HomeMy WebLinkAbout1990-04-30 - City Commission Workshop Meeting MinutesCITY OF TAMARAC
CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING
MONDAY, APRIL 30, 1990
CALL TO ORDER- Mayor Abramowitz called this meeting to
order on Monday, April 30, 1990 at 10 00 A M in Conference
Room #1 (City Hall)
PRESENT
Mayor Norman Abramowitz
Vise Mayor
Bruce
Hoffman
Councilman
Henry
Schumann
Councilman
Dr H
Larry Bender
Councilman
Henry
Rohr
ALSO PRESENT John P Kelly, City Manager
Carol A Evans City Clerk
Pauline Walaszek Secretary
The purpose of this meeting was to discuss the Independent
Charter Review
Mayor Abramowitz said the City Council reviewed the
Independent Charter Review submitted by Carla Coleman
Consultant He said the priorities were set for specific
items and he would like the City Council to continue with
their review
Mayor Abramowitz said he would like the City Council to
schedule a Joint Workshop Meeting with the Charter Board on
May 10 or 11 1990
Mayor Abramowitz asked C/M Bender if he reviewed Article VII
and C/M Bender said he met with the Finance Director on
Friday April 27, 1990 He said the Finance Director asked
that the City Council allow him to review this matter He
said he would contact the Finance Director in the near
future
SECTION 7 11 Requirements for public bidding
Mayor Abramowitz said the City Council discussed an amendment
increasing the existing $2,000 00 minimum and $5 000 00
maximum to $5,000 00 minimum and $10,000 00 maximum
Mayor Abramowitz said this Section was classified as a
priority 1 item and V/M Hoffman said he felt this Section
should remain a priority 1 item
C/M Schumann said the City Code presently required the City
have a mandate of sixty days for bid acceptance; however, the
Charter required a mandate of thirty days
Mayor Abramowitz
asked City Manager Kelly what would be
beneficial for the
City
City Manager Kelly
said
there were two separate concerns
which were tied
together
He said thirty days was not fair
to the vendors'
however,
he did not feel that this was a
priority 1 He
said he
felt Section 7 11 was a priority and
he did not feel
the time
should be tied into this Section
Mayor Abramowitz said the voters should not be given too many
things to vote on and he asked how detrimental the provision
for the bid acceptance was
C/M Schumann said these concerns should be combined into one
ballot item as opposed to being separated
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Carol Evans, City Clerk said sometimes thirty days d-d pot
give staff enough time to do the research on the items ,She
said there were some items which had to be determined and
contractors that had to be contacted She said references
were checked, etc
Mayor Abramowitz asked if there was a way to amend the
language to include both the dollar and time provisions
V/M Hoffman asked if the sixty day amendment would mandate
i
every contract to have a sixty day period before acceptance
I
Ms Evans said the purpose of the sixty day provision in the
Code was to allow sixty days, if needed City Manager Kelly
said the minimum was sixty days
Mayor Abramowitz said V/M Hoffman asked if staff could b
given sixty days, if needed as opposed to thirty days
V/M Hoffman said there may be an item that the City needed in
thirty days and City Manager Kelly said sometimes there were
bid acceptances in one or two weeks
C/M Bender said he would like to see a provision in Section
7 11 that read "a minimum of thirty days and no more than
sixty days" He said this would give staff more flexibility
V/M Hoffman suggested the Section provide a ninety day
provision and C/M Bender said the Charter presently indicated
thirty days: however, the City Code indicated sixty days, He
said he was not changing the existing provisions
C/M Rohr said the Charter should indicate a bid to be
accepted up to sixty days
V/M Hoffman said he wanted to give the City the right toBet
the term He said if the City was ordering something of
importance but it was not an emergency, staff may want to
take ninety days to consider the matter He said if there
was an urgent matter staff may want an acceptance in thirty
days
Mayor Abramowitz asked if the provision should state, "At the
City's option" He asked if there was a State Ordinance
which indicated that a bid could not be accepted within a
specific amount of time
Ms Evans said the day the bid was opened, the time began and
the City was required to accept or reject a bid
Mayor Abramowitz asked if there was an Ordinance whicr
indicated that a bid could not be accepted by the City
immediately and Ms Evans replied, no
Mayor Abramowitz asked if the time limit could be at thel
discretion of the administration He said there may to
something needed in 4 days and, if not accepted, the City may
not be able to get the same thing at a later date
Mayor Abramowitz said he would like the language to indicate
that the acceptance of bids was up to the discretion of the
administration
C/M Schumann said the Charter provided for a minimum cf
thirty days to accept, however, a maximum time was not
given He said staff was able to accept a bid with a minimum
