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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1990-07-11 - City Commission Joint Special Meeting MinutesCITY Off' TAMARAC JOINT CITY COUNCIL AND CHARTER BOARD SPECIAL MEETING WEDNESDAY, JULY 11, 1990 CALL TO ORDER,: Mayor Abramowitz called this Joint meeting of the City Council and Charter Board to order on Wednesday, July 11, 1990 at 9:00 A.M. in lonferenoe Room #I `''Cl Hall. PRZAZNT: Mayor Norman Abramowitz Vice Mayor Bruce Hoffman Councilman Dr. Larry Bender Councilman Henry Schumann Councilman Henry Rohr ALSO PRESENT: John P. Kelly, City Manager (ENTERED 9:05 A.M.) Carol A. Evans, City Clerk Pauline Walaszek, Secretary CHARTER _BOARD: Zeke Feldman, Vice Chairman Dr. Alfred Wald Muriel Davis ABSENT AND EXCUSED: Stan Bernard, Chairman Judy Kitograd ALSO PRESENT: Alan Gabriel, Charter Board Attorney ---------------------------------------------------------- The purpose of this Joint meeting of the City Council and Charter Board was to reconcile any differences prior to the scheduled Public Hearing on the proposed Charter amendments at 7:30 P.M., July 11, 1990. Mayor Abramowitz said he received a letter from Stan Bernard, Chairman of the Charter Board, and he read the letter into the record. "Subject: Proposed Charter amendments 90.1 and 90.3. Dear Mayor Abramowitz, Pursuant with Resolution R-89-209, adopted August 9, 1989, the Charter Board does hereby formally notify you that they disagreed with the City Council's proposed amendments and they would like to hold a joint meeting with the City Council within 45 days. The purpose of this joint meeting would be to adopt proposed amendments to the Charter Sections 90.1 and 90.3 in a form acceptable to both the City Council and the Charter Board." Mayor Abramowitz said he responded by sending a letter to Chairman Bernard which stated the following: PAGE 1 SPECIAL JOINT MEETING 7/11/90 - pw "In accordance with your request and pursuant t Resolution R-89-209, please be advised that the37e will be a joint meeting of the City Council and Charter Board in Conference Room 1 at City Hall at 9:00 A.M., Wednesday July 11, 1990. The timing of'. the meeting is critical, so as to attempt to re on e our differences prior to the scheduled public hearLtLa ' on the proposed amendments at 7:30 P.M. on July 11 1990." At 9:05 A.M., City Manager Kelly ZNTERRD the meeting. Zeke Feldman, Vice Chairman of the Charter Board, sa d Charter Board would like to know how the City Counci proposed to reconcile the differences. Mayor Abramowitz asked the Charter Board to inform tide �J�y Council about their objections. Vice Chairman Feldman said the Charter Board was c because they did not agree to the language to be p the September 4, 1990 ballot regarding the Charter amendments. V/M Hoffman asked if the Charter Board disagreed witt a� of the amendments or specific amendments. Muriel Davis, member of the Charter Board, said the Cha Board agreed to all of the amendments; however, they we concerned with the language regarding the amendment for terms of office. She said the language at the end of t amendment was what the Charter Board disagreed to. Mayor Abramowitz said Chairman Bernard indicated tha t Charter Board did not vote on anything and Mrs. Davif s there was a vote taken; however, the wording was differ Vice Chairman Feldman asked when the Charter Board v teft on this matter and Mrs. Davis said the amendments were of on at the Joint Workshop meeting between the Charter Bo rd' d City Council held on May 24, 1990. She said three m mbeks of the Charter Board agreed to 3 three year terms. Mayor Abramowitz said Dr. Alfred Wald did not agree to three year terms and Vice Chairman Feldman abstained fr voting. He said law in Florida stated that a member of official body could not abstain from voting. Alan Gabriel, Attorney for the Charter Board, said t is true; however, if a person abstained from voting, it wa considered as a "no" vote. Mayor Abramowitz said Attorney Gabriel and City Atto nel of had different opinions regarding this matter. He sa d s did not make a difference because three members of t e Charter Board voted to propose 3 three year terms fo t September 4, 1990 ballot. City Manager Kelly said the joint meeting between th C Council and Charter Board was a workshop meeting and th were no votes taken at that meeting. Mayor Abramowitz said there was a consensus by the Board and City Council regarding the amendments. 1 1 PAGE 2 SPECIAL JOINT MEETING 7/11/90 - pw Dr. Alfred Wald, member of the Charter Board, said everyone agreed collectively at the joint workshop meeting; however, there was no formal vote taken. He said everyone agreed to 3 three year terms for the City Council and Charter Board to serve. Dr. Wald said in the agreement there was nothing said regarding the terms as stipulated in the Ordinance. He said it was agreed that 9 years in office was a sufficient amount of time. He said the Charter Board minutes would reflect the discussion they had regarding the terms of office. Dr. Wald asked who requested City Attorney Ruf to place this language in the Resolutions and Chairman Bernard informed the Board that Mayor Abramowitz stated that a copy of the Ordinance would be sent to him before the City Council presented it to the public. Dr. Wald