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06-29-1995 MINUTES AVENTURA CHARTER COMMISSION THURSDAY, JUNE 29, 1995 1. ROLL CALL: The meeting was called to order by Chairman Young. Those present were Commissioners Irene Barouh, George Feffer, Vice Chairman Leonard Brenner and Chairman Burton Young. Also present were Charter Commission Attorney Richard Jay Weiss and Counsellor Howard Lenard. Dr. Mary Pankowski was absent. As a quorum was determined to be present, the meeting commenced. 2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Lee Watts led the Pledge of Allegiance. 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: The minutes of the meeting of June 8, 1995 were read by Commissioner Barouh. Commissioner Feffer requested that the minutes reflect the correct spelling and address of Patricia Rogers Libert, 21155 Helmsman Drive, Harbor Village, The Waterways, Aventura. Mr. William Heiberger requested that the minutes be amended to reflect the correct spelling of his name. Chairman Young requested that the minutes reflect the attendance of Counsellor Howard Lenard. After motion made and seconded, by unanimous consent, the minutes were approved as amended. 4. DISCUSSION OF OPINION LETTER TO BAL HARBOUR VILLAGE AND MODEL CHARTER: Mr. Weiss provided the Commission with an opinion letter written to Bal Harbour Village and a sample provision from the Model Charter relating to elections. He outlined several options available to the Commission. The Commission may wish to provide that 1) residents live in a particular district and are elected only by the people living in that district; 2) there be no districting and Council members are elected at large; 3) the City be divided into districts, with Council members running in certain districts, but elected by the entire City. 5. DISCUSSION AND COMMISSION ACTION ON ELECTION PROVISIONS: Chairman Young turned the meeting over to Vice Chairman Brenner for discussion on this issue. A. ELECTION OF MAYOR: Vice Chairman Brenner informed the Commission that the Mayor could be elected by the voters at large or elected by the Council. He then requested input from the public. Those addressing the Commission on the issue of the election of Mayor were: Ginger Grossman, 20100 West Country Club Drive; Sidney Berger, 2851 NE 183rd Street; Bob Hollander, 1000 E. Island Boulevard; Harry Crook, Commodore PlaT~; Jacob Cohen, 3475 N. Country Club Drive; Ruby Steiner, 20301 W. Country Club Drive; William Heiberger, 20379 W. Country Club Drive; Manny Grossman, 20335 W. Country Club Drive; Henry Steckler, 20400 W. Country Club Drive; Ken Cohen, 3701 N. Country Club Drive; Patricia Rogers Libert, 21155 Helmsman Drive; Professor George Katzman, N. Country Club Drive; Judge Arthur Snyder, 20505 E. Country Club Drive; Paul Libert, 21155 Helmsman Drive; and Arthur Berger, 2000 Island Boulevard. It was the consensus of the public that the Mayor be elected at large. There being no further discussion on this matter, a motion was made by Vice Chairman Brenner and seconded by Commissioner Feffer, that the Mayor be elected at large. The motion passed unanimously by voice vote. B. ELECTION OF COUNCIL: ii. METHOD OF ELECTION: (This item taken out of order at the suggestion of Mr. Weiss') Vice Chairman Brenner advised the Commission that Council members could be elected in one of two ways: at large, or residence districts. Mr. Weiss informed the Commission that the most common election methods are as follows: 1) Election at large - those running for office can live anywhere in the City and are elected by all voters in the City; 2) single-member election districts whereby those running for office live in a certain district and are elected by residents of that district only; and 3) residence districts whereby those running for office live in · a certain district, but are elected by residents of the entire City. Those members of the public addressing the Commission on this issue were as follows: Ginger Grossman, Ruby Steiner, Manny Grossman, Irving Littman, 3600 Mystic Point Drive; Marian Nesbitt; Bernie Weinstein, 20191 E. Country Club Drive; Ken Cohen, Muriel Cohen, 3701 N. Country Club Drive; Paul Libert; Bob Hollander; Bob Diamond, 3000 Island Boulevard; Patricia Rogers Libert; Professor Katzman; Jacob Cohen; Harry Crook; June Stevens, 20412 Belle Vista Court; and Naomi W. Stack, 3030 Marcos Drive. After much discussion by Commission members, and with their intention to ensure total and complete representation of all residents of Aventura, a motion was made by Commissioner Feffer and seconded by Commissioner Barouh that the Charter provide for Council election by residence districts, with at large voting. The motion passed unanimously, by roll call vote. i. NUMBER OF COUNCIL MEMBERS: Mr. Weiss explained to the Commission the possible choices for consideration in providing for the number of Council members for the City of Aventura, as follows: 1) four Council members, plus the Mayor; 2) six Council members, plus the Mayor; or 3) eight Council members, plus the Mayor. The following members of the public addressed the Commission relative to this matter: Henry Steckler; Sol Talidgman, 20201 NE 29th Court; Ken Cohen; and Jerry Cohen, Mystic Point Tower 200. It was the consensus of the audience that the Aventura City Council be comprised of six Council members, plus the Mayor. After brief discussion, a motion was made by Commissioner Barouh and seconded by Commissioner Feffer that the Aventura City Council be comprised of six Council members, plus the Mayor. The motion passed unanimously by voice vote. 2 The next item to come before the Commission was the number of residence districts to be provided for in the City. Mr. Weiss offered three possible suggestions for the Comrnission's