01-05-2001MINUTES Aventura Government Center
CHARTER REVISION COMMISSION 2999 NE 191`t Street #500
JANUARY 5, 2001 10 AM ^ventura. Florida 33180
1. Call to Order/Roll Call. The meeting was called to order by Chairman Burton
Young at 10:05 a.m. City Clerk Teresa M. Soroka called the roll. Present were Charter
Revision Commission Members Burton Young, Esq., Michael Abrams (arrived at 10:25),
Leonard Brenner and Commissioner Harry Holzberg. Ginger Grossman was absent
due to illness. Others present included City Manager Eric M. Soroka, City Clerk Teresa
M. Soroka, City Attorneys Richard Jay Weiss and David M. Wolpin (arrived at 12:15
p.m.), and Commissioner Ken Cohen.
2. Approval of Minutes: Motion to approve the minutes of the December 1, 2000
meeting was offered by Commissioner Holzberg, seconded by Mr. Brenner and
unanimously passed.
3. Motion to approve amendments discussed at previous meeting - as outlined
in item 4 of December 1~ 2000 minutes): The following action was taken relative to
the issues discussed as the previous meeting:
Sec. 2.02 (a) - delete provisions that Mayor may create and appoint sub-committees of
the Commission. Motion was offered by Commissioner Holzberg and seconded by Mr.
Abrams that Section 2. 02(a) be amended to read as follows:
Section 2.02. Mayor and Vice Mayor.
(a) Mayor. The Mayor shall preside at meetings of the Commission
and be a voting member of the Commission ......... ~ ........... ~,~, .....
,.,,~. .... ;,, .... ~ ,~... r...,~,~;~;..., The Mayor shall be recognized as
head of City government for all ceremonial purposes and for purposes of
military law, for service of process, execution of duly authorized
contracts, deeds and other documents, and as the City official
designated to represent the City in all dealings with other governmental
entities. The Mayor shall annually present a state of the City message.
Motion passed 3-1, with Chairman Young voting no. Chair requested that the record
reflect clarification that this refers to sub-Committees of the Commission and not
Committees that may be formed by the Mayor outside of the Commission.
Section 3.11 - delete provision providing that Boards and agencies shall be appointed
by the Mayor subject to approval of the Commission and provide for appointments to be
made by the City Commission. Motion was offered by Mr. Brenner, seconded by Mr.
Abrams and unanimously passed that Section 3.11 be amended to read as follows:
Section 3.11. City boards and agencies.
Except as otherwise provided by law, the Commission shall establish or
terminate such boards and agencies as it may deem advisable from
time to time. The boards and agencies shall report to the Commission.
Members of boards and agencies shall be appointed by the Mayor
subject to the approval of the Commission. The City Commission by
majority vote can remove members of boards and a.qencies appointed
by the Mayor.
Section 4.01(a) - add provision that the City Manager may also call meetings. Motion
was offered by Mr. Abrams, seconded by Mr. Brenner and unanimously passed that
Section 4.01 be amended to read as follows:
Section 4.01. Commission meeting procedure.
(a) Meetings. The Commission shall hold at least 11 regular monthly
meetings in each calendar year, at such times and places as the
Commission may prescribe by rule. Special meetings may be held on
the call of the Mayor or City Manager or upon the call of four members
of the Commission and upon no less than 24 hours' notice to each
member and the public, or such shorter time as a majority of the
Commission shall deem necessary in case of an emergency affecting
life, health, property or the public peace.
Section 7.06. Charter revision. Amend to provide that charter review commences in
November and not December. Motion was offered by Mr. Brenner, seconded by Mr.
Abrams and unanimously passed to amend Section 7.06 to provide that Charter review
shall commence in November.
Amend to provide that Charter Commission shall submit its changes to the City
Commission on or before January 1st . Motion was offered by Commissioner Holzberg,
seconded by Mr. Abrams and unanimously passed to further amend Section 7. 06 to
provide that amendments shall be submitted to the City Commission not later than the
following January 1st.
Change time frame to submit to the electorate as "not less than 30 days or more than
150 days." Motion was offered by Commissioner Holzberg, seconded by Mr. Brenner
and unanimously passed to further amend Section 7.06 to provide that the Commission
shall submit the proposed amendments to the electorate not less than 30 days or more
than 150 days after submission to the Commission.
