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10-14-1997 - Special ...... ...." CITY COUNCIL OF EDGEWATER SPECIAL MEETING OCTOBER 14, 1997 7:00 P.M. COMMUNITY CENTER MINUTES CALL TO ORDER Mayor Allman called the Special Meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. in the community Center. ROLL CALL Mayor Randy Allman Councilman James Gornto Councilman Myron Hammond Councilman Gary Roberts Councilwoman Judith Lichter Interim city Attorney Nikki Clayton Interim City Manager Ken Hooper City Clerk Susan Wadsworth Police Chief Lawrence Schumaker Police Lieutenant Bill Britain Present Present Present Present Present Present Present Present Excused Present MEETING PURPOSE Mayor Allman stated the purpose of the meeting was to get a report from Interim city Manager Ken Hooper. Interim City Manager Hooper informed the public a description of what he would be talking about is available. Councilwoman Lichter stated she thought originally that one of her fellow Councilpersons called the meeting for the purpose of addressing the situation and votes of last Monday night. She asked for clarification on the agenda. Interim City Manager Hooper elaborated on Councilwoman Lichter's concerns. He explained he inadvertently called a meeting on a religious holiday so that particular meeting had this agenda on it. It was requested to move forward. He has heard talk of the item Councilwoman Lichter is talking about but he has not received any request or there isn't anything that puts this on the agenda right now. Mayor Allman stated during comments by the public they will address whatever the citizens want to talk about. Councilwoman Lichter questioned if after public comments, there will be an opportunity for it to come back to Council for whatever they may wish to consider. Interim city Manager Hooper informed her certainly. Councilwoman Lichter stated having no contact with her fellow councilpersons, she believed two newspapers that one of her fellow Councilmen called for a Special Meeting to address the firings and hirings. She thought that was the original intent of the meeting. She is very anxious to hear the up-to-date weekly report but she feels it is confusing to the public who thought they were coming for a particular purpose. Dominic capria, 606 Topside Circle, asked who called the meeting to request the firing or termination of the City Attorney and city Manager. A citizen stated we elected these people to do a job and to let them do their job. ...... ." Mayor Allman stated there are a lot of people with a lot of different views. He asked to listen to each one objectively and openly and to try and maintain order. Councilman Hammond stated Wednesday he requested a meeting as soon as possible. At that time, he was told it would be difficult to arrange a meeting that fast. He wanted a meeting because prior to the election and getting involved, he and his family have made plans to go on vacation. He wanted to hear what the public had to say. Councilman Hammond explained he had his own agenda on how he wanted things done. Things surfaced faster than he anticipated. He phoned Interim City Attorney Clayton and informed her he would like to hear what the citizens had to say with what went down. He was as nervous as the devil and has never been in this position. He didn't understand everything exactly. He phoned and apparently at the same time, Mayor Allman also asked for a meeting. There was a conflict right there and no two parties knew about it. Councilman Hammond stated he wants to hear what the public has to say and at the end of hearing what the citizens have to say, the Council will talk. Dominic Capria, 606 Topside circle, asked if three Councilpeople were talking about a Special Meeting. He wants to know who the three Councilpeople are and who talked to who for the Special Meeting. The Charter states it takes three Councilpersons and the Mayor or vice Mayor to call a Special Meeting. Mayor Allman stated due to the mass concern, irregardless if it was called or not it would be discussed. Interim City Manager Hooper presented his status report pertaining to the financial status of the City, the organizational status of the city, the hiring of a new City Manager, the option of having an on-staff full time City Attorney as opposed to contracting for legal services. Interim city Manager Hooper commented on outstanding major issues such as the FIND project, the new fire station, the expansion of the Library parking facility, a signal warrant at the Post Office, a Recreation Plan Update and the Development Review process. Councilwoman Lichter stated since the Post Office is a U.S. Post Office, perhaps Mica's office also could be included in the discussion regarding a signal warrant at the Post Office. She spoke about when this was brought before the Planning and Zoning commission. Interim City Manager Hooper feels that is a good idea and they could see if there are any federal dollars available. Interim city Manager Hooper briefly spoke about three long term issues including the paving program for the remaining unpaved roads and annual funding of a road maintenance program, economic development plan for the city and possible use of a Community Redevelopment Agency with the use of Tax Increment Funding (TIF), and long term use of the City's incinerator for disposal of yard waste. Interim City Manager Hooper explained the goal is to identify the problems and make a list of recommendations to Council. He believes the new City Manager would be the one working on this. Interim City Manager Hooper elaborated on the Report of Cash Flow as of August 1997. Page -2- Council special Meeting October 14, 1997 ..... ..." Mayor Allman stated he believes the total General Fund budget for the