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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05/02/2012 - Regular Minutes - Citizens Charter Review Commission MINUTES OF THE CITIZENS' CHARTER REVIEW COMMISSION MAY 2, 2012 STATE OF TEXAS § § COUNTY OF BRAZOS § Present: Brian Bochner, absent Terry Childers, Vice Chair, arrived 4:40 p.m. Chuck Ellison Patrick Gendron, arrived 4:45 p.m. Paul Greer Gary Halter Tony Jones, absent Lynn Mcllhaney, Chair Buck Prewitt City Staff: Carla Robinson, City Attorney Sherry Mashburn, City Secretary 1. CaII to Order and Announce a Quorum is Present With a quorum present, the Citizens' Charter Review Commission was called to order by Chair Lynn McIlhaney at 4:20 p.m. on Wednesday, May 2, 2012 in the City Council Chambers, City Hall, 1101 Texas Avenue, College Station, Texas 77842. 2. Hear Visitors There were no citizen comments. 3. Presentation, possible action, and discussion on minutes for April 18, 2012 Regular Meeting. Commissioner Prewitt noted that Commissioner Ellison seconded the motion in item #3. MOTION: Upon a motion made by Commissioner Ellison and a second by Commissioner Prewitt, the Commission voted five (5) for and none (0) opposed, with Commissioners Childers and Gendron not yet present, to approve the minutes of the April 18, 2012 Regular Meeting, as amended. The motion carried unanimously. RM050212 Minutes Page 1 4. Presentation, possible action, and discussion on Article X Initiative, Referendum and Recall within the City Charter. City Attorney Carla Robinson provided the Commission with draft language for Section 97 to clarify that the City Secretary's examination is ministerial and to determine that the grounds for removal are clearly stated. Commissioner Prewitt noted a couple of instances where "councilman" had not been changed to "Councilmember ". After some discussion by the Commission, the Commission concurred to leave "as soon as reasonable" in Section 94. 5. Presentation, possible action, and discussion on a working draft of the charter reflecting all the recommended changes to date and draft ballot language. City Attorney Carla Robinson noted changes in Section 92 and 99, related to ballot language, and stated the changes were made to be consistent with state law. She also noted that Section 133 provides that the Council may re- arrange or re- number portions of the Charter by ordinance. MOTION: Upon a motion made by Commissioner Prewitt and a second by Commissioner Greer, the Commission voted seven (7) for and none (0) opposed, to approve the redline changes of the Charter. The motion carried unanimously. The City Attorney then presented draft ballot language for the Commissioner's review and consideration. She grouped the changes into eight propositions. She asked for direction from the Commission as to the order of the propositions. MOTION: Upon a motion made by Commissioner Childers and a second by Commissioner Halter, the Commission voted seven (7) for and none (0) opposed, to order the propositions 1, 2, 5, 6, 4, 7, 8, and 3. The motion carried unanimously. The Commission decided to review and approve the ballot language at the next meeting. 6. Presentation, possible action, and discussion on amending 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. Chair Mcllhaney stated her belief there needs to be a joint Public Hearing with Council. The Commission has been working on this for the past year, and they are better suited to answer questions about why recommendations were made. This should be made part of the Commission's recommendation. Another recommendation is that the Commission will be involved in the education process; e.g. appearing at HOA and civic group meetings. The Commissioners will review the ballot language and submit any comments to the City Secretary prior to the May 16 meeting. RM050212 Minutes Page 2 7. Discussion and possible action on future agenda items. Items on the next agenda will be final consideration of the ballot language and the Commission's report to Council so that it may be placed on the Council's May 24 agenda. 8. Adjournment MOTION: Upon a motion made by Commissioner Childers and a second by Commissioner Prewitt, the Commission voted seven (7) for and none (0) opposed, to adjourn the regular meeting of the Citizens' Charter Review Advisory Commission on Wednesday, May 2, 2012 at 5:32 p.m. The motion carried unanimously. Or /1 277 Chair ATTEST: City Secre RM050212 Minutes Page 3