MINUTES OF

POLK COUNTY CHARTER REVIEW COMMISSION

JUNE 12, 2001 

The meeting of the Polk County Charter Review Commission was called to order by Chairman Dan Costello, at 6:00 p.m. on the 3^rd floor conference room of the Citrus & Chemical Bank, Bartow.  Chairman Costello asked Commissioner Lindsey to lead the prayer and Commissioner Price to lead the Pledge of Allegiance. 

 Chairman Costello asked Ms. Swearengin to call the roll:  Commissioner Allen; Chairman Costello, Commissioner Dukes; Commissioner Gernert; Commissioner Hunt; Commissioner Lindsey; Commissioner Moore Bailey; Commissioner Nunnallee; Commissioner Price, Commissioner Strang; Commissioner Stoer.  All Commissioners were present with the exception of Commissioner McLaughlin who notified the Chairman that he would not be able to make the meeting.  Commissioner Masters appeared at a later time. 

 Chairman Costello said he would like the record to show the Commission has a quorum. 

Chairman Costello said the first item on the agenda was for the approval of the minutes of May 22, 2001.  Commissioner Strang made a motion for approval of the minutes and congratulated Ms. Swearengin for complete minutes. Chairman Costello asked if there was a second.  Commissioner Nunnallee seconded the motion.  Chairman Costello asked if there was further discussion. 

Commissioner Lindsey said that he would like to echo Commissioner Strang’s remarks for the exceedingly excellent minutes, but he felt that they were too long and needed to be shortened.

Chairman Costello said, he indicated earlier to the commissioners that very detailed minutes would be taken, and, until the Commission gives him direction otherwise, that practice would continue.  He said, that the last meeting’s minutes were taken in more detail than some of the future minutes will be, but until he received direction from the Commission, the minutes will continue to be made fairly comprehensive. 

Chairman Costello said the Commission had a motion and a second to approve the minutes, and would all of those in favor please say aye.  The motion carried. 

Chairman Costello said the Commission was delighted to have Jim Keene, County Manger, and he would be briefing the Commission on county operations. 

Mr. Keene briefed the commissioners on the organization of the County and its budget using the   following documents which were distributed to commissioners and made available to members of the audience: Organizational Flowchart of County Commission (attachment #1); Organizational Flowchart of Constitutional Officers (attachment #2); and Polk County Budget In Brief – Fiscal Year 2000-2001 (attachment #3).  A copy of these documents is attached to the file copy of the minutes.  Copies of the documents can be obtained from the County Manager’s office. 

Commissioner Lindsey asked Mr. Keene what changes had occurred in the last two years, since the Charter was adopted, and how he dealt with the County Commissioners prior to the Charter adoption. 

Mr. Keene said, prior to the adoption of the Charter, he thought the County Commission was more involved in the day-to-day operations of the County in dealing with staff, and in some cases directing staff. He said this started with the ordinance in 1996 and the Charter solidified it and made it stronger.  He said, County Commissioners do not direct staff.  They ask for information from the staff.  He said that staff was directed by himself and his staff. 

Commissioner Lindsey asked if that was a substantial change since 1996?

Mr. Keene said, yes. He said he had been with the County for almost 29 years, and he had seen the division of those duties between the legislative groups, the policy makers, and the executive group.  He said, in the past, the County Commission exercised much more authority over departments and department directors than they do today. 

Commissioner Strang said, the Clerk of the Court performed certain fiscal duties for the Board of County Commissioners, and those fiscal duties were a throwback to ancient times.  He said, the Efficiency Committee pointed out the lack of direct authority in that function, and they also noticed a number of chartered counties have taken those fiscal duties away from the Clerk of the Court and put them under the County Manager. He asked Mr. Keene if either he or the County Commissioners anticipated a recommendation to the Commission relative to that subject. 

Mr. Keene said, he thought that was very possible.  He said, there was discussion this week with the Clerk in Bond Council regarding the financial duties of the Clerk, as it related to bond issues, and the involvement of them as the delegated authority to deal primarily with new bond issues, and he felt this was an area which the County Commission desired to have a Finance Department under the County Manager.  He said, he has an office of Management and Budget, and has had since 1989 or 1990 when that was created.  He said, that the financial responsibility under statute, before the Charter, rested with the Clerk’s Office, and since the Charter that had been more of an issue. 

Commissioner Strang asked Mr. Keene as CEO, if he would like to see that happen? 

Mr. Keene said, yes he would. 

Chairman Costello asked if there were other questions by commissioners. There were no questions.   He asked Mr. Keene to continue. 

