MINUTES
POLK COUNTY CHARTER REVIEW COMMISSION
AUGUST 14, 2001
Chairman, Dan Costello, called the meeting of the Polk County Charter Review Commission to order at 6:00 p.m. on the 3rd floor conference room of the Citrus & Chemical Bank, Bartow. Commissioner Price led the prayer and Commissioner Gernert led the Pledge of Allegiance.
Ms. Swearengin called the
roll. All Commissioners were present.
The Chairman said he would like the record to show the Commission had a quorum.
He
advised the members of the audience that there was a sign-up sheet for those
wishing to address the Commission later in the agenda, and he would call their
names in the order in which they appeared on the sheet.
The first order of business was for the approval of the Minutes for July 24, 2001.
The minutes of July 24, 2001 as mailed to the commissioners, and as supplemented in the handout provided them at this meeting, were approved after a motion by Commissioner Moore Bailey that Commissioner Nunnallee seconded.
Chairman Costello notified the commissioners that four of the seven speakers scheduled to speak that evening had requested to be excused and/or rescheduled for a later meeting. Three speakers would be present: county commissioner Randy Wilkinson, Dr. Earle Lee of the Haines City Chamber of Commerce, and Cheryl Beckert of Winter Haven Visioning
Chairman Costello welcomed Commissioner Wilkinson for his presentation.
He began by reading the preamble to the current Polk County Charter. He expressed concern that more of the recommendations of the Blue Ribbon Committee that studied the county government had not been implemented.
He believes the crux of the problem in county government is the budgeting process.
He made the following suggestions:
--Create an “elected county mayor” who would be both a county administrator and executor;
--Make constitutional officers elected Charter officers;
--Make, in addition to the mayor seat, an additional commission seat for a total of seven commissioners instead of the five we presently have.
He suggested that one or more of the commission districts be “minority” districts, and that some or all be single member districts.
His elected executive would have line item control over the budget. He said that “we have had unsustainable budget increases” which are disproportionate to Polk County wage increases. While he did not want to single anyone out, he will by providing these examples. He wants clear lines of accountability where the elected county executive would have budget authority over all the Charter budget officers. The latter would still be elected but they would submit budgets to the executive. Then, the commission acting as a “congress” would approve it.
This system would avoid duplication of efforts among the various budget officers, as for example we presently have with two “911” systems, one under the Sheriff and the other under Emergency Management. Personnel or Human Resource functions could also be combined into one office. Fleet Management is another area for consolidation.
Information Technology (MIS) would be another area. He cited the case of technicians from the BOCC area being recruited by one of the constitutional officers at a higher rate of pay. An elected county executive would help in eliminating duplication among constitutional officers for services that are common to all.
He said that the BOCC budget for the past several years has gone up less than the other constitutional officers. He expressed concern about the significant increases in the Property Appraiser’s budget. He noted that some of the constitutional officers could appeal their budgets to a higher authority than the BOCC, suggesting that this would not be the case if the offices were charter offices.
He made some comparisons between the property appraisers in Hillsborough and Polk. He praised the success of the former as compared to the latter.
While agreeing with the Sheriff that the Polk County Sheriff’s department operates at a smaller per capita cost than the larger jurisdictions, he believes that comparisons should be made with medium sized counties. When that is done, it shows Pasco, Brevard, Marion, and Collier less than Polk. He believes that the administrative overhead of the Sheriff is higher than it ought to be. He said Pasco pays their deputies more than Polk but have a lower cost per citizen, because of the savings in administrative costs.
He concluded by urging the adoption of the elected county executive system of government.
Chairman Costello invited commissioners to question Commissioner Wilkinson.
Commissioner McLaughlin asked if the county charter officers would be under the control of the elected county executive?
He replied that their budgets would come under the purview of the elected executive.
Commissioner McLaughlin asked, if the elected county charter officers were brought under the control of the county commission, why would we need an elected executive?
He said that having an elected county executive would ensure a full-time person on the job and not part time as presently exists.
Commissioner Nunnallee asked if Commissioner Wilkinson had compared the crime rate between Polk and Pasco counties?
He said that he had not.
