back to charter committee home page

CHARTER ISSUES ADVISORY COMMITTEE
May 2, 2002

DRAFT MINUTES

Volusia County Library Support Center
1290 Indian Lake Road
Daytona Beach, Florida 32124
5:30 p.m.

Roll Call

The meeting was called to order by Committee Chair Jon Kaney at 5:30 p.m. Those present were Jack Ascherl, Senta Goudy, James Huger, Charles Matousek, Doug Daniels, Linda White, Matt Greeson and Cindy Finney from the County Manager’s Office, and Dan Eckert, County Attorney. Also present was Summer Clayton. Members Maryam Ghyabi and Allen Watts arrived shortly after the meeting started.

Approval of Minutes of the Meeting of April 25, 2002

Chairman Kaney said the vote recorded on page 4 regarding the proposed make up of the County Council was incorrect and should be 2-5 instead of 3-4. The corrected version should read: The motion failed 2-5 with Charles Matousek, Doug Daniels, Jimmy Huger, Senta Goudy and Linda White dissenting.

Jimmy Huger moved the minutes be approved as corrected. Linda White seconded the motion. The motion was approved unanimously

Continued Discussion regarding Charter Issues related to the Chair and the Volusia County Council

Chairman Kaney said the Committee was almost done with its deliberations. He suggested canceling the Tuesday meeting and asking Matt Greeson to draft an interim report for the Committee to review and adopt in two weeks.

Mr. Greeson said Thursday, May 16, was the date the Committee had talked about appearing before the County Council. Chairman Kaney asked that the Committee receive a time certain appointment so all members could be informed and attend. Chairman Kaney said the Committee could meet on May 14, which would allow Mr. Greeson more time to draft the interim report. Senta Goudy noted she has a Beach Advisory Board meeting and Linda White said she would be out of town May 10-18.

Chairman Kaney said the Committee needs to finalize all its decisions tonight and then decide on a time to meet and review the final document. Mr. Greeson said the purpose of the Committee attending the County Council meeting May 16 was to update the Council. He said the Committee's approval of one of the documents tonight would probably serve as an interim report that could be given verbally on May 16.

Mr. Huger asked if it was required that the Council have a written statement in its agenda packet prior to the meeting. Mr. Greeson said yes, but those documents could be supplied to the County Council as late as the night before a meeting. Chairman Kaney said the Committee should plan on keeping the Tuesday, May 7 meeting. Mr. Huger said the Committee should finalize what its doing tonight and Tuesday come back and approve it.

Mr. Greeson informed the Committee that Bill Frederick and Howard Tipton would speak to the group in the Training Rooms at the DeLand Administration Center at 5:30 p.m., May 16. Chairman Kaney said the meeting would be devoted to the speakers and an update on the Committee's report before the County Council earlier that day. In addition, Dr. Lance de Haven Smith from Florida State University would speak to the group on May 23 in the Training Rooms. Dr. Smith is with the Institute of Government. Mr. Kaney said the Committee would have a meeting or two to finalize after that and be done by June 20.

Ms. White asked if anyone had a feel for how the County Council was thinking about the Committee's work so far. Ms. Goudy said there may have been a few issues that the Committee addressed recently that the Council might not have liked.

Mr. Greeson suggested the Committee go through the "Draft Summary of All Decisions to Date (May 2) to ensure its accuracy. Mr. Kaney asked if the Committee had completed its work as required by the County Council and the answer was yes. He suggested the Committee work through the document and discuss it.

The Committee agreed that under Form of Government, the bullet point was accurate. Under Position of Chair, the Committee agreed that the first item "The Chair should be able to succeed himself or herself for more than on year or term" should be struck. The Committee agreed the remaining three bullet points were accurate and acceptable.

Under Duties of Chairman the Committee agreed on items 1-4. The Committee discussed Item 5. Mr. Huger said he was concerned that citizens would not get adequate notice if the Council added items to the agenda at the beginning of the meeting. Chairman Kaney said public notice is not required for Council agendas as such, but notice is required for ordinances. He said it was not considered to be conducive to effective government if the Council could not do anything that was not on the agenda. Ms. Goudy noted that so much of what the County Council does is ordinances, which require public notice.

Mr. Greeson said in practice the County Council can and does bring up issues during "Discussion by County Council of Items not on the Agenda." The Council can take action on these issues, he said. The discussion usually occurs at the end of the agenda but the Chair can bring it up anytime during the day.

Ms. Goudy said if an issue is brought up at 9 a.m. the staff will be noticed and have enough time to prepare. In addition, many people listen to the meetings on their computers.

Chairman Kaney said the question is "Do we want to have the charter to bind the County Council to a prepublished agenda?" Allen Watts said it was not practical to limit the agenda. The Committee discussed the issue further. All agreed with the item as written with the exception of Mr. Huger.