said Chairman Bernard did not receive a copy of the Ordinance and was not informed about the final form of the language in the amendments until the City Council presented it to the residents at their June 20, 1990 City Council meeting. He said he did not attend that meeting because he was out of town and Chairman Bernard expressed his concerns about the last paragraph in the Ordinance. He said the Charter Board agreed to 3 three year terms in office for the Charter Board and City Council. � Dr. Wald said the Charter Board did not agree that an individual presently in office could be elected to serve another 9 years. He said if this occurred, he would actually be in office 13 years and he did not get the impression that the terms of office would start immediately upon adoption of the Ordinance. V/M Hoffman said Dr. Wald was in office for 2 two year terms and it was agreed that anyone could run for 3 three year terms. He asked if Dr. Wald served a three year term and Dr. Wald replied, no. V/M Hoffman asked how Dr. Wald could serve five years when he could run for three years for the coming year providing the amendment was approved. He asked how Dr. Wald would be able to serve 9 years. Dr. Wald said the amendments were being proposed to change the present regulations. He said the City Council could not change the law to please themselves. He said this would not be appropriate and the residents would vote the amendment down. Dr. Wald said the City Council and Charter Board should not make an extension to their existing positions and the amount of time in office should be no more than 9 years. He said if he ran for office he would only be in office for 7 years and Mayor Abramowitz suggested the voters make this determination and not the City Council or Charter Board. He said it was not right for anyone to make a decision regarding who would be serving for office except for the voters. Dr. Wald said the original premise was being expressed at this time; therefore, the existing Charter should not be changed. PAGE 3 SPECIAL JOINT MEETING 7/11/90 - pw Mayor Abramowitz said he was referring to the minutes and or. Wald seemed to be stating, "this was what the Charter Board said but it was not what they meant." He said not one reference was made regarding the matter the Charter Board was presently discussing. He said the City Attorney was givOn direction to draft Ordinances pertaining to the amendments proposed by the Charter Board and City Council for the September 4, 1990. Mayor Abramowitz said there was never mention made about Chairman Bernard receiving the Ordinance. He said Chairman Bernard received a copy of the Ordinances at the same time he received the Ordinances. He said the Charter Board should indicate that this was said; however, it was not meant t4iz way. Mayor Abramowitz said the language for the ballot had to be sent to the Supervisor of Elections Office. He said. he reviewed the minutes several times and they indicated that the City Council did not want 3 three terms. He said when they began their workshop meetings to review the Independent Charter Review he stated that they did not feel anyone, except the voters, had the right to determine who should,be in office. Mayor Abramowitz said Vice Chairman Feldman indicated thOt the Charter Board did not cast a formal vote and Vice Chairman Feldman said there has not been a formal vote concerning the amendments. He said there were no votes allowed in a workshop meeting. Mayor Abramowitz said the Charter Board and the City Council expressed their desire to get the amendments on the Sept�n er 4, 1990. Vice Chairman Feldman asked if the Charter Board and City Council could change their minds and Mayor Abramowitz said anyone was entitled to change their mind. Mayor Abramowitz said the proposal for the 3 three year terms was brought up by the Charter Board and the expression of interest indicated that a majority of the votes were tor'3 three year terms. He said the minutes indicated what action was taken and he quoted from the Ordinance, "The election shall be for a term of 2 years or until their successorslare elected and qualified." He said the voters would make the determination of who should serve in office. Mayor Abramowitz said he quoted the language of the existing Charter and he stated he did not agree with 3 three year, terms. He said the proposal for 3 three year terms was made by Judy Kitograd, member of the Charter Board, because she felt the voters would not approve unlimited terms. Mrs. Davis said she felt that the proposed wording would be voted down if the existing language was presented to the voters. She said if the amendments were denied by the voters `it could be disastrous for the operations of the City. She said the City needed a better government by having contiguity and she felt that there should be 3 three year terms. Slhe said although the succession was not discussed at the workshop meeting, the theme was that 9 year terms would be a sufficient amount of time for the office holders. She "id the matter was not addressed indicating that the exiszin�g Charter Board and City Councilmembers could run again. Mayor Abramowitz said this was never mentioned during th* joint or special meetings and Mrs. Davis said the matter was not discussed; however, it was interpreted wrong. 