year is $6 million. Interim City Manager Hooper stated it is $6.5 or $6.8. Mayor Allman questioned if it is normal to keep 50% of the year's budget in the General Fund. Interim City Manager Hooper stated no and he has spoken to Finance Director Fred Munoz who is doing an analysis of what the city has, what liabilities and encumbrances are against that. He feels that is high. He came from a County that had a $350 million budget. They had a contingency or reserve of $1.2 million. It all depends on how stable the revenues are and how stable overall conditions are. Interim City Manager Hooper elaborated on a memorandum from Mr. Munoz regarding the Report of Cash Flow for August 1997. Interim City Manager Hooper commented on personnel. He has provided for Council a five year annual salary summary for department heads and supervisors. Interim City Manager Hooper suggested Council put a freeze on hiring and a freeze on any capital expenditures so council has a chance to become familiar and comfortable with the budget. Councilwoman Lichter commented on some issues that are important to the public such as revisiting the Charter, how people will be appointed to boards and commissions in a more professional manner, and giving the public another time in the month for meetings. She asked Interim City Attorney Clayton about letters they were handed at a closed session on October 7th from two department heads who were seeking protection under the Whistle Blower Act. She spoke about receiving the supplement to the Florida Statutes pertinent to that particular issue. We were not supposed to, without the consent of those two individuals, make that information public. She expressed concern if something was done incorrectly. Interim City Attorney Clayton explained the information handed out was for information purposes only. The memos related to allegations of saying they had knowledge of potential criminal acts or violations of the Sunshine which are misdemeanors. It was something the Council needed to have brought to their attention and the State Attorney and Chief Schumaker have also had brought to their attention. The protection the Whistle Blower Act provides is in order for there to be no retaliation, for persons in an organization who have knowledge of wrong doing within that organization bringing it forward for appropriate action and closure to the investigating bodies. They want to be protected from retaliation in terms of their job security and otherwise their safety. Therefore, because there was an allegation of criminal violation it needed to be brought to Council's attention and in terms of personal safety issues, those have been brought to the proper authorities and she believes they are handling it. We have asked that they handle it without any involvement from the city's civil administration. Councilwoman Lichter quoted from the Florida Statutes: uThe name or identity of any individual who discloses in good faith to the local Chief Executive Officer may not be disclosed to anyone other than certain legal entities, without the written consent of the individual." Therefore, she is very concerned about that disclosure. Interim City Attorney Clayton explained it was a safety issue and it had to do with allegations of crimes which had to be brought to the State and to the City's attention. Page -3- Council Special Meeting October 14, 1997 'w' """ councilman Roberts spoke about the figures in the Unrestricted Funds. He spoke about the total of the unrestricted funds being $5.5 million. since we have a budget of only about $15.5 million, you are saying we have about a 1/3 of that left over in cash reserves after the $15 million budget. Interim city Manager Hooper stated the total budget includes the General Fund plus all of the other funds. You have a citywide budget of $15 million. This $5 million is restricted to the General Fund, Water/Sewer Fund, Refuse, and Stormwater Utility. councilman Roberts asked if that is surplus money. Interim city Manager Hooper explained it is unallocated money and unrestricted. Finance Director Munoz is looking at what kinds of obligations or liabilities the Council has. Call it excess funds tonight. councilman Roberts feels then there is no reason why the ad valorem tax rate could not have been lowered with this excess money in the City budget. Interim city Manager Hooper explained a portion of it certainly could have been applied to that. councilman Roberts finds it unusual we have all this money left over and yet we are the second highest tax rate in Volusia county. Whenever we came to meetings, we were told by the prior council if you are going to sacrifice your tax rate, you are going to lose police and fire protection. It is obvious we have plenty of money sitting around. This is what has to be brought up to the public. He feels they need to do a full evaluation of the budget and find out why we are paying such a high tax rate when we have surplus money lying around. He would like this resolved before a full time city Manager is put in place. councilman Hammond commented on being told the City had a bare bones budget. There were no cuts to be made anywhere. He feels Councilman Roberts has made a point. He also feels there is something unusual about the budget. Councilwoman Lichter asked if non-allocated equates to surplus. Interim City Manager Hooper stated it could. When you have unrestricted funds those are your discretion. You have some calls on that. We have an excess of funds that are at the bottom of the Report of Cash Flow. It is a sizable amount of money that you will see come to you as discretionary funds. Councilman Roberts questioned normally what is the percentage held for surplus funds based on a budget. Interim City Manager Hooper