of thirty days
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Mayor Abramowitz asked C/M Schumann to explain why the
language should not be changed and C/M Schumann said the
existing Charter was not providing a maximum amount of time
to accept a bid
V/M Hoffman asked what would occur if staff wanted to take
ninety days to accept a bid and C/M Schumann said they could
do this because there was no maximum indicated in the
Charter
Mayor Abramowitz asked what language was needed and C/M
Schumann said the City Council wanted to consolidate one or
the other provision in Section 7 11
Mayor Abramowitz said he was proposing that all limitations
indicating minimum and maximum be removed so the
administration had the discretion to decide the time required
to accept a bid
Mayor Abramowitz asked if the City Council disagreed with
this suggested language
V/M Hoffman said he felt that the bidder should have a
reasonable amount of time indicated to allow him to know when
the bid would be approved
V/M Hoffman said the bidder may not want to submit a bid that
would be open for six months
City Manager Kelly said this was correct and C/M Schumann
said the bidder should have the right to withdraw has bid if
it was not approved at a reasonable time
City Manager Kelly said the bidders wanted the City to take
action within a reasonable time or the bids could not be
approved
Mayor Abramowitz asked what City Manager Kelly recommended
and City Manager Kelly said he would suggest the sixty day
minimum
V/M Hoffman asked if a maximum could be set on each bid and
City Manager Kelly said when the specifications were done it
was determined how much time the approval process would take
He said if the bid procedures would take longer than 30
days, the City usually asked the bidders if they would be
willing to hold their proposed bids
V/M Hoffman asked what would occur if all the limitations of
time were eliminated
City Manager Kelly suggested he report to the City Council at
their next meeting concerning the language that provided the
greatest amount of flexibility
Mayor Abramowitz said if the time limitations were eliminated
from the Charter the staff could put stipulations in the
specifications regarding the time limitations
City Manager Kelly said staff would review this matter and
report back to the City Council with a recommendation
C/M Schumann said this may cause the bidders to inform the
City how they would operate He said bidders may indicate
that they would allow a 40 day bid and it the City did not
take it, they would withdraw their bid
V/M Hoffman said when the City went out to bid the
specifications could indicate what the time frame would be
He suggested the City Manager report to the City Council on
the matter
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C/M Schumann said whatever was done should be consistent and
V/M Hoffman asked if the City Council agreed that the amount
to be spent before City Council, approval was required should
be changed
The City Council AGREED that the threshold for compet_tive
bids be increased from $2,000 00 minimum and $5 000 00
maximum to $5,000 00 minimum to $10 000 00 maximum
SECTION 7 13 Requirements for referendum
Mayor Abramowitz said Ms Coleman indicated that this was
another priority Section for revision He said the City had
a lot of problems with this provision because it was
ambiguous and he would like to define the language
Mayor Abramowitz said he felt this was a priority 1 item r.nd
he asked City Manager Kelly to address this matter
City Manager Kelly said he read Ms Coleman's recommendations
and he felt the recommendations should be considered He
said this matter caused too many problems in the past
Mayor Abramowitz asked City Manager Kelly to inform the City
Council of the importance in changing this provision
City Manager Kelly said there were interpretations that the
City was only dealing with the General Fund budget, which
could be more restrictive if specific accounts were moved out
of that budget He said a greater amount of money was
available if the enterprise funds were combined He said the
limitations could range from approximately $400 000 Oa at
2--1/2% of the General Fund and more if the Utilities budget
was included He said the City had more latitude in its
determination of whether or not a Referendum was required if
both funds were combined as one fund
City Manager Kelly said a few years ago the limit was raised
from 1-1/2% to 2--1/2% He said this change was needed
however many Cities have no caps on their spending ability
because it was not feasible to have a cap He said if tte
City needed to replace a fire truck, a referendum was needed
to replace it He said this was not appropriate because a
fire truck had to be available in the City
City Manager Kelly said it would be better to combine th� two
budgetst however, Ms Coleman recommended that this matter be
addressed He said it was recommended that the City and
Utility budgets be separate; however, he did not agree with
this because the City was very large He said the City
needed the broadest interpretation they could get in crder to