1 i 1 PAGE 4 SPECIAL JOINT MEETING 7/11/90 - pw Mayor Abramowitz said the minutes did not state anything about the existing incumbants running for office. Mrs. Davis agreed and said if the proposed language was presented to the voters it would be defeating the purpose of the amendments. Mayor Abramowitz said he understood Mrs. Davis and he appreciated her concerns; however, the voters should be the ones to make this decision. C/M Rohr said he was listening to everyone's comments and he felt there seemed to be an anticipation that anyone elected for the first or second time would be reelected for the third time regardless of terms of office. He said when a person was elected for office it did not mean that that person would be reelected. He said the final decision of who should be in office would be the voters. He said the voters would make a decision as to whether the amendments were appropriate. C/M Rohr said the City Council and Charter Board should not anticipate what the voters would do. He said the State had a Governor who was elected to serve 4 years and it was not certain if this Governor would be reelected. He said the anticipation of the worse scenario was not appropriate. He said he felt the proposed amendments were good for the City and it would be better than having an election every year, etc. He said the City Council and Charter Board were to improve the existing problems and make it better for the City in the future. Vice Chairman Feldman said the letter submitted to the Charter Board by the City Council indicated that there should be a reconciliation; therefore, they should meet again. He said the only concern of the Charter Board was the language in the Ordinance for the amendment of the terms of office. Vice Chairman Feldman said a lot of time could be saved if a final decision was made and he suggested the City Council eliminate or change the language in the Ordinances concerning the terms of office. He said if the language indicating that the Charter Board approved of the Ordinances, the Charter Board would feel more comfortable in the amendments. Mayor Abramowitz said legally the Ordinances could not be changed. Dr. Wald read a portion -of the Minutes of the May 24, 1990 Charter Board meeting: "Judy Kitograd said she has been debating the issue of succession. She said sometimes people did not have free choice when elected officials were in office for a long time. She said she was comfortable with 3 three year terms as a compromise to unlimited terms. She said a Councilmember could then be in office for 9 years or sit out 1 year and run again. Chairman Bernard said if a Councilmember served for 9 years, they would have to wait in order to run again. He said he was also debating this matter; however, he favored 3 three year terms. Judy Kitograd said unlimited terms allowed people to develop a strong power base for those who were not selected or out of office. PAGE 5 SPECIAL JOINT MEETING 7/11/90 - pw Chairman Bernard said elected officials would be able to run after their present terms were over. He told Vice Chairman Feldman that he had one more year after the March, 1991 election and he would be able to run again for one term for three years. He said as of March, 1991, anyone elected for the first time would be able to serve 3 three year terms." Mayor Abramowitz asked if these things were said at a Chit er Board workshop and Dr. Wald replied, yes. Mayor Abramowitz asked if anyone indicated these things Arhan the joint workshops were held between the City Council ald Charter Board. He said the City Council walked into he', joint workshop meeting and was proposing unlimited to ms,• however, after further discussion, the City Council f lt' at 3 three year terms would be more appropriate. Mayor Abramowitz said there was nothing indicated to he: 'ty Council during the joint meetings that the Charter Bo rd 'd not agree with the succession beginning at the time o t adoption of the amendments. Dr. Wald said this was discussed at the Charter Board me' 'ng held on May 24, 1990, which was before the joint work ho with the City Council. C/M Rohr said this may have occurred; however, the Ch rt Board never expressed their concerns to the City Coun it Dr. Wald said the joint workshop meeting held on that ldal as only the first workshop regarding the amendments. Mayor Abramowitz said he called Chairman Bernard beca se t1ley agreed to hold two joint workshop meetings. He saidIhebe contacted Chairman Bernard regarding a second worksho meeting, Chairman Bernard said another workshop was nt necessary because the City Council and Charter Board gr on all the items. Vice Chairman Feldman said Chairman Bernard and he di cu d the conversations between Mayor Abramowitz and Chairm n Bernard. He said Chairman Bernard informed him that he proposed language in the Ordinance was not appropriat because this was not the agreement the City Council a d Charter Board had. V/M Hoffman asked if this was a violation of the Sunshine aw and he said he would like the record to reflect that the' Chairman and Vice Chairman held a private meeting which a violation of the Sunshine Law. Vice Chairman Feldman asked if Mayor Abramowitz was C ai the meeting for the City Council or for both the Char er Board and City Council. Mayor