CITY HALL, 100 LOCKVILLE ROAD
WEDNESDAY,
MARCH 7, 2007
REGULAR
MEETING
7:30
P.M.
1. ROLL CALL. Mr. Fix called the meeting to order at 7:30 P.M., with roll call as follows: Mr. Hackworth and Mr. Fix were present. Mrs. Riggs was absent due to illness. Others present were Judy Gilleland, Phil Hartmann, and Lynda Yartin.
2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF February 7, 2007, Regular Meeting. Mr. Hackworth moved to approve; Mr. Fix seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mr. Hackworth and Mr. Fix voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 2-0.
3. SCHEDULED MATTERS:
A. Review and discussion regarding proposed Administrative Code revisions. Mr. Fix stated staff had provided an edited copy of the Code with suggested revisions, and he appreciated all of their efforts. Ms Gilleland stated the first change recommended was to correct the title to “Administrative” Code rather than Administration Code. Ms Gilleland stated Mr. Hansley had recommended changing Municipality to City and Mr. Hartmann stated either one would be appropriate. Mr. Hartmann clarified that Section 202.99 meant if there were some type of violation, this would be the catch all that would make it a minor misdemeanor. He stated this was an odd place to have it, but it was the catchall enforcer. Mr. Fix stated as an example if someone violated the ordinance passed dealing with garbage collection, and Mr. Hartmann stated that was correct. Mr. Hartmann stated he would check to see if this could be put in another section. Mr. Hartmann clarified the “Editor’s Notes” were put in when the ordinances were codified and that would be updated when we have them done. Mr. Hackworth clarified we have the codifieds updated every 12-18 months and we are getting ready to have that done very shortly. Ms Gilleland stated it appeared that Section 206.03 and 206.06 are the same so she would recommend deleting 206.03, and include in 206.06 that notification may be done electronically as well. Section 220.03(3) is also included in Section 220.12 and so can be deleted.
Ms Gilleland stated she would recommend the Duties of Committee Chairperson, Section 220.04(e)(2)B, be revised to indicate that with the assistance of the City Manager and the Chairperson, the Municipal Clerk shall prepare an agenda for each meting. Subsections D, E, F, G, H, and J, could also be deleted. Mr. Fix requested Mr. Hartmann provide a suggested revision of subsection (f), Committee Meetings, for the Committee to review. Mr. Fix stated he felt a majority of committee members should be defined in the same section where a majority of Council is defined. Mr. Hartmann stated the problem with the way it is written is that when people are absent, you are locked into a hard number. He stated if you only have four members present, you have a majority, but you cannot get anything passed. Mr. Hackworth stated he did not want to make any changes in this area. Mr. Fix stated he would add this issue as well as the officers; President, President Pro-Tempore; Vice President Pro Tempore; and Municipal Clerk to the long-term list of items to be discussed. Mr. Fix inquired if it were usual to have the Municipal Clerk appointed by the City Manager, and Ms Gilleland stated it was not. She stated that typically the Clerk and the Manager are appointed and report to Council and everyone else reports to the Manager. Ms Gilleland clarified the Charter states the Manager shall appoint, and may also remove, the Municipal Clerk. Mr. Hartmann stated it concerned him that the Administrative Code provides duties of the Municipal Clerk, however, the Charter does not provide the right to provide duties. Mr. Fix stated he felt this was in conflict with the Charter and Mr. Hartmann stated that was correct and he felt this entire section should be removed from the Code or the Charter needed to be changed. Mr. Hartmann stated the Charter should be changed to reflect that the Clerk’s duties can be defined by ordinance. Mr. Hartmann stated he felt this section should be removed, but have a directive from the City Manager by an Administrative Order, pursuant to the Charter, stating the duties and referencing that order in the Administrative Code.
Mr. Fix stated on page 19 where Committees are discussed, he felt it should be clarified that the President of Council or their designee serves as the Chairperson of the Finance Committee, and the Chairperson of Safety and Service also serve as members. Mr. Fix stated he felt the Parks and Recreation Board should have a Council representative as a member, and he would like to see the special assignment of a member of the Safety Committee serving as Council’s representative on the Parks and Recreation Board put back in. Mr. Hackworth stated he did not agree with that when it was changed and concurred with Mr. Fix because the Parks Board deals with major projects. Mr. Hartmann stated he agreed, especially now that we have impact fees. Mr. Fix requested Mr. Hartmann review the section on page 20 regarding Rules Committee and provide a suggested clarification for this paragraph.