explained if you look at the League of cities and their recommendations on how to manage a City's finance, they are going to tell you a range of 15% to 20%. You would need a cushion to carry you for three years or so. Councilman Roberts stated this seems a lot more of a cushion that the taxpayers have put in that was unnecessary. Interim City Manager Hooper explained this number is certainly over the 15% to 20% range. He is working to find out what is obligated against it and if there are additional funds. That will be coming back very clearly and very quickly. Louise Martin, 1409 S. Riverside Drive, explained the extra money is reserved in case the City was to have a natural disaster. Ferd Heeb, 115 N. Riverside Drive, expressed concern about the discussion regarding the report of Mr. Hooper in that he is giving you a snapshot of the cash in the City. You are drawing inferences from that snapshot that mayor may not be true. He is telling you that, but he is not doing it boldly enough for the audience to understand that in the operation of a city there are going to be times that you have substantial unrestricted funds. Page -4- Council Special Meeting October 14, 1997 ~ ...." Mr. Heeb spoke about when real estate property taxes are collected. He spoke about the amount of the General Fund. These funds are going to be spent between now and when the additional real estate taxes are collected. Mr. Heeb asked Council to not make rash allegations about the amount of money the City has until the Interim City Manager says he has done a complete study and feels there are substantial excess funds that could be applied to reduce the budget. Mr. Heeb asked Council to be very clear in presenting information to an audience. He feels if a professional is going to be hired, let the professional raise these issues. Don't make brash allegations to stir up the crowd and indicate the Council will save the citizens money because look at all the cash. It doesn't work that way. Finance Director Fred Munoz asked for Council's consideration of the memo he drafted on October 13th in which he requested the City Council approve the assumption of all duties under his job description which include that in the absence of the City Manager, the Assistant City Manager/Finance Director perform the functions of the City Manager. In this case, a suspended City Manager. He informed Council this was a reminder. Mr. Munoz presented a report of the City's expenses. He spoke about year to date revenues received being $6,560,000 and against that we have spent $5,449,000. That would leave before any other expenses $1,111,000 that would add to the fund balance if we had no further expenses. He further elaborated on workers compensation. Mr. Munoz explained the City has liabilities against the cash reserves which he further elaborated on. Mayor Allman asked if at the end of the fiscal year, there was a $2 million surplus that could have been used to lower the ad valorem tax rate of the City. Mr. Munoz stated this is not a surplus. These monies are restricted. Mayor Allman again asked if there was $2 million that could have been used to lower the ad valorem tax rate of the City. Mr. Munoz stated no. Mayor Allman questioned what Mr. Munoz showed him at City Hall. Mr. Munoz explained of the money in the reserve trust, $117,903 of those dollars the City has are committed and restricted for parks and recreation activity. There is $40,000 that has been reserved for resurfacing of the streets in Florida Shores. Mr. Munoz explained if we find we have a healthy carry forward, which he expects we are going to have because of the windfall and the workers comp, that right now we have budgeted about $188,000 of revenues from the 10% utility service tax. We cannot lower people's millage rate but if the City felt we wanted to suspend the 10% utility service tax on water then in a way it would be giving back the $188,000. Mr. Munoz explained if you eliminated or suspended the collection of the utility service tax, everyone would see a savings of approximately $25 per year. If you reduce the utility service tax to zero, we still have the requirement for $188,000 but now we would be taking it from the funds we have at hand. Councilman Roberts spoke about if funds are committed they would be under restricted funds. Mr. Munoz explained there is a restricted fund because of statute and law and there are reserve funds. Page -5- Council Special Meeting October 14, 1997 '-'" ...""" Councilman Roberts questioned the Stormwater utility fund being where people are charged $6 per month. He spoke about it used to be $3 but was doubled to $6 because the City needed money. But we still have $317,330.11 left over. Why did we need that doubled. Mr. Munoz explained at this time, we have not paid the bills on the drainage improvements that have been done. We won't know the final cash amount until the month is over and is closed out. Interim City Manager Hooper informed Mayor Allman he has currently had his first lesson in governmental accounting. He stated he would be looking at specific details and bring it back to Council. He feels there is going to be a savings of more than $1 million but less than $3 million. He informed Council he would be discussing this further in sixty days. Noel McConchie, 130 Magnolia Avenue, spoke about a meeting he attended where they said taxes were going to be raised and they had everyone come down and there was nobody for raising taxes and the last thing the board said before they raised the taxes was the County got theirs, the state got theirs and now we are going to get ours. All he expects of Council is a fair shake. He would like to see the Building Department a whole lot more friendly than it is right now. Doris Hill, 