Okaloosa County BOCC — January 8, 2013 — TDD Amended OP Manual - redline 2-15 — reading text

recreational vehicle parks, or other tourist accommodations in the county which are subject to the tax.. The 4 members from the two distinct areas shall include the City Council liaison from each of the two distinct areas listed above. The importance of industries represented on the Council shall be prioritized as follows; lodging, major attractions, restaurants, and retail. The ninth (9th) member shall be the designated liaison from the Board as per Section 125.0104, Florida Statutes. County and subject to the tax. All members of the Council shall be electors of the Okaloosa County. 2) Terms. All Council members shall be appointed toserve for staggered terms of four (4) years, with the exception of the liaison members of the municipalities and the Board liaison who serve as appointed by their respective City Council and the Boardgoverning board and their terms are subject to re-appointment or their term expiration, whichever comes first. No Council member shall serve more than a maximum of two (2)one (1) term which shall be no more than four (4) year consecutive fiscal year (Oct. 1st- Sept. 30th) termsyears. The Council member terms shall begin on October 1st of the year of appointment and terminate on September 30th of the fiscal year their term expires. Terms for the Chairman and Vice-Chairman are limited to one (fiscal) year. The Board shall have the option of designating the Chairman or allowing the Council to elect a Chairman. Terms for the Chairman and Vice-Chairman shall be for one (1) fiscal year. They may be re-appointed by a majority vote of the Council members but cannot serve more than two (fiscal) year terms. The Chairman and Vice-Chairman terms shall begin on the first day of October of the fiscal year of appointment and terminate on the 30th of September. 3) Council Appointments. The Council shall recommend at least one candidate for appointment to each open council seat to the Board, as the expiration of regular terms require. For all seats except the two reserved for elected municipal officials and the one reserved for a member of the Board, the appointment process shall begin with the selection of an ad hoc committee of council members not being considered for re-appointment by the Council. Tourist Development Department staff will publicly announce the open seats to prospective committee members and ask to receive resumes from such. Resumes and letters of interest will then be given to the ad hoc committee for them to begin the selection process. Formal interviews shall be conducted by the ad hoc committee and the ad hoc committee shall rank the candidates answers by pre-determined evaluation criteria. After the ad hoc committee has conducted a review of all interested resumes and after 8  they have conducted in-person interviews and calculated evaluation scores, then the ad hoc committee will present the successful candidate(s) to the Council for consideration at the Council's regular meeting. The Council will review the candidate(s) and make a recommendation to the Board for final approval and appointment to serve on the Council. 4) Local Government Seats. The two seats reserved for elected municipal officials shall be presented by the Council for appointment by the Board upon the nomination of their respective municipal governing bodies. The nomination and approval of the two elected officials to serve as the Council’s recommendations to the Board shall be carried out at a regularly scheduled public meeting of the nominating municipal governing body at least two months prior to term start dates. The nomination of each representative shall be done in accordance with that body’s specific rules and procedures for this type of nomination. 5)3) Vacancies. Should any seat on the Council become vacant, a replacement to serve the remainder of that term shall be nominated and appointed in the same manner as the nomination and appointment of the person whose absence created the vacancy. If the appointment to fill the vacant position is for greater than a two year term, then it counts as a full term. Municipal appointee vacancies will be filled by requesting from the respective governing bodies Mayor, a replacement for that position with a representative if possible with tourism interests.such shall be deemed as a full term. 6)4) Removal/Resignation. Any member shall be subject to removal from the Council if they miss three (3) Council meetings during the per fiscal year or upon a majority vote of the Board. Special consideration/leniency will be given for any absences due to Acts of God, personal illness/medical, and/or family emergencies. The member will be notified of the potential removal after the third absence and the Council will vote at its next regular meeting whether to recommend removal of that member to the Board. If one of the elected municipal or county officials on the Council is removed for this reason, the applicable governing entity shall be required to submit a differentappoint another elected representative as nominee for their replacement. In the event a Council member no longer conforms to the criteria listed in