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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06/15/2011 - Regular Agenda - Citizens Charter Review CommissionCity Manager Notice is hereby given that a meeting of the Citizens Charter Review Commission of the City of College Station, Texas will be held on Wednesday, June 15, 2011 at 4:00 p.m. in the City Council Chambers, 1101 Texas Avenue, College Station, Texas. The following subjects will be discussed, to wit: See Agenda. Posted the 10th day of June, 2011 at 2:00 p.m. CITY OF COLLEGE ST ATION, TEXAS By: - herry Mash rn, City Secretary I, the undersigned, do hereby certify that the above Notice of Meeting of the Citizens Charter Review Commission is a true and correct copy of said Notice and that I posted a true and correct copy of said notice on the bulletin board at City Hall, 1101 Texas Avenue, in College Station, Texas, and the City website, www.estx.aov. The Agenda and Notice are readily accessible to the general public at all times. Said Notice and Agenda were posted on at and remained so posted continuously for at least 72 hours proceeding the scheduled time of said meeting. This public notice was removed from the official posting board at the College Station City Hall on the following date and time: by Date this day of , 2011. CITY OF COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS Subscribed and sworn to before me on this the day of , 2011. Notary Public — Brazos County, Texas My commission expires: This building is wheelchair accessible. Handicap parking spaces are available. Any request for sign interpretive service must be made 48 hours before the meeting. To make arrangements call (979) 764- 3517 or (TDD) 1-800-735-2989. Agendas may be viewed on www.cstx.aov. June 15, 2011 Citizen's Charter Review Advisory Commission Minutes To: Commission Members From: Sherry Mashburn, City Secretary Agenda Caption: Presentation, discussion and possible action on minutes for June 1, 2011 Regular Meeting. Attachments: • June 1, 2011 Minutes MINUTES OF THE CITIZENS' CHARTER REVIEW COMMISSION JUNE 1, 2011 STATE OF TEXAS § COUNTY OF BRAZOS § Present: Brian Bochner Terry Childers Chuck Ellison Patrick Gendron, arrived after roll call Paul Greer Gary Halter Tony Jones Lynn McIlhaney Buck Prewitt Citv Staff: Carla Robinson, City Attorney Sherry Mashburn, City Secretary 1. Call to Order and Announce a Quorum is Present With a quorum present, the Citizens' Charter Review Commission was called to order by Vice Chair Lynn McIlhaney at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday, June 1, 2011 in the City Council Chambers of the City of College Station City Hall, 1101 Texas Avenue, College Station, Texas 77842. 2. Hear Visitors There were no citizen comments. 3. Presentation, discussion and uossible action on minutes for Mav 18, 2011 Regular Meetin!. MOTION: Upon a motion made by Commissioner Ellison and a second by Commissioner Childers, the Commission voted eight (8) for and none (0) opposed, with Commissioner Gendron absent, to approve the May 18, 2011 Regular Meeting minutes. The motion carried unanimously. ,, , e a RM060111 Minutes Page 1 4. Discussion and possible action on the Letter of Resignation from Jim Maness. MOTION: Upon a motion made by Commissioner Childers and a second by Commissioner Jones, the Commission voted eight (8) for and none (0) opposed, with Commissioner Gendron absent, to accept the Letter of Resignation from Jim Maness. The motion carried unanimously. 5. Discussion and possible action to appoint a new Chair and Vice Chair. if needed. MOTION: Upon a motion made by Commissioner Ellison and a second by Commissioner Bochner, the Commission voted eight (8) for and none (0) opposed, with Commissioner Gendron absent, to elect Lynn McIlhaney as Chair and Terry Childers as Vice Chair. The motion carried unanimously. 6. Presentation, discussion and possible action on gender neutrality within the Citv Charter. Carla Robinson, City Attorney, stated there is no legal requirement that the charter be drafted in gender neutral terms. The Code Construction Act states that words of one gender include the other gender as well. As such, the charter does not have to be updated to reflect gender neutral language or include a provision providing that the charter be gender neutral. MOTION: Upon a motion made by Commissioner Prewitt and a second by Commissioner Ellison, the Commission voted eight (8) for and one (1) opposed, with Commissioner Bochner voting against, to prepare draft ballot language providing that the charter is gender neutral and to change all gender specific language in the charter. The motion carried. 