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08-24-1984 - Special/Workshop v (.) <.) ... CITY COUNCIL OF EDGEWATER SPECIAL MEETING & WORKSHOP AUGUST 24, 1984 MINUTES Mayor Ledbetter called the Special Meeting and Workshop to order at 7:00 P.M. in the Community Center. ROLL CALL Mayor David Ledbetter Councilman Melbourne Wargo Councilwoman Gigi Bennington Councilman Neil Asting Present Present Absent Excused Councilman Jack Spencer City Attorney Jose'Alvarez City Clerk Connie Kinsey Pol ice Chief Douglas Betts Present Present Present Arrived Later Mayor Ledbetter stated the purpose of the meeting is to consider repeal ing Resolution #83-R-57. Councilman Spencer said he preferred Council go into the workshop session and defer the special meeting until later. Councilman Wargo had no objection. Mayor Ledbetter called the Workshop in session. Councilman Wargo stated that he asked for this meeting for various reasons and he didn't want to get into them now as he didn't come for an inquisition but to settle some misunderstandings in the past. He said putting five or six titles on a person hasn't solved the problems in the City and the people aren't getting the services they require for pushing this City forward. He said they haven't progressed in the last 14 months because of the five or six titles. He added that he heard a remark that the person cannot properly take care of her job because she has to sit in her office and 1 isten to the Council and can't get her work done. He said maybe they should break these posLt:ions up and start hiring a Finance Director, and a Personnel Director and leave the rest as is and see if there will be better service for the people and release the City Clerk to perform the duties she is supposed to perform and get a more efficient and better dialogue with administration than they have now. He noted that they have a very remiss dialogue in this City and there are too many ends left loose and too many things let go that they aren't getting done that they're obI igated to get done. He suggested they address the titles they have and properly assign them to different people to get the job done properly. Councilman Spencer said he disagreed with Councilman Wargo as he has a good dialogue with the City Clerk/Administrator and the staff and he found the City Clerk/Administrator to be very cooperative and very knowledgable. He added that he doesn't see what they'll accompl ish by separating the powers and responsibil ities. He noted that the City Clerk/ Administrator has delegated some of the responsibil ities that have been placed on her. Councilman Spencer suggested that Councilman Wargo be specific since there were several quotations in the newspapers, whether correct or incorrect, and he takes exception to some of the items. He noted that there was criticism of the budget and he felt it was done in the same process as a year ago and was handled very well and City Clerk Kinsey and Mrs. Rickelman did an outstanding job in working with the department heads and preparing the prel iminary budget which was reviewed extensively by Council at numerous workshops. He added that the Council has the prerogative and responsibil ity of setting the millage rate and establ ishing the final budget and that's what they did. Councilman Spencer pointed out that Council has the responsibil ity of performing an evaluation of the City Clerk/Administrator and she'd been evaluated twice by this Council and on those evaluations, Councilman Wargo rated her next to the highest in August of 1983 and next to the highest in May of 1984. He noted that she received a high evaluation in May, which was a very short time ago, and Councilman Wargo had indicated on her evaluation that a merit increase was in order and on May 21st the Council voted 4-0 to give the City Clerk/Administrator a merit increase. He said that doesn't sound 1 ike the Council felt she was not performing her job properly and he didn't think Council gave her any specific instructions to do other than she's doing at this time. He noted that between May and now there's been a dissatis- faction with the way the administration is being operated and didn't know what they want to do as an alternative. u Q Councilman Wargo asked Councilman Spencer if he was present for the budget hearings. Councilman Spencer repl ied he was here for the last budget hearing but not for all of them. Councilman Wargo asked how many held attended and Councilman Spencer repl ied the last one where it was final ized. Councilman Wargo stated that it was final ized before Councilman Spencer returned and the millage was set so he can't say with any authority that everything in the budget hearing was all right. Councilman Wargo pointed out that he's missed one Council meetings in the 15 months he's been on Council and he asked Councilman Spencer how many he's missed. Councilman Wargo stated that Council has a responsibil ity to the people of the community and 54% of them are on fixed income and they can't payout a lot of money. He added that he wants to run the City the way he runs his 1 ife and he tries to spend his money wisely and get the best value for his dollar. He referred to the increase in the Police budget the last year and said he doesn't think more money makes a better department. He added that hiring a lot of people may not answer the problems but maybe giving the people more money and requesting more work out of them will be a better service to the community instead of hiring more people. Councilman Spencer