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12-08-1982 - Special u v CITY OF EDGEWATER CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING December 8, 1982 Vice Mayor David Ledbetter called the meeting to order at 7:30 P.M. in the Community Center. ROLL CALL Mayor Richard McKillop Councilman David Ledbetter Councilwoman Gigi Bennington Councilman Neil Asting Councilman John Spencer Present* Present Present Present Present City Atty. Jose Alvarez City Clerk Nancy Blazi Police Chief Earl Baugh Present* Present Present Vice Mayor Ledbetter read the announcement of a special meeting for the purpose of considering and acting upon the re-organization, removal, and appointments of City boards and board members. *Mayor MCKillop arrived at the meeting and so did the City Attorney. Mayor McKillop said that during the campaign there was a lot of discussion about the appointments to City boards specifically the procedure for appointments. After the election, but prior to the new Council assuming office, three people were appointed to a board in the City over the one Councilman's objection. Councilman Ledbetter had suggested at that time that the three people be appointed on a temporary basis until such time as the new Council took office. However, those people were appointed to a three year term to a board that the only recourse of the decisions of that board is to the Courts. Mr. Ledbetter said at that time he would recommend the three appointments be set aside when the new Council took office. There are currently vacancies on many of the City boards, some boards do not even have a quorum in order to hold a meeting. These vacancies need to be filled so that the business of the City can be accomplished. Mayor McKillop continued by stating that he had run on a platform of combining the Zoning and Planning boards to accomplish the business of the City in a more efficient manner. Councilman Spencer noted that since there was no regular agenda the Council might wish to consider allowing audience participation on the subject prior to Council action. Mr. Tipton suggested abolishing all boards and starting over. Mrs. Massey, Chairman of the Industrial Board, spoke about board vacancies and also the fact that some of the members had been appointed for full terms rather than to fill vacancies. She requested a review of the appointments to clarify this matter. Mrs. Massey added that she had received requests from two residents to serve on the Industrial Board. _ There are five members whose terms expire at the same time and this makes it difficult to stagger the terms and when the Council decides on appointments for the Industrial Board, she hopes they will clear up the new appointments and those appointments that were made to fill unexpired terms. Mr. Walter Gross spoke about abolishing boards. He talked about the Board of Governors which had been dissolved completely. Mr. Gross also said he believed decisions of the Board of Adjustment should be referred to the Council and no board in the City should act on its own, the Council should participate in all decisions made by any board. Mr. Robert Christy spoke to the Council about Res. 82-R-33 which was for appointments to the Industrial Board. This resolution was changed by the City Manager after the Council had signed the resolution. The change altered the terms of the two appointees. Mayor Christy added that he has filed charges against the former City Manager on this matter. .~ l u u .Mr. Breuilly , a former member of the Industrial Board, asked the Council to establish a criteria for positions on the boards. Mr. John Wharton reminded the Council that the State had set up a comprehensive planning board when the comprehensive plan went into effect for municipalities. He did not know whether this should still be a separate board. Mr. Muller suggested abolishing all boards and starting from scratch. Mr. Don Bennington told the Council he believed it was in the best interest of the City to notify the public that the Council was seeking interested and qualified people to serve on the boards. Mr. Kirk Jones noted that he was interested in serving on the Parks and Recreation Board but did not know what the procedure was for appointments to the boards. Mayor McKillop said that in the past individual Council members would nominate people to serve on boards and the Council would vote on the nominations. However, the person being nominated might not even be at the meeting nor was there an interview of the person nominated. There also did not appear to be any stating of qualifications for serving on a particular board. Mr. Mackie told Council that he believed applications were a good way of getting interested people to serve on the different boards. Councilman Asting suggested that the Council review the present membership of the boards. We. should leave experienced people on these boards. After a thorough review then the Council could decide what members should remain and what members might be replaced. Mayor McKillop asked if this would start the process of the public hearing for the removal of a person from the board. This Council will try to set new standards for the City. Councilman Spencer asked the City Attorney if the Council can arbitrarily dismiss certain board members. The City Attorney replied that the majority of the ordinances which establish the various boards all indicate that members must be given written notice and the right to a public hearing prior to their removal from a specific board. However, if the board member elects to waive those conditions that is the board member's privilege. Councilman Asting said that we must retain experienced people and we should not abolish all the boards because this would create problems in the conduct of City business. There was a discussion about Res. 