112 Lincoln Road, read a prepared statement urging Council to rescind their actions of the last meeting and reinstate George McMahon and Krista storey. She is getting nervous. When Council took the oath of office, they swore to execute their duties in the best interest of the city. Remember, you are representing and working for the City, not special interest groups. Ms. Hill feels the Council has put a financial risk upon the City. She asked when the Council made the decision to hire Interim City Attorney Clayton and who advised Council of the legality of their actions. Ms. Hill wanted to know if Ms. Clayton advised Council of the legality and if so, when she so advised. Ms. Hill questioned why Mr. Munoz didn't take over as Acting city Manager. He has previously served as Interim City Manager and his present job description includes the duties of Assistant city Manager. He is more than qualified for the position and he is already being paid to perform these duties. The City is now paying for two City Managers, an Assistant city Manager and two City Attorneys. Is it any wonder that we are here tonight and we are in such a state of confusion. Ms. Hill asked Council to rescind the firings and give everyone a cooling off period. She feels Council has been ill advised by somebody or somebodies. She feels the firing of Krista Storey and George McMahon was a Monday night massacre with no warning. She feels this is unfair and undeserved. They don't deserve it and your City doesn't deserve it. By rescinding the firings, the Council would be allowing the citizens of Edgewater to decide what should be done in the light of day. Most important, they would be bringing the city back on an even financial keel. A resident informed Mayor Allman they ought to set a time limit on the speakers because there are a lot of people that want to talk. Mayor Allman stated they would play it by ear and if they have to they will put a three minute time limit on it. Page -6- Council Special Meeting October 14, 1997 ~ ...., Andy Anderson, 1730 pine Tree Drive, feels the Council should be given a chance to adjust. He spoke about the big majority the new Council won the election by. He further spoke about there being 46 patches on pine Tree Drive a little after a year of its being paved. He feels after three or four more years, the road is going to have to be redone at a cost of another $10 or $12 million. Mr. Anderson commented on the power poles that were placed on Indian River Blvd. He went on to speak about dismantling the Library and using it for a Police Records Room. Mr. Anderson feels there was a clear mandate and the people of the City spoke. Mayor Allman invoked a three minute time limit. He asked the public to try and not be repetitive. If someone has already said something, it doesn't need to be said again. Dick Martinez, 317 Schooner Avenue, objected to not having an agenda for this meeting available before the meeting. We thought this meeting was to reconsider George McMahon and Krista Storey. They don't deserve what was done with them. He wanted to know why if they are professional, why the Council can't be professional and work with these civil servants. Mr. Martinez thought jobs had to be advertised before they could be filled. He sees from the last meeting the Council does not believe in that. He thought it had to be posted on the agenda that Council would take some action of that sort. Mr. Martinez commented on there only being Edgewater residents electing this Council. represent 85% of Edgewater. He asked that Manager and City Attorney be reconsidered. 15% or 16% of the The rest of us the firing of the City Paul Jenkins, willow Oak Drive, stated we voted for change yes but the people that we wanted changed were changed before Council made their decision the other night. Mr. Jenkins commented on the Council being responsible for the future actions of the City employees by what they tell them they want and the direction to go in. Krista Storey and George McMahon were doing what they were told or what they were allowed to do. Mr. Jenkins expressed opposition to Krista Storey and George McMahon being fired. He informed Council the budget is not as simple as they thought it was. Mr. Jenkins commented on the people at the meeting that don't come to the Council meetings that don't understand how the City Councilor budget works. He further commented on the cash reserve account and how George McMahon worked to build up the cash reserve. Mr. Jenkins spoke about what may happen if a hurricane hit Edgewater and there was a small percentage of money available. Mr. Jenkins asked Interim City Attorney Clayton why it was released to the public in the public part of the forum instead of in private session where that information would have been kept private. Mr. Jenkins asked Mayor Allman how the name Nikki Clayton was brought up to him. Page -7- Council special Meeting October 14, 1997 ,...,. .."", Mayor Allman stated he received 1,694 votes that voted for change. The greatest majority of those people told me to do exactly what I did. He heard back in 1990 that a Councilman had attempted to fire the Attorney and was unsuccessful because he didn't know what he was doing. He researched it at a friend's house in a scrap book she kept and saw Nikki Clayton was brought in to alleviate the situation at the time. He contacted Ms. Clayton himself through the help of Jeanne DelNigro. Special interest groups pushing Randy Allman are 1,694 disgruntled Edgewater residents. That is what is pushing Randy Allman. If there are 8,000 other people, you should have come out and voted. Mike Visconti, 316 pine Breeze Drive, spoke on there only being about twenty people at the budget meetings. He asked Interim City Manager Hooper