Charter Review Committee

MINUTES SPECIAL MEETING CHARTER REVIEW COMMITTEE SEPTEMBER 20, 2010 - 10:00 A.M. NEW CITY HALL – MAYOR’S CONFERENCE ROOM The meeting was called to order at 10:00 a.m. in the Mayor’s Conference Room at the New City Hall. Meeting notice and agenda were posted on the City Hall bulletin board as required by State Law. 1. Roll Call: PRESENT: Ken Easton, Rick Sinnreich, John Purcell, Jr., Minnette Page, John Cameron, Albert Johnson, Sr., Emil Vyhlidal. ABSENT: Steve Barnes, Ernest Godlove.. ALSO PRESENT: Frank V. Jensen - City Attorney, Traci Hushbeck - City Clerk, Kim McConnell - Lawton Constitution. ________________________________________________________________________ 2. Approve minutes of September 20, 2010. MOVED by Cameron SECOND by Sinnreich, to approve the minutes of August 23, 2010. AYE: Sinnreich, Easton, Purcell, Page, Cameron, Johnson, Vyhlidal. NAY: None. MOTION CARRIED. 3. Review of the City Charter and take appropriate action if necessary. The committee took action on the following items: C-2-2 - Mayor and mayor pro tem. a. The mayor shall preside at meetings of the council, and shall prepare and propose agenda for council meetings. ensure an agenda is available for council meetings. He shall be recognized as head of the city government for all ceremonial purposes and by the governor for purposes of military law. He shall have no administrative duties except that he shall to sign such written obligations of the city as the council may require. He shall have the right to vote on questions before the council only in case of a tie, adoption of the annual budget and on motions to appoint, or to suspend, or to remove the city manager, city attorney or city clerk. The mayor shall present annually a public address on the state of the city at a time and place of his designation, and shall deliver, from time to time, such other messages to the council and citizens of the city as he deems appropriate. The mayor shall have the authority to convene a citizens committee to implement, revise and review the Strategic Plan. Minutes of Charter Review Committee Meeting of September 20, 2010 Page 2 MOVED by Cameron, SECOND by Sinnreich, to approve the suggested wording. AYE: Sinnreich, Easton, Purcell, Page, Cameron, Johnson, Vyhlidal. NAY: None. MOTION CARRIED. C-6-2 - Wards—Redistricting commission—Adjustment of wards. a. There shall be eight wards, which shall be numbered from 1 to 8. b. Redistricting commission created. (3) The terms of all the nine voting members shall be five ten years, beginning on July first. The eight members appointed from the wards shall be chosen so as to reflect the principles set out in subsection (c)(1) hereinbelow. MOVED by Cameron, SECOND by Sinnreich, to approve the suggested wording. AYE: Sinnreich, Easton, Purcell, Page, Cameron, Johnson, Vyhlidal. NAY: None. MOTION CARRIED. C-6-2 - Wards—Redistricting commission—Adjustment of wards. a. There shall be eight wards, which shall be numbered from 1 to 8. b. Redistricting commission created. (1) There shall be a redistricting commission, which shall consist of nine voting members, as follows: One member from the Lawton Metropolitan Area Planning Commission or its successor appointed by the mayor, and eight members appointed by the council on nomination by the mayor. The planning director shall be an ex officio member of the commission, but shall have no vote. (2) All members of the redistricting commission shall be qualified electors of the city, wards from which they are appointed and shall hold no other office or position of employment in the city government. MOVED by Sinnreich SECOND by Page, to approve the suggested wording. AYE: Sinnreich, Easton, Purcell, Page, Cameron, Johnson, Vyhlidal. NAY: None. MOTION CARRIED. C-7-4 - Recall election—How held. Minutes of Charter Review Committee Meeting of September 20, 2010 Page 3 a. The recall election shall be an election to fill the office held by the incumbent sought to be recalled. There shall be no primary. Any qualified person, including the incumbent, may file as a candidate for the office. The candidate receiving the greatest number of votes in the recall election shall be elected. If a candidate other than the incumbent is elected, the incumbent shall be recalled from office effective as of the time when the result of the election is certified. The successful candidate must qualify within one month thereafter; and if he fails to do so, the office shall be vacant, and the vacancy shall be filled as other vacancies in the offices of mayor and councilmembers are filled. A candidate thus elected and qualifying shall serve for the unexpired term. If the incumbent is a candidate and receives the greatest number of votes, he shall continue in office without interruption; and recall proceedings may not again be initiated against him within one year after the election. MOVED by Sinnreich SECOND by Cameron, to approve the suggested wording. AYE: Sinnreich, Easton, Purcell, Page, Cameron, Johnson, Vyhlidal. NAY: None. MOTION CARRIED. C-7-2 - Recall petition. c. A number of registered qualified electors of the city or ward concerned equal at least to twenty (20) per cent of the total number of votes for governor in the city or ward at the last general state election at which a governor was elected, must sign the petition. Each signer shall write after his name his address within the city, giving street or avenue and number, if any. Not more than one hundred (100) signatures may appear on a single copy of the petition. Petitions may be circulated only by registered qualified electors of the city or ward concerned; and the person who circulates each copy of the petition shall sign an affidavit on the copy stating that each signer signed the petition in his presence, that each signature on the petition is genuine, and that he believes each signer to be a registered qualified elector of the city or ward concerned. MOVED by Page, SECOND by Easton, to approve the suggested wording. AYE: Sinnreich, Easton, Purcell, Page, Cameron, Johnson, Vyhlidal. NAY: None. MOTION CARRIED. C-6-1 - Nomination and election—Terms—Nonpartisan elections, etc. d. All candidates for mayor shall be nominated, and the mayor shall be elected, at large, by the qualified electors of the entire city. All candidates for councilmembers from the wards shall be nominated, and all councilmembers from the wards shall be elected, by wards, by the qualified electors of their respective wards. Any person who seeks elective office in the City of Lawton, Oklahoma, for municipal government, must be a registered voter at an address within the municipality if running for mayor, or from an address within the ward if running for a ward position, for at least six months prior to filing a declaration of candidacy. Minutes of Charter Review Committee Meeting of September 20, 2010 Page 4 MOVED by Sinnreich, SECOND by Easton, to approve the suggested wording. AYE: Sinnreich, Easton, Purcell, Page, Cameron, Johnson, Vyhlidal. NAY: None. MOTION CARRIED. The next meeting will be held on Monday, October 18, 2010 @ 10:00 a.m. at Old Lawton High/New City Hall. 4. Adjournment There was no further business to consider and upon motion, second and roll call vote the committee adjourned at 11:17 a.m.