Mr. Keene discussed the Polk County Budget In Brief with the Commissioners.  He asked if there were any questions. 

Commissioner Gernert asked, if that included the jail?

Mr. Keene said, that the Sheriff’s budget included the jail, which was about $32 million of the budget. 

Commissioner Lindsey asked if the Public Defender, and the State Attorney received most of their funds from State sources?

Mr. Keene said, yes. 

Commissioner Lindsey asked if the Sheriff’s Department received any substantial dollars from the State?

Mr. Keene said, no.   The Sheriff’s entire budget is funded out of General Funds of the County.

Commissioner Moore Bailey asked, what the amount of the Supervisor of Election was?

Mr. Keene said, $2.2 million. 

Chairman Costello asked, Mr. Keene how the County budgeted for vehicle replacement, which he thought, must be a significant amount of money.

He said, that they do have a vehicle replacement policy and funding. The Board set that in place about six years ago. Money that is needed is set aside, so they don’t have to compete for funds to have equipment that they need. He said, the Fleet Replacement Fund is solid, in place, and is funded. 

He said, other capital improvement programs like buildings, like the one recently seen in the paper, which the County recommended by way of the Public Safety Complex, was turned down on property acquisition. He said, two projects that are currently funded with that are the Utilities Administration Building and the Medical Examiner’s Office and associated morgue.  He said, those were in the capital budget now, and they are funded, but no money has been appropriated for the remainder of that project for the next ten years, and no dedicated revenue is coming in. 

Mr. Keene said that was all he had to say about the budget, unless the Commission had additional questions.  

Chairman Costello asked the commissioners if they had further questions. 

Commissioner Moore Bailey asked, if CETA was the same as the Federal Funds for a community development grant. 

Mr. Keene said that was in 1977 and 1978, and CETA was a program that was funded by the Federal Government that hasn’t been around for many years. 

Commissioner Moore Bailey asked, if the CDBG money was actually what they used now. 

Mr. Keene said the CDBG money is an entitlement that the County has. He said, there were two other entitlement cities in the County, Winter Haven and Lakeland. The County shares its entitlement through the funding of projects with other municipalities, as they make requests.  Each year, part of that budget is allocated to those projects for cities that are sharing partners in those funds.  The County’s revenue from that was about $4.5 million. 

Commissioner Moore Bailey asked, in terms of environmental land acquisitions, how much property does the County own? 

Mr. Keene said the Environmental Lands Program was now in its 5^th year.  He said, to date, the County through the County Lands Acquisition Committee has purchased a total of 9,000 acres. He said, that the Belloto tract was bought this year, which was about 1,100 acres off State Road 540. The total millage generated is about $3 million annually.  He said, the County has been fortunate in some of the acquisitions, in that they have qualified with the Southwest Water Management District, and became a 50/50 partner in the purchase of some of those properties, saving money for the County program, so they can buy more.

Chairman Costello asked, if there were further questions from the commissioners. 

Commissioner Strang said, three or four years ago, there was a program to locate, identify, and appraise the 3,000 odd parcels of land the County owned. He asked how that program was coming.  He said the idea was that those parcels that were surplus would be disposed of, sold-off, and added to the tax base.   He asked if anything had been done on that.  

Mr. Keene said the inventory was completed on that property. He said, on the properties the County owns the Engineering Division keeps a property listing. There was a staff appraiser dedicated to that project for about two or three years, and part of his task was to put that inventory together, so it made sense.  He said, a lot of those parcels were right-of-way or dedicated pieces on old plats that the County ended up with, and didn’t know they owned, and his task was to look at those and see what was of value, and what the County should get rid of. Some of those parcels were sold. The ones that the County has today are small slivers of property with little commercial value.

Chairman Costello asked if there were other questions by commissioners.  There were no further questions.  Chairman Costello thanked Mr. Keene for his presentation. 

Chairman Costello asked Mr. Keene if he would like to comment on the Polk County Organizational Chart?

Mr. Keene said he did have a few comments. He said he and the County Attorney are the only employees hired by the County Commission, so they work directly for the Board. The chart shows an indirect line between the Auditor, and the Accountant to the Board, Richard Weiss, the County’s Clerk. He said that he thought that was what Commissioner Strang was addressing earlier. As an organization, the County has basically six departments. He said he counted the seventh department as the Central Florida Development Council, which is a direct report to him.  Underneath his direct supervision besides his departments, is Neighborhood Revitalization, which is a new agency that was formed last year that became the number one goal of the Board.  It consists of three personnel, and he wanted that directly under his supervision.  He said that he had placed it under the Deputy Manager, but they work with all agencies and all departments and he wanted them to have that line of authority directly from him. The Office of Management and Budget and Public Information are small offices and answer directly to the Assistant Manager. 