said he didn't advocate hiring more employees but he felt criticism of the City Clerk/Administrator's participation in the budget process was unwarranted and they all had an opportunity to amend the budget. Mayor Ledbetter stated that the budget is set and this meeting isn't on the budget but to consider repeal ing Resolution 83-R-57. Councilman Spencer agreed that was the pur- pose of the meeting but this is directly related since this resolution appointed her as Finance and Administration Director and the budget process is part of this responsibil ity. Councilman Wargo said he objected to being asked why he votes a certain way and he doesn't have to answer to another Council member, but the point is that one person is wearing four hats and asked if it's fair to her and to the community. He noted that the ordinance appointed her for 60 days or until Council wants to change it and he's ready for a change. Councilman Wargo added that after all these months he's not seen a great progress in the City for the amount they're spending and it should be changed. He said they need a personnel director to get out with the people and see some of their problems but he doesn't think they need a City administrator or a City Manager and that's what it IS got to be is a City Manager. He pointed out that 14 months ago the people mandated not to have a City Manager and that shouldn't be overlooked or forgotten. He suggested that Council meet every Friday with the department heads to 1 isten to the problems and know first hand the needs of the community as he doesn't 1 ike to get it second hand. He added that he didn't say the City Clerk/Administrator didn't do her job or that she wasn't working but all the responsibil ities for this community shouldn't come under one person and they should determine the proper people in the jobs and get the jobs done right. Councilman Spencer stated that they hire department heads to operate their departments and it's not up to Council to determine the color of Pol ice uniforms or operations of the departments, but it is Council IS function to pay more attention to major things of a pol icy nature and such projects as road paving and resur- facing which is badly needed or personnel turnover, and water treatme~t and supply. Councilman Wargo asked if the solution is to raise garbage rates $1.50 a month and put five more people on, have a tax rate base at 5.800 to have a cushion, and they don't really need to raise the garbage rates. He said when you have professionals doing the job, you'll get different advice than that, but he's not blaming anyone. He said raising taxes every year and raising garbage rates every year isn't the answer to the problems, and added that he'd meet once or twice a week with department heads if it's needed. He pointed out the time and effort spent in selecting a Pol ice Chief and that Councilman Spencer wasn't present for all of that. Councilman Spencer noted that he planned a vacation some time in advance and gave a note to every person on Council indicating that he'd be gone during the month of July and would need to be excused for two regular meetings. He added that nobody objected to it and Councilman Wargo could have let him know in advance if he had a problem with it instead of making a point of it later. He noted that hels very interested in the welfare of the City and the answer isn't necessarily to raise taxes or garbage rates to solve the problem but there are other problems such as trash, and he made a trip to Vero Beach to look at the trash incinerator in operation. -2- Council Special Meeting & Workshop Minutes August 24, 1984 o o Councilman Spencer asked Councilman Wargo if he wants to separate some of the responsi- bilities and titles that the City Clerk/Administrator was asked to do and hire one or two more people to take on those tasks. Councilman Wargo repl ied that he'd heard what he'd said. Councilman Spencer said he wanted to understand it clearly, and pointed out that only three people of Council are there and what they're discussing is highly important and he'd prefer that other members of Council have an opportunity to partici- pate in whatever action is taken relative to this subject. He suggested they table the discussion for full Council -since points of view are so different. Councilman Wargo said he was making a point that Councilman Spencer wasn't there and he doesn't care if hels there or not, but he wasn't there for budget hearings, and he doubted if he would have told him not to go and to stay home. Councilman Wargo said another point is that hindsight is always better than foresight and it's impossible to determine whatls going to turn up here from one day to the next. Councilman Wargo moved to go from the workshop to a regular meeting. Councilman Spencer seconded thecmotion. Motion CARRIED 3-0. Councilman Wargo moved to adjourn this regular meeting until Monday night at 7:00 P.M. Councilman Spencer seconded the motion. Meeting was adjourned at 7:28 P.M. CITY COUNCIL OF EDGEWATER SPECIAL MEETING AND WORKSHOP AUGUST 27, 1984 (CONTINUED FROM AUGUST 24, 1984) MINUTES Mayor Ledbetter called the continued Special Meeting and Workshop to order at 7:00 P.M. in the Community Center. ROLL CALL Mayor David Ledbetter Councilman Melbourne Wargo Councilwoman Gigi Bennington Councilman Neil Asting Present Present Present Excused Councilman Jack Spencer City Attorney Jose' Alvarez City Clerk Connie Kinsey Pol ice Chief Douglas Betts Present Excused Present Present Mayor Ledbetter stated