HomeMy Public PortalAbout07- July 18, 2012- Special Meeting Minutes CITY OF OPA-LOCKA
"The Great City"
AGENDA
SPECIAL COMMISSION MEETING
JULY 18, 2012
4:00 P.M.
Opa-locka Municipal Complex
780 Fisherman Street, 2nd Floor
Opa-locka, FL 33054
1. CALL TO ORDER:
Mayor Myra L. Taylor called the meeting to order on Wednesday, July 18, 2012 at 4:00
p.m. on the 2nd Floor of the Opa-locka Municipal Complex, 780 Fisherman Street, Opa-
locka, Florida.
2. ROLL CALL:
The following members of the City Commission were present: Commissioner Rose
Tydus, Commissioner Gail E. Miller, Commissioner Timothy Holmes and Mayor Myra
L. Taylor. Also in attendance were: City Manager Kelvin L. Baker, Sr., City Attorney
Joseph S. Geller, and Interim City Clerk Joanna Flores.
3. INVOCATION:
The Invocation was delivered by Mayor Myra L. Taylor.
4. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE:
The Pledge of Allegiance was recited in unison.
5. REVIEW DRAFT CHARTER/PUBLIC HEARING:
Attorney Geller advised the Commission that they were to consider resolution 6a and a
public hearing should take place prior to discussion and action.
6. RESOLUTION/COMMISSION ACTION:
a) A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF OPA-LOCKA,
FLORIDA, A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF OPA-
LOCKA, FLORIDA, APPROVING, SETTING FORTH AND SUBMITTING TO THE
ELECTORATE A PROPOSED REFERENDUM TO REPLACE THE OLD OPA-
LOCKA CITY CHARTER, FIRST ADOPTED IN 1955, IN ITS ENTIRETY, WITH A
NEW, MODERN, UPDATED CHARTER, IN THE FORM MAINTAINED AND
AVAILABLE IN THE CITY CLERK'S OFFICE; CALLING AND PROVIDING FOR
SPECIAL COMMISSION MEETING-July 18,2012 Page 1
A REFERENDUM SPECIAL ELECTION TO BE HELD ON NOVEMBER 6, 2012,
FOR THE PURPOSE OF SUBMITTING SAID NEW CHARTER TO THE
ELECTORATE AT SAID REFERENDUM; FURTHER DIRECTING THE CITY
CLERK TO CAUSE A CERTIFIED COPY OF THE HEREIN RESOLUTION TO BE
DELIVERED TO THE SUPERVISOR OF ELECTIONS OF MIAMI-DADE COUNTY,
FLORIDA; PROVIDING FOR INCORPORATION OF RECITALS; PROVIDING FOR
AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
The above resolution was read by title by Attorney Geller.
It was moved by Commissioner Miller, seconded by Commissioner Holmes to pass the
above resolution.
Commissioner Holmes asked, would the city have enough time to advertise the public
hearing to allow the citizens an opportunity to express their concerns.
Attorney Geller said that the Commission could have a further proceeding to have the
public discuss and indicate whether they are for it or against it, ask questions, etc.
However, Miami-Dade County Elections is very strict with their deadlines, but certainly
there is an opportunity after this to have a public forum where citizens can speak.
Commissioner Holmes asked, when is the deadline for getting this on the ballot for the
November election?
Attorney Geller stated that the officially the deadline is Tuesday, July 24, 2012, however,
the City Clerk spoke with someone at elections which allowed an extension through the
end of that week. But to be on the safe side, the City Commission should pass it and there
would be time for changes in the text prior to the City Clerk submitting the text the
following week.
Commissioner Holmes suggested that the Commission go through the revised charter and
at the end they could decide whether or not to move forth with a public hearing.
Commissioner Miller expressed her concerns relating to the length of time it took to
present the revised charter to the City Commission.
Commissioner Tydus asked, has this item been properly advertised as a public hearing?
Clerk Flores replied that there was not an advertisement for this item.
Attorney Geller stated that he has suggested a public hearing, but there is not a
requirement that there be one.
Commissioner Tydus suggested that this be open to a public hearing because it is an
agenda item.
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Attorney Geller suggested that the Mayor open the public hearing at that time.
Mayor Taylor opened the floor for a public hearing. There being no persons to speak on
the public hearing, the public hearing was closed.
Mayor Taylor asked, how would the actual question appear on the ballot?
Clerk Flores directed Mayor Taylor to page 3 of the resolution which reflected the actual
language of the ballot question as follows: "Question 1: Shall the Old Opa-locka City
Charter first adopted in 1955 be replaced in its entirety with a new modern updated
Charter in the form maintained and available in the City Clerk's Office? Yes No ".
Mayor Taylor asked, today's resolution would take it to the Elections Department?
Attorney Geller replied, yes.
Commissioner Holmes suggested that the City Attorney go over the proposed updated
charter.
Attorney Geller went over the proposed new modern updated Charter with the City
Commission.
Mayor Taylor asked, when the City Attorney talked about if there's a conflict between
the Code and the Charter, did he make it clear that the Charter takes precedence?
Attorney Geller stated that the new Charter controls if there's a conflict,other than that,
the old code will stay in force until the Commission should decide to change it.
Commissioner Tydus expressed her concern with the section that read: "all city boards
and agencies existing prior to the adoption of this charter shall be de-authorized subject to
reauthorization"? She asked, does that mean the current members of the board terms are
terminated and started from scratch?
Attorney Geller replied, yes, the same members can be appointed, but it would have to
start from scratch.