Abramowitz asked that the meeting continue and is Chairman Feldman said he wanted the record to reflect thit he could not get an answer; therefore, he could at a later late. V/M Hoffman said he never heard of a law approving tht pl and the Charter Board was now asking the City Council to back in time and pass something now but make it retro ct He said he felt this was wrong and he would oppose it PAGE 6 SPECIAL JOINT MEETING 7/11/90 - pw C/M Schumann said the purpose of placing the amendments on the ballot was to affect a change. He said if the change was approved by the voters anything previous to the approval no longer existed. He said the amount of the previous years was not an issue because it would not be considered if the amendment was approved by the voters. He said no one had the guarantee of any reelection at any time. V/M Hoffman said if the amendments were approved they could become effective in 1999; however, the day designated for the effective date was the day it would become the law. He asked Attorney Gabriel if this was correct and Attorney Gabriel replied, yes, unless there was an effective date indicated. Attorney Gabriel said there could be language placed into the proposed amendment that would impact the existing encumbrances. Mayor Abramowitz said everyone seemed to be concerned with 9 years in office and Dr. Wald said it was stated 119 years maximum." Mayor Abramowitz asked where "maximum" was indicated. He said the Charter Board was indicating that this was what they said but it was not meant this way. Mayor Abramowitz said Vice Mayor Hoffman and Dr. Wald have served 4 year terms and, based on the existing language, they could not run for office again; however, the Charter Board could run for a three year term. He said the Charter Board had to see the equation that allowed them to run for 9 years. Attorney Gabriel said the amendment had to be clear as to how it would affect the elected officials; however, there has been language implemented in the Ordinance which addressed the elected officials. Mayor Abramowitz said if the matter would have been discussed during the joint workshop meetings, he would not have approved 3 three year terms because he felt the voters should make the final decision of who was elected to serve the City. He said there has been concern regarding the voters denying the amendments; however, if they did not like the amendments, they should vote it down. Mayor Abramowitz said the City Attorney informed the City Council that the language for the amendments should not be ambiguous; therefore, the language should be very clear so the voters could understand it. Dr. Wald said he agreed with the City Council; however, the Charter Board was objecting to the language in the Ordinances being implemented. He said Chairman Bernard indicated that the Board was not given the proposed amendment before it was presented to the public. Dr. Wald said Chairman Bernard was supposed to have received the proposed amendment before it became official; however, this did not occur. He said Mayor Abramowitz indicated that he did not receive the amendment until the May 24, 1990 City Council meeting which, at that time, Chairman Bernard received the documents as well. Dr. Wald said if this occurred, Chairman Bernard would have informed the City Council of his objections and an agreement could have been made which may have prevented the need for this meeting. V/M Hoffman asked when Dr. Wald was informed about Chairman Bernard's concerns and Attorney Gabriel said this matter was discussed at the Charter Board meeting last week. PAGE 7 SPECIAL JOINT MEETING 7/11/90 -- pw V/M Hoffman asked if this was indicated in the Minutes and Attorney Gabriel replied, yes. Mayor Abramowitz said legally, he dealt with Chairman Bernard which has been done carefully. He said he and Chairman Bernard were informed that they would receive the amendments as soon as they were available. He said he informed staff to submit the required documents to Chairman Bernard at the same time he received them and this was done. Vice Chairman Feldman said at 9:15 A.M., Mayor Abramowitz said he did not have the amendments; however, they were presented to the pubic at the City Council meeting. Mayor Abramowitz said he stated that the amendments were presented to him and Chairman Bernard at the same time, Which was done at the City Council meeting. Vice Chairman Feldman said Chairman Bernard never received a copy of the amendments and Mayor Abramowitz disagreed. Mayor Abramowitz said the information was given to Chairman Bernard at the same time he received it and, during the first reading of the Ordinances, there were no objections. He,said Chairman Bernard did not object to the Ordinances until the Tamarac Democratic Club meeting. He said at this meeting there were several people who were opposed to the amendments. He said Chairman Bernard informed him that the person with the objections was wrong in stating a person could run fox 13 years. He said he informed Chairman Bernard that this wog correct and Chairman Bernard informed him that this was #at what he meant. Mayor Abramowitz said there was nothing recorded indicatirg that Chairman Bernard objected to the amendments proposed. He said he was not upset with the Charter Board indicati#g that