Ms Gilleland stated on page 21 she would recommend rewording the paragraph regarding Duties of Committee Chairperson B to reflect that with the assistance of the City Manager and chairperson, the Clerk will prepare agendas for each committee meeting. She further stated subsections D, E, F, G, H, and J could be deleted. Mr. Fix requested Mr. Hartmann provide a suggestion revision of this section for review at the next meeting. Ms Gilleland further stated this gets into the committee chairperson making their report to Council on committee happenings and then introducing legislation during their committee report and the department head doing the report on that piece of legislation, then when the legislation comes up the sponsor of the legislation does an overview. She stated she would like to talk a little bit on how Council would like this structured, as it is burdensome right now. She stated she would like to move toward calling on the department head during the agenda item for a quick report as she preferred to have the department head reporting on the topic, but she didn’t know how council felt about this. Mr. Hackworth stated he did not have a problem with the department head speaking about the topic, but he did not want to see the department head put in the middle of a debate. He stated if it happened to be something that is controversial, he felt it should be the elected official who took the heat and not the department head, and Mr. Fix stated he felt that was a valid concern. Mr. Hackworth stated he did not like to see staff put in that position, and he felt that at some point the sponsor needs to step forward and take responsibility even if it is controversial. Ms Gilleland stated she could appreciate that, but it is also nice to back it up with some substance from the department head. Mr. Hackworth stated if the sponsor providing an overview at the first reading were taken out, what would the sponsor do? Ms Gilleland stated many Councils do not have sponsors at all and others have sponsors by name only, they take no action. She stated it depends on how Council wants to do this. Mr. Hartmann stated he agreed with Ms Gilleland that other councils have staff report on the issues and answer questions. Mr. Hackworth stated the problem we have here is the way the Charter is written that the Mayor and Council members propose the legislation. Mr. Hackworth stated he does not have a problem with staff making a report and he feels it is important to have the professional staff available to answer questions. Ms Gilleland stated that is fine and this can be left the way it is right now. Mr. Fix stated he would like to have something added to (f) Committee Meetings on page 22 regarding the Committee chairperson reporting to Council and requested Mr. Hartmann provided a suggested revision of this paragraph for the Committee to review.
Mr. Fix stated if there were no objections, he would like to take a brief recess at this time. Rules Committee recessed at 8:40 P.M. and reconvened in open session at 8:50 P.M.
Mr. Hackworth stated in continuing with paragraph (f) he questioned if individuals should be sworn at the committee meetings. Mr. Hartmann stated normally anyone who speaks is sworn in and that is something that probably should be done, and is in case you get an appeal. He stated the only thing that happens if you don’t swear them in, it gives the person a right to have a whole new hearing in front of the Common Pleas Court instead of just going by the transcript we provide. Mrs. Yartin stated we do swear everyone in at the Board of Zoning Appeals, and Mr. Hackworth stated he felt Planning and Zoning would be similar to the BZA. Mr. Hartmann stated Planning and Zoning Commission is an advisory commission and an appeal on their decision would go to Council. Ms Gilleland stated if we have a special case at P&Z that we feel may be a problem, then we can swear everyone in. Mr. Hartmann stated he thought that would be appropriate. Mr. Fix stated he agreed with Ms Gilleland’s suggestion of stating committee meetings may be cancelled or continued by a majority vote of the members rather than by a vote of two members and Mr. Hackworth stated he also agreed with that. Ms Gilleland stated further she would remove the exception that Rules Committee establish regular monthly meeting times and Mr. Hackworth and Mr. Fix both stated they agreed with that as all of our committees have established regular meeting dates and times.
Mr. Fix stated on page 23, subparagraph (g) regarding mandatory referral, he felt needed to have some clarification as it does not specify who refers item to committees. Mr. Hartmann stated further there are times that issues could be in two committees. Mr. Hackworth stated he felt there should be something that indicates what the appropriate committee would be, however, he agreed with Mr. Hartmann that two committees may be involved. Mr. Hackworth stated as an example, Service Committee would be looking at the contract for the wastewater plant expansion, but Finance Committee would be looking at the financing of the project. Mr. Hartmann stated that was the same with the Master Economic Development Plan because it should be in Finance since it talks about tax dollars, but it should also be in Service since it talks about annexation and land use. Mr. Fix stated if an issue is in two committees and it is moved out of one committee but fails in the other, then what would happen. Mr. Hartmann stated according to the City’s rules, it just needs to be passed out of one committee. Ms Gilleland stated it should be referred to only one appropriate committee, and she thought it made sense to state legislation can be referred by either the Mayor or President of Council. Mr. Fix stated he did not understand why committee action was mandatory. He stated the way paragraph (g) reads, it states that all ordinances and resolutions shall be referred to an appropriate committee for review and recommendations, and the way he read that if something failed in committee it would still go to council. It does not state that legislation must be approved by the committee, only have a review and recommendation. Mr. Fix stated he questioned the necessity of this paragraph. Mr. Hartmann stated you need something and perhaps this could be reworded to show it can go to council with a negative recommendation. Ms Gilleland stated that is the way it should be because three members of a committee can kill an ordinance before it gets to council. Mr. Hartmann stated he would work on rewording this paragraph to show it can come out of committee with a negative recommendation but still go to council for a vote by full council. Mr. Hackworth stated he would like to see what Mr. Hartmann comes up with on this paragraph before making a decision on this issue.
Mr. Fix stated the Committee has reviewed about one-half of the Code and he would like to discuss the process to be used. He questioned if the Committee wanted to have draft legislation prepared on this portion and start it forward or wait until the review is completed, hopefully, next month and forward one ordinance. Mr. Hackworth stated it would be his preference to do it all at once because there may be conflicts in other parts of the Code that have not been reviewed as yet. Mr. Fix stated he felt that was the best course of action as well, and at the next meeting they would begin review with Section 220.05.
Mr. Hackworth stated he had questions on the proposed revision on abstaining from a vote. He stated the recommendation is that you must state the conflict, and he felt that was getting rather intrusive. Mr. Hartmann stated the intent is that you need a conflict of interest that is justifiable not to vote, and Mr. Fix stated this will be discussed in detail at the next meeting.
4. CHAIRMAN: Mr. Fix stated he had nothing further to bring forward this evening.
5. OTHER BUSINESS: No other business was brought forward.
6. ADJOURNMENT. There being nothing further, Mr. Hackworth moved to adjourn; Mr. Fix seconded the motion. Mr. Hackworth and Mr. Fix voted "Aye." Motion carried, 2-0. The Rules Committee adjourned at 9:25 P.M, March 7, 2007.
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:
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