HomeMy WebLinkAbout1988-08-16 - City Commission Joint Special Meeting Minutes7525 NORTHWEST 88TH AVENUE & TAMARAC, FLORIDA 33321-2401
TELEPHONE (305) 722-5900
August 11, 1988
NOTICE OF
CITY COUNCIL AND CHARTER BOARD
JOINT WORKSHOP MEETING
There will be a Joint Workshop Meeting of the City
Council and Charter Board on Tuesday, August 16, 1988 at 9:00
a.m. in Conference Room #1 (City Clerk's Office), City Hall,
7525 N.W. 88th Avenue, Tamarac, Florida. The subject of this
meeting is discussion on the Charter Amendments proposed by
the Charter Board,
is
All meetings are open to the public.
CEB/nr
L]
Carol E. Barbuto
City Clerk
AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER
POLICY OF NONDISCRIMINATION ON THE BASIS OF HANDICAPPED STATUS
CITY COUNCIL AND CHARTER BOARD
JOINT WORKSHOP MEETING
TUESDAY, AUGUST 16, 1988
TAPE 1
CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Abramowitz called this meeting to Order on
Tuesday, August 16, 1988 at 9:00 A.M. in Conference Room #1 (City
Clerk's Office).
DPrgrNT-
City Council
Mayor Norman Abramowitz
Vice Mayor Jack Stelzer
Councilman Dr. H. Larry Bender
Councilman Bruce Hoffman
Councilman Henry Rohr
Charter Board
Dr. Alfred Wald, Chairman
Stan Bernard, Vice Chairman
Isaac "Zeke" Feldman
ABSENT AND EXCUSED:
Charter Board
Ron Catronio
ALSO PRESENT:
John P. Kelly, City Manager
Richard Doody, City Attorney
Carol E. Barbuto, City Clerk
Pauline Walaszek, Special Services
Secretary
Mayor Abramowitz suggested the Amendments be discussed
one at a time. He said the City Council would discuss
the Amendments first, then the Charter Board and then the
Public.
V/M Stelzer said the Resolutions could not be accepted
because the first paragraph stated, "The Charter Board is
authorized by Section 8.02(b) of the Tamarac City Charter
to submit Charter Amendments to Referendum to be decided
by the City voters."
V/M Stelzer suggested that the Resolutions be changed to
omit this clause. He said the City Council should not
act on these Resolutions as they are.
Mayor Abramowitz said the Amendments were decided through
several meetings and much thought. He said he personally
did not care who did the work on the Amendments, however,
he wanted to follow the Law. He said with the City
Council and Charter Board members at the same meeting, it
did not make a difference who submitted the matter to the
City Clerk for Referendum; however, the Amendments should
be agreed upon by the City Council and the Charter Board.
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City Attorney Doody said the City Council would have to
adopt Ordinances on the Amendments; therefore, the City
Council should not concern themselves with the Charter
Board's drafting of their Resolutions. He said the City
Council's Ordinances may not have reference to the clause
in which V/M Stelzer is concerned with.
V/M Stelzer said he objected to the Resolutions being
submitted to the City Council with the clause.
Mayor Abramowitz said the Charter Board has put a
tremendous amount of work on the Amendments and he agrees
with most of the Amendments.
Chairman Wald said he understood the concerns of V/M
Stelzer, City Attorney Doody and City Manager Kelly;
however, the City was presently operating under an
existing Charter. He said the present Charter,
regardless of the Attorney General's opinion, provides
that the Charter Board could put the Amendments on the
Ballot.
Chairman Wald said the Charter Board was not opposing the
City Council; however, the City Charter presently allows
the Charter Board to place Amendments on the Ballot and
direct the City Clerk to submit the Amendments to the
County.
Chairman Wald said the Charter Board's previous Attorney,
Robert Dunckel, felt that the Charter Board was 100%
correct the following the Charter as it presently reads.
