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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-30-12 Citizen's Charter Review Advisory CommissionCHUCK HARRINGTON Chair DAVID BRADY Vice Chair NOLAN ALLEN TIM COWART PAUL FEAZELLE MARK FOLLIS NANCY LOTZE NANCY OJEDA STAN SHERWOOD CITY OF LA PORTE CITIZENS' CHARTER REVIEW ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES OF OCTOBER 30, 2012 The Citizens' Charter Review Advisory Commission met on October 30, 2012, at 6:00 p.m. in the La Porte City Hall Council Conference Room, 604 West Fairmont Parkway, La Porte, Texas, to consider the following items of business: 1. Call to Order and Roll Call Chairman Chuck Harrington called the meeting to order at 6:03 p.m. Commissioners present were: Mark Follis, Paul Feazelle, Stan Sherwood, Nancy Lotze, and Tim Cowart. Absent: Commissioners Nancy Ojeda, Nolan Allen, and David Brady. Staff present: Patrice Fogarty and Clark Askins. 2. Approval of minutes of Commission meeting on October 9, 2012. Commissioner Sherwood moved to approve the minutes of the October 9, 2012, meeting. Commissioner Feazelle seconded. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Commissioners Harrington, Cowart, Lotz, Follis, Feazelle and Sherwood Nays: None Absent: Commissioners Ojeda, Brady and Allen 3. The Commission began examination of the entire Charter. There were a few additional modifications made. Article 1 — There were no proposed additional changes to Article 1 except direction was given to indicate all strikeouts and insertions in the final redlined version, and where indicated, to cite the legal citation. Article II -- There were no proposed additional changes to Article 11, except to Sections 2.02 and 2.05, as shown below, and to indicate all strikeouts and insertions in the final redlined version, and where indicated, to cite the legal citation. Article II, Section 2.02 — After the Commission discussed the qualifications for a candidate, it was decided that in addition to a candidate's 12-month requirement as a qualified voter living in the city, it was also clarified that there would be a 12-month requirement as a qualified voter for living in a council district if the candidate was running for a district seat. Citizens' Charter Review Advisory Commission Minutes of October 30, 2012 Meeting Regarding Section 2.05 of Article 11, Commissioner Cowart moved to reconsider this section. Commission Lotz seconded. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Commissioners Harrington, Cowart, Lotz, Follis, Feazelle and Sherwood Nays: None Absent: Commissioners Ojeda, Brady and Allen The Commission discussed the duties of Councilmembers and the length of time since there had been a change in Council compensation. It was the Commission's decision to reconsider the compensation amount that was proposed at the September 11th meeting, which was $3600 annually for the mayor and $1800 annually for Councilmembers. Further discussion took place regarding increasing the mayor's compensation to $12,000 annually and councilmembers' compensation to $6,000 annually. Commissioner Cowart moved to increase the mayor's annual compensation to $12,000 and the councilmembers' annual compensation to $6,000. Commissioner Lotz seconded. MOTION FAILED. Ayes: Commissioners Cowart, Lotz and Follis Nays: Commissioners Harrington, Feazelle, and Sherwood Absent: Commissioners Ojeda, Brady and Allen The Commission then discussed increasing the mayor's annual compensation to $4,800 and councilmembers' annual compensation to $2,400. Commissioner Follis moved to increase the mayor's annual compensation to $4,800 and the councilmembers' annual compensation to $2,400. Commissioner Sherwood seconded. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Commissioners Harrington, Cowart, Lotz, Follis, Feazelle and Sherwood Nays: None Absent: Commissioners Ojeda, Brady and Allen Article 11, Section 2.090) — Amend from "Appraisal Review Board" to "Appraisal District." Article 11, Section 2.09(1) — The Commission agreed to create a new subsection (1), as follows: Commissioner Sherwood moved to approve the first paragraph of the two draft paragraphs. Commissioner Lotz seconded. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Nays: Absent: Commissioners Harrington, Sherwood None Cowart, Lotz, Follis, Feazelle and Commissioners Ojeda, Brady and Allen "Council shall not interfere with appointments or removals. Neither the council nor any of its members shall direct the appointment of any person to or his removal from office by the city manager of by any of his subordinates; provided, however, that the appointment of department heads shall be subject to the approval of the council. Except for the purpose of inquiry, the council and its members shall deal with the administrative service solely through the city manager and neither the council nor any member thereof shall give orders to any subordinate of the city manager, either publicly or privately." Citizens' Charter Review Advisory Commission Minutes of October 30, 2012 Meeting Commissioner Follis made a motion to reconsider the wording of this new subparagraph. Commission Lotz seconded. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Commissioners Harrington, Cowart, Lotz, Follis, Feazelle and Sherwood Nays: None Absent: Commissioners Ojeda, Brady and Allen Following additional discussion, Commissioner Sherwood moved to adopt the second of the two draft paragraphs with the removal of the last sentence, and to keep it in Section 2.09, with a newly created subparagraph "I." Commissioner Lotz seconded. