 5- 18- 04 1)i '~~ ]', :',;" ~,'I ~~:,} j~;jr;~f:.,,":~ ' t:;,[] - i:?~~~(: I,;' ;( I~ The Mayor asked the City Attorney when there are legal issues and staff is working on it, if it should be staffs full job and not a