Commissioner Masters said that he understood that the one purpose of Commissioner Wilkinson’s proposal was to bring the Sheriff’s budget under BOCC control, but asked if the BOCC did not have control of the budget now under the present arrangement?
He said that the Sheriff could appeal beyond the BOCC. He cited other counties where such an appeal had been made. He said there was reluctance on the part of the BOCC to get to that point. If the constitutional officers were charter officers and had no appeal, the BOCC would not feel uncomfortable about reducing their budgets. There would be no excuse then.
Commissioner Masters said he was trying to understand what additional power the BOCC would have over the constitutional officers if they were elected charter officers that they do not already possess? He read from a statute that described the powers of the BOCC to amend proposed budgets submitted by the Sheriff.
Commissioner Wilkinson complemented Commissioner Masters for his question and agreed with what he said, but added local elected officials were reluctant to “air their laundry” in Tallahassee.
Commissioner Masters noted that the last time there was an appeal by the Sheriff of Polk County to the Cabinet over his budget, the appeal was rejected.
Commissioner Lindsey mentioned that in earlier testimony a constitutional officer had reported that an oil change with the county fleet management cost a great deal more than in the private sector. He asked if there was a point of diminishing returns in trying to consolidate?
He responded that the
county sometimes spends more than they should because of lack of budgetary
controls. In answer to his
question, he said that a much better job could be done.
Commissioner Strang summarized his understanding of the budget appeals process by stating that the Supervisor of Elections is the only constitutional officer who has no appeal beyond the BOCC. He asked if it were not true that the BOCC alone was responsible for setting the millage rate? Commissioner Wilkinson agreed.
Commissioner Strang said that it was his understanding that once the budget allocations were made by the BOCC to the constitutional officers there is no oversight in their implementation, a process he called bucket accounting.
Commissioner Wilkinson said that was his understanding as well. He said the process was further complicated by the fact that the chief financial person of the county worked for the Clerk of Courts. He believes that the current system makes it easier to “pass the buck.” Having a strong elected county manager would change that.
Commissioner Moore Bailey asked if his plan for an elected county executive with elected department heads were implemented, how would the county commissioners control their budgets if they were not able to control them now? Was it his intention to eliminate constitutional officers and make them elected department heads? She said perhaps Mr. Spitzer could elaborate on that.
She
asked when talking about having a strong elected County Manager plus six County
Commissioners, if the Constitutional Officers would still come before them with
their budget, and how they would try to control their budget requests? Except
for control over the Supervisor of Elections, and she understood they did not
have control over the Property Appraiser’s budget, and she submitted her
budget to the DOR by June 1st, and if the budget was insufficient she
received a reply by August 15th. She said if he wanted to eliminate the
Constitutional Officers, basically what he was looking at, was having them
reduced to act as department heads, and she asked if this was his intention?
Commissioner Wilkinson replied that it was a matter of terminology but you could call them department heads.
Chairman Costello observed that, at least theoretically, if the BOCC had the will they could do what they wanted to with respect to the constitutional officers’ budgets, and they could take their chances at the higher level. The record here in the county is that there has been one appeal to the Cabinet, and it has failed. He believes that the problem lies in the fact that each of the constitutional officers is elected by his or her own separate and distinct constituency. The county commissioners, if they are interested in staying in office are concerned about the effect of their actions on other constituencies. The Sheriff has one of the strongest constituencies, and that is probably why the Sheriff’s gets what the Sheriff wants. But he said that he believes what the Sheriff gets is pretty well deserved.
Chairman Costello wondered if the budget figures Commissioner Wilkinson provided were a bit unfair because of the recent jail additions.
Commissioner Wilkinson answered that the budget figures did not include the jail, only law enforcement.
Chairman Costello said that the strong executive system might have some merit, and he would be interested in hearing from our consultants on its effectiveness where it has been used as in Duval County and Orange County.
Commissioner Wilkinson agreed that the Sheriff had significant powers, as did the Superintendent of Schools. When he voted against the Sheriff’s budget he experienced the negative reaction. He added that with single member districts, large power bases, such as Lakeland, were reduced, and there was less fear of retaliation. As it is, Lakeland and Winter Haven control the votes for the five commissioners. That would not be the case with single member districts.
