02-26-2019 Charter Review City of Clermont
Charter Review Committee
February 26,2019
The Charter Review Committee met on Tuesday, February 26, 2019 in the Council Chambers at City
Hall. Chairman SanFratello called the meeting to order at 10:00am with the following members present:
Ray SanFratello, Cuqui Whitehead, Larry Lenon, Jim Purvis, and Stan Melnick. Other City officials
present were: City Manager Gray, City Attorney Mantzaris, and City Clerk Howe.
Item No. 1 —Approval of January 29,2019 Charter Review Committee Meeting Minutes
Chairman SanFratello stated the minutes from the last meeting were ready for approval and requested the
members take a minute to review the minutes.
Committee Member Purvis moved to approve the January 29, 2019 Charter Review
Committee meeting minutes; seconded by Committee Member Melnick. The motion
passed with all members present voting aye.
Item No. 2—Discussion of Residency Requirements
City Manager Gray stated the City Clerk's office gathered the information requested by the Committee
Members at the last Committee Meeting. A spreadsheet containing the information of various cities and
their regulations was provided to the Committee Members.
City Clerk Howe reviewed the differences of residency requirements amongst the listed cities.
City Manager Gray stated when looking at the differences in requirements, the population has been added
so the Committee can see which cities are relative to Clermont in size.
Committee Member Whitehead expressed concerns with Clermont's past election and expressed support
for a two-year residency requirement.
Committee Member Purvis proposed a minimum of a year residency at the time of qualifying.
Committee Member Lenon suggested the requirement be 18 months from the qualifying date.
Committee Member Melnick inquired about city districts. City Manager Gray replied if the City goes to
districts, the candidates would have to live in the district they run for. Some cities require a residency
requirement specifically for districts.
Chairman SanFratello expressed concern with requirements limiting qualified candidates from running
but expressed support for acquiring public input on the matter.
City Manager Gray stated the Council gave the Committee free reign to look at the entire charter so the
Committee could have complete control of the process.
Committee Member Purvis suggested consolidating the Committee's thoughts and present them to the
public at the public hearing.
Chairman SanFratello reviewed the Committee's consensus to consider residency requirement from
anywhere between one year to two years.
Item No.3—Discussion of Term and Term Limits
City Clerk Howe reviewed the differences between the length of terms amongst the listed cities. City
Manager Gray clarified the cities which require four year terms are typically the larger cities. Staff's
recommendation is for even terms as it works better for the election cycle and would be easier to stagger.
Committee Member Lenon expressed support for four year terms.
Committee Member Whitehead expressed support for maintaining two-year terms.
Chairman SanFratello expressed a possibility for four year terms.
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City of Clermont
Charter Review Committee
February 26,2019
Committee Member Purvis expressed concern with longer terms causing a higher risk of vacant seating.
Committee Member Purvis and Committee Member Whitehead expressed support for a two-year term.
City Clerk Howe stated the City has the possibility of an election every year with the City incurring a
$30,000 fee for election held on odd years.
Committee Member Lenon and Chairman SanFratello expressed support for four year terms.
Committee Member Melnick expressed support for two year terms.
Chairman SanFratello stated the proposals for two-year terms and four-year terms will be presented to the
public at a public hearing before being voted on.
City Clerk Howe reviewed the differences between the term limits amongst the listed cities.
Chairman Lenon recommended to have a maximum of a two term limit if the terms are changed to four-
year terms or a maximum term limit of four if the terms remain the same at a two-year term.
Committee Member Purvis expressed opposition to term limits.
Committee Member Whitehead expressed concern for a possible lack of candidates should a term limit be
set.
Chairman SanFratello reviewed the Committee's proposals of a three term limit at two-year terms, a two
term limit at four-year terms,and for no term limits at all.
City Manager Gray stated the question to provide at the public hearing could be whether to adopt term
limits or to remain the same.Chairman SanFratello expressed agreement with City Manager Gray.
The next two items were heard together.
Item No.4—Discussion of Districts
Item No.5—Discussion of Mayor's Seat
City Clerk Howe reviewed the differences of establishing districts and the Mayor's election amongst the
listed cities.
City Manager Gray reviewed the comparison chart.
Chairman SanFratello stated a possible option could be three district seats and two at-large seats with the
Mayor being selected by the at-large seat which obtains the most votes.
City Attorney Mantzaris entered the meeting at 10:43am.
Committee Member Purvis expressed support for a rotating mayor seat.
Committee Member Whitehead expressed opposition for a rotating mayor seat.
Committee Member Melnick inquired if term limits affect the Mayor. Chairman SanFratello replied the
term limits would affect the Mayor if term limits are implemented.
City Manager Gray clarified the listed city districts are not single member districts so the whole city can
vote for each district however the candidates for each seat must come from the corresponding district.
Committee Member Purvis expressed concern for a risk of having no one run for certain districts.
Chairman SanFratello stated districts could motivate the districts to get involved.
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City of Clermont
Charter Review Committee
February 26,2019
Chairman SanFratello inquired about establishing the districts. Committee Member Lenon stated the
districts would have to decided based on equal population in each district.
City Attorney Mantzaris stated the State looks at which areas of the City historically have gone
unrepresented when they look at the possibility of forcibly implementing districts. However, recently
there seems to be a general move towards more people getting involved with their elections and a more
diverse Council. Typically, people do not start at the City Council level in order to move their way up to
Congress.