the purpose of the meeting is to consider repeal ing Resolution 83-R-57 which appointed Cornel ia Kinsey as Finance and Administration Director of the City of Edgewater. Councilman Spencer moved that Council recess to a Workshop session and take up the Special Meeting later. Councilwoman Bennington seconded the motion. Motion CARRIED 4-0. Councilman Spencer stated that he wanted to be sure that Councilwoman Bennington was updated on what transpired at Friday evening's meeting and Councilwoman Bennington stated that she listened to the tapes of the meeting. Councilman Spencer said he wouldn't be in favor of repeal ing Resolution 83-R-57 without some plan of a postitive nature to substitute, which would be an improvement for the operation. Councilwoman Bennington said that she 1 istened to the tapes of Friday's meeting and heard both sides of the argument. She noted that when they set up the position of Finance and Administration Director it was because they were in a position with no City Manager and they were told they couldn't go to the coordinator system so they set up a flow chart with Connie Kinsey as Finance and Administration Director and Personnel Director to see what problems they would have with this. She noted that the budget is continually higher and they need to look at the best way to spend the money and with all the titles, the City Clerk/Administrator has had to delegate a lot of the authority. She said it IS her opinion that it's impossible for the City Clerk to function as a full-time Finance Director because of all the other responsibil ities she has. She added that if she votes to rescind the resolution, it's only on the grounds that they need a full-time Finance Director and she'd 1 ike to go out and adver- tise to see what is available and what it would cost to bring someone in. Council Special Meeting & Workshop Minutes -3- August 24, 1984 and Council Special Meeting & Workshop Minutes August 27, 1984 \ (.) <..) Mr. Frank Roe, Juniper Drive, asked why they say they need money and then want to advertise to hire a new Finance Director. Councilwoman Bennington pointed out that she didn't say to hire but to see what's out there. Mr. Roe asked if the reason they're doing this is because the City Clerk is inefficient and if so, they should say so. He added that Council should instruct her what to do with the budgets for the departments. He stated that some of the ways the Council does things isn't sensible, and he'd 1 ike things to run smoothly. He asked why this was even brought up if she is efficient. Councilman Wargo moved to go back into the regular meeting. Councilwoman Bennington seconded the motion. Motion CARRIED 4-0. Mayor Ledbetter pointed out that they have the option of repeal ing Resolution 83-R-57, leave it as is, or revert Mrs. Kinsey back to City Clerk as ~rescribedby the Charter. Councilman Wargo moved to repeal Resolution 83-R-57 and direct the City Attorney to draw up the necessary papers. Mayor Ledbetter passed the gavel to Vice Mayor Bennington and seconded the motion. Motion CARRIED 3-1. Councilman Spencer voted NO. Vice Mayor Bennington returned the gavel to Mayor Ledbetter. Councilwoman Bennington stated that she voted yes on this because she wants to check into what it will take for a Finance Director in this City because they need one. Mayor Ledbetter suggested a workshop to discuss this. Councilman Spencer said tearing something down is what Council had just done without a val id course of action and it's a very backward way of doing something. He added they are asking now to investigate what it will cost to hire a full time Finance Director and this should have been done a long time ago. He said Council is very wrong to go about it in this manner and he doesn't understand what City finances have suffered for the lack of a Finance Director. Councilwoman Bennington repl ied that nothing now is suffering but Mrs. Rickelman and Mrs. Kinsey worked on the budget and Mrs. Rickelman is doing most of the work because of Mrs. Kinsey's other duties. She added that it's not because Mrs. Kinsey isn't capable but because of lack of time and other responsibil ities and she felt the other people that have the responsibil ities should have the titles. Councilman Spencer said the rescinding of this resolution puts the City in 1 imbo and without a head of the City. Councilwoman Bennington said she disagreed because the Charter states the City Clerk is the head of the City. Councilman Spencer pointed out that the Charter designates the City Clerk with full financial responsibil ities but doesn't say anything about a Finance Director and the Charter is out of date. Council- woman Bennington stated that they have a head of the City and it's Mrs. Kinsey as the City Clerk and Personnel Director. Mayor Ledbetter agreed that Mrs. Kinsey is still the City Clerk as prescribed by the Charter. Councilman Spencer pointed out that if nothing is changed, they spent a lot of time Friday evening arguing about it. Mayor Ledbetter noted that Resolution 83-R-57 states a period of time of 60 days or until Council takes other action. Councilman Spencer said he understood what was done is permissible. Councilman Spencer moved to adjourn. Councilwoman Bennington seconded the motion. Meeting was adjourned at 7:16 P.M. Minutes submitted by: Lura Sue Koser ~ ATTEST: ~kl~ CITY CLERK <r):iE7~12~_ MAYOR -- ./ Council Special August 24, 1984 Council Special August 27, 1984 Meeting & Workshop Minutes and Meeting & Workshop Minutes -4- FL ~ 07[0 Il{.l:I-~ J