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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2004 0210 Special City Commission Meeting SUMMARY MINUTES Special City CoIjImission Meeting Tuesday, February 10,2004, 8:30 a.m. City of Sunny Isles Beach, Florida A TTENTION ALL LOBBYISTS: CITY LAW REOUIRES YOUR REGISTRA TION PRIOR TO ENGAGING IN LOBBYING ACTIVITIES BEFORE CITY STAFF, BOARDS, COMMITTEES OR THE CITY COMMISSION. PLEASE CONTACT THE CITY CLERK FOR FORMS AND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION. AGENDA 1. CALL TO ORDERlROLL CALL OF MEMBERS The meeting was called to order by Mayor Edelcup at 8:30 a.m., with the following officials presen t: Mayor Norman S. Ede1cup Vice Mayor Gerry Goodman Commissioner Roslyn Brezin Commissioner Danny Iglesias Commissioner Lewis J. Thaler City Manager Christopher J. Russo City Attorney Lynn M. Dannheisser City Clerk Jane A. Hines 2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Action: Mayor Edelcup led the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag. 3. DISCUSSION REGARDING ESTABLISHING ADVISORY COMMITTEES TO THE CITY COMMISSION. Action: Mayor Edelcup said that this meeting is to discuss the formation of the Mayor's Advisory Council, comprising of five different committees, and each Committee will have a liaison member of the Commission to work with that committee. He said that each of the members of the Commission would appoint one member to each of those committees and that he would appoint the Chairperson to each of those committees. Mayor Edelcup noted that in setting up the policy he is recommending that no one person shall serve on more than two committees, it can be a chairperson of two different committees, or a chairperson and a member of a committee, or a member of two committees. Mayor Ede1cup went on to summarize that he hopes each of these committees are active in their work so that truly productive work can come from them. The five committees would include: 1) Community Safety and Welfare; 2) Transportation and Traffic Control; 3) Tourism and Development Committee; 4) Education/Schools; and 5) Long Range Planning and Intergovernmental Relations. He feels that each of these are broad swaths of what City government is about and particularly in Sunny Isles Beach where we have a very close affinity between the Commission and the residents, and will bring a better quality Summary Minutes: Special City Commission Meeting February 10, 2004 Sunny Isles Beach, Florida of life to our City. Public Speakers: Bud Scholl; Mary Ann Eicke; Sydney Davis; Richard Schulman Bud Scholl stated that he understood that the membership does not have to come from within the City, and the Commission is looking for people that are representative of the topic, that is talent based and has had some kind of dealings with the City in one form or fashion. Mayor Ede1cup said that is correct and that an example would be Bill Lone or Sydney Davis who do not live in the City but are very active in the City. Mr. Scholl asked if the meetings have to be held in the Sunshine, and City Attorney Dannheisser said absolutely. Mary Ann Eicke asked if one of these groups would include the Architectural Committee that was discussed at the Town Center Zoning District Workshop, and Mayor Ede1cup stated that at the last Workshop, February 5, 2004, it was decided that it would be difficult to get a group of professionals that would truly be independent to comment on any specific sites being proposed to the Commission and that the Commission instructed staff to prepare an ordinance that essentially said that any architectural comments that the Commission wanted to have elicited from a professional would be on a case by case basis, and would probably employ an architect. City Attorney Dannheisser stated that each of the Commissioners is going to be on one committee and the Commission has appointed the Commission liaison, but that no Chairperson has been appointed. She noted that it is scheduled on the February 19,2004 City Commission Meeting agenda. City Attorney Dannheisser said that rules of procedure that will be followed will be the same rules that the Commission follows, the Mason rules, that each committee chair will get a copy of those rules and the only prohibitions are that it has to be in the Sunshine, which means it has to be advertised and the public has to be able to attend, and minutes have to be taken, and how the Commission wants to develop a Mission Statement for each of these committees whether the Commission is going to make that as part of this resolution, which currently it is not, or the Chair and the committee will develop that, and these are things that can be discussed today. Vice Mayor Goodman asked if the Commissioner that sits on the committee, will be a guest at these meetings because it will be chaired by someone else, and Mayor Ede1cup said that is correct. Vice Mayor Goodman noted that any Commissioner can attend anyone of