Commissioner Moore Bailey said, Mr. Keene mentioned the Auditor and Accounting Department, and he also mentioned a department that was created a few years ago, during the time that he was Assistant, and he talked about the Financial Department that was needed. She asked, if that was something that was going to be implemented before he leaves, or would he like to see it implemented? 

Mr. Keene said the Office of Management and Budget, is one of his departments. They are the staff that puts together the requests and works directly with him and his office on preparing a County budget.  He said they were skilled in the budget process.  He said the investment side of who invests the County’s money is taken care of by the Clerk’s Office.  He said, he has very little to do with the amounts of money the County has that are invested. He said that was the Treasurer, who works directly for the Clerk.  He said he thought there was a close relationship today that existed between the Office of Management and Budget, and the finance part of the Clerk’s Office.  He said, up until the Charter, they were by statute, the Finance Department of the County.  He said when the County became a Charter, they still had the statutory responsibility, and a few years ago they talked about setting up a Finance Department within the County organization, but he saw that as a duplication.  He said if the Clerk is still going to provide those services as his statutory role because the Charter doesn’t spell out any different, than he saw no reason to duplicate those efforts and duplicate the expense too, because there is a good working relationship, and we have always enjoyed that here in Polk County.

Commissioner Moore Bailey said that she misspoke.  She said Auditor and Accountant, but it should have been Office of Management and Budget. 

Chairman Costello asked if there were other questions.  There were no further questions.  Chairman Costello thanked Mr. Keene for his time. 

Commissioner Gernert asked before the meeting proceeded if the sound technicians could do something about the high pitched sound. 

The technician said it was not coming from the equipment. 

Chairman Costello said, the Commission was down to Item VI on Reports, and he had a few items that he would like to bring before the Commission, now that we have found that the sound system is not to blame for the high-pitched noise. 

He said the first item was the sound system, and he reminded the Commission that members of the audience complained they could not hear at one of their other meetings. The sound technicians from the County have been helping the Commission set-up. They charge the Commission for the service. He said one alternative was to purchase a sound system.  He said the sound system that the Commission saw was about $2,200 and it included the microphones, speakers, and the amplifier. He said, the amount of money that was charged by the County to the Commission times 16 meetings would equal the cost of the sound system.  He said, he asked the County if they would have a residual use of the system, because it would be reverted to them when the Charter Review Commission no longer is functioning. They said, yes they could use the system as a backup to the regular system, so his proposal for their consideration is to authorize the purchase of a system like this.  It would have to be bid out.  The approximate cost is $2,200. He said he didn’t think the County could get it for much less than that. He said his proposal to them would be to authorize the Chairman to purchase a system for the Commission’s use, and it can be stored in the storage room in that conference room.  He said the only thing that would need to be removed would be the recorder, which comes from the County Commission Building. He said he and Ms. Swearengin had already checked out on setting up the mikes and the amplifier system. He asked the Commissioners what they would like to do. 

Commissioner Gernert asked the Chairman if the cost of the equipment would equal what it would cost to have the County set it up for 16 meetings. 

Chairman Costello said that was correct.  He said, two technicians from the County, came in advance of the meeting, and remained there for the two-hour meeting, and then break it-down. They charge the Commission $20 per person per hour, so if you add all of that up, and multiply that cost by 16 meetings it equals the cost of the system. 

Commissioner Strang said, as he understood it, that was a direct incremental cash cost to the County.  He said they are cash out of pocket for the overtime.   

Chairman Costello said it was overtime for the County.

Commissioner Strang asked Chairman Costello if a motion had been made. 

Chairman Costello said, no.

Commissioner Strang moved to authorize the Chairman to purchase a suitable sound system, not to exceed the cost of $3,000.  Commissioner Moore Bailey seconded the motion. Chairman Costello asked if there was discussion.

Commissioner Price asked if the Commission was using the maximum amount of microphones. 

Chairman Costello said the system would allow up to eight microphones. 

Commissioner Price asked if one of the microphones could be cordless.

Chairman Costello said, yes, but it would add $430 to the cost of the system.  He said he deducted that amount from the total, and that was how he came up with $2,200, but with the cost of the cordless microphone it would still be less than $3,000. 

Commissioner Masters asked if there would be someone there to set the equipment up and run it. 