Committee Member Melnick, Committee Member Whitehead and Committee Member Purvis expressed
opposition to establishing districts.
Chairman SanFratello and Committee Member Lenon expressed support for establishing districts.
Chairman SanFratello suggested bringing the three to two vote for the City to not have districts to the
public for their input since it is a close decision.
Committee Member Purvis suggested of rotating the mayor's seat amongst the Council.
Committee Member Whitehead, Committee Member Lenon, Committee Member Melnick and Chairman
SanFratello expressed opposition to a rotating mayor.
City Clerk Howe reviewed the differences of additional election fees for the listed cities. City of Clermont
does not charge an additional fee on top of the one percent fee of the seats annual salary which is charged
by the State.
Committee Member Purvis expressed concern of cost difference between the State fee for the Mayor seat
and the Council Members seat. Chairman SanFratello replied the Mayor's higher wage offsets the higher
fee charged.
City Clerk Howe reviewed the differences of a petition between the listed cities.
Chairman SanFratello suggested not addressing the matter and to leave the petition requirements for the
City the same. The Committee Members agreed with Chairman SanFratello.
Item No.6—Discussion of Vacancies
City Clerk Howe reviewed the differences of vacancy regulations between the listed Cities and stated
most of the listed cities have a similar charter timeframe compared to the City of Clermont.
Committee Member Purvis suggested changing for a vacancy to be filled by appointment if there is less
than 12 months left of the vacant two-year term.
Chairman SanFratello inquired about vacancies if the committee decides to go with four-year terms. City
Attorney Mantzaris stated the number could theoretically be doubled if the committee decides to go with
a four-year term, but cautioned against creating a situation where the Council could be handpicking the
future candidates. The Committee could add language to the effect that Council is to hold a hearing for
public input where the public could state whether they want to spend the money on a special election or
rather have Council select a candidate.
Item No.7—Selection of Public Hearing Date
Committee Member Whitehead suggested scheduling the public hearing between March and April.
City Manager Gray recommended scheduling the public hearing to occur in the evening.
Chairman SanFratello suggested April 16, 2019 at 6:30pm for the public hearing date. City Attorney
Mantzaris recommended having a regular meeting with public input so the Committee can still discuss the
charter should the public not show.
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City of Clermont
Charter Review Committee
February 26,2019
City Manager Gray stated the Council Workshop for April 16,2019 will be canceled so it will not conflict
with the Committee Meeting.
Committee Member Purvis recommended for staff to have a presentation ready for the public meeting.
City Manager Gray confirmed staff will make a presentation the night of the public hearing with
information in regards to the City's makeup and other City information.
City Attorney Mantzaris provided a brief review of the charter sections to be discussed. A transitioning
plan will need to be put in place should the Committee decide to go with changing the terms to four-year
terms. The transitioning plan would have to be based on expiring seats as no existing seats can be
extended.
Chairman SanFratello inquired about Ordinance language. City Attorney Mantzaris replied staff will
make sure the recommendations by the Committee do not conflict with the City's Code.
Committee Member Purvis inquired about placing a limitation on the amount of times the Council can
vote on compensation. City Manager Gray stated there is a stipulation on the recent adoption where the
salary changes in relation to the City's population.
City Attorney Mantzaris continued reviewing charter sections. Some cities include a formal process to
remove a Council Member. Chairman SanFratello stated if the Charter does not specifically address a
matter,then the Council has more room to navigate the situation the way they feel is best.
Committee Member Purvis inquired about the process of removal of a Council Member upon violation of
the rules and regulations. City Attorney Mantzaris stated the Council has the ability to hold a public
hearing to discuss forfeiture of the office if the individual wanted to fight the decision.
Committee Member Purvis inquired about having no appeal process available and to place a timeframe
for the process. City Attorney Mantzaris stated the Council has the right to make the fmal decision but the
individuals have a right to go to court and appeal.
Committee Member Lenon inquired about requiring arbitration. City Attorney Mantzaris recommended
against making that change in the Charter due to the difficulty of explaining the change to the public who
will only see the matter on a ballot. However, the Committee can make the recommendation to the
Council to adopt an ordinance to address the situation rather than include it in the Charter.
Chairman SanFratello expressed agreement to suggest an Ordinance to the Council to address the
situation of arbitration in the event of a forced removal of a Council Member.
City Attorney Mantzaris stated Section 23.1 Execution of Legal Instruments is antiquated and
recommended deletion of the section from the charter.
Committee Member Purvis expressed opposition to the deletion of the section. City Manager Gray
clarified the removal of the section would allow the City Manager to execute documents approved by the
Council.
City Attorney Mantzaris suggested changing the section to allow an individual designated by the City
Council to execute the approved documents on behalf of the Mayor rather than removing the entire
section.Committee Member Purvis expressed agreement with City Attorney Mantzaris' suggestion.
City Attorney Mantzaris stated the matter will return to the Committee for further discussion.
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City of Clermont
Charter Review Committee
February 26,2019
City Manager Gray stated at the next meeting the Committee will finish reviewing the rest of the Charter.
The public hearing will be scheduled for April 16, 2019 and the Committee will be able to discuss the
input received from the public at the April 23,2019 Charter Review Committee Meeting.
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City of Clermont
Charter Review Committee
February 26,2019
Adjourn: With no further business,the meeting adjourned at 12:01pm.
APPROVED:
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Ray SanF te11o,Charter Review Committee Chairman
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Tracy Ackroy. Howe,City Clerk
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