2013-03-18 CHARTER REVIEW COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES2013 CHARTER REVIEW COMMISSION
MINUTES OF MEETING
MARCH 18, 2013
Present at the Meeting:
Commission Members
Dale E. Pillow, Chair
Jeff Koza
Jerry Koza
Ruby Sandars
Joe Watkins
CALL TO ORDER
Call to order was at 5:41 pm by the Chair.
II. CITIZENS TO BE HEARD
City Staff
Lawrence G. Provins
Charlie McMurray spoke under Citizens to Be Heard and suggested that the
Commission recommend Single Member Districts, increase the size of Council,
clearly define Council and clarify when the Mayor is counted as a member of City
Council, and change the frequency which the Charter Review Commission
meets.
III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: MEETING OF FEBRUARY 18, 2013
The Minutes from meeting on 02-18-2013 were amended and approved.
IV. CONSIDERATION AND POSSIBLE ACTION - DISCUSSION AND
REVIEW OF CITY OF PEARLAND CHARTER AND PROPOSED
AMENDMENTS
The Commission discussed potential changes to Article 3.02 and is not making
any proposed changes at this time.
The Commission discussed potential changes to Article 3.03 and is not making
any proposed changes at this time.
The Commission discussed potential changes to Article 3.04 and is not making
any proposed changes at this time.
The Commission did not have any proposed changes to Article 3.05.
The Commission did not have any proposed changes to Article 3.06.
The Commission did not have any proposed changes to Article 3.07.
The Commission discussed potential changes to Article 3.08 and is
recommending the following changes:
Section 3.08. - Meeting of the city council.
The city council shall hold at least two (2) regular meetings in each month
at a time to be fixed by said city council by ordinance or resolution fixing
the dates of such regular meetings. As many additional special meetings
may be held during the month as may be necessary for the transaction of
all business of the city and its citizens. All meetings shall be public, except
where authorized by law, and shall be held at the city hall, provided,
however, the city council may designate another place for such meetings
after publishing the due notice thereof in one (1) issue of the official
newspaper of said city. The city secretary, upon written request of the
mayor or any two councilmembers, shall call special meetings of the city
council, notice of such special meetings shall be given to each member of
the city council at least seventy-two (72) hours before the start of the
meeting, which said notice shall state the date for such meeting and the
subject to be considered at such meeting, and ^^ ^them ect shall be
. Said
notice to the city council shall be sufficient if delivered to the
councilmembers in person, or in the event of the inability to locate said
councilmember within the City of Pearland, Texas, delivery of such notice
to his or her home shall be sufficient.
This was a staff proposed change and the purpose of this proposed change is to
make the Charter compliant with state law, specifically, the Open Meetings Act.
The Commission did not have any proposed changes to Article 3.09.
The Commission did not have any proposed changes to Article 3.10.
The Commission did not have any proposed changes to Article 3.11.
The Commission did not have any proposed changes to Article 3.12.
The Commission discussed potential changes to Article 3.13 and is
recommending the following changes:
Section 3.13. - Audit and examination of city books and accounts.
The city council shall cause an annual audit to be made of the books and
accounts of each and every department of the city. At the close of each
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fiscal year, a complete audit shall be made by an independent certified
public accountant, who shall be selected by the city council, and such
audit shall include a recapitulation of all audits made during the course of
the fiscal year, and all audit reports shall be filed with the city council, shall
be available for public inspection, shall be made a part of the archives of
the city and the resume shall he published in the offinial Gity newspaper of
Item env of the rite's orro, ruts or rerordS nor he an emnleyee or official of
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the City of Peadand.
This was a staff proposed change and commentary from staff as to why they are
proposing this change is as follows:
While soliciting resumes from a CPA was the way an auditor was chosen
in the past, the City currently selects auditing firms through the Request
for Proposal process the City uses for Professional Service Agreements,
which includes posting the request in the paper and after receiving and
evaluating all the responses to the request, posting the item on an Agenda
and taking action in an open meeting. CPAs do not prepare and submit
resumes anymore, firms submit responses to RFPs. Additionally, in 2009
the City adopted a Financial Management Policy which allows the City to
use the same firm for up to 7 years in a row, which allows the City to
better negotiate rates and which takes up less time and resources as the
firm is more familiar with the City's processes, forms, and financials and
reduces the learning curve a new firm would have each year. The
information submitted in response to the request for proposal is subject to
the Public Information Act and the contract is renewed in a posted public
meeting annually.
