Home Rule Study Commission

Home Rule Study Commission Borough of Greenville Minutes of the Meeting held April 25, 6:30 PM Greenville Senior Center 1. Call to Order Paul Miller, Commission Chairman 2. Pledge of Allegiance – Hal Johnson 3. Roll Call: Paul Hamill - absent Hal Johnson Martha Johnson Paul Miller Casey Shilling Steve Thompson Steve Williams Also present: Jasson Urey, Tracy Beil, Lawrence Keller, Amy Hollowell Media: Caleb Stright, Record-Argus 4. Public Comments: Tracy Beil stated that she feels we should keep a separate mayor’s position. She said that person can oversee the police department or at least be a liaison/voice of reason/contact person. She said she is concerned that too much responsibility on the council president would be a burden. 5. Minutes: Casey made a motion to approve the minutes with one correction regarding Steve Thompson’s comment on fire services. “IFO” should be “ISO”. Steve T. offered a second and the motion passed 6-0. 6. Old Business: Paull Miller pointed out a correction that Steve T. proposed to the draft via email regarding Merit Principle. Steve T. made a motion to change “city” in section 2.2 to “borough”. There was no second and the committee of the whole decided to continue the use of “city” for now with the understanding that that can be changed in one motion for the entire document at some point in the future after we explore our options. A motion was made by Casey to adopt section 2.1 and 2.2 as written in the Home Rule Charter draft. Steve W. offered a second and motion carried 6-0. A motion was made by Casey to adopt the Farrell wording of section 3.1 and Steve T. offered a second. Motion carried 6-0. Steve Williams said he would like to see section 3.2 (b) to be modified to include that there be a 2 year seat on council during every election in order to allow the voters to potentially change the majority of council members every two years. Discussion ensued regarding how empty seats could affect this process.  Discussion took place regarding 3.2 (c) of the draft and whether Greenville’s mayor should also be council president, eliminated altogether, or remain a separate position. The Committee decided that they needed to deal with section 3.3 in conjunction with 3.2 before making a decision on 3.2. Casey moved to adopt Sharon’s Councilmember qualification statement with some changes to read: “Only qualified voters of the City shall be eligible to hold office of Councilmember. A Councilmember shall have been a citizen of the United States and a resident of the city for a continuous period of one year immediately prior to the date of filing for election and shall remain a resident of the City during his or her entire term.” Steve Williams offered a second. The secretary called an individual vote and the motion carried 6-0. Hal made a motion to adopt section 3.2 (b) of the charter draft and Steve T. offered a second. The secretary called an individual vote and the motion carried 4-2 with Martha and Steve W. opposing. Steve Williams made a motion to adopt model city charter section 3.3 (a) regarding Power and Duties of the Office of Mayor. Casey offered a second and the secretary called an individual vote. Motion carried 4-2 with Hal and Steve T. opposed. Steve W. made a motion to adopt model city charter section 3.3 (b) Alternative II Steve T. offered a second and the secretary called an individual vote. Motion carried 4-2 with Hal and Martha opposed. 7. New Business: Hal made a motion to schedule meetings for the each Thursday during the months of May and June. Steve T. offered a second and the motion carried 6-0. Casey made a motion to change the start time of meetings to 7:00 PM, Hal offered a second and motion carried 6-0. 8. Public Comments Tracy Beil said that she appreciates the ability to interject during discussion. Paul M. stated that he is open to that when comments are appropriate to discussion. Amy Hollowell asked if it was common to have absences when items areup for vote. Paul M. stated that no, committee/commission members have been in attendance quite regularly since the beginning of the year. 9. Good of the Order: Steve Thompson: Commented that he appreciated interaction with other commission members Martha: Said that she appreciated the ability of the group to work together even though they may at times disagree and that she thinks that working to eliminate cynicism regarding the borough is important to Greenville’s recovery Hal: Feels we made progress on the charter and that it will level out and get easier as we get some of the big decisions out of the way  Steve Williams: Said that some negative social media comments were brought to his attention but he sees things like Thiel’s collaboration with Sharon Regional Health System as positive and he hopes people will take the time to become better informed Casey: Said that he appreciates the work we did tonight and feels the commission is gaining momentum/he agrees that the negativity is disheartening but enthusiastically shared that has seen evidence of some positivity Paul M.: Reminded everyone that we will meet at 7:00 PM next week and that we need to come prepared agenda items 10. Adjournment Hal made a motion to adjourn the meeting and Casey offered a second. Motion carried 6-0 and the meeting adjourned at 8:39. Respectfully submitted, Martha C. Johnson Commission Secretary /Treasurer