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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1984-10-31 - City Commission Workshop Meeting MinutesMAIL REPLY TO: P.O. BOX 25010 TAMARAC, FLORIDA 33320 5811 NORTHWEST 88TH AVENUE TAMARAC, FLORIDA 33321 TELEPHONE (305) 722-5900 October 15, 1984 NOTICE OF WORKSHOP MEETING CITY COUNCIL TAMARAC, FLORIDA There will be a Workshop Meeting of the City Council on Wednesday, October 31, 1984 at 3:00 P.M. in the Council Chambers of City Hall, 5811 NW 88 Avenue, Tamarac. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss District Voting. The public is invited to attend. 6? Carol A. Evans Assistant City Clerk "An Equal Opportunity Employer" No Text CITY OF TAMARAC, FLORIDA CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING "District Voting" October 31, 1984 Tape CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Kravitz called the meeting to order at 3:00 P.M., 1 on Wednesday, October 31, 1984, in the Council Chambers; and read the official notice of the meeting which was scheduled to discuss District Voting. ROLL CALL: PRESENT: Mayor Philip B. Kravitz Vice Mayor Sydney M. Stein C/M Jack Stelzer C/M Raymond J. Munitz C/M Allan C. Bernstein ALSO PRESENT: City Manager, Elly F. Johnson City Attorney, Jon Henning Secretary, Carol M. Thrasher C/M Bernstein asked what District Voting meant. City Attorney Henning explained that there are three different ways of electing Council members. He continued that one way is for all of the members to run at -large and added that the Citv of Fort Lauderdale uses this method. He said that the second method, which is the one Tamarac uses, is that all voters get to vote for each seat, but the candidate must live in the particular District to qualify; then Council consists of a member from each District. He added that the County Commission is also a typical example of this type of voting. Mr. Henning said that the third alternative is similar to that of the House of Representatives and Congress, where the City is divided into districts and only the people residing in the district vote for the representative from their district. C/M Munitz asked if the representative must also live in that district and the City Attorney confirmed that. City Attorney Henning stated that he believes Council intends to consider this method and cautioned that redistricting is now in the Charter, using a deviation of 23�%+ from a quarter of the voters. He said that as long as everybody gets to vote in every case, then some flexibility is allowed; but if you have the third method, your redistricting must be more accurate and equal because of the one person -one vote theory. He advised that the lawsuits and cases on redistricting usually are concerned with this type of voting and if Council chooses to go with this method, they should be prepared to refine their redistricting procedure. C/M Bernstein asked what census is relied on and what percentage of deviation would be permissible. City Attorney Henning advised that it is possibly less than 3-2% and added that the census in Tamarac has been the registered voters. He pointed out that the census is taken every 10 years and they could roll back to the previous census. Vice Mayor Stein advised that there are some large developments being planned in the City and his concern is that one area could control the City. He suggested that if a change in voting is to be made, it should be done now, before Kings Point is finished and they have 10,000 people who can control the City with one vote. C/M Bernstein stated that his question regarding the figures relied on was because he was concerned that by using the number of registered voters, the City may have to redistrict for every election. City Attorney Henning said that the City is at that point now. -1- 10/31/84 /cmt, C/M Munitz advised that he initiated this discussion. He added that many cities are facing this problem and quoted from an editorial in the Saturday, May 5th News/Sun Sentinel. He said that his request was in anticipation of one condominium having the capability of running the City and he feels that a feasibility study should be conducted insofar as it affects the City and the potential development in the City. He pointed out that Kings Point and Tamarac Gardens are almost neighbors and he is concerned with the possibility of what could happen there. He suggested that Council consider establishing a Feasibility Study Committee to determine if the City is ready for district voting or if a triggering figure should be established for redistricting under the present Charter. C/M Stelzer advised that Wynmoor has four Council members in Coconut Creek but that cannot happen in Tamarac. He said that only one candidate is considered in each District because the redistricting is not supposed to split any section or condominium. C/M Stelzer continued that a large block of voters does not necessarily swing an election to put all the political power in one section