Commissioner Tydus referred to page 10, section 4.2B "Interference with
Administration". She said that on many occasions during commission meetings, the
Commission have called upon staff members to come up by saying "through the
Manager", but they are speaking for the City Manager. If the City Manager doesn't want
an individual to come up, does he have the right to say "no I don't", because they are not
giving him the opportunity. She asked, does this section address that and is the
Commission correct by doing that? She provided an example: "I want Dr. Orji to come,
Finance Director, through the Manager". She said, how is that through the Manager if
they didn't ask the Manager and the Manager might not want him to come up.
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Attorney Geller said that any manager that denies commissioners information they are
seeking from staff is not likely to be a manager for very long. The reality is that there is a
prohibition on giving directions to staff, but that does not extend to asking information
and it is generally deemed under all Charter appropriate for Commissioners to request
information; that is different than requesting that something be done. You can only
request staff members to take action through the City Manager. His opinion is that the
City Manager is obligated to provide the information that's being requested. The City
Commission does have the authority to get information from city staffers.
Commissioner Tydus suggested a change because to say "through the City Manager"
without the City Manager having a say so and the Commission is catching the Manager
off guard just as much as the individual asked to come forward which is disrespectful and
deceitful. It really is not through the Manager and the City Manager should have some
input.
Attorney Geller stated that "through the Manager" is just a figure of speech and it is
intended as he understands to be a request to the City Manager, but the City Manager is
obligated to provide information to the Commission.
Commissioner Tydus stated that the request should be made to the City Manager and
through the Manager from his staff the Commission should receive whatever information.
Mayor Taylor asked, what is the proper way without disrespecting the City Manager?
Attorney Geller stated that it is proper to ask the City Manager for information and it is
proper to ask the City Manager if one of his staff is better able to provide that, but yes he
believes it should be an actual question and not a figure of speech where the Manager is
asked and has an opportunity to respond. Certainly, if a question is going to be asked that
way, it seems to him that it would be proper to allow the Manager a moment to confer
with staff member first. There is no other way to proceed at that and the courtesy that
embodies is required by law.
After hearing the discussion, Mayor Taylor said that the Commission should sharpen up
on how they conduct business and approach because there is a proper way to approach
everybody.
There being no further discussion, the motion passed by a 4-0 vote.
Commissioner Tydus Yes
Commissioner Miller Yes
Commissioner Holmes Yes
Vice Mayor Johnson Not present
Mayor Taylor Yes
Attorney Geller encouraged the Commission to contact him should they have further
questions regarding the new modern updated charter. Additionally, if they see something
SPECIAL COMMISSION MEETING-July 18,2012 Page 4
requiring tweaking, they may be able to tweak the document, but the city will now notify
the county that it is having an election.
Mayor Taylor asked, is the City Clerk's Office the only place where the proposed charter
would be available?
Attorney Geller stated that it would also be on the website and circulated. It would be
provided to anyone who requests a copy, but the City Clerk's Office is just where they
would go get it.
Commissioner Holmes suggested that a public hearing be held at the next regular
commission meeting to allow the citizens to give input because it would be useless to
allow citizens to comment once this item has been sent to the Elections Department. He
didn't want the citizens to think the Commission is putting something out there for them
to vote on and they didn't have a change to give input.
Attorney Geller stated that the Commission could take comment from the citizens and if
there is some need to change a section, the Commission could still do that as long as they
are now providing the notification to the county that there will be one question on the
ballot. The ballot question will not change, therefore, if a change is needed in a particular
section after the public hearing, then the Commission can still do that and they will be
timely in terms of the notice and this would be available in the City Clerk's Office.
He strongly urged that the Commission not change the provision relating to them
controlling the boards and not vice versa, but other than that, anything they wanted to
change and have public hearing next week is fine just as long as everything is final by
Thursday of the following week.
Commissioner Holmes asked if the Commission would like to have a public hearing at
the next commission meeting.
Following brief discussion, it was the consensus of the Commission to hold a public
hearing on the proposed revised charter at the Regular Commission Meeting of July 25,
2012.
The Commission entered into discussion as it relates to the length of commission
meetings and Commissioner Holmes said perhaps a provision should have been included
in the Charter to limit the amount of time each commissioner speaks on an item.
Attorney Geller advised that the Commission does have the right to fix the terms of
debate, if they ever wanted to do that they could, but he doesn't know how they would
want to enforce it. It is the authority of the Commission to set its own rules and
procedures.
SPECIAL COMMISSION MEETING-July 18,2012 Page 5
Mayor Taylor expressed her concerns about the length of time spent on individual items
at Commission Meetings and asked that her colleagues agree to limit discussion to no
more than 10 minutes per item. She said that this issue could be discussed at a later date.
Attorney Geller stated that he and the City Clerk will arrange for this item to be on the
agenda for a public hearing and the Commission could limit the time if they see a lot of
speakers that they each have. At the conclusion of the public hearing, if there is any
pressing need by motion the Commission can instruct him to make a change in the draft
and Thursday, July 26, 2012 when it's final then that would be the final draft.
He continued to say the city will notify the Elections Department now, but it would be
final in our office as of Thursday, July 26, 2012 which is the deadline. The Miami-Dade
County Elections just needs to prepare their ballot and the city just needs to let them
know now that we will have a question on the ballot.
Mayor Taylor asked that the public hearing be reflected in red and that the speakers be
allowed two minutes each.
7. ADJOURNMENT:
There being no further business to come before the City Commission, it was moved by
Commissioner Holmes, seconded by Commissioner Mill-r to adjourn-the meeting.
MA FOR
TTEST:
CITY CLERK
SPECIAL COMMISSION MEETING-July 18,2012 Page 6