7. Presentation, discussion and possible action on the creation of subcommittees. No action was taken on this item. 8. Public Hearing to receive comments regarding the Citv of College Station Charter. At approximately 5:30 p.m. Chair McIlhaney opened the Public Hearing. Dick Birdwell, 3 Forest Drive, suggested the Commission make no changes regarding the recall. He is concerned about who would be responsible or able to determine what malfeasance is and how long might be required to determine it? He also suggested that it is time for Council to consider some kind of districts. The city is too large to have the entire Council elected at -large. It is also time to consider compensation for councilmembers. Many hours are spent in meetings and many hours are spent preparing for meetings. Jim Maness, 1733 Arrington, stated there is a general distrust of city government as evidenced by the red light camera and recall controversies. As College Station is approaching 100,000 population it is time to have councilmembers represent specific geographic areas of the city instead of having a plethora of councilmembers from only one area of the city. He suggested five single member districts with one person residing in each district, and one elected at -large. Recall could only be done by citizens of the councilmember's own district. This cost is about RM060111 Minutes Page 2 $30,000 every ten years to re -district. He stated that not allowing citizens to vote on property tax increases, as enshrined in Articles V and VIII is slamming citizens in the face. He also recommended adding a non -voting ad hoc member to the City Council to represent the disenfranchised people of the ETJ to give them some voice in what is going on. Jerry Cooper, 602 Bell Street, stated that trust issues will not be solved by the recommendations just given. Changing to districts will not change that one iota. He is in favor of retaining the at - large place system we have because it makes every councilmember responsible to every citizen of the city. As for the recall issue, he is in favor of changing the charter so people do have a pertinent solid reason instead of a disagreement on an issue. He reminded the Commission that the City tried districts in the 1970's and there were no identifiable areas in town. Sherry Ellison, 2705 Brookway, said she likes the idea of two year terms with six year term limits. She is concerned with the concept of elections by district, and that does not necessarily mean a good voter turnout. The design of a district is a critical thing to do. She likes keeping elections in May and November and timed with general elections. She would hate to see a recall happen again. She doesn't think it is right that people who have never voted before can sign a petition and decide who can be recalled. There must be a more substantive reason. Benito Flores, 901 Val Verde, stated, regarding recall, the way the system is set up is good. For example, if Council decides to double the utility rate, it is not illegal, but it is wrong. It is hard to do a petition. Even though there was a strong petition drive that resulted in the recent (recall) election, the citizens voted against it. The process worked. He suggested we change the charter to give proposed annexed citizens an opportunity to vote, even if it is a non -binding vote. Give the citizens more rights to decide what is going to happen to them, not less. There being no further comments, the Public Hearing was closed at 5:49 p.m. 9. Presentation. discussion and possible action on public comments received durinLy the Public, Hearing. No action was taken. 10. Presentation, discussion and possible action on a proposed Plan of Work as submitted by the Citv Attornev. The Commission accepted the'work plan as proposed with the change to to include Articles 1, 2, and 3 starting June 15 and adding discussion of draft language regarding gender neutrality on June 15.. 11. Discussion and possible action on future agenda items. Commissioner Gendron requested information that addresses ethics policy, nepotism, and conflicts of interest. Staff was directed to place this on the next agenda along with peer city comparisons. RM060111 Minutes Page 3 Commissioner Bochner encouraged the others to review the articles that will be discussed and to identify items needing discussion in advance. Commissioner Halter requested a copy of the model city charter to be made available to the Commission. 