consideration: 1) six districts with one Council member elected from each district; 2) three districts with two Council members elected from each district; and 3) two districts with two Council members elected from each district and two Council members elected at large. The meeting was then opened to the public for their input. Those members of the public addressing the Commission were as follows: Ken Cohen; Ginger Grossman; Art Grossman, 20100 W. Country Club Drive; Ruby Steiner; Paul Libert; Bernie Weinstein; Arthur Snyder; Patricia Rogers Libert; Manny Grossman; June Stevens; Arthur Berger; George Berlin and June Lebowitz, 20379 W. Country Club Drive. Mr. Lenard explained in detail to the Commission the possible options. Mr. Weiss suggested that the districts be referred to as residence at large districts. Discussion ensued and concern was expressed as to how the districts would be drawn and how many districts would be most suitable for the City of Aventura. At the suggestion of Chairman Young, this matter was deferred to a future meeting until such time as more information was available to the Commission. C. LENGTH OF TERMS: i. COUNCIL: Mr. Weiss advised the Commission that the Charter should provide for staggered terms for Council members so that all members do not leave the Council at the same time. He provided the Commission with information as to the method in which other municipalities in Dade and Broward County provide for terms of Council members. Ruby Steiner, George Berlin and Ginger Grossman addressed the Commission. It was the consensus of the public that the term limit for Council members be four years. A motion was made by Commissioner Barouh and seconded by Commissioner Feller that the term for Council members be four years. The motion passed unanimously by voice vote. Vice Chairman Brenner questioned how Council terms would be staggered if all were elected for four years. Mr. Weiss advised that this would be provided for in the first Council election, where some terms would be shorter for this election only. ii. MAYOR: The next item to be addressed was the length of term for the office of Mayor. Those members of the public offering input to the Commission were as follows: Ruby Steiner; Ginger Grossman; and Bernie Weinstein. It was the consensus of the public that the Mayor should serve for a term of four years. Mr. Lenard advised the Commission that the term for the office of Mayor should be an even number of years, as the Council member terms, in order to avoid the necessity of holding elections every year. A motion was made by Vice Chairman Brenner that, at this time, the term for the office of Mayor be two years. The motion died for lack of a second. A motion was then made by 3 Commissioner Feffer and seconded by Commissioner Barouh that the length of term for the office of Mayor be four years. The motion passed by voice vote. D. TERM LIMITS: i. COUNCIL: The Commission next addressed the issue of the number of terms a Council member would be allowed to serve. Manny Grossman and Judge Arthur Snyder addressed the Corm~ission on this issue. A motion was made, seconded and unanimously passed that no person shall serve as a Council member for more than two consecutive terms. ii. MAYOR: A motion was made, seconded and unanimously passed that no person shall serve as Mayor for more than two consecutive terms. E. LENGTH OF RESIDENCY REQUIREMENT: Mr. Lenard cautioned the Council that residence should be referred to as "domicile" to insure that the person running for office is a full-time resident of the City of Aventura. Marian Nesbitt, Ruby Steiner, Bernie Weinstein, Henry Steckler, June Lebowitz and Dan Palmer, 7601 E. Treasure Drive, North Bay Village, addressed the Commission. The members of the public were divided as to the length of residency requirement to be provided for. A motion was made by Commissioner Barouh, seconded and unanimously passed by voice vote, that any person running for the office of Mayor be domiciled in the City of Aventura for two years. George Berlin, Arthur Berger, Ruby Steiner and Marian Nesbitt addressed the Commission relative to the length of residency requirement for Council members. It was the consensus of the members of the public that this requirement be two years. A motion was made by Vice Chairman Brenner and seconded by Commissioner Barouh that any person rtmning for the office of Council member be domiciled in the City of Aventura for one year. The motion failed, with Commissioner Barouh and Vice Chairman Brenner voting in favor of and Chairman Young and Commissioner Feffer voting no. Chairman Young stated that this matter would be deferred until such time as a full Commission was in attendance. 6. BUSINESS MEETING: A. STATUS OF BUDGET APPROVAL: Mr. Weiss noted that the budget document has been provided to the County in the appropriate form and is awaiting placement On the County agenda. B. SURVEY PROCESS: Mr. Weiss informed the Commission that a request was made to Senator Margolis to enlist the assistance of a surveyor under the County contract to perform the necessary survey work, inasmuch as Aventura does not presently have funds to pay for this project. He is awaiting a response from Senator Margolis. 7. OTHER BUSINESS: There was no further business to come before the Commission. 4 Chairman Young informed the public that the next meeting of the Commission is scheduled for Thursday, July 6, 1995. 8. ADJOURNMENT: After motion made, seconded and unanimously passed, the meeting adjoumed. Prepared by: Teresa M. Smith Approved this~ day of ~O-t--~, 1995. Irene Barouh, Secretary Anyone wishing to appeal any decision made by the Charter Commission with respect to any matter considered at such 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. 5