He said the Charter Board's present Attorney, Alan
Gabriel, also agreed the Charter Board was correct in
following the present Charter. He said the Charter Board
presently did not need the City Council's approval to
place the Amendments on the Ballot.
Mayor Abramowitz said this was the Charter Board's
opinion. He said he would not allow this meeting to
continue if there would be disagreements that could not
be resolved. He said if the Charter Board was opposing
this meeting, it should not take place. He said the City
was advised legally that there was a possibility of
challenge from the public regarding the Charter Board's
placing the Amendments on the Ballot.
City Manager Kelly said the Charter Board made a proposal
to place the Amendments on the Ballot and forwarded them
to the City Clerk. He said in the interim, the City
received an opinion from the Attorney General stating
that the Charter Board did not have the authority to do
this; therefore, the City Council, City Attorney and he
were accepting this opinion.
City Manager Kelly said the City Clerk worked for the
City Manager and, as the City Manager, he directed the
City Clerk not to forward the Amendments submitted by the
Charter Board to the Supervisor of Elections.
City Manager Kelly said he suggested that the City
Council call a joint Workshop immediately with the
Charter Board if they were interested in placing the
Amendments on the Ballot. He said he suggested this to
resolve the wording of the Amendments so they could be
presented to the public.
City Manager Kelly said if the Charter Board wanted to
challenge his decision or the City Council's decision, it
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would take a legal battle that no one was interested in
pursuing. He said the legal battle would not be resolved
in enough time to get the Amendments on the November
Ballot. He said the purpose of the meeting was to agree
with the Amendments and place them on the Ballot. City
Manager Kelly said this was the only way the Amendments
could be placed on the November Ballot.
Zeke Feldman said he had proof that the Charter Board had
the right to place Amendments on the Ballot and he
submitted two cases to the City Attorney. He said the
City received an opinion, only an opinion, from the
Attorney General and, until it was decided by the Supreme
Court that the opinion was the Law, the City should
continue with the present law of the Charter.
Vice Chairman Bernard asked if the City Council was
prepared to deny the Charter Board the right of placing
the Amendments on the Ballot. He said if so, the Charter
Board would have to consider what to do from this point
on. He said the Charter Board may challenge the ruling;
however, the Amendments should be placed on this Ballot.
He said he would like to do what is needed to get these
Amendments on the Ballot; however, he would consider what
should be done in the future. He said for the benefit of
the City, the Amendments should be placed on the November
Ballot.
Mayor Abramowitz said the purpose of this meeting was to
get the Amendments on the Ballot not to determine the
legality of the Attorney General's opinion. He said the
City was under a time restraint and he would like to
continue with the meeting if the City Council and the
Charter Board agreed to have these Amendments placed on
the November Ballot.
V/M Stelzer said he was not objecting to placing the
Amendments on the Ballot; however, he was opposed to the
proposed Resolutions because of the first two paragraphs.
City Attorney Doody said the Charter Board drafted their
Resolutions in their own language; however, the City
Council would draft their ordinance with their language.
He said the City Council should not involve themselves
with the Charter Board's Resolutions.
Mayor Abramowitz said he did not want to discuss the
legality of the Amendments. He said this meeting should
be about getting the Amendments on the November Ballot.
Chairman Wald said the Charter Board held Public Hearings
on the Amendments and tried to implement the public's
concerns. He said he discussed this matter with C/M
Hoffman and they agreed that one of the Amendments should
not be placed on the Ballot.
V/M Stelzer asked if this was a violation of the Sunshine
Law and Attorney Doody said C/M Hoffman and Chairman Wald
were on separate Committees. He said his client was the
City Council, both individually and together, and, with
C/M Hoffman and V/M Stelzer being his clients, it was not
appropriate to ask an opinion regarding each other
because it placed him in a conflict of interest position
in which he refused to be placed.
Chairman Wald said there should not be much discussion
needed for the Amendments and, because the Amendments
should be placed on the November Ballot, this meeting
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should continue. He said the legality of'the Amendments
being placed on the Ballot could not be solved at this
time; however, he did not want the City Council dictating
what the Amendments should be.