they did not mean what was said. i Mayor Abramowitz asked Dr. Wald what right he had to make a determination of how long anyone remained in office. He:said the legislative government did not mandate the length of terms. He said if he was good in office and the voters wanted to keep him in office for 35 years, no one else s�culd be able to make that determination except the voters. HO said the two most powerful people were defeated in the post elections. He asked why a politician should mandate howia City should be handled when the City belonged to the vot�xs. Mayor Abramowitz said if the voters did not like the amendments, they should deny them. He said it was their, choice and he did not agree with this in the beginning; however, working together assisted everyone to become mode knowledgeable about specific matters. Mayor Abramowitz said he felt that the statement made by'Judy Kitograd made a lot of sense and this statement assisted him to believe that 3 three year terms were appropriate. Mrs. Davis said it seemed that the City did not want to delete the words at the end of the amendment and Mayor Abramowitz said the City Council could not delete the language at the end of the proposed amendments. i Mrs. Davis said she thought the language could be changed and Attorney Gabriel said there has been a first reading of the Ordinance; however, the amendment could be made at the �Iity Council meeting being held this evening. PAGE 8 SPECIAL JOINT MEETING 7/11/90 - pw V/M Hoffman said major amendments could not be made and Mrs. Davis said if nothing could be done about the amendments, the City Council and Charter Board should come to some type of decision. Mayor Abramowitz said the City Attorney indicated that the Ordinance could not be changed; therefore, Attorney Gabriel's opinion was not significant. City Manager Kelly said there was an.opinion from the Attorney General's Office which stated that any substantive changes would require readvertising and beginning the process over. Attorney Gabriel said the advertisement referred to 9 year terms and Mayor Abramowitz said the advertisement was explained in the Ordinance. He said the proposed Ordinance addressed the amendment in simplistic language. C/M Rohr said his remarks would offend several people; however, he felt it should be put on the table. He said Tamarac was the only City that had a Charter Board with power. He said the surrounding Cities managed without a powerful Charter Board; however, they had advisory Charter Boards that were appointed by the City Councils and they worked in harmony. ZAR" C/M Rohr said the City Council should not be embarrassed by the actions or lack of actions of the Charter Board. He said a determination was made and the City Council met with the Charter Board thinking there was an agreement and a decision was made; however, the Charter. Board states that they did not mean this. He said the members of the Charter Board and City Council were adults. He said he did not want the City Council to be embarrassed by the Charter Board's actions. Mrs. Davis said no one wanted to be embarrassed at the City Council meeting tonight and she suggested that the Charter Board and City Council come to a determination at this meeting. Dr. Wald read a letter written by Chairman Bernard which was created before he went on vacation regarding the sequence of events as follows: "Mr. Mayor: You will surely recall that you approached me me with the suggestion that we use the City Attorney to draw up the proposed amendments because this way we would save the City the money it would cost by having the Charter Board Attorney drafting the amendments. You also told me that we would both receive copies prior to them being distributed to the City Council and Charter Board members so the verbiage could be reviewed and corrected, if necessary. Had this been done, I would have told you immediately that we would not support the amendments as written." Mayor Abramowitz said the Ordinances were to be prepared by the people that would be passing them. He asked if the Charter Board could pass an Ordinance and Dr. Wald said he answered this before by stating that the Charter Board could put amendments on the ballot by drafting their own Ordinance. PAGE 9 SPECIAL JOINT MEETING 7/11/90 -- pw Mayor Abramowitz said this could not be done and Dr. Wald asked why this matter has been discussed in the past. Or. Wald said the Charter Board dropped the lawsuit they have with the City Council in order to get the matter resolved. He said the Charter Board could still put amendments on the ballot as per the Charter until the law was changed. Mayor Abramowitz said he informed Chairman Bernard that the first copy of the proposed amendments would be submitted to him and the second copy would be submitted to Chairman Bernard. He said he did not get the first copy from the City Attorney until the morning of the City Council meeting.1 He said Chairman Bernard received the drafts at the same t*me and he did not receive any objections from the audience during that City Council meeting. Mayor Abramowitz said there was a first reading held on these proposed Ordinances and no one objected to them. He said it seemed that Chairman Bernard did not read the Ordinances or read them and did not understand them. He said