HomeMy Public PortalAboutCharter Review Committee Minutes 01-26-2012 1
Charter Review Committee Minutes
January 26, 2012
Community Board Room
Members Present:
Chairman Bill Agan
Secretary/Vice Chair Jeff Ritter
Member Loyce Greer
Member LaRue Wall
Members Absent:
Member Doug Knowlton
Audience Present:
Janece Hill
1. Read and Approve minutes from last meeting (January 5, 2012)
Secretary Ritter motioned to accept the minutes from the January 5, 2012 meeting.
Member Wall seconded.
The motion was approved by unanimous vote.
Chairman Agan announced that member Knowlton would not be present at the meeting.
011/1/ Secretary Ritter stated he has composed a"cover letter" for the status report to the
Council on February 7, 2012. Secretary Ritter read the letter to the Committee.
Secretary Ritter stated he would compare and contrast a section of the current Charter
with a section of the proposed Charter to show the difference in clarity and
understanding. Secretary Ritter proposed to compare/contrast section current 5.02 with
new 3.02 as a quick yet effective example of the type of work the Committee is
performing.
Member Greer indicated it would be best if the new indexing system was used in the draft
Charter to be presented to Council.
Secretary Agan stated it was important to keep the presentation simple so that the Council
can understand the progress and the method the Committee is using to rewrite the
Charter.
Member Greer suggesting including page numbers on all pages of the new Charter
2. Review City Charter.
Discussion by everyone on reviewing the draft Charter to be presented to the Council on
February 7, 2012.
Extensive discussion and reading by all of the draft Charter to prepare for status report.
Section 1.01.
The Committee added (last line) after "rights" the words "privileges, authorities, duties
and immunities" as are herein provided.
Section 3.09
Member Greer stressed that the Council should not give orders to department heads or
employees, yet should work with the City Manager on employee issues.
Section 3.14.
Second paragraph. The Committee agreed that following "Municipalities." we would
eliminate the wording that begins with "including and ends with "thereof." and add as a
third paragraph "The report of such Auditor or Auditors for the fiscal year shall be
printed and a copy thereof shall be furnished to each member of the Council,the city
Manager and to each Citizen who may apply therefore. A copy of the audit shall be filed
with the City Secretary within one hundred twenty (120) days after the last day of the
City's fiscal year. the original report of said Auditor or Auditors shall be kept among the
permanent records of the City."
Section 3.15.
Committee agreed to add following words -- (Para. 2)"a, so," (Para. 4)"Council
members, and" for clarification purposes, and agreed that the last paragraph would read,
"By caption, the City Secretary shall note on every ordinance the record thereof, the
date of such publication and the fact that every ordinance which is hereby required to be
published, as required by this Charter, has been published which shall be prima facie
evidence of the legal publication and promulgation of such ordinance; provided that the
provisions of this section shall not apply to the correction, amendment, revision and/or
codification of the ordinances of the City for publication in book or pamphlet form."
Section 3.16.
Committee agreed to add (Para 1) after the words "shall be" - "numbered consecutively
as adopted and" authenticated Also, in Para 2 & 3 the words "made available" were
added ...placed in city offices and "made available" to the public, also, ....and Charter
amendments shall be "made available" to the public. Set off in quotation marks" "The
Richland Hills City Code"
Section 3.18.
Strike "Neither the City council nor any of its members shall" and use instead the
words "No member of the City Council shall"
Section 3.20
The consensus of the Committee was to exchange paragraphs 1 and 2.
Member Greer stated that the provision for the "official newspaper" should be included
in the "General provisions" section as a new Article 12.
Member Greer will E-mail or deliver an electronic copy of her version of the draft
Charter to Secretary Ritter for preparation for the report to Council.
3. Assignment for Next Meeting
The next meeting is scheduled for February 2, 2012.
Review all articles previously reviewed for changes in preparation for the status report to
Council.
4. Public Comments
None
5. Adjournment
Member Wall motioned to adjourn.
Secretary Ritter seconded.
Chairman Agan adjourned the meeting at 8:59 PM.
Jeff Ritter-Secretar ill Agan-Chairma�cf