run the operations of the City efficiently
C/M Rohr asked if the Utility Budget was under a cap and City
Manager Kelly replied, no
V/M Hoffman said it was determined that the City could ute a
combination of both budgets He said the previous
administrations separated the budgets and decided they could
only use one of the budgets He said on the advice of tide
City Attorney, this City Council combined the two budget$ and
used that total times 2-1/2%
V/M Hoffman said the language in the Charter was very vague
and either interpretation may be acceptable He said Ms,
Coleman was recommending that the language be clearer soit.hat
present and future administrations knew exactly what they
could do
C/M Rohr asked what type of cap the City would need if the
City Council decided to separate the two funds He asked if
5% would be reasonable
1
1
1
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Mayor Abramowitz asked why the funds should be separated and
a higher cap applied
C/M Rohr said he did not know why the Utilities Budget should
be involved with the City's Budget He said the Utilities
Department spent their funds based on bonds and income and
they should not be involved with a cap
City Manager Kelly said in the Town of Davie, Florida, they
wanted to have a rodeo which would be over 5 million dollars
He said that City was able to go to local banks, receive bids
and negotiate a price that was far more efficient in a cost
savings for the City He said a bond issue would have been
more because of the various costs involved
City Manager Kelly said the cap was created because the
people felt that this would protect them from City Funds
being spent needlessly He said this City would be
considering a bond issue for street lighting and sidewalks
He said the City was aware that the cost would be more than
$400,000 00 which was the cap on the General Fund He said
the City would have to go out for a bond issue for the
protect which would be costly and timely He said the City
may be able to find local banks that would be in the position
to assist the City with the funding
City Manager Kelly said he felt this type of contract would
be in the City's best interest and the City Council was
elected to make these decisions He said if the City Council
made a wrong decision to spend this type of money, they would
not be reelected
Mayor Abramowitz said he did not agree with City Manager
Kelly or C/M Rohr He said he would object to raising the
cap from 2-1/2% to 5% because based on Fiscal responsibility,
the Utility Department was a part and parcel of the City He
said he felt that this matter was very important and the cap
was placed on the funds to protect the residents He said he
did not object to the existing percentage providing both
budgets were used
Mayor Abramowitz said if the residents did not want the
projects they would make this decisions however, he wanted
the City to be able to make a decision and do a project if it
would benefit the City He said he was not pleased with the
cap being increased; however, he would like to see both
budgets combined
Mayor Abramowitz said since he became Mayor, he has
constantly been asked to see that the sidewalks and street
lighting protects were implemented He said the reason this
matter was not taken to a Referendum in the past was because
the City was hoping that the additional $ 01 sales tax would
be approved He said since the tax was not approved, the
City had to implement another program to get the protects
moving forward
Mayor Abramowitz said because the sales tax was not
available the City would be asking the residents to vote on
the implementation of the projects He said if the residents
voted against the protects he did not want to hear
complaints about the street lighting
Mayor Abramowitz said a cap of $400,000 00 was not
appropriate for this day and age He said he wanted the City
to be able to do the needed projects without having to ask
for the money He said the difference between a bond issue
and a loan was several costs He said the City Council
needed the opportunity to be business people
C/M Rohr said on Page 18, second paragraph of the Independent
Charter Review, indicated that, "if limits are retained,
self-supporting funds such as water and sewer operations
should be exempt for such requirements, since these
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operations undertake construction projects which are rot
dependent on tax dollars instead utilizing user fee backed
bonds "
C/M Rohr said he understood the combination of the fundso
however, language had to be implemented that would permit the
City Council to expend money for good projects without hawing
to go to Referendum
V/M Hoffman said he did not know who should determine wh4Lt
the good projects would be He said a rodeo for 5 millior
dollars was not a good projects therefore, the residents
should have the right to decide this type of project He
said buying a fire truck for $500,000 00 was a necessityO He
said he felt the City Council should have the flexibility to
do what is neededs however if the City Council put the City
in debt for several years, the residents had a right to voice
