March 24, 2010 Minutes
Minutes
Barnstable County Charter Review Committee
March 24, 2010
Committee members present: Fred Gaechter, Chair; Ronald Bergstrom; Charlotte Striebel; Teresa Martin; Leo Cakounes; Mike Corgan; and Greg Milne
Absent: Ed Larkin and Sheila Lyons
Others present: Nancy Curley and Jari Rappaport, League of Women Voters; and Jennie Morey, Assistant to the Clerk of the Assembly
Chair Gaechter opened the meeting at 4:00 p.m.
Chair Gaechter asked for the approval of the agenda. The Committee approved the agenda with all votes in favor. The next item was the approval of the minutes of March 10th. The Committee approved the minutes, as corrected.
Delegate Striebel passed out a list of the towns voting averages identified by the precincts in each town. The amounts listed are tallied according to the U. S. Census. The list has been attached to these minutes.
Chair Gaechter referred to the memo done by the Clerk that addressed housekeeping items found in the 2005 report of the Charter Review Committee. He asked that the Committee review these recommendations and go through each one to see if they should be added to the interim recommendations to the Assembly. The Recommendations of the 2005 Charter Review Committee and the Clerk’s memo are attached and considered a part of these minutes.
The Committee began their review of the 2005 Report for pertinent recommendations also using the Clerk’s Memorandum.
Recommendations voted by the 2010 Charter Review Committee taken from the 2005 Report and from committee members:
1) Post Election Assembly Organization Timeline – Speaker Bergstrom made a Motion to make the above recommendation, Mr. Milne seconded the motion, and all members voted in favor.
Charter Section 2-2 (a). Remove the first sentence and replace with the following sentence: “In the month of January following an election cycle, the Assembly of Delegates shall meet to organize no later than the 15th of the month.”
2) Assembly Meetings that fall on Holidays – Speaker Bergstrom made a motion to create an ordinance for the meetings pertaining to holidays or amend the original Ordinance, Mr. Milne seconded the motion, and all members voted in favor.
Charter Section 2-2 (a). Add the sentence “Consistent with common business practice, meetings shall not occur on legal holidays. Should County Business be deemed as necessitating an interim meeting, a special meeting may be scheduled.”
The Committee discussed the need for the above recommendation to be added in the Charter. It seems to be understood that meetings are not held on holidays. It was suggested that rather than inserting this sentence into the Charter it could be done as stated in Charter Section 2-5 (d)(i) by Ordinance or an amendment could be made to the original Ordinance which established the fixed time and place and states that “If the date for any such regular meeting is a legal holiday, as established by state for federal law, the regular meeting of the Assembly for such date shall be held on the business day following such holiday.” (Ordinance 89-1)
3) Predetermination of Lack of Quorum – Mr. Milne made a motion to make the above recommendation and add the deletion of the wording as noted. Delegate Cakounes seconded the motion, and all members voted in favor.
Charter Section 2-5 (c). Should it be determined that a future meeting will not be represented by a quorum of Delegates, the meeting may be canceled. Should County business be deemed as necessitating an interim meeting, a special meeting may be scheduled.
The Committee discussed this recommendation and agreed that this is reasonable. The Committee also would like to recommend in Charter Section 2-5 (c), the first sentence, the deletion of the words “but a smaller number may meet and adjourn from time to time.”
4) Clarify Speaker Selection Process
Charter Section 2-2 (a). In completing the process for selecting a Speaker and Deputy Speaker, a simple majority of members present will be necessary assuming a quorum is present.
The Committee had an extensive discussion on this recommendation. The concerns were about how many Delegates you would actually need to have a quorum, how the vote changes from the majority of Delegates to a majority of those present, and that this would allow for only 1/3 of the Assembly of Delegates present to vote.
It was pointed out that the first meeting of the Assembly of Delegates always has most of the Delegates present due to required procedures that take place. If you have 13 Delegates there and you have 7 Delegates to vote it does not constitute the vote as currently written in the Charter for a majority of towns.