as in the past with Woodlands, and more recently, Woodmont. He said that even though Kings Point may have 5,000 people, they will only be able to have one candidate for Council; however, their vote may control the position of Mayor. C/M Stelzer suggested that with the current procedure of voting, there should be no chance of control. Melanie Reynolds, resident, quoted from an article in the News/Sun Sentinel which spoke against voting by district. Shirley Blumfield, resident, agreed with C/M Stelzer in favor of voting for all members of Council. Mayor Kravitz stated that if everyone agrees to keep voting the way it is, the discussion could be closed. Bernie Hart, resident, stated that the fallacy is that if the numbers of the voters in a specific district increases, Jane Carroll may divide the section into more than one precinct. He continued that the Redistricting Comittee suggested that redistricting not split any precinct. C/M Stelzer referred to a letter from Bob Chevron to Donald Leary and quoted that "Voting districts in City elections need not be contiguous unless required by the City Charter". C/M Stelzer continued that if Kings Point becomes too large, the Redistricting Committee can balance it up. City Attorney Henning advised that the referenced letter was Attorney General's Opinion #35-143. Mayor Kravitz adjourned the meeting at 3:25 P.M. ASSISTANT CITY RK This public document was promulgated at a cost of $ 214,y6or $ /, 03 per copy, to inform the general public and public officers and employees about recent opinions and considerations by the City Council of the City of Tamarac. -2- 10/31/84 /cmt MAIL REPLY TO: P.O. BOX 25010 TAMARAC. FLORIDA 33320 5811 NORTHWEST 88TH AVENUE TAMARAC, FLORIDA 33321 TELEPHONE (305) 722-5900 October 15, 1984 NOTICE OF WORKSHOP MEETING CITY COUNCIL TAMARAC, FLORIDA There will be a Workshop Meeting of the City Council on Wednesday, October 31, 1984 at 1:00 P.M. in the Council Chambers of City Hall, 5811 NW 88 Avenue, Tamarac. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss Expenses for Committees. The public is invited to attend. Carol A. Evans Assistant City Clerk "An Equal Opportunity Employer" CITY OF TAMARAC, FLORIDA CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING October 31, 1984 Tape 1 CALL-0 QRM: Mayor Kravitz called the meeting to order at 1:00 P.M. on Wednesday, October 31, 1984, in the Council Chambers at City Hall. M09)-fI w Mayor Philip B. Kravitz Vice Mayor Sydney M. Stein Councilman Jack Stelzer Councilman Raymond J. Munitz Councilman Allan C. Bernstein Elly F. Johnson, City Manager Jon M. Henning, City Attorney Patricia Marcurio, Secretary Mayor Kravitz read the Notice of the Meeting which stated the purpose of this meeting was to discuss expenses for committees. V/M Stein said Council has received a memo that was sent to the Mayor and Council from the City Attorney dated 10/8/84 which has a recommendation concerning committee expenses. (See Attachments 1 & 2). He referred to the following: 1. Commuter mileage will not be reimbursed by the City. (Commuter miles refers to any trips to and from home and City Hall to attend meetings or for any other reason). V/M Stein said at this time, only the Board of Adjustment has applied for that. C/M Stelzer said that was granted to the Board of Adjustment by Ordinance in 1976. City Manager Johnson said there are some vouchers that have not been approved which date back several months because of the interpretation. V/M Stein said Council should consider approving a Resolution which applies for all committees or honor the old Resolution and exclude the Board of Adjustment. C/M Munitz said for the sake of consistency, the general statement should be made that "no commuter mileage will be permitted to any committee". V/M Stein referred to the following; 2. Mileage at the current rate of $.20 per mile will be reimbursed to committee members for business trips and for trips to and from City Hall if a business stop is made. This primarily refers to inspections that are made for committee business, such as might be typical of the Beautification Committee, Planning Commission and Board of Adjustment. It might also apply to seminars or other meetings that are not held in City Hall. Arthur Gottesman, Planning Commission Chairman, asked if the commuting expense would apply if they were called to a special program that is being presented at City Hall such as those of the Welcoming Committee. Mr. Henning said it is possible that a member of a committee might come to City Hall to do research other than a meeting day and Council might state that commuter mileage will not be given other than for regular meeting days. V/M Stein said if the Council summons a committee, they are entitled to be reimbursed and this is not commutation. C/M Munitz said for the sake of consistency, commuter mileage is the same whether it is the result of a summons or a regular meeting date. He said commuter mileage by definition is mileage from a person's home to the place of business without a business stop in-between. 