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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-14-06 Minutes, Study CommissionMINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE CITY OF BOZEMAN, MONTANA LOCAL GOVERNMENT STUDY COMMISSION February 14, 2006 The Study Commission met in special session in the Conference Room, Municipal Building, at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, February 14, 2006. Present were Chair Loren Olsen, Marilou Turrentine, Brian Close, Bill Hayward, and Harold Fryslie. Also present was Secretary of the Study Commission Celeste Janssen and three members of the public: John Trull, Deb Stober, and Duane Burkenpas. The meeting was called to order by Chair Loren Olsen at 6:01 pm. Public comment There was no public comment at the time. Review email received from public JP Pomnichowski emailed the Study Commission on February 7, 2006. She wrote on eight different issues. Jeff Krauss responded to her email. 1) Ms. Pomnichowski is concerned with two different versions of meeting minutes circulating. Celeste Janssen will ask Robin Sullivan about this matter. 2) Ms. Pomnichowski is worried about what is put on the consent agenda. Brian Close is also concerned. He thinks that perhaps there should be some things in the charter aimed at protecting public input. Brian Close noted that all of Ms. Pomnichowski's issues seemed to relate with the same basic idea. Loren Olsen suggested addressing all of her concerns one at a time as a group. Harold Fryslie said that a City Charter is approximately what a Constitution is to a State. The charter should focus on rights, powers, and duties, and it should not focus on procedures. He sees this email as talking about procedures, so he questions how far the Study Commission should go. He believes that redress should come from other places in the community. Both Bill Hayward and Marilou Turrentine said that Harold's response makes since. Brian Close said that while he isn't proposing to write strict rules, he does believe it is acceptable for the charter to give greater rights of participation than that already guaranteed by the state constitution. He suggested the City Commission set rules for public comment with certain parameters. He would also like to examine how items go to "consent" and how agendas are created. He would like to have issues pulled off consent in a way other than just by Commissioner agreement. Duane Burkenpas, a member of the public and of INC, said that special interest groups will get up and repeat and repeat and repeat. He thinks the City Commission would like to listen to representatives addressing concerns after gathering facts and opinions from their constituents. Mr. Burkenpas believes he receives fair time in front of the Commission. He wondered if a special interest group can be limited to a certain number of presentations because the same message can be expressed in five instead of thirty five presentations. Harold Fryslie said all legislative bodies limit debate, including the US Congress. Brian Close said he wouldn't support it. Bill Hayward said that a meeting has to serve many administrative purposes, and unlimited public comment can make getting through an agenda very difficult. Page 1 of 5 Deb Stober, a member of the public and of the Northwest Neighborhood, said there is a huge impact if 200 people show up at a meeting, and it is frustrating to not allow them to speak. She also noted that many people choose to go home before they can speak when the meetings last so late. The public can give very interesting input and ideas. Ms. Stober is also angry at not having the ability to make a rebuttal. 3.) Marilou Turrentine read Jeff Krauss's email. He said JP Pomnichowski's comment about 40 minutes is incorrect. The new policy is to limit weekly meetings to four hours. Loren Olsen asked about the possibility of having citizens weight in via email before the meeting. Brian Close said that citizens already do, and Deb Stober said that members of the public have no access to see these emails, so it is impossible to know what has been said and how many people have written emails. No one knows if the emails were read. Also, the public never sees staff reports. Brian Close said the very late meetings happen only a few times a year, and in his opinion, that is the price you pay for being a City Commissioner. John Trull, speaking as a member of the public, said that these issues should be put forth as recommendations for the City Commission, and Marilou Turrentine agreed. Deb Stober that no one with INC was expecting the Study Commission to make all of these changes in the charter, but they wanted to know if these are valid concerns. Marilou Turrentine hopes that many of these concerns can be addressed with INC. Celeste Janssen asked if Ms. Pomnichowski's email was also from INC. Ms. Stober and Mr. Burkenpas said that it included comments from INC but originated from J.P. Discuss schedule and set meeting dates and times for next 3 months 2/21/06- No meeting. 2/28/06 — There will be a meeting. Everyone but Bill is available 3/7/06 — There will be a meeting. Celeste has a conflict, and Bill may not be able to meet. 3/14/06 — There will be a meeting. Everyone but Bill is available. 3/21/06 — No meeting. 3/28/06 — There will be a meeting. Everyone but Brian is available. 4/13/06 — There will be a meeting. This is a Thursday. 4/25/06 — There will be a meeting. Brian Close will be in Turkey from March 19 to April 12. Brian Close suggested forming two subcommittees, one to work on recommendations and one to work on technical aspect of the report. He said that it is legal to have non -Study Commission members on a subcommittee, and therefore John Trull could be involved. Brian Close can work on transition statements. Marilou Turrentine asked to see a list of statutes. Brian Close asked Celeste Janssen to speak to Robin Sullivan about getting a copy. Brian Close looked up the mayor's duties under military law. Current NCL draft language complies with Montana state code. Discussion of Charter topics (Communications, INC, City Comm. Agenda, City Comm procedures, etc). Page 2 of 5 INC Loren Olsen and Brian Close met as a subcommittee. They condensed draft language down to one page. Loren Olsen asked the Study Commission if they prefer to put the one page in the charter, or if they prefer something much simpler like one basic sentence for recognition, as previously discussed. Bill Hayward asked if Loren Olsen and Brian Close were okay with the term "assistance." Loren Olsen said he is comfortable with it because he believes the City currently does provide assistance. Brian Close said that the Study Commission could add more specifications, or could remove "maintenance". Mr. Close added the language about "maintenance" to enable the Neighborhood Coordinator to help neighborhoods put themselves back together after falling apart. Out of respect to John Trulls wishes, Loren Olsen said he also wanted neighborhoods to all have bylaws that could be read and were clear. INC came to agree on this subject. John Trull, speaking as a member of the public, said that he thinks this section isn't noticably longer than other sections. Brian Close moved to "blue" the section and adopt this provision. Bill Hayward seconded the motion for the purposes of a vote. Marilou Turrentine said that the language still included too many subjective viewpoints. Loren Olsen asked her to put together something simpler and cleaner for us to consider. Bill Hayward believes the Study Commission will get good publicity and votes from INC after adopting this language, and the language also solves some problems like establishes the group and the neighborhood coordinator. Harold Fryslie said he'd vote in favor of Mr. Close's motion, but he fundamentally tends to favor Marilou Turrentine's opinion. He said much of this language is more ordnance nature than charter. The 1995 charter lost because they said way too much, and started doing too many things through the charter to arouse opposition. After the charter is in operation, segments can be updated. Bozeman cannot live another ten years without a charter. Loren Olsen agreed that INC will be more apt to support the charter with the inclusion of this language. He will vote for the motion, with the caveat that if we later decide that the charter is too long, it can be removed. Bill Hayward asked to change "providing" to "provide". The motion was changed to include this amendment. A vote was taken and the motion passed four (Bill Hayward, Brian Close, Harold Fryslie, and Loren Olsen) to one (Marilou Turrentine). COMMUNCIATION Brian Close reported on his and Loren's conversation with Rick Weaver and Bob Gibson from the Chronicle. Mr. Weaver and Mr. Gibson gave several names of reporters who might cover the Study Commission. The group discussed having the reporters included on all emails. Loren Olsen asked the Study Commission for their opinion on this matter. Marilou Turrentine said she isn't sure she is comfortable with that, and Bill Hayward isn't sure he was comfortable either. Harold Fryslie has no problem sending the reporters agendas and minutes. While every other email is also public record, that doesn't mean the emails should voluntarily be forwarded everywhere. Mr. Fryslie asked why the Chronicle has priority, and said that perhaps all other papers, television stations, and radios should also be cc'ed on everything. Marilou Turrentine said she feels differently than other Study Commissioners on some topics, and when emails are just musings and have not been officially adopted, it would be no good to have a Page 3 of 5 reporter read them. For example, Marilou Turrentine doesn't agree with Brian Close on the need for a directly -elected mayor. Brian Close said that the Study Commission voted and accepted a directly - elected mayor. Loren Olsen added that he felt strongly that it should be a subvote with the way elections are currently done. Harold Fryslie thought we were still debating if it should be a subvote or not. Brian Close thought the subvote might be a four versus two year term. Loren Olsen would like to propose that the only way he wants a directly -elected mayor in the Charter is as a subvote where the voters are given the option of staying with the current system or having a directly -elected mayor. Harold Fryslie motioned that the Study Commission will not add a directly - elected mayor unless it is as part of a subvote on the Charter (where voters are given the option of staying with the current system or moving to a directly -elected mayor system that has not yet been designed.) Loren Olsen seconded the motion. Brian Close said that people of Bozeman will vote overwhelmingly in favor of a directly -elected mayor, and therefore it is a poor subvote. Loren Olsen disagreed, and said that most of the people he talked to actually are not in favor of a directly -elected mayor once they understand that Bozeman has a Commission Manager form of government. Harold Fryslie said it isn't a wasted subvote, it gives the public a vote on a topic that might kill the Charter. Brian Close would like to do a survey. John Trull, speaking as a member of the public, said the City Commissioners oppose a directly -elected mayor. They may lobby heavily against the charter if there is no way to keep the same system. If voters are given a subvote and choose the directly -elected mayor, the City Commissioners will have to understand that it is the will of the public. Loren Olsen suggested having two options on the subvote, such as: 1. current system 2. directly -elected mayor with a two year term and a training period Harold Fryslie said that he believes the Study Commission should resolve the two year or four year question before putting it on the ballot. Loren Olsen reminded the Study Commission that there is a motion standing on the floor. He said the motion clarifies what he thought we voted on in last weeks meeting. Bill Hayward sees it as a choice where we had already made a decision, and therefore sees the Study Commission going backwards. A vote was taken: Loren Olsen, Harold Fryslie and Marilou Turrentine voted for the motion. Brian Close and Bill Hayward voted against the motion. Loren Olsen will speak to Jane Jelinski about the cost of doing a survey. Marilou Turrentine would begin to write an op-ed for the paper. New business Loren Olsen showed the Study Commission a basic budget he created for July 1, 2006 until the Study Commission is done. Bill Hayward and Marilou Turrentine requested that Loren Olsen ask for more, in light of the survey. Loren Olsen agreed and would ask Bozeman for $15,000. Confirm date for next meeting February 28th 2006 at 7 pm in the Conference Room of the Municipal Building. Adjournment at 8:05 pm There being no further business at this time, it was moved by Marilou Turrentine, seconded by Loren Olsen, that the meeting be adjourned. The motion carried unanimously. Page 4 of 5 LOREN OLSEN, Chair ATTEST: CELESTE JANSSEN, Secretary of the Study Commission Page 5 of 5