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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - City Charter Committee - 03/08/2023CITY CHARTER COMMITTEE 8 MARCH 2023 The South Burlington City Charter Committee held a meeting on Wednesday, 8 March 2023, at 4:00 p.m., in Conference Room 201, City Hall, 180 Market Street. MEMBERS PRESENT: P. Taylor, Chair; A. Lalonde, D. Kinville, P. Engels ALSO PRESENT: J. Baker, City Manager, C. McNeil, City Attorney; M. Emery 1. Welcome and Introductions: Mr. Taylor welcomed members. 2. Agenda Review No changes were made to the agenda. 3. Comments & Questions from the public not related to the Agenda: No issues were raised. 4. Approve Minutes from the 8 February 2023 meeting: Ms. Lalonde moved to approve the Minutes of 8 February 2023 as written. Mr. Engels seconded. Motion passed with all present voting in favor. 5. Discuss and Finalize the Advantages and Disadvantages of different models to present to the community: Ms. Lalonde said she had put the Committee’s lists into a form so that people would know what each bullet point means. She also combined some items but left nothing out. Members discussed each item and agreed on the following document: Advantages Disadvantages Strong/Administrative .Clear leader with recognized .Candidates would be limited Mayor (no City authority sets the City policy to City residents & may not Manager) vision & moves policy forward not have professional . Clear point of contact for qualifications constituent concerns . City Manager position . City resident elected by would be eliminated CITY CHARTER COMMITTEE 8 MARCH 2023 PAGE 2 City’s voters .Governance could be seen . Spokesperson for the City as partisan or overly political Including representing its . Veto power could cause Interests in Montpelier conflicts with Council or and with the Federal override Council’s decisions delegation . Fulltime job could be a . Ceremonial head of City barrier to entry for potential . Hires own staff which candidates encourages innovation . Citywide campaign could be . Mayoral system easy for expensive, another barrier citizens to understand for candidates . Campaign donations may raise suspicion of favoritism in later policy decisions . Campaign could encourage or allow endorsement by City employee groups, which could conflict with City policy . Hires own staff, which could be done for reasons other than professional ability . Could become entrenched as an incumbent, difficult to vote out City Manager (no . Selected based on . Potentially not connected Mayor) professional qualifications, to community Appointed such as expertise, . Has unelected authority and Professional experience may not respect Council’s .Neutral, non-political role as policymaker or decision maker implement the Council’s .Provides continuity to City policies operations . May use the position to try . Runs the day-to-day to manipulate and control operations of City so the Council and may form elected officials can focus on “favorites” with Councilors policy matters . City Manager system CITY CHARTER COMMITTEE 8 MARCH 2023 PAGE 3 . Stays current on managerial difficult for citizens to & financial issues through understand continual education and . Council’s ability to remove professional development manager cold incur expense . Hires & fires professional due to employment contract Staff & protects them from political influence . Available for citizens’ concerns . Council can remove manager for poor performance Weak/Policy . Clear recognized leader of City . Potential for conflicts Mayor (with . Clear point of contact for between Policy Mayor and City Manager constituent concerns Council; Council may not . City resident elected by City’s support Policy Mayor Elected voters . Position has little statutory . Spokesperson and ceremonial power head of City . Mayor may not accept . Can help bring consensus to limited role & may try to act Council as active Chair as Administrative Mayor . Supported by a professional . Citywide campaign could be City Manager & can provide expensive; barrier for many Support & guidance to Manager candidates . Can be a point in time position . City Manager may have less So more potential candidates may authority to act for City be able and willing to run . May not always be available . Mayoral position easy for for citizen concerns if part- citizens to understand time position . Nature of position may be confusing to citizens Council Chair . Works to build consensus, . Not elected as Chair by (with City Manager) encourages collaboration, and City residents Elected as Councilor, listens to all Councilors . Unclear who is spokes- Chosen by fellow . May be more of a “team person for the City Councilors to be Chair spirit” than a system with a . Less of a clear point of CITY CHARTER COMMITTEE 8 MARCH 2023 PAGE 4 separate Mayor contact for residents than . City resident elected by City than with a Mayor voters . Nature of the roll may be . Can be replaced every year by confusing to voters other Councilors . Chair may lack sufficient . Provides many of the same political influence in services as a Policy Mayor lobbying, obtaining grants, . Supported by a professional etc. City Manager . Potential for Chair conflict . Can provide support and with City Manager guidance to Manager Council Composition 5 City Councilors: . Easier to find candidates to serve . May represent fewer . Easier to hold more efficient perspectives meetings, have cooperation & . Too much work for each team building Councilor . Easier to arrange meetings . More difficult to get a that all Councilors can attend quorum . Easier communication with . Takes only 3 Councilors with City Manager & residents to dismiss City Manager . If ward-based, voting