he would not fault Chairman Bernard for this; however, Chairman Bernard received the amendments at the same time he did. Mayor Abramowitz said Chairman Bernard did not object to the amendments until he was informed that the City Council 4nd Charter Board members may be able to serve 13 years. Mayor Abramowitz said the City Manager was given instructions by him to give instructions to the City Attorney to make the language in the amendments to be very clear to be understood by the voters. Dr. Wald said he understood what Mayor Abramowitz was suing and that it was accurate; however, Chairman Bernard was�told that he would be given copies prior to the City Council and Charter Board members. Dr. Wald said the City Council meeting was held on Junei27, 1990, and this was the first time that Mayor Abramowitz received a draft of the amendments. Mayor Abramowitz said this was the first time he saw the amendments in final form. Dr. Wald said he was informed about this matter and he understood that Chairman Bernard could not remain at tho meeting because of a prior engagement. He said the first time Chairman Bernard was made aware of the amendments was that evening at the Democratic Club meeting. Dr. Wald said according to Mayor Abramowitz there was nt) Nay the amendments could be changed and Mayor Abramowitz said the City Council was given legal advice which indicated that there could not be any major changes of the Ordinances.! C/M Rohr said he felt the only problem someone may havens that they could not foresee in the future that the existing City Council may run again. He said if the matter was analyzed appropriately there would be evidence that the existing City Council and Charter Board members may not'be reelected by the voters to serve again. C/M Rohr said there may be concerns about why there were Charter Board members who did not want certain Councilmembers to serve again. V/M Hoffman said he felt he saw a better argument fox tl�e abolition of the Charter Board because of what was occurr-ing right now. He said the existing Charter Board was dcingr everything possible to discredit themselves. 11 4 PAGE 10 SPECIAL JOINT MEETING 7/11/90 - pw Mrs. Davis asked how the amendments would be presented and Mayor Abramowitz asked if the Charter Board and City Councilmembers had anything further to state for the record. Mayor Abramowitz said he would like the record to reflect that no one wanted to state anything further for the record. Mayor Abramowitz said he felt that an amendment could not be made at this time. Attorney Gabriel said the City Council was basing their opinions on an opinion given by the Attorney General which indicated that amendments could be made if not substantial. He said what was being proposed by the Charter Board was not a substantial item but required a slight revision indicating limitations on what the City Council was basing their opinions on. Mayor Abramowitz asked if Attorney Gabriel felt this was a slight amendment and Attorney Gabriel said this would be a minor change to the existing language. Mayor Abramowitz said the interpretation of a major change was different and C/M Bender said the changes should not be considered as major or minor but as substantive changes. Attorney Gabriel said the advertisement indicated the terms of office and nothing would be changed in this and Mayor Abramowitz said the contents would be changed. Mayor Abramowitz said the change being proposed was for the contents of the Ordinance. V/M Hoffman said the main issue pertained to the previous agreement between the City Council and Charter Board. He said everyone should consider if there should be an amendment to the proposed Charter amendments for the terms of office. He said he did not want to make this amendment. Mayor Abramowitz said he was glad this meeting was called because everyone was informed about several things such as not being able to make substantial changes for an Ordinance. Mayor Abramowitz said everyone had the right to voice their opinions, objections and support of any issue or item. He said the public hearing would be held at the City Council meeting tonight and, after the public hearing, the City Council would vote on the amendments. He said he did not know how the other City Councilmembers would vote; however, he knew how he would vote. He said he tried very hard to work with everyone in the City and he felt that these issues were an embarrassment but not because everyone did not approve of his opinions. Mayor Abramowitz said he received several telephone calls concerning who had the right to mandate the terms of office for the elected officials; however, an agreement was made between the City Council and Charter Board. He said he was not pleased with the agreement, and he did vote and he did do what was he said he would do. Mayor Abramowitz said Mrs. Davis asked how this matter would be resolved and he felt the issues could be discussed during the public hearings at the City Council meeting tonight. He said he heard from three people; however, he wanted to hear the other residents and how they felt about the amendments. PAGE 11 SPECIAL JOINT MEETING 7/11/90 - pw Dr. Wald said he understood that an open public forum or public hearing would have a very strong purpose, which was to try and give the City