about the Library situation. He understands New Smyrna Beach is building a regional library and questioned if Edgewater is part of that regional library. Interim City Manager Hooper stated he did not know that answer. Mr. Visconti congratulated George McMahon. He feels the Council found the city solvent and in the black. He questioned what the Council would have done if they found it in the red. He feels Council is condemning this man because they found it in the black but would they have killed him if they found it in the red. He believes George McMahon had the City in mind. He has improved the City in the four years he has been here. Mr. Visconti went on to speak about beautifying Edgewater. Henry Dardinski, 2704 Sabal Palm Drive, spoke about the meeting on October 6th being described as an emergency. He asked what the nature of the alleged emergency was. Mayor Allman stated he called the situation after the City Attorney and city Manager were relieved of their duties an emergency situation which had to be taken care of. Mr. Dardinski asked Mayor Allman if he met with any other Councilmember prior to the meeting of Monday, October 6th to discuss what was done that particular evening. Mayor Allman stated at the present time there is litigation in progress that restricts him from answering that question. Mr. Dardinski asked Mayor Allman if he refused to answer that question. Mayor Allman stated no we did not meet to discuss that during that time. Between the election and the time we were sworn in, no we did not discuss anything of that nature at all. Mr. Dardinski asked Mayor Allman if prior to the October 6th meeting he agreed with any other Councilmember as to what action he would take regarding the continued employment of George McMahon and Krista Storey. Mayor Allman asked prior to October 6th. Prior to September 30th, he told them both what he thought of them. Mr. Dardinski asked that he was going to fire them. Mayor Allman stated exactly. Mr. Dardinski asked if Mayor Allman or any other Councilmember interview Ms. Clayton or Mr. Hooper regarding employment. Mayor Allman called time and stated this is not a cross examination. Ward Berg, 205 Ranken Drive, congratulated Myron Hammond for having the guts to recall this issue and bring it before the public. Page -8- Council Special Meeting October 14, 1997 ~ ~ Mr. Berg stated the residents of this city wanted change and they spoke loud and clear. We have high expectations for the new Council. They expect the Council not to do anything that even has the appearance of impropriety. He knows two members on the Council and feels they would not do anything that was inappropriate or against the law as long as they knew what the law was. It sure doesn't look good and has caused a lawsuit against the City. He suggested in the future when there is an important issue, Council needs to handle it so it doesn't look like something it's not. Mr. Berg spoke about having personal dealings on a professional basis with Krista storey. He spoke about representing someone that filed a lawsuit against a subcontractor and we took numerous depositions of City employees in that lawsuit. He commented on her being smart, ethical, and hard working. He spoke about her being at everyone of those depositions. She was protecting this City in a way that the Council has no clue to because they don't work in that system. Mr. Berg feels Council made a mistake in getting rid of Krista Storey. He asked Councilman Hammond to have the guts to make a motion tonight. Ferd Heeb, 115 N. Riverside Drive, expressed concern that Mayor Allman, Councilman Hammond, and Councilman Roberts are voting in concert. He is concerned one will make a motion, one will second, they will call for a vote, 3-2, and they are running the City. He spoke about Councilman Gornto representing their district. He feels when Mayor Allman, Councilman Hammond and Councilman Roberts act like that, Councilman Gornto has no vote and Mr. Heeb has no representation. He feels the same way for the people in Councilwoman Lichter's district. Mr. Heeb feels Council should disassociate with each other and act independently. He feels if they form as an alliance, they would be depriving this City of the proper representation. Mr. Heeb suggested Council spend some of the surplus to get an up to speed public address system and take some money and send a questionnaire to all of the citizens of the City. A lot of them did not vote and put some of these issues before them and see what kind of response they get before they make decisions that might be contrary to the opinion of all of the people. Councilman Roberts feels everyone is jumping on their back about removing these two individuals. He spoke about the Council in 1990 firing the City Manager and City Attorney. Councilwoman Lichter thanked the citizens that are acting in a polite proper manner. She spoke about no one being fired the first night and it being done in an orderly process. She feels they should not try to stir up the crowd but from this point on just listen to them and talk with each other when this is over. Jim Braddock, Banyan Tree Drive, stated he doesn't have a problem with what the Council did but he feels they did it in a very poor manner. Mr. Braddock expressed concern with the liability issues that could be brought against the City. He expressed concern for the City employees that have to deal with this on a daily basis. The morale in this City over the past couple weeks has really deteriorated. Mr. Braddock respectfully requested Council readdress the issue. Page -9- Council Special Meeting October 14, 1997 .... ..."