Chairman Costello said, he and Ms. Swearengin would set the equipment up and run it. 

Commissioner Masters asked what would be done if there was a problem. 

Chairman Costello said if a problem occurred, the Commission would revert to the power of their own voices. 

Chairman Costello asked if there was further discussion. 

Chairman Costello reminded the Commissioners that the motion to authorize him to purchase a suitable sound system, with the cost not to exceed $3,000, had been made and seconded.   He asked all of those in favor to say aye, the motion carried unanimously. 

Chairman Costello said, in the second item under the Charter, the Chairman was required to bring the expenses of the Commission before them.  He asked Ms. Swearengin to distribute the Charter Review Commission Expenditures through 2001. He said he would like to present those expenditures to the Commission, at least once per month, and get their approval.  He said the current expenditures through the 4^th of June amounted to $9,653, and the details that were being provided to them would show how that money was broken down. Chairman Costello told the Commissioners that each time they received a monthly Expenditure Report there would be a cumulative total. 

Chairman Costello said that he would like to have a motion by the Commission to approve the expenditures through June 4^th in the amount of $9,653.  Commissioner Allen moved for approval, Commissioner Price seconded the motion. Chairman Costello asked if there was further discussion. 

Commissioner Price asked the Chairman if salaries were included in the Expenditure Report. 

Chairman Costello said, no, salaries have not yet been included. 

Commissioner Price asked, in future dates, if the salaries would be included in the report. 

Chairman Costello said, yes, both for the Executive Assistant and for the Consultants. 

Chairman Costello asked if there were further questions or discussion. 

Chairman Costello reminded the Commission that a motion had been made to approve the expenditures through June 4th for $9,653, and for all of those in favor to say aye. The motion carried unanimously. 

Chairman Costello said, the third item for discussion was a memorandum concerning the compensation to Kurt Spitzer & Associates.  He said, in a discussion with him on the phone, they talked about the hourly costs and travel time, and they learned in the course of the conversation, because the Commission meets at 6:00 p.m., and because of the flight schedules back to Tallahassee, it would mean that he would need to remain overnight, incurring additional costs for the Commission.  Mr. Spitzer offered early on to give the Commission an hourly price or a unit price, and in his memo to the Commission he suggested they reconsider their agreement with him, and consider a per-meeting price.  Chairman Costello said, with that as an introduction, he would like to turn the discussion over to Mr. Spitzer for any additional comments.  

Mr. Spitzer said, that when he interviewed with the Commission, his firm offered an hourly rate plus expenses, and half of that rate for travel time, and as he mentioned during that meeting, he was not sure what the flight schedule was to Tallahassee.  He said, three years ago, it was possible to get back the same day, and now that is no longer true, and the other offer that was made was a flat $2,500 per month fixed fee for two meetings per month.  He said that his firm would still honor that offer.  He said he felt that would be a better deal for the Commission, and less paperwork for him.

Commissioner Lindsey asked, if it was the Chairman’s recommendation that the Commission go with the fixed fee.

Chairman Costello said, he felt a fixed fee would be a better deal for the County, and its taxpayers. 

Commissioner Lindsey asked Chairman Costello if his answer was yes. 

 Chairman Costello said, yes.

 Commissioner Lindsey made a motion for the Commission to change their compensation agreement with Mr. Spitzer to read $2,500 per month for two meetings, and Commissioner Strang seconded the motion. 

 Chairman Costello asked if there was further discussion.  There was none, the motion carried unanimously. 

 Commissioner Strang said, relative to this matter, and the expenditures the Commission approved earlier, he was sure that the Chairman and the Board of County Commissioners would insist upon an audit of the expenditures of the Commission.  He asked, if the County Office of Management and Budget would audit the Commission, or if the Commission needed to make their own provisions. 

 Chairman Costello said he was not sure.  He said, that the Commission made no direct expenditures of funds.  For example, if the Commission needed computer software, a requisition would need to be signed by him and submitted to the County, and they would need to approve it, and then it would be charged to the Commission.  He said there was no money leaving the Commission office, so he was not sure whether or not that would apply in that case. 

Commissioner Strang said, with that being the case, he thought that would be part of the County’s regular audit. 

Chairman Costello said, he would think so. 

Mr. Carpanini said, that before a check was cut, the Clerk’s Office would have the prerogative to require back-up information.

Chairman Costello said, that for example, the contract between Mr. Watts and Mr. Spitzer would go over to O & B, and they would use that as authority to approve those particular expenditures. 