Council and Mayor input as to how the people felt. Mayor Abramowitz agreed. Dr. Wald asked why public hearings were held for the residents to give the City Council input on specific issues if the Ordinances and Resolutions could not be changed. He said the opinion by the City Attorney was being implemented by the City Council. He said he felt it was a waste of time to hold the public hearings when the City Council could not make changes to the proposed Ordinances or Resolutions. Mayor Abramowitz said he did not state this. He said he; indicated that substantive changes could not be made. Hle said the law indicated this and Dr. Wald asked why the residents should attend the meeting this evening if ther6 could be no changes to the amendments. Mayor Abramowitz said the City Council may decide not to put the amendments on the ballot at the City Council meeting tonight. He said he objected to someone putting words in his mouth; however, he indicated that there could not be substantive changes to the Ordinances. He read a port.io*i of the Attorney General's opinion as follows: "That no substantial or material changes or amendments can be made during the process. Mayor Abramowitz said Attorney Gabriel felt that this wall a minor change and the City Attorney indicated that the amendment being proposed by the Charter Board at this tune was not a minor change. He said the City Council could vote against the issue of changes or vote for changes which wlould be a violation of the law. Mayor Abramowitz said the City had to be very careful with their actions because there were several people who created lawsuits against the City and City Council on issues tha4t were not substantial. He said after the City spends the money for the lawsuits, the people creating them dropped the lawsuits. He said this may not be important to the Cha#er Board; however, he wanted to follow the opinions of their Attorney. He said the Charter Board's Attorney felt differently and he did not object to this. He said he did not state that changes could not be made; however, he dial state that no substantive or material changes of the Ordinance could be made. Mrs. Davis asked if City Attorney Ruf would be present ait the City Council meeting tonight and Mayor Abramowitz replieidr yes. C/M Rohr said Dr. Wald asked why the residents should ad Tess this matter at the public hearings if changes could not e made. He said the procedure followed by the City Council was a procedure followed by all legislative bodies. He said he did not see the overwhelming majority of voters in the City attending the meetings except on issues that concerned their area. C/M Rohr said there were approximately 15 people in the City trying to determine for the entire City what was good foir them. He said the people in City seemed to be very satisfied with the operations. He said this was why there were no residents attending the meetings because there was nothing wrong with the operations of the City. o PAGE 12 SPECIAL JOINT MEETING 7/11/90 - pw Mrs. Davis said it was mentioned that this item would be presented to the residents as a joint agreement between the City Council and Charter Board. Mayor Abramowitz said he did not state this and Mrs. Davis asked if Mayor Abramowitz would inform the public that the Charter Board and City Council agreed to the amendments. Mayor Abramowitz said this was the language indicated in the amendments. He said if the Charter Board did not agree with this they could inform the public at the City Council meeting that they did not agree with the amendments. Mayor Abramowitz said a Charter Board member asked how the amendments would be presented to the public at a joint workshop meeting between the City Council and Charter Board. He said he indicated that the presentation of the amendments would be done jointly by the City Council and Charter Board. Vice Chairman Feldman said the residents may come to the City Council meeting tonight and oppose the language. Dr. Wald said unfortunately, the City Attorney was given the authority and information to draft the amendments. He said he would like to read how the Charter Board's Attorney would have drafted the amendments. Mayor Abramowitz said this was not necessary because this was not the opinion the City Council would base their actions on. At 10:10 A.M., C/M Rohr WITHDREW from the meeting. Dr. Wald said he did not object to Mayor Abramowitz stopping him from speaking; however, Attorney Gabriel clarified the Charter Board's position very simply. Dr. Wald said the City Council asked what the Charter Board and residents were afraid of. He asked what the City Council was afraid of by changing the proposed Ordinances. Mayor Abramowitz said there was fear because the City Council, Charter Board, City Manager and Attorneys had no right to decide what amendments should be enacted or how many years an elected body should serve. He said he was not afraid to ask the voters to decide on specific issues. Mayor Abramowitz said the City of Plantation was operating very well and the Mayor of that City has been in office for 18 years. C/M Bender said he did not approve of 3 three year terms. He said he wanted to make sure what has been occurring; therefore, he read the Minutes of the joint meeting between the Charter Board and City