." Dominic Capria, 606 Topside Circle, stated the Council, City Manager and City Attorney have the right to bring something up if it isn't on the agenda. He spoke about when the streets in Edgewater Landing were done and the bond issue was refused because it was not done properly. He spoke to the City Attorney and she told him it would be brought up at a meeting and it was not on an agenda. Dee Cucanich, Travelers Palm Drive, stated she voted for change, she stood behind the Council then and she stands behind them now. Jeanne DelNigro, 3130 Tamarind Drive, stated the signs that were out said sweep City Hall out. She commended the Council for what they have done. She spoke about the old Council not allowing them to speak. She feels they were ridiculed. Ms. DelNigro spoke about Councilwoman Lichter waiting for her on the steps at City Hall when she went to pick up her qualifying papers. She stated when she walked out Councilwoman Lichter asked her not to run against her. She asked Councilwoman Lichter if she was right or wrong. Councilwoman Lichter stated wrong. Ms. DelNigro stated Councilwoman Lichter asked her to get her people to vote for her and she told her the city Manager and City Attorney must go. Councilman Hammond stated when he ran, he told everyone how he was going to run. When he was running he was going after policy and procedure. He was going after changing the Charter. He went down and spoke with George McMahon and informed him he would be going after the Charter and it would be changed. He told Mr. McMahon at that time when the City Charter gets changed, his job would probably be gone. Councilman Hammond stated he is not knocking Krista Storey. He goes to church with Krista and it was a very hard decision. He spoke about having to sit in a Sunday school room and look across at an attorney that everyone who voted for him came up and said something has got to be done with. As a friend, he has nothing against her. He has nothing against Mr. McMahon. He had to put his personal feelings aside because he was told when he takes this office he has to do what the people said. Councilman Hammond stated even if Krista Storey and George McMahon came back, they know in their heart that they are going to be eliminated. How can you run your job at 100% efficiency knowing that sooner or later you might be eliminated. He is ashamed of the way he went about things. He was put on the spot. Councilman Hammond spoke about the night the firings were brought up. He made a decision and had to keep thinking what the people kept telling him to do. He called the shots and has caught hell for it ever since from the newspaper and everybody else. He has had about 90% of the people come up and tell him to stick to his guns. He has lawsuits coming at him for saying what the people wanted. Scott Porta, 210 Quay Assisi, New Smyrna Beach, stated he has property in Edgewater. He commended Council for the spirit of what they are after. He feels what the Council wants to accomplish is a good thing. He suggested Council settle down and relax and try not to stir up things. He informed Council they have plenty of time to sort through this. He would like to see the Council succeed for the right reasons. Councilman Roberts He told the people smell the coffee. accept it. spoke about the bickering in the community. to look at the poll results and wake up and People wanted change. When are you going to Page -10- Council Special Meeting October 14, 1997 .. .." Councilman Roberts stated people wanted a change, not just with the Council, but also the administration of the City. The attitude of the administration must change. Yvonne Bice, 210 N. Riverside Drive, voted and felt when Council wanted to make their changes they would come in and review everything very carefully. The very first night you are on the job you fire two people without giving them any warning and without trying to work with them. Ms. Bice feels if this is how Council is going to do all their voting, then it is going to be chaos all the time in the City. Elizabeth Jacobson, 1018 Lake Avenue, told Mayor Allman she is upset about the comment he keeps making regarding the mandate. She stated they were given a mandate to be Mayor and Councilmembers to judge what they are doing before they do it. She feels they were not given a mandate to fire the two people that were fired. Walter smith asked how much the premiums were that were paid to the Florida League of cities and what the refund was Mr. Munoz said the City got. There was a brief discussion regarding the refund received for workers compensation. Mr. smith questioned what lump pay is. Interim city Manager Hooper explained those individuals have reached or were close to the upper limit of the cap of their salary, so instead of taking a raise through the year they were able to take an hourly rate times 2000 hours per year of work time and call that a lump sum. John Gibbons, 706 Charter Lane, spoke about the termination of George McMahon and Krista Storey. He urged Council to carryon with business. Nancy Ridner, 2804 Unity Tree Drive, stated she backs the Council 100% and sees no reason for them to rescind. She urged the Council to keep up the good work. Andy Anderson also backs the Council 100%. He feels the Council may have acted somewhat hastily but he doesn't feel what they did was illegal. He thinks the Council acted on the sentiment in the City. Roy Ricklaid, Mooring Lane, stated he respects the Council's right to take action to disposition of City employees. He objects to and is embarrassed by Council's action to do it in the way they did on the first night. To do it that way, you gave the impression of collusion. No matter how it comes out in the courts, you have left that impression of collusion which will not go away. This will divide the community for years to come. Ed Keenan, 1905 pine Tree Drive, stated