Commissioner Nunnallee said, that the Commission keeps talking about expenditures, but to her knowledge, she had not heard what the Commission’s budget was. 

Chairman Costello said, the Commission did not have a budget yet, but the Commission will have one, probably at the next meeting, and it would be projected on the basis of some of the agreements that they have forged so far with respect to Mr. Spitzer, Mr. Watts, and Kelly Services. 

Commissioner Nunnallee asked if the County set aside funding for the Commission. 

Chairman Costello said, no they did not. He said he knew that the expenditures for the first Commission were something on the order of $162,000. 

Chairman Costello said, that the fourth item that he had was with respect to Mr. Smith’s request to the Commission for two of his organizations with a total of seven issues: one with four issues, and one with three issues, to speak to them for 20 minutes per issue, and he said, the Commission agreed with that, and he wanted to get that scheduled.  He said that in his memorandum to the Commission, he recommended they schedule that, and he would discuss that with Mr. Smith, and schedule those two groups for the meeting on June 26^th, and he would like to have their concurrence on that.  He said, he discussed this with Mr. Spitzer and feels it would be a good idea, but he said, that he would like to have some direction from the Commission as to what they would like to do.  

Chairman Costello said, that the reason he was asking, was because Mr. Smith originally asked for each issue to be scheduled for a separate meeting, so those seven issues would be seven meetings, 20 minutes per meeting.  He said, that his suggestion to the Commission would be to take all of the seven issues, (two organizations) and let them make their presentation on the 26^th of June, which is the next meeting. 

Commissioner Allen made a motion that the Commission schedule Mr. Smith’s two organizations, with (seven issues) for one meeting on June 26^th, Commissioner Nunnallee seconded the motion.  Chairman Costello asked if there was discussion.  There was no discussion, the motion carried unanimously. 

Chairman Costello told Mr. Smith that he would talk to him after the meeting about the schedule.

Chairman Costello said that he had an apology to make specifically to Commissioner Lindsey, Commissioner Masters, and Commissioner Gernert. He said, when the Commission had a motion to reconsider an earlier motion, he indicated that motion was not debatable.  He said he looked on the wrong line of his Robert’s Rules.  He said, if the original motion that is being reconsidered is not debatable, then the motion to reconsider is not debatable, but if the original motion that was being reconsidered was debatable, therefore the motion to reconsider was debatable.  He said he apologized to the Commission, he was wrong.  

Commissioner Lindsey said that he accepted the Chairman’s apology, and he reminded him that was just a guideline, and not the law of the land. 

Commissioner Gernert said, that since the minutes reflected that he apologized, he rescinds his apology. 

Chairman Costello said that concluded his report. 

Chairman Costello asked Ms. Swearengin, the Executive Assistant, if she had a report? 

 Ms. Swearengin said no.

 Chairman Costello said the next item on the agenda was the briefing by Kurt Spitzer. 

Mr. Spitzer briefed the commissioners on charter government and its various ramifications using an outline which was distributed to commissioners and made available to members of the audience.  A copy of the outline is attached to the record copy of these minutes, and is available at the Charter Review Commission office in Bartow, Florida. 

Commissioner Strang said that while the Commission was on the subject of schedules, Mr. Dewey Smith said that he had a prior commitment for June 26^th, and he would appreciate it if he could be rescheduled for another time. 

Chairman Costello said that was up to the commissioners. 

Commissioner Strang said that he would like to request that the Commission reschedule Mr. Dewey Smith’s presentation to July 10th^.   

Chairman Costello asked the Commission what they would like to do.

Commissioner Allen made a motion to reschedule Mr. Smith’s presentation to July 10th, and Commissioner Strang seconded the motion.  There was no further discussion, the motion carried unanimously. 

Chairman Costello said that Mr. Watts would be at the Commission meeting on June 26^th, but Mr. Spitzer would not, but he would be at the July 10th meeting.  

Chairman Costello asked Mr. Spitzer if he would like to discuss the schedule, because the Commission has scheduled meetings through November. Their last scheduled meeting is the Tuesday before Thanksgiving.  No meetings are scheduled for December.  He said when Mr. Spitzer looked at the schedule he indicated that the Commission needed to schedule more meetings, and he thinks the document he handed out to the commissioners has his recommendation as to the initial meetings. 

Mr. Spitzer said it was possible that the Commission could finish with their basic work in receiving testimony and examining issues by the end of this year, and then in January they could move into their decision meetings and their public hearings.  He said that this was only an example, and it was intended only to generate some discussions, and some thought on the review process.

