Fort Walton Beach Council agenda — 09-16-08 workshop agenda — reading text

enough, and then it is good to have-fresh ideas. Those .not in support' of term limits believed that it* takes time to become..familiar with- the' dffice ;and three to. four year's to get established at the state level; and the belief that if a person is not doirig a good jolt then they wilt not be re- elected. It was noted the Charter has term limits for City Council but not for the Mayor. Section 4A was identified for discussion at the final workshop. Section 4B Filling vacancies in the city council or in the office of mayor There were no changes for Section 4B. Section 5 Regular and sReclal meetings of council It was noted-that the Charter calls f6t Council to meet twice a month and that Council cancels the July meetings and have cancelled meetings in November or December that conflict with holidays. It was also mentioned that the Charter allows the City Manager to call a special meeting and that it should be the Mayor or a majority of Council who can call special meetings. Section 5 was identified for discussion at the final workshop. Section 6 Election of mayor and mayor pro tem; general duties of mayor Discussion included the comments that the section had the same restrictions for the mayor as for council but the penalty is not defined; that page 12 of' the model guide states communities should avoid granting special voting status to the mayor, i. e. to make or break a tie; that the Mayor cannot vote to break a tie in other cities; and there are no duties dr responsibilities for-the Mayor Pro Tem. It was commented that the City Manager is the head of public safety and noted that the Charter transfers It to the Mayor in the case of an emergency. The City Attorney explained it is only by ordinance in the emergency operations provisions that i the Mayor and the City Manager work jointly. She said the City Manager and any designee is in 1 charge of emergency operations but the declaration of an emergency would . be through the Mayor. She commented any changes to some of the language may change the role of the Mayor all together. She thought, in her opinion that is important to consider because the issue of breaking a tie or having a veto vote goes directly to the issue that the. Mayor is elected at, large by the entire City rather than being elected by the body of Council; so it is a further representation of the citizens they may want to consider. There were no changes for Section 6.  15 Council Workshop 01/ 22108 Section-7 General powers. and rules of council Discussion was held on the question of compensation and expenses, which is not specifically identified in the Charter, and whether or not there is a Florida League of Cities guide to determine salaries for elected officials; and the question whether the salaries can' be set by ordinance rather than set in the Charter. The City Attorney said the ordinance in place now is about benefits and whether or not they are • compensated' goes to the issue of the work they do, and there is a wide range of compensation for elected officials throughout the State of Florida, there is no standard:- She did. not believe there was anything in the Charter that prohibits them from having compensation and believed it would be permissible in the budgeting and ordinance. The City Manager mentioned that the question was raised on the stipend the Mayor and Council receive, reimbursement for expenses, what is covered and what is not covered. She explained the City has traditionally, as an informal policy, paid their fees to attend 'meetings, conferences, and special activities they have to or are requested to attend. She mentioned there is a travel policy for employees and although they are an employee, they are not subject to that particular policy. She said the stipend received is to reimburse them for other expenses they have associated with carrying out their duty for the City. It was commented that the Protocol Guide is not consistent with this section that Council may punish its members for disorderly behavior and by vote of not less than six members may expel a member for disorderly conduct or the violation of its rules. The City Attorney said the part that is questionable is whether or not violation of its rules would be sufficient under Florida law regarding elected officials, so that may be a conflict; but she did not recall the Protocol Guide having any comments about expelling a member, it is simply a reprimand censure issue and that can be done by Roberts Rules by a simple majority of the body, so she did not see a conflict with the six members. The question was raised whether expulsion is for the rest of a particular meeting or expulsion off Council. The City Attorney stated it could be for either but if they were completely expelling a member from the body then-they would have to ask the Governor to remove them from office. She believed the parliamentarian has the right to discharge someone from a meeting because they are misbehaving. There were no changes for Section 7. Section 8 Quorum; compelling aftendance of members The question was raised on the statement that an affirmative vote of a majority of the members elected to the council shall be necessary to adopt any ordinance, resolution, order or vote; and the question on the definition of order or vote. Section 