an opinion
V/M Hoffman said he did not think there was anything which
did not permit the City Council from taking a matter to
Referendum for permission to borrow from a bank He said if
the City could get a better deal by borrowing from a bank,
the City Council can ask the people to permit the City
Council to borrow the needed money at an agreed rate of
interest
V/M Hoffman said he did not feel that the caps should be
removed or remain He said the City Council received a legal
opinion indicating that both budgets were part of the City"s
operations therefore he felt this was what should be done
Mayor Abramowitz said he agreed with this and the lancuale
could indicate, "at the most advantageous rates"
Mayor Abramowitz said he likes to consider himself a student
of history and he wanted to know what the City needed lie
said the Charter amendments would be a concern for some
residents however he wanted to see the Charter brouchtiinto
today's needs He said he felt that the Charter should
specify the actions and the ambiguous language should be
eliminated
Mayor Abramowitz said the legal interpretation the City
Council received indicated that the figures should be ba0ed
on the total budget of the City and he would like to see the
cap remain He said he may have confidence in the existing
City Councils however, he did not know how the future
administrations would handle matters
C/M Schumann asked if the 2-1/2% meant for the money in the
funds or for borrowing the money He said regardless of low
the money was received, the City was still limited to 2-1/2%
He asked how the City was able to purchase a fire truck which
cost $500,000 00 when 2-1/2% only allowed the expenditure of
$350,000 00
Mayor Abramowitz said the City would have to fake the project
to Referendum He said the concern was not how much to spend
but how the City could spend the required funds
C/M Schumann said Mayor Abramowitz indicated that the cap
should not be removed and Mayor Abramowitz said one portion
of the Charter indicated that 2--1/2% of the General Fund
Budget could be spent, which limited the expenditure to
approximately $400,000 00
C/M Schumann said the recommendation indicated that, 'th6
language did not clearly define what funds would be
considered as part of the City Budget "
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Mayor Abramowitz said this was what the City Council was
trying to establish He said he would like the Charter to
indicate 2-1/2% of the combined budget, which would be 30
million dollars He said this was considerably more than
2-1/2% of the General Fund Budget
C/M Schumann said this would save the City from going
to
Referendum He said there should be enough in the entire
budget to use for certain pro3ects
V/M Hoffman said if the City wanted to do a 5 million
dollar
pro3ect the matter should be placed on Referendum
C/M Schumann said suppose something occurred with the
existing fire trucks He said a Referendum was not needed to
purchase fire trucks and Mayor Abramowitz said if the
two
budgets were combined, a Referendum was not needed
Mayor Abramowitz said the matter could be revisted in
the
future He suggested the recommendations be included
in the
minutes
City Manager Kelly read the Section of the existing Charter
pertaining to requirements for referendum He suggested the
City Council concentrate on the last part of the Charter
which referred to grant fundings which may be secured
Mayor Abramowitz said he did not want to touch the existing
provisionsi however, he would like the provision amended to
allow the City to operate in the proper fashion He said he
would prefer a cap on the amount to be spent
V/M Hoffman said he did not feel that this matter should be
addressed at this time He said the City Council was
presently using the entire City Budget He said this matter
could be addressed at a later time
Mayor Abramowitz said he was tired of paying legal fees He
said he was tired of people suing the City over things that
were not feasible He said if anyone understood the City
Attorney's Budget they would know what the legal costs were
He said he was going by the legal opinion and this provision
should be addressed in the future to eliminate the legal
costs
C/M Rohr said the City Manager read what was in the existing
Charter and he asked how this provision compared to the
surrounding Cities
City Manager Kelly said the comparison varied He said some
Cities had no provisions and some did
C/M Rohr said he would be interested in comparisons of the
surrounding Cities He said he would like to know how the
other Cities handled this matter
City Manager Kelly asked if the City Council felt that the
bidding cap should be increased
Mayor Abramowitz said the City Council to address any other
matters they felt were priority He said when the City
Council and Charter Board met and discussed the amendments
there may be changes He said he did not want to come to a
final decision until a joint meeting with the Charter Board
occurred
V/M Hoffman said the City Council may decide to change their
minds after the Public Hearings were held