Chairman Costello asked Mr. Spitzer how many additional meetings he added to his schedule, above and beyond the second and fourth Tuesday. 

Mr. Spitzer said that there were only two meetings at the present time.  He said he indicated  there could be some time set aside, for example, the first and third Tuesday in January, February and March, but in terms of those that were added to the base schedule, he added two, and they were for the first week of February, and for two meetings in the month of April to review the draft report.  He said he was not considering the public hearings to be new meetings because the charter requires them. 

Chairman Costello said from what he understood Mr. Spitzer to say, the next major step the Commission needed to take was to develop a list of issues. They must be by majority vote, and on the table for discussion purposes.  He said those issues could be added to by majority vote, but he thought the question was, at what meeting does the Commission act on the initial set of issues?

Mr. Spitzer said the Commission needed to act on the initial set of issues either by June 26^th or by July 10th.     

Chairman Costello reconfirmed with Mr. Spitzer that he would not be at the Commission’s meeting on June 26^th. 

Mr. Spitzer said that was correct, he would not be at the June 26^th meeting. 

Commissioner Lindsey said, the Commission has said from the beginning, that it may take the position that no issues are necessary. They have developed a list of various interest groups, the Republican Party, the Democratic Party, the League of Women Voters, and various other groups that may or may not have issues. He said he felt it would be premature for the Commission to consider any list until they have heard from Mr. Smith, the Democrats, and everyone else, and then adopt a list. 

Mr. Spitzer said the problem with adopting a list after the Commission has heard from all of the various groups would be they would not have any time left to consider issues in great depth.  He said, that the Commission could do this in tandem, and could adopt a preliminary list sometime soon. That list would not preclude or exclude any other official or group, and it would still solicit input from other groups, and it could always be revised or amended at a later date, but he was afraid if the Commission wanted to devote several meetings to hearing from different interest groups they would run out of time in terms of looking at issues in great depth. He said that process needed to run in tandem.  

Commissioner Strang said he wanted to go on record by stating, that he agreed whole-heartedly with Commissioner Lindsey.  He said he felt it was premature to set the Commission’s agenda or establish the issues that they would be considering.  He said if the Commissioners were as open-minded as he thought that they were, they would be hearing and considering issues for over a period of months. 

Chairman Costello said he would like to paraphrase his understanding. If the Commission decided to put issues on for discussion purposes that would seem to close out options for others, the Commission is not to specify any issues until they have heard from all groups. He asked Commissioner Strang if that was his point. 

Commissioner Strang said, no.  His point was that the Commission should not rule out any issues at this time. 

Commissioner Lindsey said he thought that July 10th, July 23^rd or even August was far too premature.  He felt that a line could be drawn somewhere in October or November, and that still left three or four meetings in the regular meeting category to deliberate on the collection of issues, and then begin deliberations in October or November. 

Commissioner Masters said, he agreed that the Commission should listen to the public.  He said, he also agreed with Mr. Spitzer, having been through that process one time before. He thought that the Commission should have a schedule on different issues that would be discussed at the various Commission meetings, and send notice of that schedule to all of the groups that might have an interest in that issue.  

Mr. Spitzer said, his statement was not intended to exclude anything, or preclude the ability to add anything to the list at any particular time. His intent was to do briefing documents to the Commission, and he would need to know what they needed to be briefed on. He said, he thinks if an issue is identified, people who have opinions about it will know that on a certain date the Commission will be talking about that issue. 

Commissioner Strang asked if that would be a feasible way to operate?  He said, he thought it would make sense if the Commission in effect, threw a bunch of issues in the hopper and set up a schedule, and then said on such and such a date they will be talking about districting, or on another date they will be talking about numbers and commissioners, and on such a date they are going to be talking about constitutional officers, so that people who are interested in that particular subject can show up on the appointed date and get their oar in the water. 

Commissioner Moore Bailey said, she was in agreement that the Commission needed go ahead and outline what they are going to discuss, so the various groups can be aware of what issues will be discussed on certain dates.  

Chairman Costello asked the question, if the Commission laid-out a list of issues, and then they advertised to groups that they were going to talk about an issue at a particular time, how does one manage within the two hour timeframe, when they have many groups saying they want to talk about an issue, and they want to talk about the issue at length?  He said, he thought that was the issue-driven approach, and the other approach, which is the other extreme, is the group-driven approach where the Commission doesn’t want to tip its hat with respect to any issues until they listen to the groups about what they have to say, and then there’s the mixed version.  He said he thought it was good that the Commission was having the discussion, but he didn’t feel it was crystallized yet in terms of exactly what they want to do. 