Chairman Wald said the Amendments were drawn up by the
Charter Board and should be placed on the November Ballot
as they were proposed in order to expedite matters. He
said the Charter Board could discuss the legality of the
Amendments being placed on the Ballot.
C/M Hoffman said he did not approve of the Charter Board
giving the City Council ultimatums and Vice Chairman
Bernard said Chairman Wald was not giving the City
Council ultimatums.
C/M Rohr asked if the Charter Board felt comfortable with
the City Council ignoring the Attorney General's opinion.
He said if the City Council ignored the opinion the City
Council and the Charter Board may be doing something
illegal. He asked if the Charter Board was 100% positive
that a Court of Law would declare the Attorney General's
opinion incorrect.
Mayor Abramowitz said the City Council and the Charter
Board should determine if the meeting was to continue.
He said the Chairman of the Charter Board was indicating
that the meeting was needless because the Amendments were
not going to be placed on the November Ballot by anyone
except the Charter Board.
Mayor Abramowitz said he thought the City Council and
Charter Board may expedite the Amendments by meeting and
agreeing to the Amendments; therefore, he wanted the
meeting to go on as planned. He said the City Council
and Charter Board should do as the Attorney General's
opinion tells them to do and place the Amendments on the
November Ballot as the opinion tells them to do. He said
from there on, the City Council and Charter Board
Attorneys can handle the matter as they are directed to
handle it.
Mayor Abramowitz said if the meeting is Adjourned, the
City Manager indicated that he instructed the City Clerk
not to submit the Amendments for Referendum; therefore,
the time spent on the Amendments would be wasted.
Vice Chairman Bernard said the City Council and Charter
Board should do what was needed to get the Amendments on
the November Ballot. He said everyone seemed to want the
Amendments on the Ballot and the disagreement should be
handled after the election.
Vice Chairman Bernard said if the Charter Board wanted
their power justified, they would have to sue the City;
however, he has not made up his mind as to whether this
should occur. He said the Charter Board would have to
meet to discuss this matter before action is taken.
Mayor Abramowitz said this matter seemed to evolve around
turf. He said the City is being classified as third in
this matter. He said the City Council does not have time
or want to usurp the Charter Board's power.
Mayor Abramowitz said Chairman Wald stated that the
Amendments were appropriate except one. He said he did
not agree with this and he objected to another Amendment.
He said as the highest elected position in the City, he
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had the right to object to the Amendments and he knows
that his objections may by honored by going into a ballot
box and voting no.
Mayor Abramowitz said the City Council and Charter Board
are at this meeting to discuss the Amendments and the
only ones benefiting .from this disagreement were the
Attorneys. He said all he wanted was for the City
Council and the Charter Board to get the Amendments on
the November Ballot.
Vice Chairman Bernard suggested Mayor Abramowitz ask each
Official if they were prepared to continue with the
meeting.
Mayor Abramowitz asked the City Council and Charter Board
members if they wanted to continue with the meeting and
they all AGREED to continue; however, V/M Stelzer and
Chairman Wald said they agreed to continue providing the
substance of each Amendment was discussed only.
City Attorney Doody said if there were changes regarding
the substance of the Amendments, the changes would occur
at the time the Ordinances are adopted.
SECTION 8.01(a) - Charter Board Terms of Office
The City Council and Charter Board members AGREED to
place this Amendment on the November Ballot.
SECTION 4.02 = C t Council Terms of Office
V/M Stelzer said the Amendment would begin in the 1989
Municipal Election and he asked if a person who served
two terms could run again.
City Attorney Doody said this Amendment appeared to allow"
a person presently serving two terms to run again in 1989
because there was no retroactive language in the
Amendment.
The City Council and Charter Board members AGREED to
place this Amendment on the November Ballot.
SECTION 8.01(c) - Charter Board Forfeiture of Office
The City Council and Charter Board members AGREED to
place this Amendment on the November Ballot.
