HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-19-2009 Work SessionCommittee:
Date & Time:
Place:
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'
Public Meeting Notice
City Council and Mayor
Friday, June 19, 2009 at 9: 00 a.m.
Buck's Diner
5 8 North Section Street
Breakfast with Ken Smith
Alabama League of Municipalities
Notice must be stamped, dated and initialed before posted on
bulletin board.
. '), r .
#1
Lisa Hanks
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
debbiewq@gmail.com on behalf of Debbie Quinn [debbiequinn@bellsouth .net]
Friday, June 12 , 2009 1 :55 PM
City Dan Stankoski; City Lonnie Mixon ; City Mike Ford ; Lisa Hanks ; Richard 0 . Kingrea; Tim
Kant; Gregg Mims; Sherry Sullivan
ALM-Ken Smith visit Friday for breafast 9:00a.m. Bucks Diner
I was unaware of the exact date and time of Ken Smith with the Al League of Municipalities visit to the Eastern
Shore to discuss Ethics/Powers/Questions until today with Sherry's e-mail. I know that Lonnie and I will be out
of town ne x t Thursday when the meeting occurs .. but Ken is staying Thursday night at the Hampton Inn in
Fairhope and will be glad to meet us for breakfast at Buck's Diner on Friday at 9:00 a.m. prior to driving back to
Montgomery . So .... .I don't know ho w the snaf-fu happened about notification ... but if you are available that
Friday a.m ...... dutch treat!!
Deb
Debbie W . Quinn
POB 429
Fairhope, Al 36533
251-928-6315 HM
251-928-6329 FAX
251-751-1858 CL
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1
STATE OF A L ABAM A
COUNTY OF 13AL D WJN
)(
)(
The City Coun cil , met in a W ork Session (Meeting)
at 9:00 a.m., B uck's D iner, 58 N or th Section Street,
Fairhope, Alab am a 36 532, o n
Friday, 19 Jun e 2009.
Present were:
Council Preside nt, Deb b ie Q uinn -Arrived at 9 :40 a.m.
Councilmembcr, Dan Sta nko ski
Councilmember, L o nn ie ix n
Councilmembcr, Mike F o ·d -
Councilmembcr, Rick Y in grea
City Attorney , Marion E. W y nne
City Clerk, Li sa A. Ha nks
Ken Smith -D eput y D irec tor and G eneral Counsel
of the Alab 8 ma League of Munic ipalities
Also present we re:
Reporters Russ He nde rso n and Mi ke Odom
Chief of Police , Terry Sa nd e r s
Mayor, Timot hy M. K a nt was ab sent.
Councilmemb c Mixo n s lated th e main topic is the separation of powers in municipality
and said there was a di ffere n ce of being in charge and overseeing.
Councilmembcr Stank os ki sa id he was just asking a question at the council meeting; was
it wrong?
City Attorney Wynne sta te d that if the Council passes an ordinance or resolution and the
Mayor does n ot enforce it , th e onl y option left is Circuit Court for a judgment.
Councilmemb r Mixo n as ked ab out investigating to see if the will of the council is being
done.
City Attorne y W ynne sa id it is p rope r.
Councilmembe r Kingrca as ked if t hey could authorize someone to get information.
Work Session
Friday, 19 Jun e 2009
Page-2-
Ken Smith rep lied wl ,e n the City Council investigates falls into a gray area and it
becomes an "Open M eetin g" issu e with a committee of one.
Councilmemb er Stankosh stated cooperation need to be involved .
Councilmemb er Kingre a as ked about veto power over the Police Chief.
Ken Smith replied th ere is no veto power over positions or appointments.
City Attorne y Wynne me ntio ned he would not give advice in public because it is not
appropriate.
Councilmemb er Kin grea sta te d th e Mayor refused to post a job position. The Council
passed a resolution wa nting to hire "xyz" position and the Mayor states he is not going to
do this.
Ken Smith sta te d yo u woul d hav e to get a mandamus action through Circuit Court.
Councilmemb er Mixon broug ht up not getting the sewer system information from the
Mayor.
Ken Smith stated the City Council has subpoena power over certain things in the City .
Councilmemb er Kingrea aske d about employees and/or the City not following our own
ordinances and a citizen s ue s . Who is liable?
Ken Smith said th e Cit y Council sets our policies and procedures for licenses, permits ,
etc. The Ci ty compli ed wit h standards and procedures for permits and licenses, for
example . The Mayo r can state th e person or entity complied with the rules. You should
work with the City Attorn ey.