Commissioner Lindsey said that he would like to crystallize it for the Chairman.  He said, he did not want to presuppose Mr. Spitzer’s agenda or any other agenda, but he thought the commissioners should respond to what they heard, and he felt many of them might have ideas that they might want to volunteer, on their own initiative that they wished to put forward.  He suggested that the Commission use the first half of the regular meeting schedule, perhaps through September as open public hearings.  He said that the Commission might find that they do not need all of those dates.  Once those issues are effectively put on the table, and collated in likeness and then once that likeness is established, then on a certain date those issues could be discussed, and the group that brought it forward could be at the Commission meeting, and others who want to participate in the public hearing part of that while the Commission goes through the more deliberative process to build the ladder of issues that may finally make the cut.  He said maybe that was the mixed theory that the Chairman was referring to, and that would be his recommendation. 

Commissioner Strang said he had the utmost confidence in the Chairman’s ability to manage the process, and he feels by encouraging individuals and groups to submit their information and by asking them to be succinct and non-repetitious and to the point, they can shoehorn the issues into the time allotted. 

Commissioner Moore Bailey said that she would like to add, that the schedule the Chairman provided earlier was apropos, but maybe the Commission could look at both of those schedules at the next meeting and make some decisions about the additional meetings.

Chairman Costello said that he and Mr. Spitzer were in a very difficult position, because he is hearing on the one hand, Mr. Lindsey saying let’s go through September, and we will allow individuals to come here and speak to us as to what issues are a major concern to them; on the other hand he hears Mr. Spitzer, and he shares his concern unless we get into this right away we will soon run out of time.  

Chairman Costello said that maybe he and Mr. Spitzer could work out something between now and the next meeting.  He said nothing was scheduled for the next meeting because Mr. Smith could not brief them until July 10th. 

Chairman Costello asked the Commission what they wanted to do at the next meeting?

Commissioner Lindsey asked the Chairman what the status was of the letter inviting other groups.  The Chairman said that as per the instruction of the Commission, he passed that letter on to Mr. Spitzer for his comment.   

Mr. Spitzer said that he thought that the letter was fine.  He said that he thought that the Commission needed to come up with a list of groups that they want to invite. 

Chairman Costello told Mr. Spitzer that the Commission had done that.

Commissioner Gernert asked the Chairman if there were some single groups that were mentioned in Mr. Smith’s original list that could be invited to present on June 26^th.   He said he had a couple of concerns.  The first being, he would be on vacation the week of the 26^th, and any kind of system that generates a list, he would like to have occur over several meetings if the Commission is going to arbitrarily bring issues to the table.  Secondly, he thought September was far too long to wait to start crystallizing the agenda. He said he would like to see the Commission get something done by the end of August.  He said he did not believe there was going to be standing room only at the door and he feels like some type of combination plus what Mr. Spitzer talked about should work. 

Chairman Costello said if his memory served him correctly, there were four other groups besides the two groups that the Commission was discussing earlier.  There were four groups with a total of four issues, because there are 11 issues altogether, so he asked Mr. Smith to comment on whether or not he thought those groups could be available on the 26^th. 

Mr. Smith said that he was sure they could be. 

Chairman Costello reminded Mr. Smith that the 20 minutes per issue did not extend to those groups and he asked him if he wanted to limit them to the 20 minutes per presentation, because they were taking about basically four groups, so that would be a total of 80 minutes. 

Commissioner Gernert said that his own personal opinion was yes, that the Chairman did have the discretion to allow them to speak longer if they needed to do that. 

Chairman Costello said that without objection, he would notify those four groups that they can come on June 26^th to speak to the commissioners under the twenty minutes per group rules that were established earlier. 

Chairman Costello asked the Commission to allow he and Mr. Spitzer to try to work out some sort of plan, and he said they would write the Commission a memo outlining that plan, and then the Commission could act on that on the 26^th.  

Chairman Costello asked the Commission if that would be agreeable, and without objection, he would go ahead and do that.  There was no objection.   

Chairman Costello asked Mr. Spitzer if he had anything else. 

Commissioner Price asked Mr. Spitzer if he was going to prepare a descriptive paragraph for the Commission that would be more in depth than what was given to them as an overview at that meeting.

Mr. Spitzer asked Commissioner Price if she was referring to a descriptive paragraph prior to setting the Commission’s agenda. 

Commissioner Price said, yes. 

Mr. Spitzer said, yes he could do that.  He felt it might crystallize things more for the Commission. 

