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Charter review produces potential amendments

Charter review produces potential amendments

Written by Joe Hendricks on . Posted in Anna Maria, Community News, Featured.

ANNA MARIA – The Anna Maria Charter Review Committee has nearly completed its review of the city charter and will soon recommend potential charter amendments to the city commission.

The city charter establishes how the city government is structured and defines the roles of the mayor, city commissioners and charter officials. The charter can only be amended with the majority support of the city’s registered voters.

Chaired by Chris Arendt, the committee that also includes Stevie Coppin, Scott Isherwood, Pat Olesen and Chuck Wolfe held its third meeting on March 8, joined this time by Mayor Dan Murphy.

POTENTIAL AMENDMENTS

During Friday’s meeting, the committee members compiled a list of potential charter amendments to be reviewed and voted on during the committee’s final anticipated meeting on Thursday, March 21.

The committee tentatively supports a charter amendment that would limit building heights to no more than three stories. The Bradenton Beach and Holmes Beach charters limit building heights to three stories, but Anna Maria’s charter currently contains no such provision.

Anna Maria’s comprehensive plan limits building heights to three stories, but the comp plan can be changed by a fourth-fifths supra-majority vote of the city commission. A charter-imposed height limit could only be elimi­nated or modified with the support of city voters; or the proposed consolidation of the three Island cities into Manatee County or the city of Bradenton, which would eliminate all three city charters. Murphy supports a building height amendment and he surmised the current omission is a previously-unrealized oversight.

Charter review produces potential amendments
Mayor Dan Murphy joined the charter review committee at their March 8 meeting. – Joe Hendricks | Sun

The committee will decide whether to recommend an amend­ment that would require a supra-majority, four-fifths approval of the city commission and/or a voter referendum to sell, vacate or lease long-term a city-owned property. The charter currently requires the adoption of a city ordinance supported by at least three com­missioners.

The committee tentatively supports an amendment that would clarify and better define the two-year residency requirement placed on mayoral and city commission candidates. The committee noted the current residency requirements don’t apply to those actually in office.

The committee also tentatively supports a charter amendment that would better clarify and define who’s considered a city officer, including the city clerk, city treasurer, city attorney and public works superintendent.

The charter currently allows one city commissioner to call for a special meeting. The committee members will decide whether to propose an amendment that would instead allow special meetings to be called by the commission majority, the commission chair or the mayor, but not a single member.

As a grammatical clean-up, the committee will decide whether to propose an amendment that would replace gender-specific pronouns such as “his” and “her” with non-gender-specific terms.

Once voted on by the committee members, the proposed charter amendments will be included in a final report presented to the city commission. The commission will then decide which, if any, proposed amendments are placed on the general election ballot this fall. The commission could also place its own proposed charter amend­ments on the ballot.

ADDITIONAL DISCUSSION

The committee also sought input from the mayor regarding the length of mayoral and city commis­sion terms and what might be done to attract more city commission candidates and fewer appointed commissioners. Murphy suggested the current two-year terms for mayors and commissioners remain in place.

At the meeting’s end, Murphy thanked the committee for their soon-to-be-concluded efforts and said, “Thank you so much for your diligence, hard work and most of all your creativity. I was impressed with the questions you asked and the avenues you pursued. You cared about what you were doing here.”

Charter review committee considering changes

Charter review committee considering changes

Written by Joe Hendricks on . Posted in Anna Maria, Community News.

ANNA MARIA – During its second meeting, the Anna Maria Charter Review Committee discussed three potential amendments to the city charter.

Similar to the state constitution, the 20-page Anna Maria charter sets forth how the city government is structured and how the city is governed. The charter establishes which city actions require a city ordinance and how citizen-initiated voter referendums are initiated. The charter establishes the duties of the city clerk, city treasurer and city attorney and includes a detailed description of the city’s physical boundaries and corporate limits.

State law requires a city charter to be reviewed at least every five years. The Anna Maria charter was last reviewed in 2019. The city charter can only be amended and revised with the approval of the city’s registered voters.

Chris Arendt chairs the committee that also includes Stevie Coppin, Scott Isherwood, Pat Olesen and Chuck Wolfe.

During the committee’s Feb. 23 meeting, the members discussed three potential amendments to the city charter.

Arendt noted the conveyance or lease of any city-owned property requires a city commission-approved ordinance. Regarding the conveyance of city property, Arendt said the Holmes Beach charter requires a four-fifths supra majority support of the city commission and the approval of the city’s registered voters in order to sell, vacate or give away a city-owned property. The Bradenton Beach charter includes similar language.

The Anna Maria charter does not require city voters to approve a proposed conveyance of city property. The committee is considering, but has not reached formal consensus, on proposing a charter amendment that would add that requirement to the charter.

Wolfe suggested including in the conveyance amendment language a provision that would also require voter approval for any city-owned structures or properties leased to another party for 25 years or more.