Councilmemb er Stanko sh sa id what if we sign off on one through eight, but not nine
through ten .
City Attorney Wynn e su gge st ed putting a memo in the file stating reason to not want to
sign.
Councilmem be r Mixon sa id we are not looking for covering our butt; protecting the City.
Work Ses sion
Friday, 19 Jw1e 2 0 09
Page -3-
Ken Smith said some of the se iss ues are brought before the Planning and Zoning
Commission , Board of Adju stmen ts and then Circuit Court.
Councilme m be r Ford stated you could write down the time, date , and w hat happened ;
then sign and ge t it notari zed .
City Attorney said yo u nee d to communicate it at the time it happens . Did the emplo yee
break the pol icy and was it well co mmunicated .
Councilmem be r Fo rd asked if being the appointing authority opens the City Council up
for more li ab il i ty .
Ken Smith st ated t hat be i ng the ap pointing authority means all of your actions will be in
open meetin g and create sit uations that would normally be in private are now open .
Councilmem be r Ford s tated th e bar has been raised on individual liability ; personal
liability.
Ken Smith state d if you go beyond your authority, yes you could be liable under Federal
laws .
Council President Q uinn asked a bout taping of meetings.
Ken Smith stated he d oes not recommend keeping the tapes as a public record. The
actual written min utes ar c l'ept p ermanently. Comments are irrelevant and the tape is not
really the rec o rd. He said the Sta te of Alabama Archives and History have tapes as only
an aid for th e prep arat ion of the minutes and retain until approved.
Councilmem be r F ord stated that th e taping could be good and could be bad.
City Attorne y W ynne brou g ht up the issue with e-mails.
Ken Smith sa id th at C ity Co un cil e-mails are public record and to be careful what you
send to each o th er. A lso , i f yo u are se nding e-mails out to one member to another asking
about an issue th at will come be for e the City Council could run afoul of the Open
Meetings Ac t. Th ere is no de lib erat ion at the City Council meetings, just a vote.
Councilmem be r Fo rd sai d w e shou ld carry on business at a City Council meeting not at a
pre-meeting.
Work Session
Friday, 19 June 2009
Page-4-
Ken Smith s tated you cannot vo te on actions in the pre-meetings. A work session is a
way to streamline issue s.
Council Pre sident Quinn rep lied she had been told they could vote in work sessions.
Ken Smith said that base d on the Open Meeting Act, a work session is considered a
legitimate m eeting and you could go into an executive session. However, all business of
the City Council should be held at a regular or special-called City Council meeting . He
said the City Council co ul d vote on procedural items such as motion to adjourn.
Councilmember Mi xon as ked about using consent agendas.
Ken Smith res ponded by explaining how consent agendas or consent calendars work . He
mentioned that you w ould s till need to vote individually on all items.
Councilmemb ers Stanko s ki, Kin grea, and Ford all agreed for putting both, the work
session and City C ouncil me etin g, together.
Council President Quinn stated that citizens and staff were apprehensive to talk at the
podium, but w ere more o pe n at th e work session.
Councilmember Mi xon sai d we ask the Mayor to do something, so how can we make
sure he does it.
Ken Smith re plied y ou m us t go to court because you can't force the Mayor to do it. The
Circuit Cou rt woul d answer the ques tion does the Mayor have authority or not.
Councilmemb er Mi xon aske d about the City Administrator position.
Ken Smith said he or she w ould be hired as the assistant to the Mayor.
Councilmemb er Mi x on a sked what if the position of the City Administrator was
established pursuant to C od e of A la. § 11-43-3.
Ken Smith sa id thi s p os it io n is st ill an employee of the City and the Mayor supervises all
employees . The o nl y way to c hange this is to have the vote of the people for a City
Manager/Council form o f government. Five to six cities have a City Manager/Council
form of go v ernn1ent. The City Council cannot supervise the City's employees.
Work Sessio n
Friday, 19 JW1 e 2009
Page-5-
Councilmembe r Ford asked ab out being a Class 8 city based on the 1970 census. What
did we do wrong b ased on population?
Ken Smith replied that the City of Fa irhope 's population is over 12 ,000 and the form of
government change s, but the cl ass of a city never changes.
The meeti ng was adjourned at 10:35 a.m.
Lisa A. H anks
City of Fai rhope
City Clerk