these meetings at anytime that he wants being that it is in the Sunshine, and City Attorney Dannheisser said yes. Mayor Ede1cup noted that collectively that they could all attend these meetings. Commissioner Thaler questioned what depth are we dealing with here, for instance on the Transportation and Traffic Control area, he has been looking into the concurrency within the City that we actually don't have set rules and we were actually given dispensation by Miami- Dade when we got set up and he feels that it is time to go back and revisit this area, and what he is saying is how far can these committees go? City Attorney Dannheisser said that for an issue such as concurrency, that requires a good deal of study and staffing, and she doesn't think that is what the Mayor is intending with these committees because we are short staffed 2 Summary Minutes: Special City Commission Meeting February 10, 2004 Sunny Isles Beach, Florida as it is and she thinks this is more policy related, and concurrency is much more technical. She said that we are also dealing with the difference between where staff is involved as opposed to policy-making members of a committee. Commissioner Iglesias stated that we are also limited to what we can do because basically we are governed by the State roads, Collins A venue, Sunny Isles Boulevard, and the William Lehman Causeway, however, we can dictate what we do in our backyards. Mayor Ede1cup stated as to the Committees Mission Statement, he feels that it would be best to be left for that committee to be drafted by its Chairperson rather than the City mandate something on this level, and Commissioner Iglesias agreed. Vice Mayor Goodman said it would be their duty to call these people and ask them if they want to be on these committees, and in an event that we get similar names on the Committees, then we would have to make that decision on who should remain. Mayor Ede1cup suggested that we start a list and for City Clerk Hines to keep it in her office, and when a Commissioner wants to add a name to that list, that Commissioner can see who's name is already on there so that there is no duplication. Commissioner Iglesias suggested alternates in case a member couldn't make it, and City Attorney Dannheisser stated that you only need a quorum, three out of five. After discussion it was decided to leave it at five members for each committee. City Attorney Dannheisser said that if there are any issues, that the Resolution can always be amended. She suggested to make it easier on the Commission, changing the effective date of the Resolution to say within thirty days of the passage of the Resolution the names will be submitted, and the Commission agreed. Mayor Ede1cup stated that he would like to see Mary Ann Eicke chair the Community Safety and Welfare Committee; Bud Scholl chair the Long Range Planning and Intergovernmental Relations Committee; Bob Welsh chair the Education/Schools Committee; Bill Lone chair the Tourism and Development Committee; and Cecile Sippin chair the Transportation and Traffic Control Committee, and that he is only suggesting these names at this point, and he will formalize it when he submits the list. City Attorney Dannheisser noted that because Bill Lone is the Resort Association and funded by the County, she is not sure if he can be in the Tourism and Development Committee, or if it effects the funding. Mayor Edelcup said that the Commissioner will commit to a name only after they have talked to that person, to make sure that person is ready, willing and able to serve, and after all the names are on the list, then the Mayor would recommend who shall serve as Chairperson. City Attorney Dannheisser cautioned the Commission that, because these committees are advisory, they have to be careful not to be violative of the Charter in terms of interfering with any Administration and operation of this City that would involve staffing and so forth, and said that they should check with the City Manager whenever there is an issue like that. 4. Add on: DISCUSSION REGARDING CHARTER AMENDMENTS ADDED TO THE GENERAL ELECTION ON NOVEMBER 2, 2004. 3 Summary Minutes: Special City Commission Meeting February 10, 2004 Sunny Isles Beach, Florida Action: Mayor Edelcup said that he wanted to discuss putting Charter Amendments on the General Election ballot coming up in November, check that timetable and then determine when we should have a City Workshop to discuss these amendments. City Attorney Dannheisser asked what amendments we are talking about, and Mayor Edelcup said that when he became Mayor there is a requirement that if there was more than six months in his term as a Commissioner, that the vacancy be filled by a nominee of the Mayor, and he would like to see language that would require an election for any Commission seat that is filled by appointment where the term would be for more than six months, and he wanted to revisit the stipend issue as to whether or not there would be compensation to the Commission, and there may be other items that Cominissioners might want to bring forward. Mayor Ede1cup said that November would be a good month because all the residents would be in town for the winter and more would come out and vote. City Attorney Dannheisser said that City Clerk Hines would give us the timeframes it has to be done by, and that there would be two readings of an ordinance, and that it has to be submitted to the Miami-Dade County Elections Department, ninety days before the election. Commissioner Iglesias said one other thing he would like to bring out is term limits. 