The Commission discussed potential changes to Article 4.01 and is not making
any proposed changes at this time; however, they have requested additional
information from staff about the interplay of this provision and entering into a
contract with a City Manager.
The Commission did not have any proposed changes to Article 4.02.
The Commission did not have any proposed changes to Article 4.03.
The Commission discussed potential changes to Article 4.04 and is
recommending the following changes:
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This was a staff proposed change and commentary from staff as to why they are
proposing this change is as follows:
Although the title suggests that there is a Dept. of Taxation, it fails to
establish such a department. The Uniform Budget Law (Chapter 102 of
the Local Government Code) sets out the basic requirements the City's
budget must meet. The State Property Tax Code controls three of the four
basic procedures for administering the property tax: 1) Appraisal of
property, 2) handling of protests regarding value of property, and 3)
assessment of taxes; all of which are handled by appraisal districts. The
City contracts with a law firm to handle the fourth tax function, the
collection of current and delinquent taxes.
The Commission discussed potential changes to Article 4.05 and is
recommending the following changes:
Section 4.05. - Department of finance.
There shall be established and maintained a department of finance to administer
the financial affairs of the city. The city manager with the approval of the city
council shall appoint a competent person as the director of finance and st13
manager -assistants as the eity . The director
of finance shall be the official city treasurer and shall perform the duties delegated
to him/her by the city manager and those which may be imposed upon him/her by
the laws of the State of Texas.
This was a staff proposed change and commentary from staff as to why they are
proposing this change is as follows:
This is the only department established in the Charter that requires Council
approval for any assistants. In an effort to maintain consistency, staff has asked
that this provision be removed.
The Commission asked that staff provide proposed changes to this article that
would insure that this article is consistent with other articles that establish
department heads.
The Commission did not have any proposed changes to Article 4.06.
The Commission did not have any proposed changes to Article 4.07.
The Commission discussed potential changes to Article 4.08 and is
recommending the following changes:
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This was a staff proposed change and commentary from staff as to why they are
proposing this change is as follows:
The City hires a physician as the Director of EMS; however, the City has
not had or used a physician for epidemiological purposes pursuant to this
charter provision for some period of time.
The Commission discussed potential changes to Article 4.09 and is
recommending the following changes:
Section 4.09. - Volunteer Fire department.
There shall be established and maintained a fire department to provide fire
suppression, rescue, fire prevention and public fire education services to
the City. The city manager with the approval of the city council shall
appoint a competent person as the fire chief. The fire chief shall perform
the duties _delegated to him/her by the city manager and those which may
be imposed upon him/her by the laws of the State of Texas.
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This was a staff proposed change and commentary from staff as to why they are
proposing this change is as follows:
Up until 2007, the City primarily relied on the Pearland Volunteer
Firefighters for fire protection services. Since that time, the City has
established a combined paid and volunteer fire department under the
direction of a full-time Fire Chief. This proposed change would reflect the
current organizational structure of the fire department.
The Commission asked that staff provide proposed changes to this article that
would insure that this article is consistent with other articles that establish
department heads.
The Commission discussed potential changes to Article 4.10 and is
recommending the following changes:
Section 4.10. - Department of public works.
There shall be established and maintained a department of public works in
the City of Pearland. The city manager, with the approval of the city
council, shall appoint a director of public works who shall be the
administrator of this department. The department of public works shall
perform such duties as maintenance of water and sewage facilities,
maintenance of streets, cel!eGtffG, of garbage 4RSPer•t;E)RS ni Fs pant to the
and such other and further duties for the public at large as
may be assigned by the city manager.
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This was a staff proposed change and commentary from staff as to why they are
proposing this change is as follows:
While garbage collection was once a function of this department, the City
now contracts with a provider for such services.
Depending on the nature of the inspection, building code inspections are
performed by various different departments, including the Inspections
Services Department, the Fire Marshal's Office, Public Works,
Engineering, and outside service providers.
The Commission asked that staff provide proposed changes to this article that
would insure that this article is consistent with other articles that establish
department heads.
The Commission did not have any proposed changes to Article 4.11.
The Commission discussed potential changes to Article 4.12 and is
recommending the following changes:
Section 4.12. - Department of parks, recreation and beautification.