1 10/31/84 /pm Bernie Hart, resident, said he feels if someone is summoned to appear at City Hall, they should be reimbursed. C/M Stelzer said committee members are volunteers and they should not have to get paid for mileage and he suggested commuting expenses be discontinued altogether. V/M Stein said the City has a right to reimburse committee members and if a person is requested to appear before another committee or group, that is not commutation. V/M Stein said he does not feel the Board of Adjustment should be compensated for commuting to City Hall on regular meeting days since no other committee is compensated. Edward H. Rockwell, Jr., Board of Adjustment Chairman, said in 1975, the Council agreed to give the Board of Adjustment the sum of $25.00 per month and the Planning Commission $35.00 per month. He said in the Tamarac City Code, where it discusses appropriation of establishing fees for the Board of Adjustment, it states, "The Board shall have the authorization to spend such sum so appropriated". He said the State Statute involved is #163.220. He said he feels commuting to City Hall is no different than the $200.00 per month car allowance given to a City Department Head. He noted that the City furnishes a lunch to the Welcoming Committee and the Committee Chairmen should receive commuting expenses as well for appearing at these meetings. Melanie Reynolds, Charter Board member, said she feels the Board of Adjustment deserves this consideration of commuter expense reimbursement. Herman Marin, resident, asked what the point of origin must be in order to be considered a commuter expense. Mr. Henning said a triangle from home, to an inspection, meeting, etc. to City Hall would be reimbursable; however, the return trip from City Hall to home would not be reimbursable. C/M Munitz said a blanket disallowance of all commuter mileage would be the best way to go. C/M Stelzer said this will be a tremendous burden for the City Manager and Finance Director if they have to review vouchers from every member of every committee that wants to submit one. C/M Bernstein said he does not approve of different treatment for different committees and he thinks the main question does not refer to commutation, but rather what expenses should be reimbursed and what should not. He said an IRS deduction for commutation would not apply to volunteers and he suggested that all travel expenses should be reimbursed for all committee people. He said if such a system were to lead to abuses, than a cap should be set on how much each committee can spend for expenses. C/M Stelzer suggested each committee be given a budget and police their own disbursing of these monies. Mr. Henning said the rules must be set by Ordinance and the two extremes are to reimburse nothing or to reimburse everything. He said with the latter choice there is a great deal of time and effort involved with the policing. He said there may be a compromise if Council were to determine that commuter mileage were not reimbursable. They could establish some sort of ticket or summons for some amount which round trip to City Hall might be determined to cost and the City Manager could issue this ticket to them with an approximate 10-day expiration date and the committee person could be reimbursed by going to the Finance Department. He said this would avoid all the monthly reports and reviews of vouchers that are now required. He said if commuter mileage is allowed, there will be a potential of many statements involved. Morris Haber, Investment Advisory Committee Chairman, said the volunteers should be willing to travel to and from home without reimbursement. 2 10/31/84 /pm kJ Vickie Beech, resident, said if this problem becomes more difficult, possibly all committees should be abolished. John Lachmann, resident, said on the applications for committees, there is a paragraph, "I understand that an appointment to any of the positions I indicated above is voluntary service, not compensated, except for reimbursable mileage expense paid pursuant to State Law and a monthly allowance per the Charter to Council members". Mr. Henning said the City is presently trying to establish some rules. He said the City Code states that a committee member is allowed to be reimbursed if they travel more Tape 2 than 15 miles from City Hall. Herman Marin suggested Council establish a committee to review the vouchers that are submitted each month. Mayor Kravitz said that is Administrative and Council handles Legislative policies. Ed Solomon, resident, said he would like to see the reimbursements abolished completely except for special committees that have special problems. Alice Norian, Charter Board member, said the guidelines, as established here, are a step in the right direction. She said all committees are not equal and their services cannot be equated in terms of expense accounts. Shirley Blumfield, resident, said the PIC Committee