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C/M Rohr said the City Council discussed several matters;
however, the priorities were not indicated He said he did
not feel that a meeting with the Charter Board would cauae
him to change his mind regarding priority matters He said
he would like the City Council to select their priorities and
discuss their priorities with the Charter Board
SECTION 7 14 Expenditures forprofessional services
SECTION 7 18 ut-ilities and -other sLpeciai services
The City Council AGREED that Section 7 14 should be a
priority 3 item and Section 7 18, a priority 2 item
ARTICLE VIII CHARTER BOARD
Mayor Abramowitz said this matter was a very sensitive
subject He said his opinion of the Charter Board was known
V/M Hoffman said he did not want to abolish the Charter Board
and he would like the Charter Board to have the power to
investigate He said he felt that the people would be
comfortable with an elected Charter Boardi therefore, the
City should not disturb it He said he did not feel that. the
Charter Board had the right to do anything that was contrary
to State Statutes
TAPE 2
V/M Hoffman said he felt the Charter Board did not have legal
right to subpoena He said the City Council did not have a
right to subpoena and any Body that could not grant immunity
should not have subpoena power
V/M Hoffman said he did not think the Court would entertain
the right He said he did not believe that any Body Board
or Committee that did not have the right to levy taxes should
have the right to set salaries He said the Charter Board
should not have the right to set a salary for an attorney
He said the Charter Board could not levy taxes to cover 4n
attorney's salary He said if the City Council chose not to
levy taxes to pay for the legal services for the Charter
Board, there would be litigation
C/M Rohr said he did not ob3ect to having a Charter Board,
however, he did not know if this City needed a Charter Board
He said if all the Cities in Florida could manage without a
Charter Board, the City of Tamarac should not be any
different than the 127 Cities in Florida
C/M Rohr said if the City Council did not want to deal with
problems by eliminating the Charter Board then restricticns
should be set He said he did not understand what the
Charter Board would do He said the Charter Board had not
accomplished much in the past few years He said the Charter
Board has spent the City's money in the past without
accomplishing anything
C/M Rohr said personally he felt the Charter Board should be
an Advisory Board for the Mayor and City Council He said
the authority of the Charter Board should be no more tha# any
other Board in the City
C/M Schumann said the problems of the City Council shcul4 be
accountable to the voters and not any watch dog agency H.e
said the Charter Board should not have any powers to
investigate because the State Attorney was able to
investigate any problems the City may have He said he did
not feel the Charter Board 3ointly or individually was
qualified to conduct a criminal investigation He said
without the proper rights advisement there would be no case
He said the Charter Board did not have qualified people to
make investigation decisions; therefore, the Charter Board
should not be authorized to handle investigations
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C/M Bender said Ms Coleman indicated that two elected Bodies
existed and it created conflict to the two groups of elected
officials He said most of the time the two Bodies spent
their energies dealing with the conflict
C/M Bender said he felt there was room for a Charter Board;
however, he questioned the need for the Charter Board members
being elected officials He said the Attorney General
recently indicated that a City could not have two elected
groups fighting with each other regarding who had the
authority to do certain things
C/M Bender said he felt the Charter Board had to be revisted
to see how they would function
Mayor Abramowitz said all of the comments made by the City
Council were correct He said he tried very hard to be
practical and the things he felt were incorrect were things
that were not born with the City He said the things that
did not occur in approximately 25 years were not historical
He said most of the problems with the Charter Board were for
things that were placed in the Charter recently He said he
felt the provisions were placed in the Charter for political
expediency
Mayor Abramowitz said he had concerns with the Charter Board
having subpoena problems He said he asked the Charter Board
what they would do if he did not respond to a subpoena that
was issued by the Charter Board He said the Charter Board
could only refer the matter to the States Attorney, which was
what any citizen of the City could do
Mayor Abramowitz said he felt that the Charter Board was not
the group who kept the City Council and Mayor honest He
said he received several comments concerning a Charter Board
being in the City He said the problems with the continuity
of the City Council was also true with the Charter Board He
said the Charter Board should be appointed for a number of
