ANNA MARIA – The city’s Charter Review Committee has begun its review of the city charter.
Recommended by Mayor Dan Murphy and approved by the city commission, the charter review committee consists of Chris Arendt, Stevie Coppin, Scott Isherwood, Pat Olesen and Chuck Wolfe. The committee members met for the first time on Feb. 2.
The state requires cities to review their city charters at least every five years and Anna Maria’s 20-page charter was last reviewed in 2019. Any charter amendments proposed by the committee and supported by the city commission would then be placed on a general election ballot for the city’s registered voters to approve or reject.
Anna Maria’s charter dates back to 1923 when Anna Maria officially became a Florida city. Similar to a state constitution, a city charter sets forth how a city government is structured and establishes the duties and powers of the mayor and commissioners. Anna Maria’s charter establishes the city’s strong mayor form of government that consists of a non-voting mayor and five voting commissioners.
The charter establishes which city actions require the adoption of a city ordinance.
It also establishes how citizen-initiated voter referendums are enacted, including citizen-initiated charter amendments.
Anna Maria’s city charter sets forth the duties of the city clerk, city treasurer and city attorney. It also includes a detailed written description of the city’s physical boundaries and corporate limits.
Height limits
The Holmes Beach and Bradenton Beach city charters limit building heights to three stories, with some minor height differences. Those height limits can only be changed or eliminated with the approval of those cities’ registered voters.
The Anna Maria charter does not establish building height limits, but the city’s land development code and comprehensive plan limit residential and commercial building heights to “three useable floors.”
Unlike the charter, the land development use and the comp plan can be amended by the city commission.
According to Section 3.08 of the Anna Maria charter, a future land use-related comp plan amendment requires an affirmative vote of four more of the city commissioners. A comp plan amendment does not require the approval of city voters.
Without the protection of a charter provision, any sitting city commissioners could move to abolish or increase Anna Maria’s existing height limits without the approval of the city’s registered voters.
Making a start
After being sworn in by Deputy Clerk Fran Berrios, the committee members selected Arendt to serve as the committee chair and Olesen to serve as vice chair.
City Attorney Becky Vose provided the committee with an overview of the charter review process and told the committee members not to feel disappointed if their review produces no proposed charter amendments.
With city commission chair and former charter review committee member Mark Short providing additional guidance, the committee began its review of the charter. Heeding Short’s advice, the committee agreed to review the charter one page at a time, from beginning to end – a process that will entail multiple meetings.
When discussing the government structure established in Section 1.06, Wolfe noted that in recent years many commissioners have been appointed by the commission rather than elected by the public. He questioned whether reducing the commission to three members instead of five would produce more elected commissioners.
Short noted a three-member commission would only require the support of two commissioners to enact a new city ordinance or initiate other city actions. Vose said the appointment process in Anna Maria has resulted in many highly qualified individuals joining the commission.
Isherwood mentioned the Form 6 financial disclosure requirements that now apply to all elected and appointed city commissioners and mayors in Florida. He’s concerned the expanded disclosure requirements will further reduce the number of people willing to serve as mayors and commissioners. He, too, questioned whether reducing the number of commission members might be advantageous.
Olsen mentioned the possibility of hiring a city manager or a city administrator who would provide continuity as mayors and commission members come and go. She said Anna Maria currently has a “great mayor” but that hasn’t always been the case.
Coppin questioned whether the city could afford a city manager’s salary and whether the city manager could afford to live in Anna Maria due to the high cost of housing.
The committee discussed extending the current two-year terms for commissioners and mayors to four years to eliminate the need to run for office every two years. Wolfe suggested increasing the mayor’s term to four years and leaving the commission terms at two.
Isherwood said it’s important to create a larger pool of candidates for the long-term benefit of the city, especially at a time when the potential consolidation of the three Island cities is the current subject of a consolidation study requested by the local members of the Florida Legislature.
Reaching no initial conclusions, the committee agreed to engage in additional future discussion about the potential need for a city manager and adjusting the number of commission members and the length of the terms served. The committee will meet next at city hall on Friday, Feb. 23 at 1 p.m. The meetings are open to the public.
