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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1988-09-07 - City Commission Special Meeting MinutesT,4 7525 NORTHWEST 88TH AVENUE TAMARAC, FLORIDA 33321-2401 TELEPHONE (305) 722-5900 RECORD OF COUNCIL ACTIONS/DISCUSSIONS SPECIAL MEETING PUBLIC HEARING CITY COUNCIL OF TAMARAC, FLORIDA There will be a Special Meeting of the City Council on Wednesday, September 7, 1988 at 10:00 a.m. in Conference'Room #1 (Room 103) of City Hall, 7525 NW 88 Avenue, Tam4rac, Florida. Public Hearings will be held on the following pro�osed Charter Amendments: 1, MOTION TO ADOPT Temp. Ord. #1396 on second reading proposing an amendment to Article IV, Section 4. 2 of the City Charter to increase the number of succe live elective terms of office from two (2) two (2) year tjerms to three (3) two (2) year terms for Councilmembers and Mayor to be placed on the November 8, 1988 ballot. , FINAL ACTION: ORDINANCE NO. 0-88-23 PASSVD. APPROVED on second and final reading as amended to State "November 8, 1988 Election" instead of "November 8,!1988 General Election". Public hearing was held. 2. MOTION TO ADOPT Temp. Ord. #1397 on second reeding proposing an amendment to Article VIII, Section 8.01(a), of the City Charter to increase the number of successive elective terms of office from two (2) two (2) year germs to three (3) two (2) year terms for Charter $bard members to be placed on the November 8, 1988 ballots FINAL ACTION: ORDINANCE NO. 0-88-24 PASSD. APPROVED on second and final reading as amended to �tate "November 8, 1988 Election" instead of "November 8,j1988 General Election". Public Hearing was held. 3. MOTION TO ADOPT Temp. Ord. #1398 on second re ding proposing an amendment to Article VIII, Section 8.0 (c), of the City Charter providing that Charter Board me ers shall forfeit their office if they miss three (3) c nse- cutive regular board meetings or five (5) out of :even (7) consecutive regular board meetings to be placed on the November 8, 1988 ballot. FINAL ACTION: ORDINANCE NO. 0--88--25 PASS*D. APPROVED on second and final reading as amended to state "November 8, 1988 Election" instead of "November 8, 1988 General Election". Public Hearing was held. itAll meetings are open to the public. CAE/nr Carol A. Evans City Clerk Pursuant to Section 286.0105, Flori Statutes If a person decides to appeal any decisi made by the city Council with respect to any matter consider at such meeting or hearing, he will need a record of the pr dings asld for such purpose, he may need to ensure that a ver tim record includes the testimony and evidence upon which the $ppeal is to be barred AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER POLICY OF NONDISCRIMINATION ON THE BASIS OF HANDICAPPED STATUS CITY OF TAMARAC CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 1988 CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Abramowitz called this meeting to Order on Wednesday, September 7, 1988 at 10:05 A.M. in Conference Room #1 Irity Clerk's Office. ABSENT AND EXCUSED: ALSO PRESENT: Mayor Norman Abramowitz Councilman Dr. H. Larry Bender Councilman Bruce Hoffman Councilman Henry Rohr Vice Mayor Jack Stelzer Richard Doody, City Attorney Carol A. Evans, City Clerk Pauline Walaszek, Special Services Secretary Mayor Abramowitz said the purpose of this meeting was a Public Hearing to adopt the Amendments of the Charter on second reading. 1. PUBLIC HEARING - MOTION TO ADOPT Temp. Ord. #1396 on second reading proposing an amendment to ArticleIV, Section 4.02 of the City Charter to increase the number of successive elective terms of office from two (2) two (2) year terms to three (3) two (2) year terms for councilmembers and Mayor to be placed on the November 8, 1988 ballot. SYNOPSIS OF ACTION: ORDINANCE NO. 0-88-23 - PASSED Public Hearing was held. APPROVED on second reading as Amended. City Attorney Doody read Temp. Ord. #1396 by title. city Attorney Doody said after discussions with the City Clerk, the terminology of the November 8, 1988 Election may not be considered a "General" Election; therefore, he would be Amending the Ordinance to state "the November 8, 1988 Election". * C/M Hoffman MOVED to APPROVE Temp. Ord. #1396 on second * reading as Amended, SECONDED by C/M Bender. Mayor Abramowitz asked if this Amendment would cause additional costs and City Attorney Doody said the City Clerk felt that the City's General Election was held every March and was the Municipal Election. He said the Amendment