years so there was continuity
Mayor Abramowitz said he has not received a lot of telephone
calls concerning the Charter Board; however, the interested
residents of the City have informed him of their thoughts
concerning the Charter Board He said he did not know if it
was right to continue the Charter Board because it was a
difficult situation to consider He said there could not be
two Bodies running the City therefore, the City Council
would have to make a decision on this matter for the benefit
of the City
City Manager Kelly said he was impacted more by the existence
of the Charter Board than anyone else in the City because the
Charter referred to two elected Bodies that had called for
accountability and recorded their charges and challenges
City Manager Kelly said the Charter Board existed as an
institutionalized harassment He said this was not because
of the individuals on the Charter Board; however, they served
the political hacks and malcontents of people who were
opposed to the City Council He said these people will make
charges against the City Council and come to him for the
backup support and documentation to justify their claim He
said he was caught in the position of trying to account for
both the City Council and Charter Board
City Manager Kelly said during the budget process the
Charter Board presented their budget for legal fees He said
when he asked why the legal fees increased, he was informed
that the Charter Board intended to sue the City He said he
was placed in a very awkward position of informing his boss,
the City Council and Mayor, that he was increasing the budget
for legal fees for the group that was going to sue his boss
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City Manager Kelly said he was not comfortable having to take
these positions; however, he never wanted the Charter Board
to be abolished He said he was opposed to the concept of
the elected Charter Board; he did not object to an appointed
Charter Board that would make recommended changes of thel
Charter to the City Council
City Manager Kelly said he felt that this was the appropriate
course of action and the Charter Board tried to work with him
in the past He said the Charter Board tried not to
embarrass him or the City Council however, they were catght
by virtue of the way they were recognized in the Charter,
which was to challenge what the City Council and
administration did He said this was very expensive for the
City and he felt this matter should be changed
C/M Schumann said the City Council was placed in their
positions by the electorate not the Charter Board He said
the City Council was responsible to the electorate and not
the Charter Board
Mayor Abramowitz said the only problem the City had was
living by what was available He said he did not have
anything against the Charter Board; however, he felt that
some actions of the past did not serve the City
Mayor Abramowitz said he was not going to ask the voters to
abolish the Charter Board because they would not agree with
it He said if the City Council and Charter Board worked
together concerning their powers, this would be great=
however, the City Council was obligated to try and allevic-te
the problems
At 11 05 A M , C/M Schumann WITHDREW from the meeting
V/M Hoffman said the art of government was the art of doing
what was possible He said if the City Council was to
attempt the elimination of the investigatory powers of t]e
Charter Board they would be accused of being afraid and,
trying to hide something He said this was not true andihe
did not object to the Charter Board having the investigatory
powers because it did not affect the City Council
V/M Hoffman said the Charter Board had no more power tha� any
citizen of the City; however if it made the public
comfortable to have a government body looking after theit
interest, he did not object to this He said the City
Council should not make an issue of things that would not be
approved by the voters
V/M Hoffman said his concerns had to be addressed because if
the City Council did curtail the Charter Board's right tO do
something, they would have it settled in Court He said the
Charter Board's powers were contrary to State Law and the
Attorney General submitted his opinion on certain mattero
He said the City Council should live by this
V/M Hoffman said it was absurd for the Charter Board to 01-aim
subpoena power because it did not exist He said it was
ridiculous for the Charter Board to go out and hire an
attorney for a cost they chose He said he did not feel that
the City would be able to accomplish having the Charter toard
abolished as an elected Board
Mayor Abramowitz said everything stated today may be correct
however, there were several different opinions He said if
he could, he would make specific changes; however, the City
Council had to be practical and reasonable He said the
history of the changes in the Charter indicated that many of
the things were placed in the Charter for political
expediency
V/M Hoffman said he was a member of the Charter Board when
the matter concerning the hiring of an attorney was creat¢ed.