10. Adiournment MOTION: Upon a motion made by Commissioner Ellison and a second by Commissioner Greer, the Commission voted nine (9) for and none (0) opposed, to adjourn the Regular Meeting of the Citizens Charter Review Advisory Commission at 5:56 p.m. on Wednesday, June 1, 2011. The motion carried unanimously. Chair ATTEST: City Secretary RM060111 Minutes Page 4 June 15, 2011 Citizen's Charter Review Advisory Commission Gender Neutrality To: Commission Members From: Sherry Mashburn, City Secretary Agenda Caption: Presentation, discussion and possible action on the proposed ballot language for gender neutrality in the Charter. Summary: City Staff will present for the Commission's consideration draft ballot language adding a provision providing that the Charter shall be read as gender neutral and draft ballot language to make the charter language gender neutral. Attachments: • None June 15, 2011 Citizen's Charter Review Advisory Commission Peer City Comparisons To: Commission Members From: Sherry Mashburn, City Secretary Agenda Caption: Presentation, discussion and possible action regarding peer city comparisons regarding an ethics policy, nepotism and conflicts of interest. Summary: At their June 1, 2011 meeting, the Commission directed staff to add this item to the June 15, 2011 meeting agenda for discussion. Attachments: • None June 15, 2011 Citizen's Charter Review Advisory Commission Article 1, Incorporation: Form of Government: Territory To: Commission Members From: Sherry Mashburn, City Secretary Agenda Caption: Presentation, discussion and possible action on Article 1, Incorporation: Form of Government: Territory, within the City Charter. Summary: At the City Council's direction, the Commission was charged with making recommendations regarding any charter amendments necessary to comply with state law. The City Attorney and City Secretary will present information to be considered regarding Article 1. In addition, the Commission will discuss any changes generally to Article 1. Attachments: • None June 15, 2011 Citizen's Charter Review Advisory Commission Article 2, Corporate and General Powers To: Commission Members From: Sherry Mashburn, City Secretary Agenda Caption: Presentation, discussion and possible action on Article 2, Corporate and General Powers, within the City Charter. Summary: At the City Council's direction, the Commission was charged with making recommendations regarding any charter amendments necessary to comply with state law. The City Attorney and City Secretary will present information to be considered regarding Article 2. In addition, the Commission will discuss any changes generally to Article 2. Attachments: 9 None June 15, 2011 Citizen's Charter Review Advisory Commission Article 3, The City Council To: Commission Members From: Sherry Mashburn, City Secretary Agenda Caption: Presentation, discussion and possible action on Article 3, The City Council, within the City Charter. Summary: At the City Council's direction, the Commission was charged with making recommendations regarding any charter amendments necessary to comply with state law. The City Attorney and City Secretary will present information to be considered regarding Article 3. In addition, the Commission will discuss any changes generally to Article 3. Attachments: • None June 15, 2011 Citizen's Charter Review Advisory Commission Article 9, Nominations and Elections To: Commission Members From: Sherry Mashburn, City Secretary Agenda Caption: Presentation, discussion and possible action on Article 9, Nominations and Elections, within the City Charter. Summary: At the City Council's direction, the Commission was charged with making recommendations regarding any charter amendments necessary to comply with state law. The City Attorney and City Secretary will present information to be considered regarding Article 9. In addition, the Commission will discuss any changes generally to Article 9. Attachments: • None June 15, 2011 Citizen's Charter Review Advisory Commission Plan of Work To: Commission Members From: Sherry Mashburn, City Secretary Agenda Caption: Presentation, discussion and possible action on the attached Plan of Work, any items on the Plan of work, and possible criteria to be used in order to add items to the Plan of Work. Summary: This is a recurring item to allow the Commission to adjust the Plan of Work and the schedule accordingly. The discussion has been expanded to allow the Commission to set parameters for adding possible items to the Plan of Work. Attachments: • None