why these people received great plurality was the people wanted a change. He feels the road assessment went overboard. He spoke about the State's Attorney being mentioned loosely by the newspapers and some of the former Councilmembers. He would welcome the State's Attorney coming in and investigating. Mr. Keenan spoke about bonuses for city employees. He would like to see this published and to be told what it was. Mr. Keenan feels some of the things he has been reading in the paper have been designed to sabotage the new Council. Page -11- Council Special Meeting October 14, 1997 .... ...., Mr. Keenan wants to see the Charter changed to allow the Council to represent the people instead of just being rubber stamps for what is put in front of them. Robert Garthwaite, 10 Lee Drive, spoke about revisiting the Charter. He feels it is being hinted for a strong Mayor form of government. He advised Council to be aware. We don't want that. He feels the City doesn't need a politician in charge of the day to day operations of the City employees. Mr. Garthwaite informed Council they did not get a mandate from the people, they got 17% of the vote of the people who are eligible to vote. He urged Council to think of the City and to think of themselves as five and not three or two. Louise Martin, 1409 S. Riverside Drive, spoke about the firing of George McMahon and Krista storey. The first act of the Council of firing the City Attorney and City Manager was a blatant disregard to the state Sunshine Law, the City Charter and a public review of their contract and the grievances against them. Ms. Martin feels Councilman Roberts, Councilman Hammond and Mayor Allman should have been advised that they were behaving illegally when they walked into the meeting with resumes, hired help and a decision to fire without prior public input all under a cloud of secrecy. Dale Young, 2324 Queen Palm Drive, stated the current Council made no bones about what they were going to do. He spoke about sweeping out City Hall. He voted for everyone on the Council and expects them to do the things they were elected to do and to administer this City through a City Manager. If they felt they could not deal with the person in the position before, they had an idea of what they wanted to do before they got here. Mr. Young stated for anyone who didn't vote, shame on you. Wendy Dipple, 713 Navigators Way, stated there was a mandate in this vote. A high percentage vote and that was for Councilwoman Lichter. She carried the majority of the votes for her position and swept it. She voted for the current Council with a lot of confidence and hope and with a lot of wishes that this City could have a Council they could be proud of. She hopes they put Edgewater on the map as being a City and having a City Council we can look up to, respect and be proud of. Tanya Eissler, former Mayor, spoke about phone calls she has received at home due to what Council did. She spoke against the hiring of Interim City Attorney Nikki Clayton who she feels is not the person to represent Edgewater. She feels the Council has made a big mistake. Ms. Eissler informed Mayor Allman he was elected by a majority but that doesn't represent everyone in the City of Edgewater. She feels the Council needs to pay attention to what the rest of the people are saying. There are people that have contacted her that voted for the new Council and they are ashamed. Ms. Eissler commented on how rude the audience was. Ms. Eissler stated her biggest mistake was that she aligned herself with Mr. Barrett. Ms. Nikki Clayton told him to sue the city. Four years ago Ms. Clayton came to the City to represent Mr. Barrett and now she is representing the city. This is all a plan just for the builders. Mayor Allman told Ms. Eissler she was out of order. Ms. Esslier stated the only thing you have here is a bunch of builders wanting to build illegally. Page -12- Council Special Meeting October 14, 1997 ...... ..., Yurich Giampietro, 2404 Sabal Palm Drive, stated she left work early to vote for this Council and she would do it again. Mike Visconti, 316 pine Breeze Drive, stated next time you take a picture to take it of all five Councilmembers instead of three. Councilman Gornto liked the suggestion of Mr. Keenan where he invited the state Attorney's office in here. He feels they are under a cloud. He thinks if the Sunshine Law is a rule to have been violated, every action they take from now until we get that ruling will be void. He questioned if that is correct. He is trying to speed up the process of getting the cloud removed. He feels the City Council and City Attorney should encourage the state Attorney's office and Ethics commission to move as fast as possible to review the situation and clear the cloud. Interim City Attorney Clayton stated she has written to the state Attorney and has met personally with his representative inviting them to please expedite should they find cause for action and she believes they are expediting. As we speak, she believes they will find that process has begun and we will pledge to do everything in writing for that to take place. Councilman Gornto stated he is not as concerned with the Sunshine Law violations as he is that Mr. Roberts and Mr. Hammond have received threatening phone calls at home. Councilwoman Lichter stated she too listened to her voters. She won a primary and received over 51% of the vote. She has a mandate for good government. People voted for her because they trust her and her experience in government. Councilwoman Lichter feels they have a moral ethical input from themselves when they make a vote. Councilwoman Lichter stated due to the agenda not including the firing she was totally unprepared. She feels her fellow Councilmembers