5. Add on: INFORMAL DISCUSSION REGARDING REVIEW OF ADMINISTRA TIVE ST AFFING. Action: Mayor Ede1cup brought up the fact that we are a growing City and may need to take a look at our staffing levels to make sure we can be responsive. City Attorney Dannheisser noted that with respect to staffing under the City Manager that is within the Manager's purview, and with respect to her office that is obviously within the Commission's purview. Commissioner Thaler said that they are not dealing with a specific, they are looking at the overall and they are looking at the growth of the City, and from where we were six years ago and to where we are today, is a lot more work. He noted that the Commissioners are there nearly every day and he feels we may need more backup in the City, and that we can sit down and go through it at different levels. City Manager Russo said the best way to do that to see what we need and move on is to bring in a Consultant, as the City has done in the past on specific staffing issues. They have done it in the Building Department and in the Police Department, for example. He said that we can do it ourselves by department to department, as they did in the Building Department. Vice Mayor Goodman asked if we hire more people would we have a problem with office space, and City Manager Russo said it will be nice to do it now because we can implement it in the new City Hall where we will have space. Commissioner Brezin clarified that it was suggested that we employ a consultant to review our staffing and she is in favor of that, and City Manager Russo said that we did it once before, or that we can do it ourselves and go department by department. Mayor Edelcup said the best example is last year we had a consultant come in and review the 4 Summary Minutes: Special City Commission Meeting February 10, 2004 Sunny Isles Beach, Florida entire operations of the Police Department, and that consultant did a long-range forecast of what it is going to take to staff that Police Force to make sure that we stayed the premier Police Force in all South Dade and give the services that we give and they came up with a recommendation that is a multi-year implementation program that doesn't get all done in the first year but over a series of years and perhaps that is what we need for the City operation. Commissioner Brezin said that she thinks that we want to take an overall picture of our operations, and if we need more help, since we do have the money to do that, it would make it easier for each individual job, and in addition to that, we would be providing the services. City Manager Russo said it will be different in the new City Hall, we will operate on a more professional level, somewhat like the City of A ventura. Commissioner Iglesias said that the consultant that is being discussed is a good idea but he feels that the best consultant is our own staff. He said that we are doing more development in this City than anywhere else with 1.7 square miles. Commissioner Thaler said that he agrees with what Commission Iglesias is saying but that we have to look below the high-profile areas and that is what he and Commission Brezin is looking at, and thinks we need an outside individual do it, rather then do it internally. City Attorney Dannheisser asked if the Consultant that is going to review all departments be willing to do a review of the Legal Department as well, and City Manager Russo said they will look at the whole City. She noted that hiring consultants as opposed to in-house staff saves money, but now she is hearing that the Commission wants staff in-house. Commissioner Thaler said that a consultant will tell us that. City Attorney Dannheisser asked if the consensus was to bring in a Consultant, and Mayor Edelcup said that the Commission is saying to the senior staff that they want them to feel free to work up a plan and bring it back to the Commission so that we are not forgetting the birth of our City at its staffing levels, and we want to be a service organization that is responsive to the needs of the people as quickly as possible. 6. ADJOURNMENT Vice Mayor Goodman moved and Commissioner Iglesias seconded a motion to adjourn the _ meeting. The motion was adopted by a voice vote of 5-0 in favor and the meeting was -. ~djourne~,~t 9:35 a.m. / ..~ ~' p~speC(I~Y ,&~bm;t br ~.(l}\~ ~~ Jane A. Hines, City Clerk 5