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Amend to provide that no member of the then current City Commission shall serve as a
Charter Revision Commission member. Motion was offered by Commissioner
Holzberg, seconded by Mr. Abrams and unanimously passed to further amend Section
7. 06 to eliminate the provision that one member of the Charter Commission be a current
Commissioner serving a second consecutive term of office.
Thus, Section 7.06 shall be amended to read as follows:
Section 7.06. Charter revision.
At its first regular meeting in November Dec=ember of every fifth
year after the adoption of this Charter, commencing with
December, 2000, the Commission shall appoint a Charter revision
commission consisting of five persons, one of whom shall-be-a
t'~mm[~,i ....... ~'h~r ,~ ,,,h,'~m ~h~ll have se~ed as a member
of the previous Cha~er commission and four ~ of whom shall
be electors of the Ci~ !f *~ ...... ~c ~:~-; ......... :-~ c
.... :~: ...... :~": ..... ~;~: .... If a former Cha~er
commission member is not available to se~e, five four electors of
the City, rather than four ~, shall be appointed. The City
Commissioners .... ,~, shall not be eligible for appointment to the
revision commission. The revision commission shall commence its
proceedings within 1~ ~ days after appointment by the
Commission. If the revision commission determines that a revision
is needed, including but not limited to a change in the boundaries
or numbers of Residential Areas, it shall draft such amendments
to this Cha~er as it deems appropriate and submit the same to the
Commission not later than Janua~ 1 of the following year ~
..,~" after their appointment by the Commission. The Commission
shall, not less than 30 days or more than ~ 150 days after
submission of the proposed amendments to the Commission,
submit them to the electors of the Ci~ in accordance with the
provisions of Section 6.02, except that the provisions of
subsections (a) and (b) of such Section shall not apply.
Amend Section 8.07 to provide that those Commissioners elected on March 1996 to
seats 1, 3 and 5 may run for to-election in 2003 and serve the entire 4-year term.
Motion was offered by Mr. Abrams, seconded by Mr. Brenner and unanimously passed
to amend Section 8.07 to read as follows:
Sec. 8.07. Initial election of Commission and Mayor
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(e) Maximum terms. Notwithstanding Section 2.03, any
Commissioner (including the Mayor) elected in the 1996 election
may serve for a maximum of nine consecutive years.
Commissioners re-elected to seats 1,3. or 5 in the March 1999
election may serve a maximum of eleven consecutive years.
4. Issues/Revisions:
A. Section 2.03 - Term Limits: No action taken
B. Section 2.06 - Commission Salary: Motion was offered by Mr. Abrams
and seconded by Mr. Brenner to amend Section 2. 06 to read as follows:
Section 2.06. Compensation; reimbursement for expenses.
Commissioners shall receive compensation in the amount of
$2,50057,500 per fiscal year. The Mayor shall receive
compensation in the amount of $5,000510,000 per fiscal year ....
Motion passed 3-0 (Commissioner Holzberg was absent from the room for
the vote).
(The Commission recessed at this time for five minutes)
C. Section 7.05 - Charitable Contributions: No action taken
Section 7.09 - Non-Discriminatory Use of Public Facilities: Motion
was offered by Mr. Brenner, seconded by Mr. Abrams and unanimously
passed to amend Section 7. 09 to provide that public facilities will not be
available for use by those persons, groups, organizations, etc. that do not
adhere to the City's non-discrimination policy as set forth currently in
Section 7.09
E. Section 7.10- Fire/Rescue Services: No action taken
Rotation of Auditors: Motion was offered by Mr. Abrams, seconded by
Commissioner Holzberg and unanimously passed to amend Section 4.11
to include a provision that no firm or person shall serve as auditor for more
than five consecutive years.
5. Other Issues: Motion was offered by Mr. Abrams, seconded by Mr. Brenner
and unanimously passed to amend Section 6.02(a)(i) to provide that any ordinance
proposing amendments to the Charter by the City Commission must be enacted upon
by the affirmative vote of not less than five Commissioners.
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6. Meetin,q Schedule: City Manager to schedule a public hearing for input from
residents regarding the proposed amendments, at which time the Charter Commission
will formally adopt the final proposed changes.
The meeting adjourned at 12:35 p.m. / L ,//~ ///~
S Clerk
Approved by the Charter Review Commission on January 30, 2001.
Anyone wishing to appeal any decision made by the Charter Revision Commission with respect to any matter
considered at a meeting or hearing will need a record of the proceedings and, for such purpose, may need to ensure
that a verbatim record of the proceedings is made, which record includes the testimony and evidence upon which the
appeal is to be based.
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