In Charter Section 2-5 (c) in the last sentence it states “The affirmative votes of delegates representing a majority of the population of Barnstable County shall be necessary to adopt any ordinance…”. It is not clear if it is the majority of the Delegates present or if it is the majority of 51% of the population.
The Assembly of Delegates has used the majority vote of the Delegates present. There has been concern about the power of the 3 largest towns having the majority vote.
The question is whether the Charter and the Assembly voting practices are the same. If not either the Charter has to be changed or the change has to be done internally by the Assembly.
Speaker Bergstrom suggested that there may be a need for legal opinion. The Committee asked if the Clerk could further clarify this recommendation, the current Quorum specification and procedures of the Assembly at the next Charter Review meeting.
5) County Administrator/Assistant County Administrator, Residency Requirement – Delegates Striebel made a motion to delete residency requirement as stated in Charter Section 3-10 (a) and add it to Personnel along with the amendment to add the requirement of residency be left to the discretion of the Regional Commissioners. Speaker Bergstrom seconded the motion. The motion passed with Mr. Milne voting no and all other members voting in favor.
Charter Section 3-10 (a). Removal of the residency requirement for the County Administrator.
Delegates Martin and Striebel agreed that this requirement should be removed from the Charter. This should be a part of the Personnel procedures. Currently the County Administrator does not reside on Cape Cod.
A suggestion was made that this could be amended when included in Personnel to state that the residency requirement be up to the discretion of the Regional Commissioners.
6) The Assistant County Administrator is to be designated in the temporary absence of the County Administrator – recommendation voted; however, different from the 2005 recommendation
Charter Section 3-14 (a). The Charter states that the administrator shall by letter, file with the Commissioners the designation of a qualified officer, department head or employee to exercise the power and perform his duties when the administrator is temporarily absent.
The committee had different views that were discussed.
The County Administrator should be kept apprised of what is going on in the County and his assistant should automatically know the same. This does not need to be clarified.
The County Administrator works at the pleasure of the Commissioners. The temporary replacement for the administrator should be appointed by the Regional Commissioners who originally made the appointment of the County Administrator.
Mr. Milne made the motion to remove Charter Section 3-14 (a) in its entirety and add to Personnel that the Board of Regional Commissioners will determine who will be acting as temporary County Administrator. Mr. Corgan seconded the motion and all members voted in favor.
7) Striking the sentence in Charter Section 3-1 (a) “ The provisions of section one hundred fifty-eight of chapter fifty-four of the General Laws shall apply to such elections.” , removing political party affiliations – Mr. Milne made a motion to recommend striking the sentence in Charter Section 3-1 (a) “The provisions of section one hundred fifty-eight of chapter fifty-four of the General Laws shall apply to such elections.” Mr. Corgan seconded the motion. Delegate Striebel and Speaker Bergstrom voted no; Delegate Martin abstained. Chair Gaechter, Greg Milne, Michael Corgan and Leo Cakounes voted yes. With four members voting yes, the motion passed.
Mr. Milne addressed the Committee about his recommendation to remove the provision in Charter Section 3-1 (a) Composition, Term of Office for the Executive Branch to be exempted out from any influence of their political party. You should make the Regional Commissioners the same as for the Assembly of Delegates, Charter Section 2-1 (c) and no longer have the 2 party primary for the Regional Commissioners.
The Committee discussed the politics of this recommendation. The points being made were addressing the elimination of choice for voters designations; this provision is in the Charter for a reason but why; Chapter 34A applies to all Counties except for Barnstable; Mass General Law, Section 158 defines this designation at this level; and if you eliminate the political party how will this be presented to the voters. More then likely the State will not approve this recommendation.
To run for Commissioner this provision makes it more difficult for the people to campaign. This change may allow for more people to run for this office as they do not have to campaign as extensively, go through a primary, and then the election.
Chair Gaechter heard these concerns along with the concern that the State will reject this recommendation. If you are trying to rewrite the Charter to show regionalization you need to be strong and make these types of changes. This is a way to show strong support for regionalization in your recommendations.
