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03-10-1982 w o CITY OF EDGEWATER Charter Review Commission Meeting Minutes March 10, 1982 Chairwoman Mason called the meeting to order at 1:13 PM in the conference area of the Community Center. ROLL CALL Members present: Messrs. Dore, Millard, Hardin, Kropp, Henderson, Mrs. Mason, Mrs. Bennington. Also present: Mr. Mitchell, Mrs. Winks APPROVAL OF MINUTES There were no objections or corrections to the amended minutes of 2/23/82, and they were approved as submitted. There were no objections or correc- tions to the minutes of 3/2/82, and they were approved as submitted. There was a discussion on changing the day of the meeting, as Wednesday is not a good day for Mr. Henderson. It was decided that future meetings will be held on Thursdays at 1:00 PM. REVIEW OF FIRST DRAFT Article IV, Administrative, Section 3 - City Clerk - The wording should be changed to read, "There shall be a city clerk.." Section 4 - Police Chief - The wording should be changed to read, "There shall be a police Chief.." Section 5 - Municipal Departments - There was a lengthy discussion as to whether this section should be taken out or left in. The City Manager reports to the Council, and needs to have the authority to create or abolish municipal departments. The Council may state that they are not in agree- ment with the actions the City Manager has taken, and as Mrs. Bennington pointed out the end result could be the removal of the City Manager. Mrs. Mason mentioned that its likely that the City Manager touches base with the Council on different actions that he takes. It was also discussed whether a non-interference clause should be added. It was noted that in the present Charter there is no such clause. It was also noted that uhis is already included in the Manager's contract. It was agreed that Section 5 should be deleted, and that a non-interference clause will not be included. Article V, Personnel, Merit Board - The procedures followed by a person appealing to the Merit Board were discussed. Mrs. Bennington expressed a concern for the city employee's job security. Mr. Mitchell pointed out that the employees rely upon the Merit Board for safeguarding their interests. If an employee is fired and he feels it was unjust, he may appeal to the Merit Board for a hearing. If the employee isn't happy with that decision, he or she can appeal to the Council. Each employee has an employee hand- book which clearly states these rights. There was discussion as to what ratio of vote should be required by the Council to overrule the decision of the Merit Board. It was decided that the Merit Board's decision could be vetoed by the Council only by a 2/3 vote, which amounts to a 4 to 1 vote. Mr. Henderson will draft this section. Article VI, Elections, Section 1 - Council Districts - The word "district" should be changed to "zone". Mr. Phinney from the audience was asked his opinion on what the public would want, either four zones with the mayor being separately elected, or five zones with the mayor being elected from among the councilmen. Mr. Phinney felt that there would not be strong oppo- sition to the five zone system. He felt that the people would want to elect their Councilman from their zone only, not at large. Rev. Harden felt that the people would want the privilege of electing the mayor themselves, or at least a choice as to which method they would select. The other Commi- ssion members would like to see five zones, elected at large. The question of how many zones there will be will have to be decided before the primary. The Commission will have to hold a public hearing and then a referendum vote before September 2, 1982. Mrs. Bennington suggested that a notice could be put on the back of the water bill when the public hearing is sche- duled. Options A and B will be presented at the public hearing and possi- bly at the referendum. Mrs. Mason and Mrs. Bennington agreed that contacting various clubs and organizations and asking them to have their members attend the public hearing would be a good way to get non-political opinions. One option would be the four zones and have a separately elected Mayor as now, and the other would be the five zone council-elected mayor. These options will be removed from the Charter for the purpose of decision, but the rest of the Charter will be recommended as written. Q u , When the Newspaper calls to get a story on the Charter Review meeting, Mr. Mitchell will mention that we would like to get public opinion on these two options, asking them to write in with their preference and that a public hearing will be held at a future date. The rest of Article VI and Article VII, Transition, will remain as is. Mr. Henderson will draw up a draft for review at the next meeting which is scheduled for Thursday, March 18, at 1:00 PM. The meeting was adjourned at 4:00 PM. Minutes submitted by: Debbie Winks Charter Review Commission Minutes March 10, 1982 Page 2