travels to many places and they have not submitted vouchers. Mayor Kravitz referred to Item #3 of the memo concerning reimbursement of lunch to committees. He said presently only the Planning Commission receives this providing they spend a certain number of hours at their work. Mr. Henning said Items #3 and 4 can be addressed together. He said reimbursement for lunch presumes that the meetings will be in the morning and the City is encouraging meetings to be in the morning as opposed to afternoon and evening to avoid abuse and excess expense, since the lunch by State Statute is $6.00 and dinner by Statute is $12.00. C/M Munitz suggested there be a stipulation of 5 hours work needed to be eligible for lunch with 7 hours work or more for a dinner reimbursement. Dr. Newman, resident, asked if the money for the reimbursement for meals comes from the committee expenses or from the General Fund and Mayor Kravitz said from committee expenses. Bernie Hart, resident, said according to Florida Statutes, "No allowance shall be made for meals when travel is con- fined to the City or town of the official headquarters or immediate vicinity". Mr. Rockwell said he feels the Planning Commission works many hours and they are entitled to the meals involved. Mr. Haber asked if the PIC's work on the Newsletter would be considered under this and Mr. Henning said it is anticipated that a meeting would be pre -announced with more than one member present. He said meetings are encouraged to be in the Council Chambers with a clerk taking minutes. Mayor Kravitz referred to Item 5 of the memo which concerned whether or not travel to and from reimbursed meals would be cover- ed under mileage. Mr. Henning said he put that in since there is a provision for reimbursement and Mayor Kravitz said he felt that should be eliminated. Mayor Kravitz referred to Item 6 and Mr. Henning said the lunch and dinner provision probably requires amendment to the City Code which has a 15-mile radius and he suggested he prepare the necessary Ordinances to repeal that provision. 3 10/31/84 /pm f. Mayor Kravitz referred to Item 7 and V/M Stein said it might be best to have the Chairman of a Committee submit vouchers for the committee to curtail the amount of work the Finance Department would have to do. Mayor Kravitz said presently Chairmen are asked to approve these vouchers and this would not change anything. Mr. Henning asked if Council has come to a conclusion on commuter mileage reimbursement and Council said not yet. C/M Munitz said when the Ordinance is prepared,. the Council and the public will have an opportunity to react to what is contained therein. He suggested, for the purpose of drafting this Ordinance, that no mileage from anyone's home shall be allowed unless it is directly to a location where the performance of their duty is done. City Manager Johnson suggested the Ordinance be prepared based on the recommendations given. C/M Munitz suggested considering the possibility of stating the number of hours before and after lunch and before and after dinner. Mr. Henning said in Item 3, in the second sentence, if the word "presumed" is changed to "required" that would answer the question. Mayor Kravitz referred to Item 8 and Mr. Henning said presuming Council reaches an agreement on committee expenses, he said it needs to be determined whether or not elected officials such as the Charter Board or the City Council would also be eligible for the reimbursement of meals as provided in these procedures. C/M Stelzer said most Council meetings are from 9:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and reconvene from 1:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. or later. V/M Stein said the Charter Board should get reimbursed for their meals if they comply with the hours as stated. He said even though they are an elected Board, they are volunteers because they are not reimbursed. He said if the money comes from the Councilperson's expense allowance, they should be entitled to put a voucher in. Mayor Kravitz adjourned the meeting at 2:20 p.m. e�- ,Q - - Carol A. Evans Assistant City Clerk This public document was promulgated at a cost of $106.00 or $2.94 per copy, to inform the general public and public officers and employees about recent opinions and considerations by the City Council of the City of Tamarac. 4�,: 10/31/84 /pm ATTACHMENT 1 10/31/84 Workshop Meeting - Committee Expenses CITY OF TAMARAC OFFICE OF THE CITY ATTORNEY INTER -OFFICE MEMORANDUM Memo To: Mayor Philip B. Kravitz and Members of Council From : Jon M. Henning, City Attorney Dote : October 8, 1984 Subject: COMMITTEE EXPENSES Reference: It Memo No : 84-10-18 At a recent City Council Meeting, City Manager Elly Johnson was asked to prepare a Staff Proposal for the City Council regarding procedures for payment of Committee Expenses. The City Manager, Finance Director Steve Wood and I met recently and the following guidelines are proposed for Council review: 1) Commuter mileage will not be reimbursed by the City. (Commuter mileage refers to any trips Fo—and home and City Hall to attend meetings or for any other reason.) 