82-R-48 that appointed three members to the Board of Adjustments. The Resolution had not been signed by either Councilman Ledbetter of former Mayor Christy. However, the Resolution did have three "yes" signatures. Councilman Ledbetter and Mayor Christy voted NO but declined to sign the resolution under protest of the action that appointed three members to a board at the 1b last meeting of the old Council. . Councilman Spencer said that he believes the Council should advertise and let people know that there are vacancies and the Council is looking for qualified and interested people to serve on these boards. Councilman Asting pointed out that certain boards are presently in dire need of appointments in order to continue to function with a full quorum. Council Meeting 12/8/82 - 2 - u c.) Councilwoman Bennington also said that she believes the City should advertise for people to serve on the boards. Councilman Ledbetter said that past Councils up to about five years ago had used the method of allowing each Council member to appoint someone from his zone and the Mayor appointed people at large. This has been changed in the past few years, but he believes it was in the original charter. There are a number of people presently serving on our boards that have lived and worked in Edgewater for a long time and it would seem almost like an insult to request that they put in an application after all the years they have served the City. Mr. Dana Armstrong, former Mayor, said that for 25 years in Edgewater the appointments to boards was extended to the Council on an equal share basis with the Mayor appointing members at large. However, in the past few years we have appointed almost an entire board from one zone or area and the boards have been stacked so that many people have declined to serve on boards because of the manner in which many appointments were made. He suggested the City Attorney research the right to govern law. The State does not allow politics in boards or board appointments. These matters have been done illegally, they should be reversed and start over with genuine good boards that people can rely and depend on and the Council can have confidence in the recommendations of these boards. Mr. Wargo repeated his suggestion that the Council start over and establish new membership on the various boards. Councilman Asting said that all applicants should be considered by the Council. Mr. Walter Gross thanked the Mayor and Council for the right to give the audience a chance to speak. He brought up again the Board of Governors dissolution and also talked about the charter committee. The City Attorney said that each board is created by enabling legislation and if there was a proviso in that legislation that determined how the board and its membership was established, the Council must follow that legislation. It is possible that this Council might wish to establish an ordinance to provide future guidance in this matter. There was a short recess while the microphones were adjusted. Mr. Mackie questioned whether or not a public hearing had been necessary prior to abolishing the Zoning Board, if so would there be a possibility that the original board was still technically in existence? Mr. Frank Opal spoke about stacking boards. Mayor McKillop requested 2a that Mr. Opal refrain from mentioning personal names. He also believed that no one should serve on boards that had special interests. Mrs. Mackie questioned the resolution that denied husbands and wives the right to serve on boards. She wanted to know if this applied also to Council members with relatives on boards. Councilman Spencer motioned to instruct the City Clerk to advertise current vacancies that exist on advisory boards and those that will exist in the next two months, requesting that those people that are interested to submit applications to the City Clerk to be turned over to Council for their consideration and action. These applications should be in accordance with City Charter and Code where there are specific requirements set forth on a specific board and that the applicants must be residents of Edgewater, seconded by Councilwoman Bennington. There was a lengthy discussion that followed including a discussion about advertising for each vacancy whenever one occurs, the Council should recruit applicants, the desire of the present Council to change mistakes that have been made in the past as far as board appointments are concerned. Council Meeting 12/8/82 - 3 - u Q Councilman Asting questioned the advertisements of board vacancies and wondered whether or not the newspapers could print a story noting that the City was interested in -r:~l:tndi.ng:,;p,e.cvple'n\rho' wished to serve on the boards. Councilwoman Bennington pointed out that the Council is considering having the agenda advertised and an advertisement for a board vacancy should be considered equally important. Mayor McKillop said there are 12 vacancies on seven different boards and the suggestion to abolish these boards does not make any sense. Advertising should not happen for every vacancy only for the initial period to fill the present vacancies. The Council should take the time to interview the applicants. The Council should be aware of the people that are serving on the advisory boards and also the duties of that particular board. Councilman Spencer withdrew his motion, Councilwoman Bennington withdrew her second. Councilman Spencer motioned to advertise for current vacancies for the balance of December and the month of January. The City Council shall receive applications and conduct brief interviews before filling vacancies, seconded by Councilwoman Bennington. Councilman Asting reminded the Council they already had nine applications to fill vacancies on the boards. Mayor McKillop said that he would like to see in the advertisement not only that there are vacancies but the different requirements for the various boards, possibly the night the boards meet and a general statement as to the intent and purpose of the board. The City Attorney added that we should indictate in the advertisement that the applications are not confidential. The applications would be considered public record. 