There shall be established and maintained a department of parks and
recreation. The city manager, with the approval of the city council, shall
appoint a director of parks and recreation who shall be the administrator of
this department. The city council shall appoint an advisory park, recreation
and beautification board. The advisory park, recreation and beautification
board shall study the recreation, park facilities and beautification programs
of the city and shall confer with the director of parks and recreation G4
manager and advise him/her with respect to the development and use of
the city's parks, the recreation programs and city beautification. The
advisory park, recreation and beautification board shall recommend to the
city council rules for the use of parks, public grounds and recreation
facilities consistent with the ordinances of the city and the statutes of the
State of Texas and appropriate programs for the beautification of the city.
This was a staff proposed change and commentary from staff as to why they are
proposing this change is as follows:
As with other various boards established by the City, the liaison between
the board and the City is a department head and this section does not
establish any such position.
The Commission asked that staff provide proposed changes to this article that
would insure that this article is consistent with other articles that establish
department heads.
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The Commission did not have any proposed changes to Article 4.13.
The Commission did not have any proposed changes to Article 5.01.
The Commission did not have any proposed changes to Article 5.02.
The Commission did not have any proposed changes to Article 5.03
The Commission did not have any proposed changes to Article 5.04.
The Commission discussed potential changes to Article 5.05 and is not making
any proposed changes at this time; however, the Commission is requesting staff
make recommendations on proposed changes to this provision to correspond to
the changes being proposed to Article 3.01.
The Commission did not have any proposed changes to Article 6.01.
The Commission discussed potential changes to Article 6.02 and is
recommending the following changes:
Section 6.02. - Scope of recall.
Any elected city official, whether alerted to offiro by the qualified Motors of
shall be subject to
recall and removal from office by the qualified voters of the city on grounds
of incompetency, misconduct or malfeasance in office.
This was a staff proposed change and commentary from staff as to why they are
proposing this change is as follows:
The Charter does not allow for council to fill a vacancy by appointment;
therefore this provision is surplusage. See section 3.06.
The Commission did not have any proposed changes to Article 6.03.
The Commission did not have any proposed changes to Article 6.04.
The Commission did not have any proposed changes to Article 6.05.
The Commission did not have any proposed changes to Article 6.06.
The Commission did not have any proposed changes to Article 6.07.
The Commission did not have any proposed changes to Article 6.08.
The Commission did not have any proposed changes to Article 6.09.
The Commission did not have any proposed changes to Article 6.10.
The Commission did not have any proposed changes to Article 6.11.
The Commission did not have any proposed changes to Article 6.12.
The Commission discussed potential changes to Article 6.13 and has asked that
staff provide proposed changes that would allow City Council make changes to
an initiative driven ordinance in order to comply with state or federal law. If a
proposed ordinance or resolution is unconstitutional, contrary to federal or state
law, or pre-empted by state or federal law, City Council still has to either adopt it
as it is written or send it to the voters as it is written.
The Commission did not have any proposed changes to Article 6.14.
The Commission did not have any proposed changes to Article 6.15.
The Commission did not have any proposed changes to Article 6.16.
The Commission did not have any proposed changes to Article 6.17.
The Commission did not have any proposed changes to Article 6.18.
The Commission did not have any proposed changes to Article 6.19.
The Commission discussed potential changes to Article 6.20 and is
recommending the following changes:
Section 6.20. - Ordinances passed by popular vote, repeal or
amendment.
No ordinances or resolutions which may have been passed by the city
council upon a petition or adopted by popular vote under the provisions of
this article shall be repealed or amended except by the city council in
response to a referendum petition-crl by submission as provided in section
6.15 of this charter, or to comply with federal or state law.
This was a staff proposed change and commentary from staff as to why they are
proposing this change is as follows:
It might be beneficial to allow City Council to make amendments to
ordinances passed by popular vote that are unconstitutional, contrary to
federal or state law, on pre-empted by state or federal law.
The Commission did not have any proposed changes to Article 6.21.
The Commission did not have any proposed changes to Article 6.22.
The Commission agreed to review Articles 7, 8, 9, and 10 at the next meeting,
currently scheduled for April 8, 2013.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:40 pm.
Minutes approved as submitted and/or corrected April 8, 2013.
Dale E. Pillow, Chair
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