SECTION 4.05(a) and (b) = City Council Vacancies
C/M Hoffman said the Amendment stated "any vacancy
occurring on the City Council within 180 days of the next
Municipal Election shall be filled by a majority of the
remaining Council members." and then, "any vacancy
occurring on the City Council with more than 180 days
remaining a Special Election should be called."
C/M Hoffman said under these terms, if a person was
appointed to fill a vacancy with 181 days remaining until
the next election, the person would have to run 3 times
in two years. He said there was no point in a person
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running for this type of vacancy. He said there was no
provision in the Charter Board's filling of vacancies
with this type of circumstance. He said the City Council
and Charter Board should fill a vacancy for the balance
of the year regardless of when the vacancy occurs and
have the appointee run at the next General Election
instead of spending the extra money for a Special
Election.
TAPE 2
C/M Hoffman said this Amendment should not be submitted
to the November Ballot until it is reviewed further.
City Attorney Doody said he realized that the paragraph
above the Amendment stated, "If a vacancy occurred except
as a result of recall,". He said the purpose of the
language being in the Charter was because State Statute
had specific regulations of how a vacancy was to be
filled after a recall. He said this matter should be
reviewed and rewritten to be consistent with the State
Statute.
Chairman Wald said the Resolution was taken from the
recommendations made by the Charter Review Committee. He
said he realizes that there was a lot missing in the
Resolution. He suggested this Resolution not be
submitted for the November Ballot. Vice Chairman Bernard
agreed with Chairman Wald.
Mayor Abramowitz asked if anyone objected to leaving the
Amendment off of the November Ballot.
V/M Stelzer said the clause, "The interim party shall
serve until the next Regular Municipal Election", meant
that with a two year term, the party filling the vacancy
for the first year term, would have to run for the other
year.
Mayor Abramowitz asked the City Attorney to note the
concerns of the City Council and Charter Board members.
The City Council and Charter Board members AGREED not to
place this Amendment on the November Ballot.
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SECTION 8.02(a) - Charter Board Duties and Powers
C/M Hoffman said the Charter Board's previous Attorney,
Robert Dunckel, suggested that the word "dishonesty" be
eliminated from the Charter because he felt there was no
way to define the word "dishonesty". He said the Charter
Board had the power to investigate any specific act of
dishonesty and he agreed with the Attorney's suggestion.
V/M Stelzer read the definition of dishonesty as follows:
"DISHONESTY" - not honest, disposed to lie, cheat or steal,
untrustworthy, proceeding from or exhibiting lack of
honesty, fraudulent, unscrupulous. Lack of honesty, a
disposition to lie, cheat or steal, etc..."
V/M Stelzer asked if the Charter Board was recommending
that a Councilmember could lie, cheat or steal.
City Attorney Doody said he discussed this matter with
Attorney Dunckel regarding this matter and Attorney
Dunckel stated that the other terms in the paragraph were
recognized as legal terms. He said "dishonesty" was not
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recognized as a legal term and the Chartez would not be
losing anything by eliminating it because any of the
accusations that would fall under dishonesty, would also
be considered in the other terms listed in the Charter.
He said the elimination of the word "dishonesty" would
only avoid questions by people who were not familiar with
the legal terms of the word.
Chairman Wald read the letter submitted by Attorney
Dunckel which stated:
"As a result of the hearing regarding the Stelzer matter on
Monday, January 18, 1988, I recommend that a transcript of
the proceedings be made available to all Board members present
and future as an example as to how to carefully circumcise
the powers of the Charter Board.
My long term goal is that the Charter Board's power be
zealously guarded from being used as an offensive tool by
either the political majority or minority. The investigatory
powers and procedures set forth in the Charter, with certain
exceptions, are an overall benefit to a politically active,
retiree community such as Tamarac.
It is important that the investigatory mechanism be zealously
guarded against political oppression. To that extent, it is
imperative that the investigatory procedures be followed
strictly and, if the facts alleged do not constitute a
violation of a specific law, then the inquiry should be put
to an end.