was not an important issue; however, it would be Amended to "Election" as opposed to "General Election". Mayor Abramowitz Opened and Closed the Public Hearing with no response. Page 1 i 9/7/88 VOTE: ALL VOTED AYE 2. PUBLIC HEARING - MOTION'TO ADOPT Temp. Ord. #1397 on second reading propo is ng an amendment to Article VIII, Section 8.01 (a), of the City Charter to increase the number of suc- cessive elective terms of office from two (2) two (2) year terms to three (3) two (2) year terms for Charter Board members to be placed on the November 8, 1988 ballot. SYNOPSIS OF ACTION: ORDINANCE NO. 0-88-24 -- PASSED Public Hearing was held. APPROVED on second reading as Amended. City Attorney Doody read Temp. Ord. #1397 by title. City Attorney Doody said this Ordinance would be Amended to reflect "Election" as opposed to "General Election" for the same reason as discussed in Item 1. * C/M Hoffman MOVED to APPROVE TempOrd. #1397 on second * reading as Amended, SECONDED by C M Bender. Mayor Abramowitz Opened the Public Hearing. Melanie Reynolds, Resident, asked when this Amendment would be effective. City Attorney Doody said this Amendment would become effective upon certification of the Election. Mrs. Reynolds asked if the r-ouncilmembers and Charter Board members could run for three consecutive terms after the November, 1988, Election. Stan Bernard, Vice Chairman of the Charter Board, said it was the intent of the Charter Board to submit this Amendment for the November Ballot so that Councilmembers and Charter Board members could Tan for three consecutive terms at the next Municipal Election. Mayor Abramowitz Closed the Public Hearing with no further response. C/M Hoffman said if a person has served two terms, they could run for a third term in March, 1989, and Mr. Bernard replied, yes. Mayor Abramowitz said since he became Mayor, he has seen that the Charter Board positions could not be filled by anyone because it required hard work,,a lot of time and much review. He said it took time for people to become totally familiar with the position and this Amendment was very good. At 10:15 A.M., City Manager Kelly ENTERED the meeting. Mayor Abramowitz said he asked Senator Weinstein, Representatives Peter Deutsch and Joe Titone, independently, why there were problems in Tamarac's District and they answered that a big problem was that the District lacked continuity. Cl! Page 2 9/7/88 Mayor Abramowitz said by the time the terms are up and the Councilmembers and Charter Board members start to become familiar with their positions, they are replaced with someone new. Mayor Abramowitz said there have been several comments regarding the elected officials wanting a dynasty. He Ir said he felt that the persons wanting a dynasty should not be in office. He said it was impossible for anyone to enter a position and totally understand what the position required without experiencing the position for a period of time. He said everyone in the room was knowledgeable enough to know how the system worked. He said the system worked by getting to know people and gaining confidence in the people which could not be done in a short period of time. Mayor Abramowitz said the City would be best served if the Charter Board members could remain in office for longer periods. He said he favored this Amendment and it was a good step in the right direction for the City and its residents. Mayor Abramowitz said recently, the City of Miami passed an Ordinance extending the terms of office. VOTE: ALL VOTED AYE 3. PUBLIC HEARING - MOTION TO ADOPT Temp. Ord. #1398 on second reading proposing an amendment to Artic�le�VIII, Section 8.01 (c), of the City Charter providing that the Charter Board members shall forfeit their office if they miss three (3) consecutive regular board meetings or five (5) out of seven (7) consecutive regular board meetings to be placed on the November 8, 1988 ballot. SYNOPSIS OF ACTION: ORDINANCE NO. 0-88-25 - PASSED PublicHearing was held. APPROVED on second reading as Amended. City Attorney Doody read Temp. Ord. #1398 by title. City Attorney Doody said he would be Amending this Ordinance from "General Election" to "Election" as well. * C/M Bender MOVED to APPROVE Temp. Ord. #1398 on * second reading as Amended, SECONDED Ey C M Bender. Mayor Abramowitz Opened the Public Hearing. Melanie Reynolds, Resident, asked if the Amendment included the Chairman excusing an absence. City Attorney Doody read the new language as follows: "Extended absence from Office -- Any Charter Board member who Is absent from three (3) consecutive regular board meetings or five (5) out of seven (7) consecutive regular board meetings shall forfeit his office. Any absence excused by the Chairman shall not be counted as an absence for the purposes of this Section. The Charter Board shall declare a vacancy due to its members absence. The vacancy should be filled pursuant to the provisions of this Charter." Page 3 -" 9/7/88 Mrs. Reynolds said Ordinance 0-83-53 was widely quoted recently and the Charter Board stated that when they submitted their Resolutions of the proposed Charter Amendments, they worded the Amendments correctly. She suggested the Ordinances being submitted for the November ballot be verified.by the Charter Board as the same language submitted through their Resolutions. Mayor Abramowitz said the Charter Board and City Council met at a Workshop meeting to verify how the language was to be submitted for the November ballot. VOTE: ALL VOTED AYE Mayor Abramowitz said he and the City Council wanted to L.hank the Charter Board for their diligence, hard work and the time they spent on these Amendments. He said the City Council never would want to decimate the Charter Board. He said the City Council was living up to a loyal ruling by placing the Amendment on the November ballot and this was a perfect example how the Charter Board and the City Council could work cooperatively with each either. He asked the Charter Board to continue their good work in amending the Charter. C/M Hoffman asked if there was a Charter Amendment proposed regarding the City Council's forfeiture of office. Stan Bernard, Vice Chairman of the Charter Board, said the Charter Board has not met regarding this Amendment; however, it would be discussed to see if the language could be rectified. C/M Hoffman asked if it would be too late to place the Amendment on the November Ballot and Mr. Bernard replied, ye s . Vickie Beech, Resident, said every person sitting in the room that ran for office knew what the position entailed; however, within the last 7 years, there has been constant speeches to remove the Charter Board and create conflict. She said the energy being wasted on this type of conflict should be spent in other areas of importance and Mayor Abramowitz agreed. Mrs. Reynolds asked if the existing Ordinance for forfeiture of office would have to be Amended. City Attorney Doody said if the Amendment was approved by the voters at the November 8, 1988 Election, the new Ordinance would supersede the old Ordinance. Mrs. Reynolds said the existing Ordinance should be changed because it stated that Board members automatically forfeit their office if they are absent from all regular meetings, over a period 75 consecutive days for any reason. Mayor Abramowitz suggested that the existing Ordinance be changed to comply with the Amendment if it is approved. C/M Hoffman said he was not an Attorney; however, a Charter Amendment superseded any Ordinance. ,7 11 L Page 4 WAYAKE Mayor Abramowitz asked the City Attorney to investigate the procedures of what was to be done with existing Ordinances of the Charter if new Amendments were implemented. Mrs. Beech said the City has been having problems for several years because one document was in conflict with another. Mayor Abramowitz said he would not agree to a matter Ir being changed if it would confuse the issue. Mr. Bernard thanked the City Council for noticing the work of the Charter Board. He said it was a very difficult job to serve on the City Council, Charter Board and the Boards and Committees. Mr. Bernard said there has been conflict between the City Council and the Charter Board; however, he hoped that the present City Council and Charter Board could settle their differences amicably without severe problems. He said he hoped that the future City Council and Charter Board members had the same outlook as he which was to work to the benefit of each other, the City and the residents. Mayor Abramowitz asked when the City Council could meet regarding Insurance matters. City Manager Kelly said there would be a City Council meeting on September 8, 1988 and this matter could be placed on that Agenda. The City Council AGREED to discuss Insurance matters on September 8, 1988. NO MAN ABRAMOWITZ, AYOR CAROL A. EVAN S, CITY CLERK "This public document was promulgated at a cost of $54.00 or $1.50 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." CITY OF TAMARAC APPROVED AT MEETING OF Page 5