8 was identified for discussion at the final workshop. Emergency Ordinances It was mentioned that emergency ordinances is not covered in the Charter. The City Attorney expressed her thought that if they add much more about emergency ordinances they would have to be for very specific issues because the idea would be in the State of an Emergency, there is an emergency operation that kicks in and the Mayor has some authority and the City Manager has emergency authority as well,. then actions are taken by Council. She said they could clarify those issues by ordinance at this point because they already have an emergency operations ordinance. The City Manager added there. is also' an emergency' operation for expenditure of funds and a ratification process, so they may be able• to clarify it though an ordinance rather than the Charter. 16 Council Workshop 2- 19- 08 Section 12 Investigations of transactions of departments and officials It was commented that the mayor may order an investigation but it does not give the Mayor the power to spend 'money to do it, and it was questioned how there can be an investigation without spending money. It was noted if there is a suggestion to change the Charter.to include funding, that should be reviewed. later; but the City Attorney provided• an opinion that it is within the purview, that if the Mayor is authorized to have an authorization then it is presumed that the funding will be available. There were no changes for Section 12. The Mayor opened the floor for public input on Title l or Title II of the Charter that has been discussed. No one wished to speak In response to the request for clarification on the direction that will be taken on the issues raised, the Mayor stated the City Manager will summarize the issues addressed and All- bring--to Council at a special meeting- to, vote on whether or not they want to make ' any language changes. The City Manager stated that Council will receive a revised matrix for the next meeting. ADJOURNMENT- There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 6: 50 p. m. APPROVED: MAYOR: ATTEST: CITY CLERK ddm  Attachment 2 Excerpt from Minutes of Regular Council Meeting, August 26, 2008 Page 3  258 Regular Council 8/ 26/ 08 RES. 08 -33 ( CONT) Mr. Minich moved to adopt Res. 08 -33. Mr. Holmes seconded motion and it carried unanimously with Holmes, Garvie, Pullen, Hartwell, and Minich in favor ( Miller and Reeves absent). LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES FOR 2009 Consideration of establishing City of Fort Walton Beach Legislative Priorities for the 2009 State Legislative Session. Discussion included the status of last year's projects and the reasoning for this year's proposed projects. Mr. Garvie moved to forward the following three priorities to the Northwest Florida League -of Cities for the 2009 Legislative Session: 1) Water Quality Initiatives, including stormwater issues; 2) Alternate Water Sources; and 3) Transportation funding. Mr. Holmes seconded motion and it carried unanimously with* Holmes, Garvie, Pullen, Hartwell, and Minich in favor (Miller and Reeves absent). ELIMINATION OF REGULARLY SCHEDULED COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETINGS Consideration of elimination of the regularly scheduled City Council workshops. Mr. Minich advised he did not believe that mandatory workshop meetings are needed; that if a subject of discussion is needed from a separate Council meeting a workshop can be called. Dr. Pullen stated that workshops are more informal than a regular Council meeting, and at first they were well attended but lately the public has not been as active. Discussion also ensued regarding whether the Council meeting could begin earlier than 7 pm. The City Attorney advised she would have to research whether the time of meetings is stated in the Charter or whether it is an ordinance. Mr. Minich moved to eliminate the regularly scheduled City Council Workshop meetings. Mr. Holmes seconded motion and it carried unanimously with Holmes, Garvie, Pullen, Hartwell, and Minich in favor (Miller and Reeves absent). CODE ENFORCEMENT BOARD APPOINTMENT (ALTERNATE) Consideration of an alternate appointment to the Code Enforcement Board. Dr. Pullen nominated Lee McDonald, 10 Ru de le Roi, Fort Walton Beach, to serve as an alternate to the Code Enforcement Board for a three -year term beginning August 26, 2008 and ending August 26, 2011. As there were no further nominations, the Mayor called for the vote on the nomination and it carried unanimously with Holmes, Garvie, Pullen, Hartwell, and Minich in favor (Reeves and Miller absent). VISION STEWARDSHIP REPRESENTATIVE ( BEAUTIFICATION COMMITTEE) Consideration of appointment of a Beautification Committee /Tree Board representative to the Vision Plan Stewardship Committee. Mr. Minich nominated Michael Jimmerson, 4 Ferry Road NE, Fort Walton Beach, to serve as the Beautification Committee/Tree" Board representative to the Vision Plan l Stewardship Committee until the end of his term on the Beautification Committee/Tree Board, which is August 21, 2010.  Attachment 3 City of Fort Walton Beach Charter Page 4 TITLE V. MISCELLANEOUS PRO" " - TONS Page 1 of 6 Fort Walton Beach, Florida/CODE OF ORDINANCES City of FORT WALTON BEACH, FLORIDA Codified through Ord. No. 1746, enacted Nov. 13, 2007. ( Supplement No. 2)NOLUME I CHARTER /TITLE