that voted broke this Charter. She stated neither a price or limitation was put on the hiring. Councilwoman Lichter feels firing and hiring should be done in an orderly manner. She feels sometimes she makes the wrong judgment. She doesn't feel she made the wrong judgment that night. If she does make the wrong judgment, she is woman enough to say that she made the wrong judgment. Councilman Roberts stated after talking to people for two months it was not hazy, it was very clear. People wanted change. It wasn't a gray area. It was black and white. People were tired of the way this administration was running the City. This is what they elected us for. He was sorry it was a little hasty and it shocked a few people. Let's get real. This is the way the Charter is written. Those positions are at the will of the majority vote of Council. He suggested anyone who doesn't understand that to pick up the Charter and read it. These people have been a liability to the City and have been costing a lot of money and the City has been going nowhere. People wanted a change because they are tired of this. They made it quite clear over the past two years in this community. He feels he is going to stand by his decision. He has no regrets in the decision he has made to vote to remove those two people. He feels they need to advertise for a new City Manager as soon as possible so they can get this community rebuilt the way it should be. If we can stop bickering, we can maybe rebuild this place as a great place to live. If you people don't like us in two years, vote us out. until then let us do our job and get this community back on its feet. Page -13- Council Special Meeting October 14, 1997 ~ ~ Councilman Hammond asked Interim City Attorney Clayton if what was done on October 6th, at that time if that was illegal, was not the City Attorney supposed to instruct the Council that they were out of line. Interim City Attorney Clayton informed him yes sir. Audience members stated Krista storey was fired. Councilman Hammond stated she was still on the City payroll. Interim City Attorney Clayton stated the question was, was the City Attorney at the time there to advise Council with respect to their actions that were taken at the time. The city Attorney was there. She was suspended effective at the end of the meeting and not during the meeting. Councilman Hammond commented on the over 1900 votes he received. He was not saying he was proud of it. Everyone is out there ridiculing what has been done. He was voted in because of what the 17% or 24% of the people said. At least they had enough guts to get up and walk out and take the time to voice their opinion. He is not happy how things went down. It was not the way he anticipated. Councilman Hammond stated he might be doing the wrong thing but at this point he is going to say if you do not like what he did and what he motioned for to vote him out. He is going to hold his ground from this point on. James Sowers, 2831 Travelers Palm Drive, asked Interim City Attorney Clayton if it is reasonable for a function of a newspaper to sue the City if it believes it violated a political law or practice versus the newspaper expressing its observations as part of bringing public the news. Isn't it the function of the newspaper to criticize or write editorials or to tell the citizens what is going on but he finds it unconstitutional that they would sue the City on the basis that they are upholding the Sunshine Law on the benefit of the citizens. Mr. Sowers asked if people who plan on running for public office on the basis that change is needed meet before they are elected and plan changes and are subsequently elected are they in violation of the Sunshine Law. Mayor Allman asked if there were any further comments. Paul Jenkins, willow Oak Drive, commented on the City being sued by the newspaper mainly because Mayor Allman refused to show public documents to the reporter. Those documents had to do with the hiring according to Mr. Hill. Mayor Allman stated he was never asked for any documents. Mr. Jenkins stated Mr. Hill claims differently. Mayor Allman entertained a motion to adjourn. Councilwoman Lichter so moved. Ron Cadby, 132 w. Park Avenue, spoke about having business in Edgewater since 1988. He thinks what they have is a failure of communication. He was a Vice Mayor of North Palm Beach for four years and after two months he stopped reading the newspaper because you get misquoted and paraphrased and there are many attempts to get manipulated. Prior to the primaries he put up an electronic bulletin board and he went to the News Journal and Observer and asked them to tell the public that there is a place that is free they can go and post their questions, their opinions or whatever. In addition he put up a candidates page that had all the candidates information and some of the candidates came and enhanced it with their flyers and pictures. He questioned how many people heard about it. Page -14- Council Special Meeting October 14, 1997 ., ~ ....., Mr. Cadby stated the News Journal and Observer said they couldn't announce this feature because it would have to come under the paid political advertisement rule. Mr. Cadby stated it finally got to a point where one other citizen thought it was worthwhile, a real estate lady met him in a parking lot and she put a paid print ad in the pennysaver so for the next three weeks you will see an advertisement explaining how anyone can freely go and state their opinion. He feels there has been a lack of communication. ADJOURNMENT Councilwoman Lichter moved to adjourn, second by Councilman Hammond. The motion CARRIED 5-0. The meeting adjourned at 9:34 p.m. Minutes submitted by: Lisa Kruckmeyer Page -15- Council Special Meeting October 14, 1997