Commissioner Price said that she wanted to make a comment.  She said that she did not receive her Commission packet until Monday, and she requested that the Commission have their packets at least four or five days prior to the meeting. 

Chairman Costello said that he would ask Ms. Swearengin to comment.  He said, he thought the packages were mailed out on Tuesday. 

Ms. Swearengin said the packages were mailed on Tuesday. 

Chairman Costello said that the packages went out a week prior to the meeting, and he said that some of the mail service in Polk County was not that great. 

Chairman Costello asked if the other commissioners received their packages.  They said that they received their packages on Thursday. 

Chairman Costello said that it was difficult for them to mail out the packets earlier than one week before the meeting because of the task of doing the minutes, and getting agendas, but that her point was well taken.  He said that they could also make arrangements, if she was going to be in the area to have them picked up, which would save some time. 

Commissioner Price asked if the Commission had a scanner. 

Chairman Costello responded, that the Commission did not have a scanner, but he was in the office two or three times a week, and he would be happy to deliver her package to her. 

Chairman Costello asked if anyone was on the speaker’s list.  He said Gene Roberts was on the list at the last meeting, and he said that he would defer his comments until this meeting because of the time. 

Mr. Roberts said that one thing that the Commission could be assured of was that they would not be out of the meetings by 8:00 p.m.   He said he would make his presentation brief and to the point.  He said first he would like to thank each of the commissioners for serving on the committee, and after listening to this assignment tonight he appreciated all of the detailed work they were going to have to do and complimented  them on electing his good friend, Dan (Chairman Costello). He said he has known him for many years, particularly when he was at Polk Community College, and he was the Dean of the University of South Florida. 

He said that he was a local businessman and educator, and he has been in Lakeland for fifty years and has seen a lot of changes in the County, as many as they have, because some of them were probably born and raised there.  He said that the question he had for the Commission, because the answer that they give him would tell him if he could continue to speak or not, and he said he thinks that the Commission answered it by listening to their discussion. He said that he had two recommendations that he would like to make to the committee, and he wanted to know if he needed to do it at a meeting of that nature or would there be a time when he would be invited.  He said his committee was a committee of one, Gene Roberts, and it would only take him three minutes, and he has two recommendations, so will he have a time that he can come back and make those two recommendations. 

Chairman Costello said that he could schedule a time, but if it would only take three minutes that he could proceed. 

Mr. Roberts said, all right, he would go through them very quickly.  He said the first issue was dealing with the qualifications of the Constitutional Elected Officers (handouts were given to the Commission, a copy of which is in the file).  He said, we have five, but he wanted to deal primarily with three, the Tax Collector, the Sheriff, and the County Commission. 

He said to run for public office or for Tax Collector you have to be 18 years of age and a resident of the county for which you run.  He said he would like to see the Commission set-up some qualifications for that, and he said he thought that person should possess some type of an accounting background.  He said he thought the County was fortunate with Joe Tedder, because   he thought he was a CPA, and he feels he has the preferred background. 

The second issue is the Sheriff.  He said anyone can run for Sheriff, and he felt there should be some type of qualification that says the Sheriff should have some type of law enforcement background. He said the Commission wouldn’t have to worry about Sheriff Crow, because he has many years experience in law enforcement. 

The last issue was the Property Appraiser.  He said that he feels that they should be licensed as an appraiser or should have worked in an appraiser’s office for a number of years with that background. 

He said he would like to see the Commission look at making the County Commissioners be elected from single member districts rather than county-wide.  He said when he ran for public office in 1972 against John Clark for the House of Representatives, it included Polk County and Sumter County, and then two or three years later they redistricted, and it only included Polk County, and then two or three years later, we became a single member district, as we are today.  He said he thought by having a single member district the County Commission could accomplish two or three things: one, there may be more people who would be interested in running; and two it would not cost as much. 

He said that these were the recommendations that he would like to make to the Commission. 

Chairman Costello asked if anyone had questions for Mr. Roberts. 

Chairman Costello said there was no new business to come before the Commission.

Commissioner Strang, Commissioner Price, and Commissioner Gernert said they would not be available for the June 26^th meeting. 

Chairman Costello said, that would bring the Commission membership to 10, and that would be sufficient for a quorum. 

Mr. Smith said that in the essence of time, he would defer his remarks to some other time. 

Chairman Costello said if there were no objections, the meeting would stand adjourned.  There were no objections.  The meeting adjourned at 8:10 p.m. 

 Respectfully submitted,

Cynthia Swearengin