The city currently leases space on the City Pier to the City Pier Grill operators and to Mote Marine. Using essentially rent-free leases, the city also has long-term leases with The Center, Island Players and the Anna Maria Island Historical Museum for the use of those city-owned properties and structures.

The committee is considering proposing an amendment pertaining to the scheduling of special city commission meetings called in addition to the regular commission meetings that generally occur twice a month.

The charter currently provides that a special meeting may be called by any city commission member and when practical, with no less than 24 hours’ notice given to the public and the other commissioners.

Isherwood expressed concerns about a commission member theoretically acting as a “loose cannon” and abusing or over-using the ability to call special meetings. The committee is still considering proposing an amendment that would allow the mayor, the commission chair or a majority of commission members to schedule a special meeting, instead of a single member.

The commission discussed and is considering a potential charter amendment that would increase the non-voting mayor’s two-year term in office to a four-year term, while likely leaving the voting commission members’ terms at two years.

Seeking input from the mayor, the commission will invite Murphy to its Friday, March 8 meeting in hopes of getting his thoughts on four-year mayoral terms versus two-year terms. The committee also welcomes the city commissioners to attend the March 8 meeting to share their thoughts about two-year terms versus four-year terms. The meeting will begin at 10 a.m.

During the Feb. 23 meeting, Coppin shared her concerns about the charter’s use of gender-specific pronouns such as “he” and “she.” Coppin said the gender-specific pronouns are not keeping with the times, are grammatically awkward and should be replaced with non-gender-specific language. The committee reached no consensus on this matter and agreed to revisit the topic at a future meeting.

When the committee completes its review of the charter, the committee’s suggestions will be presented to the city commission for consideration. The commission can then support or reject any or all of the proposed charter amendments being placed on a future ballot. The commission can also propose charter amendments of its own to place on the ballot.

Bradenton Beach charter review

Modified commission wards proposed

Written by Joe Hendricks on . Posted in Bradenton Beach, Community News.

BRADENTON BEACH – The Charter Review Committee (CRC) reached consensus on several items during its Monday, July 9 meeting.

Members Debra Cox, Anne Leister, Dan Morhaus and Randy Milton support a potential charter amendment that would create two City Commission wards.

Cox and Morhaus participated in Monday’s meeting by phone.

If placed on the ballot by the City Commission and approved by city voters, this amendment would create a two-ward system with two commissioners being elected from a north ward by north ward voters only, two commissioners being elected from a south ward by south ward voters only and an at-large mayor elected citywide. The exact ward boundaries would need to be clarified, but the Cortez Bridge has been mentioned as a possible dividing line.

The four geographically based commission wards established in the 1950s were eliminated by city voters last year in support of a charter amendment proposed by the Concerned Neighbors of Bradenton Committee (CNOBB) group. In that system, candidates were ward-specific, but all city voters were allowed to vote in all commission races.

As they did during their two previous meetings, Cox, Leister and Milton first expressed support for a return to the four-ward system, but they compromised on the proposed two-ward system after debating whether the two wards would allow for citywide voting or ward-specific voting.

Chair Mary Bell opposed returning to a ward system due to her ongoing concerns about Bradenton Beach’s shrinking population and the increased difficulty in finding commission candidates.

Morhaus said he saw no point in returning to a four-ward system or creating a two-ward system in which voters from one ward would help determine the winners in another ward. He said limiting the votes to the ward-specific residents would create parochial representation if that was the intent.

Cox and Leister said they like the wards because it helps preserve that Old Florida and neighborhood feel. Milton said he likes having a representative that he knows and that knows his neighborhood.

If the City Commission places the two-ward charter amendment question on the fall ballot, city voters will determine whether wards are restored in a modified form.

City Manager

The committee members again unanimously opposed a charter amendment that would require the city to hire a full-time city manager as proposed by the Keep Our Residential Neighborhood (KORN) political action committee.

KORN treasurer John Metz questioned a statement Bell made at the previous meeting regarding a city manager costing an estimated $200,000 a year in salary and benefits. Metz estimated the total cost to be closer to $120,000 to $140,000, which he said is about what Police Chief Sam Speciale earns.

Morhaus said he didn’t see the benefit in hiring a city manager and Bell said the committee’s collective opposition was based more on the lack of an actual need for a manager than it was on dollars and cents.

Parking garage

The committee unanimously supports a citywide prohibition on multi-level parking garages, but upon the advice of the city attorney agreed that the city charter is not the right place to address those desires because state law no longer allows land use matters to be decided by voter referendum.

City Planner Alan Garrett told the members about the Planning and Zoning Board and City Commission’s efforts to adopt two city ordinances that would prohibit parking garages citywide by amending the comprehensive plan’s future land use map and the city’s land development code.

Metz noted ordinance changes could be undone by a future commission, whereas a charter amendment could only be reversed by city voters.