2b The discussion continued on the wording of the advertisement and the time for a response and an interview meeting. Councilman Spencer spoke about having applications back in about 10 days. Different dates were discussed for an interview meeting. Mrs. Pat Lamee, Star Sentinel, suggested that the newspapers get the information from the City Clerk concerning the board vacancies, informa- tion on the boards, meeting nights, etc. and the newspapers could publish a story noting that Edgewater is interested in receiving applications from interested citizens to fill these vacancies. This story run in all three local papers should bring in sufficient applica- tions to the Council by the middle of the next week for an interview meeting with the Council. Councilman Asting said that he did not see any need for an ad if the newspapers were willing to run the story about the search for qualified individuals to serve on Boards. Councilman Spencer said he would like to modify his motion so he will withdraw the motion presently on the floor, Councilwoman Bennington withdrew her second. Mayor MCKillop said that the Council would allow more audience participation on this matter. Mr. Montesano said board members should be residents not a property owner. Many people own property in Edgewater but they don't live here and they don't really care about the town. He added that he felt the present Council should be able to find enough people to. serve on the boards without advertising. Mrs. Massey said she believed that the by-laws of the Industrial Board state that a member should be a resident but it does not state that a member must be a resident. Mr. Wharton suggested that the board membership should be well balanced between the different zones. Mr. Walter Gross said the Council should consider experienced people who have previously served on boards. Mr. Bennington said that if the Council wants to eliminate being accused of stacking boards, they should establish a pool of eligible board members and the entire Council would then vote on these people. CouncilMeeting 12/ 8/82 - 4 - ~ A U Mr. Frank Opal said he saw no reason to spend money on advertising if the local newspapers were willing to run a story about the need for board members. Mr. Wargo again requested that the Council set up certain criteria for board membership. Mr. Muller said that he believed there was a sufficient number of people interested in the City who showed up at meetings and it should not be necessary to advertise to find interested people willing to serve on the boards. Mr. Hetu cautioned the Council to take their time in selecting board members. Councilman Spencer motioned to have the newspapers print the story of the City's search for board members and not have the City advertise. The information can be submitted to the newspapers relative to qualifications that are required and set a time schedule for the earliest time we can set a workshop for the purpose of interviewing applicants. Councilman Spencer suggested either a week from Thursday 3a or Friday around the 16th or 17 of December. There was a discussion about the calendar for the Community Center. The City Clerk also informed the Council that May, Zima can meet with the Council on either the 14th or 15th of Dec. to discuss the funding of the road project. Councilman Asting suggested an afternoon meeting. Mayor McKillop said he was not available for afternoon meetings. Councilman Spencer clarified his motion by saying the interviews could be held on Friday, December 17 at 7:00 P.M. Councilman Bennington seconded the motion. She added that she agreed with having the applications in by the 17th but the Council could wait until December 29th to hold their interviews. The City Clerk noted that the Merit Board had cancelled their meeting and most of the other boards scheduled had indicated cancelling in December. Councilwoman Bennington said she would amend the motion to hold the interviews on the 29th and have the applicants bring their applications to City Hall. The amendment died for lack of a second. Councilman Spencer noted that he felt it was important to take care of this matter as soon as possible. The Council has a lot of work to do and we need to be prepared to put in additional time to get some of this work done. Mayor McKillop requested that copies of the ordinances establishing the various boards be posted at the library and at City Hall. He added that he believed it would be very difficult to institute the custom of appointing vacancies from each zone due to past practices which appointed people from allover the city not from specific zones. The Council may wish to discuss selection procedures at the workshop on board appointments. Upon roll call the motion to give information to the newspapers for a story on applications for the board vacancies, with interviews to be held on Dec. 17 at 7:00 P.M. DID NOT CARRY. Councilman Spencer and Mayor McKillop voted YES. Councilman Ledbetter motioned to adjourn, seconded by Councilman Asting. Upon roll call motion CARRIED 3-2. Councilman Spencer and Mayor McKillop voted NO. Meeting adjourned at 9:55 P.M. Minutes submitted by: Nancy Blazi Council Meeting 12/8/82 - 5 - '-J () Signature page for Council Meeting 12/8/82 ATTEST: ~l~ City Cle k Approved this dO ~ay of December, 1982. ~~4~ M yor ~r~. O:,:~~.C f:i{~~ Councllman Ledbetter ~~~ 7~' .'1,-<.. 1l.1. . Councilma sting i ~~~ Counc'lman Spencer - - 6 - .%:5. ~ iL \.) ~ ~1ft cf~ ~