He said this was discussed at that time because the City
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Attorney did not want to involve himself with the Charter
Board He said there was no way for the Charter Board to get
a legal opinion except to go out and hire an Attorney
V/M Hoffman said even though he was in favor as a member of
the Charter Board to having an attorney, he opposed the
portion that gave the Charter Board the right to set the fees
for the attorney He said he was out voted on this matter
and it was taken to Referendum He said he informed the
Charter Board at that time that they could not spend the
money if they did not tax the residents
Mayor Abramowitz said the Interim City Attorney was recently
asked by the Charter Board for an opinion He said the
Interim City Attorney did not object to giving the Charter
Board his legal opinion He said the first concern would be
how the Interim City Attorney could serve the City Council
and Mayor as well as the Charter Board
V/M Hoffman said this would be asked assuming the Charter
Board were adversaries of the City Council He said he did
not feel that the Charter Board and City Council could not
work with each other
At this time, C/M Rohr read Page 21 of the Independent
Charter Review into the record
V/M Hoffman said Ms Coleman gave recommendations to the City
Council, however, she was not aware of the City of Tamarac
He said the City Council had to decide what they could or
could not do
Mayor Abramowitz said there were several problems concerning
the City having two elected Bodies He said he felt this
Section was a concern; however, it should be addressed by the
City Council in the future
ARTICLE X City Clerk
The City Council AGREED that this Article could be classified
as a priority 3 item
ARTICLE XI City Attorney
Mayor Abramowitz said he felt the Charter should be changed
because he felt the City Council could inform the public that
there was a savings of approximately $100,000 00 per year by
using a contractual Attorney for the City's legal concerns
Mayor Abramowitz said when the matter concerning a
contractual Attorney was discussed he was against it because
he wanted the City Council to have a City Attorney available
to answer their concerns He said having a contractual
Attorney has worked very welly therefore, he felt the mandate
in the Charter should be eliminated
The City Council AGREED with the elimination of the mandate
for an In-house Attorney from the Charter
City Manager Kelly said he felt that this Item should be
included in the next Referendum
ARTICLE XII Miscellaneous Provisions
The City Council AGREED that this Article should be a
priority 3 item
At 11.15 A M Mayor Abramowitz RECESSED this meeting and
RECONVENED at 11:25 A M , with ALL PRESENT , except C/M
Schumann
Referring to Page 23, Additional Articles/Sections, Mayor
Abramowitz said he did not agree with this recommendation
He said he felt that this recommendation would lead to
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problems in the future between the administration and
legislative Bodies
Mayor Abramowitz said he tried to believe that the amendments
of the Charter would be for future members of the City
Council and Charter Board He said the City Council recently
had a relationship with the Cray Manager and staff that did
not have problems
V/M Hoffman said Tamarac was not the usual City in South
Florida He said there were things in this City that took a
different turn than many Cities He said he knew that there
were Cities where the elected officials received their
instructions from their City Manager and voted accordingll
He said this has never occurred in Tamarac and he did not
think it would in the future He said he did not see an(
reason for an elected official being prohibited from talking
to the employees of the City
City Manager Kelly said he agreed with this; however, Ms4
Coleman's recommendation indicated that the City Council was
prohibited from interfering with the performance or the
duties of the staff
V/M Hoffman said his question may be construed as
interference and he would not give up his right to ask
questions or express an opinion He said he did not feel
that he should or would give orders
Mayor Abramowitz said he could understand the reason why Ms
Coleman placed this matter in the independent Charter Review
He said there are ways to address this problem if it
occurred
City Manager Kelly asked Mayor Abramowitz what those ways
were and Mayor Abramowitz said the law indicated that the
City Council and Mayor could not go to a Department Headland
interfere with the administrative matters of the City
Mayor Abramowitz said if the City Council and Mayor did his,
they were sub3ect to penalties and could be brought up on
charges He asked who was to make a determination of the
matters being interference or information gathering
City Manager Kelly said asking a question was a lot different
than telling staff not to do something
Mayor Abramowitz said if the City Council informed a staff
member to do or not to do something was against the law I He
said there were means and methods to address this matter
C/M Rohr said he agreed with this however, he was concerned
about the idea that the City was different than the other
Cities He said he felt that it was time for leadershipiby
the City Council to bring the City out of the past and into