Council, which was not a verbatim transcript. He said he took the time to listen to two tapes of the joint meeting and, during that meeting, no one stated that they objected to the amendments. He said the Charter Board was now stating an objection to the amendments; however, they should have stated this during the joint meetings. C/M Bender said he did not like the amendment of 3 three year terms; however, he voted for this amendment because the Charter Board indicated they approved of this amendment. He said he did not know that the Charter Board objected to the terms of office because it was not discussed at the joint workshop meeting and he knew this because he personally took approximately two hours to listen to the tapes of that meeting. PAGE 13 SPECIAL JOINT MEETING 7/11/90 - pw At 10:15 A.M., C/M Schumann WITHDREW from the meeting. V/M Hoffman said the original Charter provision was eliminated when the present language regarding the terms of office was enacted. He said the original verbiage of the Charter stated that an elected official could run until succeeded, replaced or reappointed. He said he would like to eliminate all reference to limitation of terms. Attorney Gabriel said this type of change would be substantial. He said this was the first time the City Council heard about the Charter Board objections; however, he informed them that modifications could be made to the existing proposed amendment to the Charter which deleted three or four words from the existing proposal. He said this handled what the Charter Board was trying to accomplish ,by limiting the terms for the existing officers. He said he would review V/M Hoffman's suggestion. V/M Hoffman read the original Charter provision as follows: "The election shall be for a term of two years or ' until their successors are elected and qualified.111 V/M Hoffman asked if it would be possible to change the provision to indicate: "The election shall be for a term of three years or until their successors are elected and qualified."! Attorney Gabriel said he was concerned with an impact of� having no limitations for the terms of office. k V/M Hoffman asked if the voters should be given the opportunity to make this decision and Attorney Gabriel said this was a policy decision, upon which he had his own views. He said his views may not be the same as the City Counci4 or Charter Board. Attorney Gabriel said he was being asked whether or not the previous language of the Charter could be implemented indicating no limitations to the terms of office. Mayor Abramowitz said he felt that this suggestion and tie suggestion by the Charter Board were substantive changesj. Attorney Gabriel disagreed and he said the proposed amendments specified 3 three year terms. Mayor Abramowitz asked who made the determination that t�e amendments should not impact the existing elected bodiesiof the City. Attorney Gabriel said this was a policy decision and he Gould not make this decision. V/M Hoffman asked if his suggested change would be more , substantive than the changes requested by the Charter Board. Attorney Gabriel said the change would be different than what was advertised; therefore, it would be a substantial chahim . He said he did not agree that the changes being re.questeO by the Charter Board were substantial because the proposed amendment indicated, 113 three year terms". Mayor Abramowitz said this was not correct because the low indicated that there could only be a specific amount of verbiage in the heading. PAGE 14 SPECIAL JOINT MEETING 7/11/90 - pw 1 Attorney Gabriel said the proposed amendments indicated that the 3 three year terms shall apply to everyone. Mayor Abramowitz said if this language could be placed in the heading for the ballot, it would have been done. He said the City Attorney was directed to make sure that there was no ambiguous language in the proposed Ordinance. Attorney Gabriel said this was the correct procedure and Mayor Abramowitz said this was why the procedure was done. At 10:17 A.M., the City Clerk and City Manager WITHDREW from the meeting. Mayor Abramowitz said these procedures were followed because he knew there would be a small vocal group who objected to the amendments. He said he learned a lot about public reactions since he became Mayor. Mayor Abramowitz said by following the opinion of the City Attorney and Attorney General, the City Council could not legally make the changes being proposed by the Charter Board, which were substantial; therefore, it could present a problem. With no further business, Mayor meeting at 10:20 A.M. de 4 4 t t /-, Z;;, CAROL A. EVANS CITY CLERK ramowitz ADJOURNED the A NORMAN ABRAMOWITZ MAYOR �- "This public document was promulgated at a cost of $111.79 or $7.99 per copy to inform the general public, public officers and employees of recent opinions and considerations of the City Council of the City of Tamarac." Pursuant to Chauter-286.0105. Florida. Statutes. If a person decides to appeal any decision made by the City Council with respect to any matter considered at such meeting or hearing. he may need to ensure that a verbatim record of the proceedings is made which record includes the testimony and evidence upon which the appeal is based. CITY OF TAMARAC APPROVED AT MEETING OF 90 PAGE 15 SPECIAL JOINT MEETING 7/11/90 - pw