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Commissioners Harrington, Cowart, Lotz, Follis, Fezelle and Sherwood Nays: None Absent: Commissioners Ojeda, Brady and Allen The new proposed subsection I is as follows: "Neither the Council nor any of its committees or members shall direct or request the appointment of any person to, or his removal from, office by the City Manager or any of his subordinates; or, except as is or may be otherwise provided under the terms of this Charter, in any manner take part in the appointment or removal of officers and employees in the administrative service of the City_ Except for the purpose of inquiry, the Council and its members shall deal with the administrative service solely through the Manager, and neither the Council nor any member thereof shall give orders to any subordinate of the City Manager either publicly or privately." Article II, Section 2.10(c)(2)(a) — Add the words "Planning and" in front of the word "Zoning" when referencing the Planning and Zoning Commission. Article II, Section 2.11(b) — After discussion of this section, it was decided to delete subparagraph (b)- Commissioner Feazelle made a motion to delete subparagraph (b) of Section 2.11 of Article II. Commission Sherwood seconded. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Nays: Absent: Commissioners Harrington, Sherwood None Cowart, Lotz, Follis, Feazelle and Commissioners Ojeda, Brady and Allen Article III, Section 3.03 — The Commission discussed amending the proposed language of the second sentence of Section 3.03 as follows: "The city secretary shall be provided an o ffiee on the Goty Hall space sufficient to maintain the records entrusted to the care of the city secretary, and shall be entitled to a seat at the council table at all official meetings." Commissioner Feazelle made a motion to amend the second sentence of proposed Section 3.03, of Article III, by removing the words "an office in the City Hall" and substituting therefor the word "space." Commission Cowart seconded. MOTION PASSED. Ayes Nays: Absent: Commissioners Harrington, Sherwood None Cowart, Lotz, Follis, Feazelle and Commissioners Ojeda, Brady and Allen Article IV, Section 4.03 — The Commission determined that proposed date for the public hearing on the budget adoption will change from not less than seven (7) to not less than ten (10) days after publication of the notice of public hearing. Citizens' Charter Review Advisory Commission Minutes of October 30, 2012 Meeting Article V, Section 5.01(a) — The Commission discussed amending the proposed second paragraph in 5.01(a) to read as follows: "Each person, partnership and corporation owning property within the limits of the city shall on the first day of January render an inventory, of property possessed or controlled by him, her, or them to the appraisal district as set forth in the Property Tax Code." Article V, Section 5.02 —After lengthy discussion, the Commission decided to propose deletion of current Section 5.02 and substitute therefor the following: "All purchases made and contracts executed by the city shall be pursuant to a requisition from the head of the office, department or agency whose appropriation will be charged, and no contract or order shall be binding upon the city unless and until the city manager certifies that there is to the credit of such office, department or agency a sufficient unencumbered appropriation and allotment balance to pay for the supplies, materials, equipment, or contractual services for which the contract or order is issued. All purchases made and contracts executed by the city shall be made in accordance with the requirements of this charter and all applicable requirements of the Constitution and Statutes of the State of Texas. All contracts for purchases or expenditures must be expressly approved in advance by the council, except that the council may by ordinance confer upon the city manager, general authority to contract for expenditures without further approval of the council for all budgeted items the cost of which does not exceed the constitutional and statutory requirements for competitive bidding." Commissioner Feazelle moved to make the above change to Section 5.02 of Article V. Commissioner Sherwood seconded. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Nays: Absent: Commissioners Harrington, Sherwood None Cowart, Lotz, Follis, Feazelle and Commissioners Ojeda, Brady and Allen Article V, Section 5.03 — The Commission determined to amend this section to read as Assistant City Attorney Clark Askins suggested: Any change orders or alternation in contracts shall be subject to provisions as set out in the Texas Local Government Code." Article VI — The Commission proposed amending Article VI by replacing the word "electors" with the words "registered voters," where applicable. Regarding the oath of office and the pre -oath statement, it was suggested by the Commission to add the following passage to the pre -oath statement at the appropriate location in the statement: to uphold the laws of this City and this Charter. The Commission discussed the desired format of the proposed changes to the Charter to present to City Council by indicating strikeouts in red, changesladditions in yellow and passages which change pursuant to state law highlighted in green. 4. Discussion/action regarding setting next meeting date. The next meeting will be on Wednesday, November 7, 2012, at 6:00 p.m., in the council conference room. 5. Commission Comments — Matters appearing on agenda; Recognition of community members, city employees, and upcoming events; Inquiry of staff regarding specific factual information or existing policy. There were no additional comments from Commission members. Citizens' Charter Review Advisory Commission Minutes of October 30, 2012 Meeting 6. Adjourn There being no further business, Commissioner Cowart moved to adjourn the meeting at 9.10 p.m. Commissioner Sherwood seconded. MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY. Respectfully submitted, 4 Patrice Fogarty, Vity Sec tary ag#roye�ron Oct9p6r 30, 2012. Chuck Harrington, Citizens' Charter Review Advisory Commission Minutes of October 30, 2012 Meeting