To that extent, I would strongly urge that you delete the word
"dishonesty" from the enumerated powers of the Board. Such a
term has no place in the listing of offenses as it does not
constitute a definable legal concept within accepted
parameters.
The term "dishonesty" is too subjective a term and lends to
the investigatory process abuse. If the process is abused
its institutional integrity will be undermined and its
institutional function ultimately eliminated."
City Attorney Doody said basically, he agreed with the
opinion. He said "dishonesty" was a vague term and the
change was to protect the City Council and Charter Board
members. He said if the Charter Board was going to
investigate a matter, it had to be something recognized
as a violation under the Law because the Charter Board
would be treading in an area that is close to defamation.
V/M Stelzer asked what happened when he brought charges
against a previous Mayor for falsifying the expense
accounts.
City Attorney Doody said this sounded like something that
may be a violation of fraud, illegal personal gain, etc.
He said all of the scenarios raised on the matter were
covered in the language presently in the Charter. *He
said "dishonesty" was too big an area and eliminating the
word would protect the City Council and Charter Board
members.
The City Council and Charter Board members AGREED to
place this Amendment on the November Ballot.
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SECTION 5.04 = City Manager Duties and Powers
C/M Hoffman said the City Manager had all the powers the
Amendment would vest to him, except there are two
positions in the Municipal Government that require the
consent of the City Council, one is the City Clerk and
the other is the Chief Building Official. He said there
was no need to take the supervision away from the City
Council.
C/M Rohr had concerns with why "subject to the majority
of the City Council" was removed.
City Manager Kelly said the City was not registered with
the International City Managers Association or recognized
as a City Manager form of Government because of the way
the Charter read at this time.
V/M Stelzer asked the City Attorney to research the City
Council's responsibility regarding the Chief Building
Official and if the Charter prohibits the City from being
known as a City Manager form of Government.
Mayor Abramowitz had concerns with the Charter reading
"an Assistant City Manager". He said the City did not
have a position known as Assistant City Manager; however,
this Budget year would allow the City Manager to hire an
Assistant to the City Manager, not an Assistant City
Manager.
C/M Hoffman said several years ago, the Charter Board
introduced an Amendment which was passed which limited
the power of the Pension Board to invest monies. He said
this was declared illegal by the Circuit Court; however,
he has not seen this implemented and asked that this be
investigated.
Vice Chairman Bernard said this matter would be looked
into and if this was illegal in the Charter, it would be Y
changed.
The City Council and Charter Board members AGREED not to
place this Amendment on the November Ballot.
V/M Stelzer suggested that SECTION 8.01(a) -- Charter
Board Vacancies be eliminated from the Ballot. He said
the City Council Vacancies was eliminated and he would
like to have these two Amendments researched to see if
they were conflicting.
Chairman Wald said the Amendment stated that the Charter
Board would appoint a person for the vacancy until the
next General Election.
V/M Stelzer asked if the person filling the vacancy would
have to include that in his 3 terms and C/M Hoffman said
the Amendment did not stress this matter; however, the
Amendment stated, "the person filling the vacancy shall
serve the remaining year or until the next General
Election."
C/M Hoffman said the succession in the Charter discussed
Elections and not the number of terms. He said the
Charter refers to the number of times a person could be
elected; therefore, if a person was elected once for one
year, it would be considered an election.
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V/M Stelzer suggested that this matter be researched and
City Attorney Doody said the language being referred to
was elsewhere in the Charter and not in the Resolutions.
After discussion, the City Council and Charter Board
members decided to place the Amendment for SECTION
8.01(a) on the November Ballot.
With no further discussion, Mayor Abramowitz ADJOURNED
this meeting at 10:30 A.M.
CAROL E. BARBUTO, CITY CLERK'
"This public document was promulgated at a cost of $113.40 or $3.15 per
copy to inform the general public, public officers and employees of
recent opinions and considerations of the City Council and Charter Board
of the City of Tamarac."
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