Section A.500(1) of this Manual, to hold the seat to which they were appointed, said Council member shall forward a letter to the Council and the Board stating these facts and shall additionally tender a letter of resignation along with this submittal. A.600 STAFF 1) Tourist Development Director. The Director will administer and coordinate the operations of the Council. The Director will be an employee of Okaloosa 9  County and; serve as Director of the Tourist Development Department,; oversee the Emerald Coast Convention Center Management;, Emerald Coast Film Commission, and the Visitor Welcome Centers; and all divisions under the Tourist Development Department, in that capacity,. The Director shall report to the County Administrator. The Director will supervise all Tourist Development Department staff and shall be responsible for, and make recommendations to the Council and County Administrator concerning the operation of the Council and Tourist Development Department business. The Chairman of the Council may be a part of the Director’s annual performance process and may provide comments and recommendations to the County Administrator for incorporation as part of the annual review process. 2) Tourist Development Department Staff. All Tourist Development Department staff shall be employees of the County, with all benefits provided by the Board paid from the Tourist Development Trust Funds, and shall report to and be supervised by the Director. As such, said personnel will receive all standard County employee benefits paid through the Tourist Development Trust Funds, and be subject to all County employee regulations, in addition to those provided in this Manual. The designated work stations for staff shall be the business offices of the Tourist Development Department located at the County Visitors’ Welcome Center and the Emerald Coast Convention Center. A.700 REGULAR COUNCIL MEETINGS The Council shall meet no less than quarterly onat least once each quarter. To the fourth (4th) Wednesday of the month at 1:00 p.m., or as directed by the Chairman. Specialextent that more meetings are necessary, they may be called by the Chairman as the need arises. The duration of each meeting will vary according to the length of the meeting agenda.Director. A.710 LOCATION AND NOTICE Council meetings will be held at the Emerald Coast Convention Center or as otherwise designated by the Director. All meetings willshall be duly advertised in a newspaper of general circulation within the sub-district. and open to the public. Notice will also be placed on the Okaloosa County web sitewebsite on the Commissioners monthly meeting calendar. Individuals wishing to receive e-mail notifications of upcoming meetings may contact the Tourist Development Department office. A.720 AGENDA 10  An agenda will be prepared for each Council meeting by the Director. Council members wishing to place an item on an upcoming agenda must submit their request to the Director at least one (1) week prior to a regularly scheduled meeting. Department staff shall provide background information on each agenda item as appropriate, and such information shall be available to Council members at least two (2) business days prior to a scheduled meetingsmeeting. A.730 RULES OF PROCEDURE 1) Public Participation. Meetings of the Council will be conducted by the Council Chairman, the Vice-Chairman, or their designee, in a manner to permit the greatest possible participation by all Council members and the interested public. 2) Majority/Quorum. The formal actionsApproval of the Council will be approved bya motion requires an affirmative vote of a simple majority vote of the Council with all members present required to vote unless a member has abstained.and voting.. Five (5) Council members shall constitute a quorum of the Council for purposes of conducting business. 3) Abstention. Any Council member desiring to abstain from voting shall publicly disclose the reason for their abstention before the vote is taken, in compliance with Section 286.012 and Chapter 112, Florida Statutes. Full disclosure must be made in writing within fifteen (15) days after the date of such meeting. 4)3) Agenda. The Director shall prepare and advertise an agenda for each meeting of the Council. Each meeting shall include a public comment/participation period. Requests for action stemming from any oral or written presentation from the public participation period shall be placed under consideration by the Council and acted upon at the following scheduled meeting. 4) Rules. The Council meetings shall be subject to all the procedural requirements of Chapter 286, Florida Statutes. All Council meetings must be duly noticed and open to the public. Council members are prohibited from discussing with any other Council member any matter on which foreseeable action will be taken by the Council. 5) A.740 MINUTES Written minutes shall be kept of each Council meeting. A written summary of each meeting shall be presented at the next Council meeting for approval by Council members. and signed by the Chairman. Such written summary shall 11  show the personsCouncil members in attendance, the major items of discussion, resolutions or other majorformal