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Charter11-08-07Min City of Longwood 2007- Charter Advisory Committee Longwood City Commission Chambers 175 West Warren Avenue Longwood, Florida MINUTES November 8, 2007 7:00 P.M. Present: Chair Joe Durso Vice Chair Jack Caldwell Member Tamara Cooper Member Susan McMahon Linda Jacobs, Recording Secr~~taiy Absent: .Member Douglas Damerst 1. CALL TO ORDER. Chair Durso cane;d the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: October 11, 2007 Member Cooper moved to approve the minutes. Seconded by Vice Chair Caldwell and carried by a unanimous voice vote with Member Damerst absent. Vice Chair Caldwell said the Mayor visited the last meeting and he noticed this was not in the minutes. 3. PUBLIC INPUT. None. 4. OLD BUSINESS. None. 5. REVIEW OF CHARTER. A. Article XI. Transition Schedule Section 11.01- Continuation of Former Charter Provisions. Reviewed with no recommendations,. Section 11.02 -Ordinances Preserved. ~ Reviewed with no recommendations. CAC 11-08-07/1 ~ Section 11.03 -Rights of Officers and Employees. Reviewed with no recommendations. Section 11.04 -Pending Matters. Reviewed with no recommendations. Section 11.05 -Schedule. Reviewed with no recommendations. B. Article XII. Public Safety. Section 12.01- Created. Vice Chair Caldwell said he understood Seminole County has been looking at bringing together services such as tL~e Fire Department. He stated the last he heard the City of Longwood did not want to change and he agreed. Section 12.02 -Department Head;. ~ Reviewed with no recommendations. Section 12.03 -Members. Member Cooper inquired if the number of firefighters was sufficient. She referenced the Charter where it states: "The fire division shall consist of nc~ fewer firefighters than existed on November 4, 1997. " Chair Durso pointed out that it state; "no fewer" and. this ensures there is at least a minimal force. Vice Chair Caldwell said the Police Department was based upon population. He said there had to be a reason why they both were stated this way. Chair Durso said they could inquire and get an explanation for the reasoning. Section 12.04 -Responsibilities. Reviewed with no recommendations. Section 12.05 -Support. ~ Member Cooper said she agreed with what this Section states, but it was a very generic statement. CAC 11-08-07/2 Chair Durso .said this could be more specific in an Ordinance. Section 12.06 -Accountability. Chair Durso said another issue was regarding the City Administrator hiring and firing Department Heads. It seemed he needed to have City Commission approval to hire, but he could fire without approval. He stated he did not believe that was necessarily a good ~~ption. Vice Chair Caldwell said Powers and Duties of the City Administrator was under Section 4.07. Chair Durso said he could hire and fire all but the City Clerk and City Attorney. Vice Chair Caldwell. said the employees or Department. Heads can appeal with accordance to the Personnel Policy. Chair Durso said the City Administrator was an appointed position and not elected. He said he was not sure he was comfortable evith this since it is not: an elected position, even though he is responsible to the Conunission. ~ Member Cooper said she was not comfortable with it. She said they could suggest the City Administrator recommend to the City Commission before firing of Department Heads. Chair Durso advised the City Commission should have some authority prior to being able to hire or fire.Departmenl: Heads who are at will employees. Member McMahon said if it was made part of the City Commission responsibility to review hiring and firing of Department Heads, this would need to be done in a public meeting. . Vice Chair Caldwell pointed out that the. appointments were subject to confirn~ation by the City Commission as stated in Section 5.01 (b). Chair Durso said he did not think it was irrational of the Charter Committee to recommend if the City Administrator wants to dismiss somebody, the City Commission have the opportunity to ask why. Chair Durso suggested they make any final recommendations at the next meeting and have a template to review at the January meeting. Vice Chair Caldwell said they were coming down to the wording of their recommendations to the Commission. CAC 11-08••07/3 ~ 6. ADJOURh1. Chair Durso adjounled the meeting at 7:48 p.m. / so, air ATTEST: ~~2~1~~ Linda Jacobs, ecording Secretary CAC 11-08••07/4