2) Mileage at the current rate (20C Vi.) would be reimbursed to committee members for business trips and for trips to or from City Hall if a business stop is made. This primarily refers to inspections that are made for committee business such as might be typical of the Beautification Committee, the Planning Commission or the Board of Adjustment. It might also apply to seminars or other meetings not held in City Hall. 3) If a committee meets for a total of five (5) hours, then the members are entitled to reimbursement for lunch. It is presumed that the meeting will begin in the morning and there will be a break for lunch and the meeting will resume after lunch. Re- imbursement for lunch will be pursuant to Florida Statutes which is presently set at the rate of $6.00 including tax and tip. 4) Only if there is a Statutory or Ordinance requirement for a night hearing typically after 5:00 P.M. and if the committee meets for a total of five (5) hours on the day of the hearing, then committee members are entitled to be reimbursed for dinner at the Statutory rate which is currently $12.00 for dinner, tax and tip included, (It is conceivable althou¢h unlikely, that a committee ATTACHMENT 2 10/31/84 Workshop Meeting - Committee Expenses .Mayor Philip B. Kravitz and Members of Council Jon M. Henning, City Attorney October 8, 1984 COMMITTEE EXPENSES 84-10-18 Page 2 could receive a lunch and dinner reimbursement on the same day.) 5) Committee members driving to and from the reimbursed meals would also be entitled to be reimbursed for mileage. 6) If Council approves the general concept of these procedures, the City Attorney would prepare an Ordinance amending the Tamarac City Code, (Sec. 2-9.2(a)(1)5 removing the require- ment of a minimum of fifteen (15) mile radius distance from Tamarac City Hall before meals can be reimbursed. 7) In order to receive a reimbursement, requests for payment shall be submitted by the committee members on forms pro- vided by the City Finance Department to the committee chairman who will, then in turn, forward the requests to the City Manager. Requests should be made on a monthly basis. 8) These procedures, if approved by the City Council, would be adopted by Resolution. It needs to be determined whether or not elected officials such as the Charter Board .or the City Council would also be eligible for the re- imbursement of meals as provided in these procedures. M. HE ING, JMH:mw TY ATTORNEY cc - City Manager Finance Director City Clerk Charter Board .J MAIL REPLY TO: P.O. BOX 25010 TAMARAC, FLORIDA 33320 5811 NORTHWEST 88TH AVENUE a TAMARAC, FLORIDA 33321 TELEPHONE (305) 722-5900 October 15, 1984 NOTICE OF WORKSHOP MEETING CITY COUNCIL TAMARAC, FLORIDA There will be a Workshop Meeting of the City Council on Wednesday, October 31, 1984 at 11:00 A.M. in the Council Chambers of City Hall, 5811 NW 88 Avenue, Tamarac. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss a Charter Review Committee. The public is invited to attend. Carol A. Evans Assistant City Clerk "An Equal Opportunity Employer" CITY OF TAMARAC, FLORIDA CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING "Charter Review Committee" October 31, 1984 Tape 1 CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Kravitz called the meeting to order at 11:00 A.M., on We nes y, October 31, 1984, in the Council Chambers; and read the official notice of the meeting which was called to discuss a Charter Review Committee. ROLL CALL: PRESENT: Mayor Philip B. Kravitz Vice Mayor Sydney M. Stein C/M Jack Stelzer C/M Raymond J. Munitz C/M Allan C. Bernstein ALSO PRESENT: City Manager, Elly F. Johnson City Attorney, Jon Henning Secretary, Carol M. 'Thrasher Vice Mayor Stein suggested that this subject was discussed at length in the 9:00 Workshop and asked that the public be given an opportunity to speak at this meeting. The Mayor asked for council's feelings on this. C/M Bernstein had no objections. C/M Stelzer stated that the reason for this Committee must be made clear; he added that the Council is not as conversant with the Curter as the Charter Board and Council wants the privilege of appointing a Charter Review Committee to assist them in this review. Mayor Kravitz opened the discussion to the public. Dr. Neuman, resident, expressed his belief that the Charter Board is being discredited with this action. He.added that the people of the City approved the amendments to the Charter and elected. this Board. Dr. Neuman stated that whatever changes are made in the Charter should be through the people of the City, not by the Council. Vickie Beech, resident, suggested that the current Charter is an example of the results of a Charter Review Committee and it destroys the original Charter. She suggested that the Charter Board meetings are open to the public and all input is welcomed. She added that many subjects can be