logistics are simpler if just one Councilor per ward . Less expense for City to pay fewer stipends More than 5 . More perspectives will be . More difficult to reach Councilors represented consensus; more voices . May mean greater expertise, could lead to more conflict different skill sets in Council or factions CITY CHARTER COMMITTEE 8 MARCH 2023 PAGE 5 . Spreads out the work of the . Deliberations could get Council to more people and may bogged down with more allow for extra activities such as Councilors, possibly leading sub-committees to less efficient meetings . Councilors will be able to . Difficult to find more miss meetings or recuse candidates to run themselves when necessary, and . Adding subcommittees there will still be a quorum could take up more of Councilors’ time & create additional staff work . More expensive for City to pay more stipends and increase staff support and time commitment Elected at Large . All Councilors have a Citywide . May not be representative perspective of the entire City due to . Residents from any ward inequitable geographic can reach out to any Councilor representation for assistance . Difficult for Councilors to . Voting logistics for at-large represent all residents of the (Citywide) elections are simpler City rather than just those in for residents and City Clerk’s their ward Office . Running for City-wide office may be expensive and time- consuming Elected by Ward . Residents more engaged with . Potential to lose City-wide their Councilor at a neighborhood perspective, and to be re- level elected, Councilors may have . Wards could correspond to to prioritize their own ward existing legislative districts with . May be difficult to find a simpler voting logistics, if only 5 a candidate in each ward Councilors . Smaller candidate pool may . Familiar with localized issues lead to more candidates CITY CHARTER COMMITTEE 8 MARCH 2023 PAGE 6 . More affordable & less time- . running unopposed, so consuming for candidates to possibly less voter choice campaign in their ward . Some potential candidates . Smaller candidate pool may (including current Councilors encourage more candidates may not be able to serve . Confusing to voters to have one Councilor per ward and more at large, if over 5 Councilors . If Legislative boundaries determine wards, the Legislature (not the City) determines the wards; redistricting every 10 years could cause confusion South Burlington School Board . Easier to find 5 candidates to . May represent fewer 5 Directors serve perspectives . Easier to hold more efficient . Members often work on meetings, have cooperation & multiple committees and team building bargaining groups which . Easier to arrange meetings with creates a high work load that all Directors can attend . More difficult to get a . Easier to communicate with the quorum Superintendent and residents . Takes on 3 Directors to . If ward-based, voting logistics dismiss the Superintendent are simpler if just one Director per ward . Less expensive for City to pay fewer stipends School Board More than 5 . More perspectives will be . More difficult to reach Directors represented consensus; more voices . May mean greater expertise, could lead to more conflict CITY CHARTER COMMITTEE 8 MARCH 2023 PAGE 7 different sets on School Board or factions . Spreads out the work of the . Deliberations could get Directors to more people and bogged down with more may allow for extra activities such Directors, possibly leading as more subcommittees to less efficient meetings . Directors will be able to miss . Difficult to find more meetings or recuse themselves candidates to run when necessary and there will . More subcommittees could still be a quorum take up more to Directors’ . More contacts for the public & time and create additional more outreach to the community staff work. . More expensive for School District to pay more stipends and increase staff support & time commitment Mr. Engels moved to accept the listing of advantage and disadvantages of each of the categories as discussed. Ms. Kinville seconded. Motion passed with all present voting in favor. 6. Discuss and finalize the Committee’s community outreach process: Ms. Baker provided some suggestions for public engagement. She asked if members wanted to have a quick public survey and whether they wanted the Committee as a whole to do the public engagement. Mr. Taylor suggested 3 meetings with the Committee in 3 different locations, one of which could be with the School Board. Ms. Baker said the City has found it beneficial to have a survey running during the public meeting process. Mr. Taylor suggested having the outreach in April. He also would like to see the “advantages/disadvantages chart in The Other Paper. Mr. Taylor and Ms. Baker will be meeting with The Other Paper this week. Mr. Taylor agreed to meet with the new School Board Chair. Ms. Baker said it is important to have someone ask for time on a School Board agenda. She and Mr. Taylor will go when invited. CITY CHARTER COMMITTEE 8 MARCH 2023 PAGE 8 Suggestions for meetings with public groups included the Rotary, PTO SBBA and Policy Committee Chairs. Mr. Taylor would like a returned survey to be signed or at least have a street of residence so they can be certain responders are city residents. Members agreed to a survey and asked that it include the question: “Have you reviewed the Pros and Cons document.” 7. Other Business: Ms. Baker said she cannot be present at the next scheduled Committee meeting (12 April). Members agreed to leave it on the schedule for now. As there was no further business to come before the Committee, Ms. Lalonde moved to adjourn. Mr. Engels seconded. Motion passed unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 5:53 p.m.