Commissioner Masters asked what could be saved if Human Resources were consolidated?
He replied that he did not have that information.
Commissioner Masters asked if a report could be obtained from the BOCC on the subject of consolidation?
Commissioner Wilkinson said that there was a real fear among county staff about responding to his requests.
Chairman Costello said he thought that requests for information by county commissioners were supposed to go to the County Manager and not directly to the staff. He asked if Commissioner Wilkinson had asked the County Manager for the information?
He replied, no.
Chairman Costello said that he would communicate with the County Manager and ask him for the sort of information that was being referred to by Commissioner Masters.
Commissioner Lindsey observed that the elected county executive that was being proposed seemed similar to the arrangement with the school system, where there is an elected school board and an elected superintendent. He asked if we would not be creating the same monster?
He replied that the school board operation had a much narrower focus than the county commission, so the two systems are not really comparable.
Commissioner Strang observed that we don’t really have home rule under the present organization. When appeals on constitutional budgets can be made to higher authority than the BOCC then we really don’t have all of the blessings of home rule. Eliminating the appeal rights would make the BOCC more accountable for their budget. The present system gives them a “cop out.”
Chairman Costello agreed with the notion of greater accountability, but the problem is that, with an elected county executive the elected county commissioners would shrug their shoulders and point fingers at the county executive. You have to be able to pin down who has the authority, who has the responsibility, and how well are they carrying it out.
Commissioner McLauglin asked Mr. Spitzer if there were other counties that gave authority over the constitutional officers’ budgets while at the same time maintaining the constitutional officers’ elected status?
He said there are three or four who do that. He summarized the options as keeping the status quo, changing to elected charter officers or appointed charter officers/department heads. In the case of the Sheriff, he would lose the right of appeal in the latter two cases, but could still muster political support if he were an elected charter officer. The county commission would get greater control over the range of support services as well. He said that Duval and Orange counties have different structures. The former has an elected executive who does not sit with the commissioners, but in Orange County the elected chairman or mayor sits with the commission when they deliberate.
Commissioner McLaughlin asked if it were possible to maintain budget control and still maintain the integrity of the constitutional officers?
Mr. Spitzer thought you could draft it that way. Whether or not the constitutional officers would agree that the only thing changed was the budget process was a matter of debate.
Commissioner McLaughlin noted that the Property Appraiser has no elected officials other than herself overseeing her budget, only some bureaucrats in Tallahassee. The political reality of challenging the budget is nil. Therefore without taking on the constitutional officers and trying to strip them of their powers, he wonders if the BOCC can have final budget authority, so that some entity is finally taking responsibility for the budget.
Mr. Watts made reference to the Volusia County charter that was the first after the 1968 Constitution. First the job of the Clerk was split. Her judicial and recording functions are the same as the Clerk in any other county. All of the financial functions and record keeping for the BOCC were moved under the county manager. The County Manager appoints a Finance Director. The office of Tax Collector was abolished and moved under the county Finance Director. The other three officers were retained as charter elected department heads. The Supervisor of Elections has employees but they are county employees, paid on the county salary schedule. She is elected and still has clout when she appears before the county council, but they approve her budget. Same thing with the Property Appraiser. The Sheriff is the elected head of the Department of Public Safety. He selects appointed deputies, but cannot appeal his budget to Cabinet. There are pros and cons to all of these arrangements.
Chairman Costello thanked Commissioner Wilkinson for coming and he made a few closing remarks. He suggested that the Charter reflect the fact that the county commissioners’ assistants should report to them instead of to the county manager.
The Chairman called a recess for five minutes at 7:15 PM.
The meeting was called back to order at 7:20 PM.
Chairman Costello welcomed Dr. Earle Lee, Chairman of the Government Affairs Committee of the Haines City Chamber of Commerce.
Dr. Lee asked that two letters be distributed to the commissioners. One is from the Greater Haines City Chamber of Commerce and the other is from the Lake Wales Area Chamber of Commerce. Copies are attached to the record copy of these minutes.
Dr. Lee indicated that his remarks have the support of the two chambers as well as the Dundee Chamber and the Four Corners Area in Northeast Polk County.