Commission candidate Tjet Martin suggested there at least be a requirement for a four-fifths supra-majority commission vote to undo ordinance-enacted parking garage prohibitions. Perry said the charter already requires a four-fifths commission vote to amend the comp plan.

Residency

The committee unanimously supports requiring City Commission candidates to be registered voters – a requirement city voters eliminated last fall when supporting a CNOBB amendment that also reduced candidate residency requirements from two years to one.

The committee supports the one-year residency requirement but also feels commission candidates should be registered city voters for at least one year before seeking office. Milton said CRC members are required to be city voters and the same should apply to commission members.

Regarding the City Commission’s request to better define residency, the committee recommends an amendment that would require commission candidates to prove their residency by providing at least three of following items that include a Bradenton Beach address: a county-issued voter registration card, a Florida driver license or state ID, a declaration of domicile that includes a residency date, a bank statement, a property tax bill, a long-term lease or a federal tax return.

The Charter Review Committee expects to meet once or twice more to conclude its work.

Randy White residency

Commissioner addresses residency issues

Written by Joe Hendricks on . Posted in Bradenton Beach, Community News.

BRADENTON BEACH – City Commissioner Randy White’s status as a city resident was indirectly questioned during last week’s Charter Review Committee (CRC) meeting.

City Attorney Ricinda Perry said she has received inquiries about the residency status of a current commissioner. Perry was discussing the City Commission’s request to better define city charter residency requirements for commission candidates.

Perry did not identify the commissioner by name but mistakenly said he holds a city-issued Transient Public Lodging Establishment (TPLE) license. She also said the property listed as the commissioner’s residence has been used recently as a vacation rental.

Perry said the property tax bill for the commissioner’s property is sent to a Canadian address and the commissioner’s car had a Canadian license plate until recently.

Mayor John Chappie has a city-issued TPLE license, but he resides full-time in one of the two duplexes he and his brother, Joe, own on 12th Street South. Their tax bills also reflect that.

According to the Manatee County Property Appraiser’s website, Commissioner Randy White’s tax bill for the bungalow at 106 Fourth St. N. has been sent to Toronto, Canada since he bought it 2012.

The tax bill for the bungalow White owns next door at 108 Fourth St. N. has been sent to the 106 Fourth St. N. address since he bought the second bungalow in 2014. According to Building Official Steve Gilbert, the bungalow at 108 Fourth St. N. remains uninhabitable due to an unresolved stop work order issued for working without permits in 2016.

In January, White pursued a TPLE license for the 106 Fourth St. N. bungalow that was being used as a vacation rental. Late last year and earlier this year that property was listed as a vacation rental through the Holmes Beach-based Beachrental.mobi property management company.

On Monday, City Treasurer Shayne Thompson said White recently obtained a city-issued business tax receipt license for that property but he never completed the TPLE licensing process.

White’s response

White is a commercial airline pilot based out of LaGuardia Airport in New York City. During a layover Monday morning, he explained his residency situation.

“I do understand why people scratch their heads,” he said, when informed of Friday’s CRC discussion.

White said his wife, Lorraine, lives in Toronto and is a Canadian citizen. He said she usually handled the vacation rental logistics and that’s why the tax bill was sent there.

White said his wife will vacation at the bungalow at 106 Fourth St. N. but she will not live there because it’s too small. They planned to live in the bigger bungalow next door, but those plans got bogged down in the permitting issues and remain on hold.

White said he often has overnight layovers in Toronto that allow him to spend time with his wife.

“I have an international job and I’m in an international marriage,” he said.

White said they abandoned the TPLE license because it was getting complicated and costly. He said they no longer use the bungalow as a vacation rental and previously only rented it out when he was flying or out of town.

When it was noted there was recently a car with out-of-state license plates parked in his driveway, White said it belonged to a friend of his wife’s and she did not pay to stay. He said other friends do the same.

White says he also has a crash pad in New York and shares a room with another pilot. He said he usually works Saturday, Sunday, Monday and sometimes on Friday. He usually commutes to New York from Sarasota/Bradenton International Airport.

White said he inherited a Buick LeSabre when his dad passed away and that’s why it had Canadian plates. It now has Florida plates. White said he has a Florida driver’s license that lists 108 Fourth St. N. as his address because that’s where he planned to live.

White said he is an American citizen and registered to vote in Manatee County and Bradenton Beach.

“I’m on the road at least half the time. I spent time in New York and I shoot up to Toronto to see my wife. The other time I dedicate to Bradenton Beach,” he said, noting that he spends about 10 days a month in Bradenton Beach.

White was asked why he decided to run for a commission seat when his time in Bradenton Beach is limited.

“Because I love the town and I know a lot of people here. I’m big on the residents and I think there’s resident and residential issues that need to be addressed,” he said.

On Monday, Perry said she was not aware that White had discontinued his efforts to obtain a TPLE license. She said that has no impact on the commission’s request to better define residency in the city charter.