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09-12-2002 Workshop Meeting CITY OF CLERMONT MINUTES WORKSHOP MEETING SEPTEMBER 12, 2002 Page 1 A Workshop Meeting of the City Council of the City of Clermont was held at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, Septemberl 2, 2002 at Jenkins Auditorium. Mayor Turville and Council Members Caputo, Dupee, Mullins and Renick were present at the meeting. Also present were City Manager Saunders, .Finance Director Van Zile and Deputy City Clerk Studdard. Mayor Turville welcomed those present. City Manager Saunders stated that the first item to be discussed would be election procedures and stated that a resolution would be presented to the City Council for adoption at their next meeting. City Manager Saunders and City Attorney Guthrie then spoke regarding the resolution. City Attorney Guthrie then stated that a decision needed to be made regarding whether those Council Members who will appear on the ballot should also serve as members of the Election Canvassing Board or not. City Manager Saunders stated it would be best if those who will appear on the ballot would not be involved in the election process. Finance Director Van Zile outlined the general procedures accomplished so far and stated his understanding that the City Council would need to adopt the finalized election procedures. City Attomey Guthrie stated the procedures outlined as a part of the adopted resolution should be very general to allow for later decisions as needed. Finance Director Van Zile stated that so far he has addressed procedures regarding the polling places, delivery of ballot boxes to the counting location, canvassing board and absentee ballots. He stated that the six polling place procedures will be similar to those used by Lake County and outlined those procedures. Mr. Van Zile stated that Lake County Supervisor of Elections Emogene Stegall has committed to providing poll workers for the City Primary Election but has not made a commitment as to the City General Election at this time. He stated that the back up plan for the General Election would be to have City Staff man the polls if Lake County is unable to provide poll workers. Discussion followed regarding the procedures to be followed at the polls for the General Election. Mr. Van Zile stated that he hopes to have City and County ballots handled at the same time or have City ballots handed out first on that day. City Manager Saunders stated that Ms. Stegall has indicated that the elections will need to be handled separately and stated signs would be up at the polling places. Mr2 Van Zile stated that Lake County procedures call for the Head Poll worker and Assistant Poll worker to deliver the locked ballot boxes. He then proposed that the Clermont Police Department Sergeants pick up the boxes at the six polling places after the closing of the polls and deliver them to the Police Department Community Services Room, which will be the counting location. After discussion it was the consensus of the City Council to have the Head Poll worker and Assistant Poll worker deliver the boxes and any other materials necessary. CITY OF CLERMONT MINUTES WORKSHOP MEETING SEPTEMBER 12, 2002 Page 2 Mr. Van Zile then stated that himself, Deputy Clerk Studdard and City Attorney Guthrie would be present to handle the counting of the ballots. He stated that he had discussed the possibility of hiring an election attorney to be present as well. He proposed that the actual count teams be comprised of three teams of three people each; with two City employees as counters of each team and the third member of each team being a representative from the City's CPA firm. He then outlined the procedures to be followed as: City employee gl will read the ballot, City employee #2 will record the vote and the CPA member would be the observer to ensure that the ballot was read and recorded properly. He stated that at the end of this process the CPA representative would total the tally sheets and reconcile the paperwork. He stated that none of the team members can be City of Clermont registered voters or involved in any City of Clermont campaigns. Mayor Turville asked Mr. Van Zile to outline any alternative methods. Mr. Van Zile stated that poll workers can do the actual counting but that he would not recommend this plan as the poll workers will have already worked a full day and would be expected to remain for another three or four hours. He stated that with his plan the count teams would be comprised of people he knows with the exception of the CPA firm representative. City Manager Saunders stated that Staff has discussed this with Emogene Stegall and that she is very comfortable with this plan and stated that her employees are utilized as count teams at Lake County. He stated that Ms. Stegall had indicated that other cities typically have used employees to count ballots. He stated that the addition of the CPA representative adds the assurance of the job being done correctly. City Attorney Guthrie stated that the Community Room has the glass for observation purposes as well. Council Member Dupee stated her concem regarding the public perception of having City employees count the ballots. Mr. Van Zile stated he had also considered having the count teams be totally comprised of CPA firm employees, but that he had assumed that to be too costly. Discussion followed regarding the costs involved and public perception. Mayor Turville concurred with Council Member Dupee that there is reason for concern in having employees count ballots. Council Member Caputo stated that the presence of the CPA representative would help regarding the concem about public perception. Discussion followed regarding who should serve on the count teams. Council Member Mullins stated it would look ridiculous to spend a great deal of money to count less than 2,000 ballots. He stated that the presence ora CPA representative at each table and the public viewing the process from the window should relieve any concems. Council Member Renick stated that the people willing to criticize the City for using City employees to count could also criticize it for spending too much money on the election. Council Member Caputo stated that even with each team being comprised of all CPA representatives, the end result would still be handed over to Finance Director Van Zile. CITY OF CLERMONT MINUTES WORKSHOP MEETING SEPTEMBER 12, 2002 Page 3 Mayor Turville suggested that the City Council move ahead in their discussion and come back to this topic. Discussion followed regarding count procedures to be followed. Mr. Van Zile then stated that the procedure would be for the count teams to begin with the absentee ballots and by the time that is completed the Poll Clerks should be delivering the ballot boxes from the precincts. He stated that the plan is to release the results by precinct. Mr. Van Zile stated that once the tally sheets for each precinct are totaled, then those numbers would be forwarded to a reconciliation report. He stated that the number of ballot stubs and the number of ballots counted would be reconciled by this report. He stated that once this is done then the numbers would be transferred to a vote total by candidate sheet that will show votes by precincts. He stated that the absentee ballots will be logged and that the log will be reconciled with the actual number of absentee ballots received. He stated that the logs would reflect how the request was received, when the ballot was mailed and when the ballot was received back by the City. Discussion followed regarding voting procedures at the polling places as they relate to absentee ballot procedures. Mr. Van Zile stated that the CPA finn has reviewed the procedures that have been developed and approved them. Discussion followed regarding the handling of absentee ballots. Mr. Van Zile then discussed with the City Council the function and makeup of the Canvassing Board. He stated the two primary functions would be to rule on questionable ballots and to certify the final results. He stated that the plan is to convene at 7:00 p.m. on that night and reconvene all through the evening as needed. City Manager Saunders stated that there will be a table set up in the count room for the Board members and pointed out that the ordinance calls for those Council Members not on the ballot to serve as Canvassing Board members. It was the consensus of the City Council to have the three Council Members not appearing on either ballot serve, as Canvassing Board members. City Manager Saunders suggested that a marker board be placed in public view so that the unofficial precinct totals can be posted. The count location was discussed by the City Council and determined to be appropriate. City Attorney Guthrie recommended that a sound system be provided for the Canvassing Board meeting. Council Member Mullins asked Council Member Dupee if she was comfortable with the count teams being comprised of City employees and one representative from our accounting finn. Council Member Dupee indicated she was comfortable with an outside team member being included. City Manager Saunders stated the possibility of a recount should be factored into this decision regarding the composition of the count teams. CITY OF CLERMONT MINUTES WORKSHOP MEETING SEPTEMBER 12, 2002 Page 4 Mayor Turville stated the majority of the City Council seemed comfortable with Mr. Van Bile's suggestions regarding the makeup of the count teams. There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 7:00 p.m. 4~'~ol'd S. Turville, Jr., Mayor