He urged the Charter Review Commission to put before the voters an increase to seven county commissioners, each to be elected solely by the eligible registered voters in the district he or she represented.
He also recommended that the Charter require redistricting every ten years with each district representing an equitable number of voters. District lines would be drawn in such a way that each district would have an equitable number of miles of the exterior border of Polk County.
He said that under current arrangement the fastest growing areas of the county do not have the representation that they should in such areas as the allocation of tourist dollars and the appointments to boards and committees.
He expressed concern about the representation on the Charter Review Commission. There are only three members from the eastern part of the county, two from Winter Haven and one from Auburndale. Other populations in the east county should be represented as well. He urged the Charter Review Commission to right this imbalance in proposed Charter language.
Chairman Costello, referring to Article 2.2 of the Charter, addresses redistricting. He asked if Dr. Lee had any proposal for changing that article.
He replied that one thing that needed to be added was the equitable distribution of the exterior boundaries of the county.
Commissioner Strang wondered how the border question would work in practice. He asked if the district boundaries would converge on a single point at the center of population of the county like a pizza pie?
Dr. Lee said not necessarily but in theory you could do that but with the understanding that you would also try to conform to municipal boundaries.
Commissioner Strang said that Dr. Lee’s point about inequitable representation was a good one, and noted in the recent Constitutional Review Commission and in the Governor’s Elections Task Force, Polk County was not represented.
Commissioner Lindsey, noting that with five or seven single member districts, he could vote for only one and not all of the commissioners as is presently the case, and would that be what he wanted?
He said he understood that, and thought it would be a better system. He said that’s the way it is in each body of the Legislature. You can only vote for one representative.
Chairman Costello thanked Dr, Lee and the chamber representatives for attending and for making their presentation.
The Chairman
welcomed Cheryl Beckert, Co-Chair of the Winter Haven Visioning effort, which is
also referred to as Our Future by Design.
Ms.
Beckert thanked the Commission for the opportunity to speak to them. She said she was representing the Lakeland Vision and the
Winter Haven Vision. She said Winter Haven Vision in partnership with the
Lakeland Vision process encouraged the Charter Review Commission to recommend
that the County Commission begin a countywide visioning process.
She read a letter from the Lakeland Vision Chairman, Ronald Clark, and
its Executive Director Doris Lyons. (A copy attached to the record copy of these
minutes and a copy was mailed to commissioners).
Chairman Costello
referring to the letter Ms. Beckert read, asked if she wanted visioning to be
included in the Charter, or was that simply a recommendation she wanted the
Charter Review Commission to make to the BOCC?
Ms. Beckert said
that an amendment or revision to the Charter was not necessary.
Chairman Costello
said the Commission would put that item on the list for the commissioners to
discuss, and if they did agree that it was something that was worthwhile, then a
letter could be sent to the County Commissioners.
Chairman Costello
asked if the Commission had further questions?
There were no
further questions.
The Chairman thanked
Ms. Beckert for her presentation.
The Chairman said
the Commission was now down to Reports, and the first item was the report of the
Chairman.
He discussed the
revised presentation schedule.
Sheriff Crow, Pat Crisman, Mayor of Bartow, the representative of the
Democratic Party, Robert Grizzard, Winter Haven Chamber of Commerce, and the
Mayor of Haines City have all been scheduled for September 11th.
The Chairman of the
School Board, Bob Macey is
scheduled for September 25th.
The Chairman said
Commissioner Gifford was scheduled to appear, but he indicated to him late that
afternoon he would not be able to make the meeting, and asked him if he would
read a letter he wrote to the Commission. (A copy is attached to record copy of
these minutes and will be mailed to commissioners).
Chairman Costello
read Commissioner Gifford’s letter to the Commission. Commissioner Gifford
recommended the following revisions to the Charter:
--BOCC assistants to report directly to commissioners;
--Add two additional seats to
BOCC;
--Make all districts single
member districts.
Chairman Costello
reminded the commissioners we were keeping track of all of the proposals, and
Kurt Spitzer would be developing a matrix for the Commission’s review at the
appropriate time. He said he had given them a couple of matrices, but there
were many more ideas that had come to them.