addressed by the Council and suggestions for improvements can be presented to the Board. Ms. Beech expressed her belief that a Garter Review Committee would be usurping the powers of the Charter Board. Bernie Hart, resident, stated that he believes. the Charter Board is aware that the Charter needs revision because they are studying it, by chapter. lie continued that this should not be in the hands of the Charter Board or the City Council and quoted Section 12.10 and Section 6.09 of the Charter. Mr. Hart stated that the Charter Review Committee originally suggested by this ordinance is not proper with membership being from the Council and the Charter Board. He added that any review of the Charter should be accomplished, by an independent, civic body. Shirley Blumfield, resident, spoke in favor of a Charter Review Committee as an advisory group to the Charter Board; and suggested that nine m aThers of the public be appointed to this cmu ittee. Melanie Reynolds, Charter Board Member, stated that the Charter Board accepts suggestions and asked why Council does not come before the Board to make such suggestions instead of attempting to take powers away from the Board. -1- 10/31/84 /cmt � ti Herman Myron, resident, asked what prompted the City to appoint a committee at this time, to review the Charter. Mayor Kravitz replied that it has been eight years since the Charter was reviewed and they felt that it is time to do that now. C/M Munitz advised that he initiated this proposal and it was not his intent to usurp the powers of the Charter Board. He stated his objection to the procedure being used by the Charter Board in the review of the Charter and suggested that the Charter now gives the Charter Board and the City Council the right to offer e referendum to the people. He continued that his concern was that this is the only time that the people are heard. He added that his intent was to spell out the specifics of a Committee for revision of the Charter. Vice Mayor Stein pointed out that the Charter Board has always had the right to go directly to the people and Amendment 8 only changed the requirement for an affirmative vote from 4 to 3. Jim Godin, Vice Chairman of the Charter Board, advised that he has approached Staff for suggestions for improvements in their offices and the Board is awaiting that input. He added that the Charter Board meetings are also open to the public and to Council; and all amendments are instituted by these types of input. He expressed his belief that the system is working efficiently and this change can only upset that. Florence Bochenek, resident, referred to the recent ordinance on signs which was prepared as a result of input from many people. She suggested that this type of input was valuable and is needed in this case as well. She spoke in favor of a committee to provide that input to Council. Irving Lopatey, resident, suggested that this Review Committee could not usurp the power of the Charter Board because there are prescribed procedures for amending the Charter. Ben Lieber, Chairman of the Charter Board, suggested that this is a criticism of the work of the Charter Board and repeated the fact that 10 amencbnents were passed by the previous Charter Board. He continued that after that was done, the current Charter Board felt that it was not appropriate to offer a complete rewrite of the entire Charter; however they are trying to correct the Language and content, if it is necessary. Mr. Lieber stated that the darter Board has been busy with investigations but their review of the Charter will continue. He suggested that their method of doing this is not up to the Council to determine. He said that they welcome all input in this effort and asked that the Charter Board be left alone to do its job in its Alice Norian, Charter Board Member, suggested that the Charter Board and the City Council were elected to serve the people of the City and it is not expected that all of the members would handle any matter in the same way. She stated that the Charter Board is aware that the Charter needs review; and added that they are working on,that. Ms. Norian said that they welcome all input and added that she has approached many members of Staff in this regard. She continued that the Charter Board is also anxious to have the. legal assistance that it needs in their efforts. Moni Avidon, resident, asked that Council not consider establishing a Charter Review Committee and referred to previous comments that the Charter should be left to the people. --2 - 10/31/84 /cmt City Attorney Henning asked if there were any other instructions to counsel and the Mayor advised him to await for Council to advise. Mayor Kravitz adjourned the meeting at 11:28 A.M. ASSISTANT CITY CLERK ^� This public document was promulgated at a cost of $ 3Sf49 or $ /. °"0 per copy, to inform the general public and public officers and employees about recent opinions and considerations by the City Council of the City of Tamarac. -3- 10/31/84 /cmt