For Item 6, Mr. Ascherl suggested it be reworded to read "The Chair shall annually make a report to the County Council that outlines the major accomplishments of the previous year, clarifies the status of unfinished business and sets forth the goals, objectives and a plan of action for the upcoming year. Mr. Huger asked why the report could not be made to the citizens. Ms. Goudy said the Chair should be required to do it at the beginning of every year. A discussion ensued. Mr. Huger said that the item should say that the report is made to the Council and citizens. The Committee agreed and Mr. Huger seconded the motion, which passed unanimously. The item now reads "The Chair shall annually make a report to the County Council and citizens that outlines the major accomplishments of the previous year, clarifies the status of unfinished business and sets forth the goals and objectives and a plan of action for the upcoming year."

The Committee agreed Item #7 was acceptable.

Item #8. Mr. Ascherl suggested the word "may" be substituted for "shall." Mr. Matousek said it gives more flexibility. Ms. Goudy questioned why the Committee would make the wording softer. She said she does not want to weaken this. Ms. White said what if the Chair wants to seek advice? She did not want the item to preclude the Chair from building consensus. Mr. Watts said it does not preclude the chair from seeking advice from the County Council.

A discussion ensued. Mr. Watts made a motion the wording be changed from "will" to "may." Mr. Ascherl seconded the motion. The motion passed 8-1 with Mr. Huger dissenting.

Under Salary and Time of the Volusia County Council and Chair, the group agreed the first bullet was acceptable.

Item #2, . Mr. Ascherl said he was concerned that the salary of the Chair being twice as much as Council members was a mistake. He explained how the state retirement plan would work with the amount of money that would be generated using this salary. He said it he did not think it was a good idea to have this kind of distortion, and it was not something that was common in cities and the legislature. He said he feared if it were put in the package it would be one of the things that would kill it. He suggested perhaps separating it from the other issues to keep it from dragging down the rest of the package. Mr. Watts said he had the same concern. He said he would rather see the pay issue come back as an amendment at a later date. Mr. Daniels noted there is the same kind of discrepancy in salaries between the governor and the legislature and congress and the president. Mr. Matousek said he is in favor of the difference, that a smaller difference would not be enough to set the Chair apart and in our society there is a generally accepted correlation as to how much a person makes and the prestige of the job. The person who is elected will be expected to work full time, he noted. Chairman Kaney asked if the Committee wanted to approve what was before them. The vote to keep the wording that the County Council Chair will receive for salary 100 percent of the state statutory guidelines for County Commissioners (approximately $70,000) was approved with Jimmy Huger, Jack Ascherl, Jon Kaney and AllenWatts dissenting.

Ms. Goudy suggested on the next item as a compromise to make the County Council salary 60 percent instead of 50 percent so the disparity between the Council and the Chair's salaries would not be so great. Mr. Matousek said he had not felt comfortable with doing nothing to allay the expenses of the Council. He said thinks they Council should have a budget limit with monthly expenses reimbursed.

The Committee was asked if they approved giving the County Council members 60 percent of the state statutory salary guidelines. The vote was 5-4 in favor, with Jon Kaney, Jack Ascherl, Allen Watts and Jimmy Huger voting no.

The Committee agreed with Staff Support for the Volusia County Council and Terms of Volusia County Council Members as written. A discussion ensued on the Number, Type (At-large vs. Single member district) and Terms of Volusia County Council Seats with several different scenarios mentioned and debated, including single member districts and east/west residential at-large seats. The committee voted 5-4 against the bullet item #1 (seven Council members, three elected at large, four single member districts, chair one of at large) with Linda White, Maryam Ghyabi, Jon Kaney and Jack Ascherl voting in favor of the item.

Mr. Ascherl moved that there be four single districts and 3 at-large, one of which would include the chair. The other two at-large districts would be residential districts requiring the person to live in the district, but run at-large. Mr. Matousek seconded the emotion. The motion failed 5-4 with Jack Ascherl, Allen Watts, Linda White and Jon Kaney voting yes.

Mr. Watts motioned that there be three districts of equal population and two representatives elected from each serving staggered terms. Ms. Goudy seconded. The motion failed 5-4 with Senta Goudy, Jacks Ascherl, AllenWatts and Maryam Ghyabi voting yes.

Ms. White motioned there be four single member district and one at-large. Ms. Goudy seconded the motion. The motion failed 5-4 with Senta Goudy, Linda White, Jon Kaney and Allen Watts voting yes.

Ms. Matousek suggested having six single member districts and three at-large districts. Mr. Huger made a motion they retain the current five single member districts and two at large districts. The Chair would be one of the one of the at-large seats. The motion died for a lack of a second.

Mr. Watts made a motion the Committee approve the original 4 single member/3 at-large plan with one of the at large positions to be the Chair. Ms. Ghyabi seconded the motion. The motion was approved 5-4 with Jimmy Huger, Doug Daniels, Charles Matousek and Senta Goudy voting no.

Bullet Item #2 and the In County Expenses Issue were approved as written.

The Committee discussed the necessity of the Council having a Vice Chair to serve should the Chair be absent. The Committee agreed.

Ms. Ghyabi asked what would the Chair be called? Mayor? By consensus, the Committee decided the person would be called the County Chair.

Adjournment

With no further business to discuss the meeting was adjourned at 7:30 p.m. The next meeting will be at 5:30 p.m., Tuesday, May 7 at the Library Operations Center.

back to county council home page

 

Comments or questions?
E-mail the

Volusia County, Florida.