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Home My Public Portal AboutCharter Review Committee Minutes 09-15-1994 Charter Review Committee Meeting Date: September 15, 1994, Special Called Meeting Present were: Michael Logan, Chairman, Don Acker, Vice-Chairman, Lester Strother, David Ragan, Jean Spieker, City Secretary Terri Willis, staff representative. 1. Meeting Called to order at 7:32 P.M. 2. David Ragan made the motion to approve the August 22, 1994 minutes and the September 1, 1994 minutes as written. Don Acker seconded the motion. Carried unanimously. 3.Continued Review of the Charter. Chairman Logan stated we would start at the beginning and cover all provisions one more time, along with our previously stated suggestions, the City Attorney's responses to our questions, and any other thoughts we have in order to refine our decisions before the review with the City attorney at the next meeting. All agreed it was better to have things thoroughly clear in our minds before he attends the meeting. D.. Ragan questioned the procedure for resolving disagreement among members on a provision. Chairman Logan reiterated the rules established at the beginning of the Committee. If there is still not a consensus after discussion, then the item is held for a vote, majority rules on our recommendations, with all members voting. Review notes: Article II Section 2.01. Stay with change. Article V Section 5.01 Stay with change Section 5.02 Question with C.A. Paul Wieneskie, do we need to remove to comply with State law? This was not covered in his August 2, 1994 letter. Section 5.03 See new section 5.12 (discussion on 5.12 held at this point) City Secretary T. Willis noted Mr. Wieneskie requested we use the word "Councilmember"" consistent with the current Charter and not "Councilperson" as the minutes have reflected. So agreed. Section 5.08 Discussion over the issue of runoff elections on council places followed. Chairman Logan pointed out the expense of an election on a council place could be prohibitive. J. Spieker stated as the voting members of the council each position is very important. D. Ragan feels the decision should go to the people. L. Strother stated after reconsideration of his views he now is opposed to Council run-offs. Chairman Logan questions the justification of cost when only 25% of the people return to vote in a run-off In response to D. Acker's question, City Secretary T. Willis stated the cost of a run-off was approximately $2,000. It was agreed to hold this item for consideration with the Attorney. Section 5.12 Considerable discussion ensued over the issue of term limitations. the points of dispute centered on not restricting a person from serving as many terms as he wishes vs. limiting the consecutive number of terms served in each position. D. Ragan's concern was to keep a person willing to work for the City in the system. L. Strother pointed out if a strong leader served many consecutive terms you were apt to create a political force that would discourage others from vying for the position. Citizen JoDon Hicks stated he agreed with D. Ragan's view of keeping an experienced person in office as long as he has the confidence of the people, shown by his continued re-election. D. Acker believes if a person is truly interested in the City he will stay involved, not feel threatened by having to sit out one year. Agreement with this view from J. Spieker. L. Strother also stated this experience could be used on any committee on which he worked. After further discussion Chairman Logan established the consensus of the Committee is to leave the suggested change in for term limitations and discuss with C. Attorney. Article VI Section 6.04 Sub-section 3 h. Chairman Logan prepared a suggestion for this section that he felt would address the concern of vagueness some on our Committee felt was in the original Charter. (Attached as part of the minutes) At L. Strother's request Chairman Logan briefly covered the difference between State Civil Service and City Civil Service. Basically, if regulated by State we would be at the mercy of whatever passed or not by State referendum. In the C.C.S. we could control, by ordinance, exactly the best choices for our City. Flaws in the current system were discussed. Chairman Logan stated the article he wrote was intended just to be a roadmap for ideas on the grievance committee revision. Consensus of the Committee is to adopt his idea and present as suggestion to the City Attorney. The complete provisions of a C.C.S. would then be established by the Council in an ordinance. Section 6.08 An additional concern over this issue was expressed by L. Strother. In the time between a resignation and an election we need to provide for some mechanism of appointment. D. Acker also felt we then needed to establish a time frame for an election. All agreed to "A special election to take place within 90 days after the resignation of the Judge of the Municipal Court. In the interim, the Mayor, with the City Council's approval will appoint a replacement until such election takes place." Section 6.09 To establish above. ,,•s,, Article IX Section 9.04 Discussion surrounded limit of$10,000 instead of$5, 000. D. Ragan felt this would leave the City Manger open to criticism. D. Acker pointed out the additional expense of the advertising and bidding process. L Strother stated this simply meant you didn't have to put out for bid. You could get other bids by phone for comparative purposes. Chairman Logan also pointed out that at times there is only one supplier for a particular City need, or one supplier the City feels is best for the item. There needs to be some leeway for discretion. The City Council is ultimately responsible for the City budget, and would be free to stipulate various constraints in the case of a no bid situation, i.e. three phone quotes. L. Strother also pointed out there are Bid Lists now in place. Review of the Charter ended at this point. D. Acker stated he felt we should have one more meeting to complete this review before the City Attorney sits in. All agreed. The next meeting date is October 6, 1994 at 7:30. Terri Willis agreed to contact the City Attorney to see if he could meet with us on October 13, 1994. L. Strother questioned if we still were agreed in considering a cross-reference section. Chairman Logan replied in the affirmative. Also was noted for the record, the Regular Meetings of this Committee are posted on the City Newsletter calendar. 4. Meeting opened to the Public. No members of the Public present. (Mr. Hicks left at 8:45). 5. Meeting adjourned at 8:57P.M. Respectfully submitted, �tGt - retary Chairman TO: CHARTER REVIEW COMMITTEE FROM: MICHAEL LOGAN DATE: SEPTEMBER 15, 1994 RE: SUGGESTED RE-WRITE OF SECTION TO ESTABLISH PROVISIONS FOR A CITY CIVIL SERVICE SYSTEM THAT HAS BEEN ADOPTED BY MOST OF THE METROPLEX COMMUNITIES. SECTION 6 .04 CITY MANAGER 3. h. THE CITY MANAGER SHALL PROVIDE FOR A CIVIL SERVICE SYSTEM THAT PROVIDES FOR THE DISSEMINATION OF PERSONNEL RULES, REGULATIONS, JOB DESCRIPTIONS, AND BENEFITS AS APPROVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL, EXCLUDING THOSE PERSONS EXEMPTED IN APPOINTED POSITIONS BY THE CITY MANAGER. THE CIVIL SERVICE SYSTEM SHALL PROVIDE FOR EMPLOYEE GRIEVANCES OR APPEALS AFFECTING DISCIPLINARY ACTIONS, DEMOTIONS, PROMOTIONS, COMPENSATIONS, OR SUCH OTHER CONDITIONS AFFECTING THE STATUS OR WORKING ENVIRONMENT OF THE EMPLOYEE. THE CIVIL SERVICE SYSTEM SHALL PROVIDE FOR A COMMISSION OF FIVE ( 5) MEMBERS, APPOINTED BY THE COUNCIL, WHO WILL REVIEW GRIEVANCES SUBMITTED IN THE APPEAL PROCESS. EXEMPTED EMPLOYEES SHALL BE ENTITLED TO ALL OTHER RIGHTS, PRIVILEGES AND BENEFITS AFFORDED ALL OTHER EMPLOYEES UNDER THE CIVIL SERVICE SYSTEM. DOC./CIVIL/PW/LGN/9-94