The Committee discussed the probability of the State not approving this recommendation and how it will affect the other recommendations. There may be a severability clause which allows for some recommendations to go forward and some to be disapproved.
Recommendations to the Assembly of Delegates
The Committee asked Mr. Milne to draft the interim recommendations and email the recommendations to the Committee prior to its next meeting. The Committee members will then have a chance to review the approved recommendations and discuss any changes to the draft.
The next meeting of the Charter Review Committee will be on Wednesday, March 31st at 4:00 p.m.
The recommendations need to be a clear and clean proposal to the Assembly of Delegates as well as to the State. The Charter Review Committee needs to formally submit their recommendations to the Assembly of Delegates by April 7th.
Mr. Milne submitted a letter received from Mr. Curran to the Committee and it is considered a part of these minutes.
The next meeting’s agenda will include the draft recommendations to go to the Assembly of Delegates, items 4 and 5 of this meetings agenda, discussion of the letter Mr. Milne received, and discussion with the Clerk on the voting of the Assembly and what the Charter states on the voting procedures.
With no further business, the Committee adjourned at 5:29 p.m.
At the Committee meeting on March 31, 2010 these minutes were approved, as corrected, with all in favor.
MEMORANDUM February 26, 2010
To: Charter Review Committee
From: Diane Thompson, Clerk, Assembly of Delegates
Re: Recommendations of the 2005 Charter Review Committee
Listed below are the housekeeping-type recommendations of the 2005 Charter Review Committee for your consideration.
Post-Election Assembly Organization Timeline
In the month of January following an election cycle, the Assembly of Delegates shall meet to organize no later than the 15th of the month.
Assembly Meetings That Fall On Holidays
Consistent with common business practice, meetings shall not occur on legal holidays. Should County business be deemed as necessitating an interim meeting, a special meeting may be scheduled.
Predetermination Of Lack Of Quorum
Should it be determined that a future meeting will not be represented by a quorum of Delegates, the meeting may be canceled. Should County business be deemed as necessitating an interim meeting, a special meting may be scheduled.
Clarify Speaker Selection Process
In completing the process for selecting a Speaker and Deputy Speaker, a simple majority of members present will be necessary assuming a quorum is present.
Attached to the minutes is a portion of the Report of the 2005 Charter Review Committee that reflects issues discussed at this meeting. The committee was given the complete document in the past.
2005 Charter Review Recommendations – Existing Charter
Article 2. Legislative Branch
1. Assembly of Delegates (Section 2-2 (a))
Maintain the present structure for the Assembly of Delegates which is comprised of fifteen members, one member representing each of the Cape’s fifteen towns. Any new formula for the legislative branch of government should retain fifteen members.
The Committee recommends that the concept of allowing for a non-weighted vote should be explored and implemented for ordinances that clearly have no financial implications.
In the month of January following an election cycle, the Assembly of Delegates shall meet to organize no later than the 15th of the month.
In completing the process for selecting a Speaker, Deputy Speaker, and the Clerk, a simple majority of Towns present will represent a quorum.
Consistent with common business practice, meetings shall not occur on legal holidays. Should County business be deemed as necessitating an interim meeting, a special meeting may be scheduled.
Article 3. Executive Branch
1. County Commissioners; (Section 3-1 (a))
The Committee recommends that the County maintain three County Commissioners. The concept of having the three commissioners representing the three distinct regions of the Cape should be explored.
2. County Administrator/Assistant County Administrator, Residency
Requirement; (Section 3-10 and Section 3-14)
The Committee recommends the removal of the residential requirement for County Administrator; Section 3-10 (a).
The Committee recommends that the County separate and maintain dual offices of the County Treasurer and County Administrator which shall not be combined by one person holding the two positions. The Committee found that having two separate offices lent itself to the original stipulation in the Charter as well as affords for maximum safeguards of fiduciary responsibilities (this was also recommended in the 2000 review).
The Committee recommends that the Assistant County Administrator is to be designated in the temporary absence of the County Administrator; Section 3-14 (a).
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