The
next report was on a letter received from Neil Combee, the Chairman for the
Board of County Commissioners. He read Mr. Combee’s letter. Mr. Combee stated
he did not have any particular agenda that he would propose to the Commission,
but he would be happy to answer any questions regarding the proposals they had
received. Chairman Costello said,
if there were no objections, he would leave this up to the commissioners’
discretion, and would bring it up at a later time. (A copy of Commissioner
Combee’s letter is attached to file copy of these minutes, and a copy has been
mailed to commissioners).
The next report was
on Ron Morrow, Executive Director for the East Polk County Committee of 100.
Mr. Morrow wrote a letter in which he expressed some concerns that were
reflected in Dr. Lee’s comments earlier that evening, regarding the lack of
representation on the Charter from individuals in a very important area of the
County, representing at least fifty percent of the county.
A copy of Mr. Morrow’s letter together with a reply to that letter from
Chairman Costello was distributed to commissioners and is attached to the record
copy of these minutes. He briefed
Mr. Morrow on the invitations that the Commission had extended to organizations
in the East Polk County area.
Chairman Costello
reported that Dean Boring, a city commissioner in Lakeland, had e-mailed the
Commission and asked that it place before the voters the increase of the number
of county commissioners from five to seven.
This e-mail was forwarded or mailed to commissioners.
Chairman Costello
read a letter from Claude Walker who asked that it be read to the Commission.
The Chairman read the letter in which Mr. Walker recommended that each of
the county commission districts be a single member district.
A copy of Mr. Walker’s letter was distributed to commissioners and a
copy is attached to the record copy of these minutes.
Chairman Costello
asked the Commission for action on his memorandum of August 2, 2001 requesting
approval of expenditures made by the Commission since June 24, 2001.
Commissioner moved and Commissioner Strang seconded approval of the
expenditures. There was no
discussion and the motion was approved unanimously.
Chairman Costello
asked the Commission for their action on a request to the Commission from
Russell Hancock to invite Mr. Dane Waters, President of the Initiative and
Referendum Institute of Washington, D.C. Chairman
Costello said there were two issues: whether the Commission wished to invite Mr.
Waters to appear; and if it did, whether or not it wished to pay his expenses.
Commissioner Strang
said that he would like to see the Commission invite Mr. Waters to come unless
our legal counsel were definitely opposed to it.
He said that it was a threshold issue that needed to be settled before
moving on.
Commissioner Gernert
asked Mr. Watts and Mr. Spitzer to speak to this issue before we make any
commitment.
Mr. Watts said he
had two concerns, one procedural and the other substantive.
With respect to the latter he would enjoy hearing what Mr. Waters had to
say, but was concerned that if you invited one view point at public expense to
speak and don’t extend that same offer to other viewpoints on any other issue,
you might be accused of being viewpoint selective.
As the Charter is presently written it intended the Charter Review
Commission to be a screening body for proposals, but the voters could change
that provision of the Charter.
Commissioner Strang
said that the language of the Charter in Article 8.4 says that the Charter
Review Commission should present its recommendations, but that should be read in
connection with the preamble and its declaration of self-government.
Mr. Watts said that
preambles do not trump the detailed provisions that follow them.
Commissioner Strang
moved that the Commission invite Mr. Waters to make a presentation to the
Commission. Commissioner Moore
Bailey seconded the motion.
Commissioner Moore
Bailey concurred with Commissioner McLaughlin, and she felt the Commission
should hear from Mr. Waters via teleconference or something of that nature, and
not have to bear his travel expenses.
Commissioner Lindsey
was opposed to the motion. We know
from Mr. Waters’ memo what he is going to say.
He has websites that anyone can access, so his position on the issue is
quite clear without involving us in a visit or conference call.
Commissioner
McLaughlin felt that Mr. Waters should be treated as any other member of the
audience who would be given an opportunity to speak.
Commissioner Gernert
said that Mr. Waters was not a citizen of Polk County and they were the ones
they represented.
Commissioner Strang
made reference to the invitation to Mr. van Assenderp who appeared before the
Commission as an expert, who was not from Polk County, who represents the Tax
Collectors’ Association, and whose expenses were borne by the taxpayers.