the present
C/M Rohr said when he became a Councilmember there were
several developers that would not come into the City,
however, this has changed
V/M Hoffman said Tamarac was not like many of the other
Cities
C/M Bender said Tamarac was different because 75% of the
people over age 55 were registered voters He said the City
of Tamarac had more people participating in politics than any
other City in Florida He said this was documented and he
would share this information with C/M Rohr if he would like
Mayor Abramowitz said the City Council was trying to remove
potential problems in the Charters however, the
recommendations on Page 23 seemed to be creating problems
I I
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The City Council was AGAINST this recommendation
P
Mayor Abramowitz asked the City Council to review this Page
He said he was very impressed with the bottom paragraph He
said Ms Coleman provided her opinions on this Page; however,
it may not be the City Council's opinion He said the
purpose of the workshop meetings was for the City Council to
review and decide on the amendments
C/M Rohr said he would like to hold the next workshop meeting
on May 4, 1990 as opposed to May 3, 1990 because he could not
attend a meeting on May 3
Mayor Abramowitz said he felt that the City has changed a lot
in the past years He said he felt this was because the City
Council had the ability to discuss their concerns and come to
an agreement He said the entire concern by this City
Council was to make changes that brought the City up to date
and eliminate any of the past problems
Mayor Abramowitz said he wanted the City Council to meet with
the Charter Board and come to an agreement, however, the City
Council had to be aware of what they felt was in the best
interest of the City He said he would like the City Council
to inform the Charter Board what they determined to be
important
Page 24 Summary
C/M Bender said he would like to insert "legislative" in the
last paragraph third line after "framework for"
V/M Hoffman said the Charter should tell more of what can not
be done as opposed to what must be done He said the
Constitution of the United States only had 28 amendments in
200 years He said the Charter should not be the legislative
decision of the City
�z- Mayor Abramowitz said before a judgement was made by the
people regarding the amendments to the Charter, they should
` review the situation to see why the provisions were put in
the Charter He said there were amendments made for
political expediency as opposed to what would occur to the
City in the future
V/M Hoffman said the Charter was used to legislate in the
past and it should be like this in the future
City Manager Kelly said the next meeting was scheduled for
Thursday, May 3, 1990 at 10 30 A M He asked what would be
discussed at this meeting
Mayor Abramowitz said at the next meeting he hoped to
finalize the City Council's concern regarding what should be
placed on the Referendum He said the City Council should go
into the meeting with the Charter Board informing them what
they would like to be placed on Referendum
--------------------------------------------------
City Manager Kelly said he needed the City Council to call a
Special meeting to approve an Addendum to the existing
engineering agreement with Hazen & Sawyer for an
environmental audit at the existing Public Works Site
City Manager Kelly said the initial proposal required 21 days
for the specifications however, he did not agree with this
He said he would provide this information to the City Council
if an audit was available by Friday He said it was agreed
providing the City Council met and agreed to authorize the
Addendum
Mayor Abramowitz asked the City Clerk to prepare a meeting
notice concerning a Special meeting being held before the
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Workshop meeting He said he would inform the City Clerk of
the meeting being held on May 3 1990 or May 4, 1990
Ms Evans said the Charter Board would be holding a meeting
in Conference Room #1 at 9 30 A M and V/M Hoffman said the
City Council chose to hold their Workshop on Thursday, may 3,
1990 C/M Rohr said he would not be able to attend the
Workshop meeting on May 3 1990
Mayor Abramowitz suggested the City Council review their
calendars when they returned to their office
City Manager Kelly said on May 1, 1990, Broward Counts h6s
agreed to do a landscaping pro3ect on the outside median
north of 82 Street He said the County was looking at XOr,i-
Scape landscaping
Mayor Abramowitz said on 64 Avenue a developer would be
putting landscaping in the City including the irrigat,ioo
system at no cost by the City He said he felt this are4 has
improved greatly
City Manager Kelly said Fire Chief Briant indicated thatl'
sometime this morning there would be an announcement
regarding a moratorium on the implementation of the Fire
Safety Code
Mayor Abramowitz said this moratorium would pertain to
buildings that were built before July, 1988
With no further business Mayor Abramowitz ADJOURNED this
meeting at 11 45 A M
r-
CAROL A L iANS&Y
"This public document was promulgated at a cost of $80 13 or
$10 02 per copy to inform the general public, public efficers
and employees of recent opinions and considerations of the
City Council of the City oP Tamarac "
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