Chairman Costello and Mr. Spitzer reported that Mr. Van Assenderp paid
his own way.
Discussion was
completed and the Chairman called for a roll call vote.
The motion lost on a vote of three ayes to ten no votes.
Chairman Costello
invited Mr. Watts to make his report. He
summarized the subjects of the memoranda he would be providing commissioners,
including: participation of county commissioners in the Florida Retirement
System; limitation on millage; ability of the Charter to touch the School Board;
the establishment of a Government Efficiency Commission; the ability of the
Charter to touch the Superintendent of Schools; and issues on ballot screening.
Commissioner Strang,
reminding commissioners of Mr. Parker’s presentation, suggested the addition
of a memorandum on the subject of community development agencies and the
equities in the tax sharing increments involved in them.
Commissioner
McLaughlin wanted more information on the constitutional officers budget process
and its interaction with the county commission.
He suggested a flow chart showing the interrelationships.
Mr. Spitzer said he
would do that and include support services implications involved in any change
in the constitutional officers’ status.
Commissioner
McLaughlin said he would like to see their budgets controlled by the county
commission without changing their constitutional officer status.
Commissioner Strang
said it was his understanding that once the budget has been made that the BOCC
does not ensure that the expenditures conform to the budget.
Mr. Spitzer said
that his understanding was that the money goes into six different categories,
and in order for the money to be moved from one to the other it has to first go
to the county commission for approval.
Chairman Costello
said that his information was dated but when he was a county commissioner, the
BOCC eyed the current budgets very closely, particularly because we were in the
throes of a recession. He asked Mr.
Spitzer to find out what is the present practice on the county commission with
respect to oversight after the budget was approved.
Chairman Costello
invited Mr. Spitzer to make his report.
Mr. Spitzer reported
that he is developing a document that will help the Commission in dealing with
the many issues that have come before them.
Five speakers signed
up to speak to the Commission.
The first speaker
was Walter Gagelman. He provided the commissioners with a handout summarizing his
presentation. He was raised in East
Germany under communism, and he is concerned about the socialistic trend in his
adopted country, the United States. There
are too many regulations that are burdening the citizens. Bureaucracy is
becoming a
The next speaker was
Tim Steorts. He favors single member districts, and an expansion from five
to seven districts. He gave three
reasons: voters would be better
represented; cost savings in campaigns; more citizens would consider running
because the cost of campaigning would be reduced. If the Commission did not agree with single member districts
he hoped the Commission would favor proportional voting.
The next speaker was
Dewey Smith. He agreed with Commissioner Wilkinson that the county needed
a strong county manager who was elected. There
was no such thing as a “constitutional officer.”
There is nothing in the constitution that says they are, as the
Commission counsel says, constitutional officers.
They are county officers. He
asked Mr. Watts if he was correct? Mr.
Watts said they were named in the Constitution, but have no constitutional
duties. He agreed they were county officers. The whole purpose of Home Rule is defeated if we let
Tallahassee get involved with our budgets.
County budgets are going up because the elected officials are more
interested in perpetuating their dynasties than representing the people.
He criticized the City of Lakeland for spending money on equipment they
did not need. He would be
submitting specific recommendations for Charter revisions with the language
spelled out within the next few weeks.
The next speaker was
Sophia Dooley, a Rumanian born in Yugoslavia when it was under communist rule.
She has lived in Polk County for 20 years. She applauded the efforts, and the initiative that resulted
in the cut of commissioners’ pay by 50%. She recommended the freezing of
taxes, term limits for all county politicians and 50% salary cuts for all county
politicians.
The next speaker was
Wayne Steinard. He criticized the Commission for the vote on the invitation
to Mr. Waters. He thought that the
Commission’s interest would have been better served by extending the
invitation.
Commissioner Strang
called attention to Mr. Paul Cate, former Mayor of Winter Haven, and a member of
the Blue Ribbon Commission that studied the county operations.
Subject to any
objection, and there were none the meeting was adjourned at 8:45 p.m.
Respectfully
submitted,
Cynthia Swearengin