Police, Judicial, Legal Committee

TOWN OF MOUNT PLEASANT, SOUTH CAROLINA POLICE, JUDICIAL & LEGAL COMMITTEE Monday, December 4, 2017 Municipal Complex, Committee Meeting Room, 3rd Floor 100 Ann Edwards Lane Mount Pleasant, SC 29464 Minutes Present: Mayor Will Haynie, Chair, Gary Santos, G.M. Whitney, Joe Bustos Staff: Eric DeMoura, Chief, Ritchie, LeVica Kirvin Also: David Pagliarini, Corporation Counsel Mayor Haynie called the meeting to order at 9:08am 1. Approval of Minutes from the September 5, 2017 meeting Mayor Haynie stated the minutes were quite long and involved from the last meeting. He added a lot of the current committee members were not at the last meeting as they were not members of the PJL Committee at that time. Mayor Haynie stated he did review the minutes and did not see anything that was amiss. Mayor Haynie asked that the minutes from September 5, 2017 meeting be approved. Mr. Santos made the motion for approval; seconded by Mr. Bustos. All in favor. 2. Public Comments Mr. Kevin Cunnane, 3032 River Vista Way of Mount Pleasant, stated he thinks it is a great idea to expand the committee structure. He added the Town has grown in size over the years and the job of the Town is more complex. Mr. Cunnane suggested including citizens on some of the  Police, Judicial and Legal Committee December 4, 2017 Page 2 of 8 committees as they could provide some expertise. He stated he has noticed over the last three years that there is a lot of frustration from the public. Mr. Cunnane stated the pace of things is one of the frustrations. He stated one of the things that slows down the process is sending items out to have a study done. He stated a prior councilmember had put out a study of retail stores. Mr. Cunnane stated there is a lot of retired business executives that live here in town and that would probably love to be channeled with something like that, instead of paying money to some expert to come from outside Mount Pleasant and tell them what they can figure out themselves. He added the idea of expanding the committees is good and added for the committee members to also consider pulling in some citizen expertise. 3. Police matters No agenda items 4. Judicial matters No agenda items 5. Legal matters a. Discussion of council committee structure and the creation of an executive committee of council Mayor Haynie stated he requested this item be placed on the agenda after discussion with many of the committee members. He stated that many of the committees only have three members. Mayor Haynie stated while he was preparing the committee assignments he kept wishing for another slot because of all the council members unique talents and experience.  Police, Judicial and Legal Committee December 4, 2017 Page 3 of 8 Mayor Haynie stated when there is a three-person committee and one person is absent you are left with two people voting. He stated in those situations you do your best and certainly do a prudent job, but it is difficult with two people to really come away with a substantive vote. Mayor Haynie stated he is looking to see if they could expand those committees from three to four members. He asked Mr. Pagliarini if there was some legal reason that it is set at three. He added he understands that this item would be something that goes before full council. Mr. Pagliarini stated there is no legal reason that he is aware of. He stated historical context that is just the way it has been. Mr. Pagliarini stated there is no prohibition to expanding the number of committee members as long as it is done by Ordinance. Mayor Haynie opened it up for discussion to the committee members on the prospect of allowing up to four committee members. He asked Mr. Pagliarini if the Ordinance had to be worded where it has to be four members. Mr. Pagliarini asked if Mayor Haynie was asking if there should be some discretion in appointing the number. Mayor Haynie stated in the affirmative. Mr. Pagliarini stated he does not see any reason why there cannot be that at the Mayor’s discretion. He added the Mayor’s discretion is to appointing members so if it is council’s wish that it be three or four to grant that discretion he does not see any reason why it could not be. Mr. Santos stated there are currently some committees that have four members. He stated he does not have an issue with adding an additional person to those committees with only three members. Mr. Bustos stated to increase the committees to four individuals would get a better recommendation from the committee. Ms. Whitney agreed an additional member is a good idea. Mr. Bustos made a motion to recommend to Town Council that staff prepare an Ordinance that allows up to four members of council on a committee; seconded by Mr. Santos. All in favor.  Police, Judicial and Legal Committee December 4, 2017 Page 4 of 8 Mayor Haynie asked if there was any comment from the public on this matter. Mr. Cunnane stated the water commissioner and the transportation director were on two of the committees in recent history. He asked if this was an ordinance issue. He also asked how it works when it is not an actual council member. Mr. Pagliarini stated that is governed by Ordinance for example the Water Commission. Mr. Pagliarini stated if they wanted to expand on this matter the ordinance would have to be changed. Mayor Haynie stated this motion leaves those under the ordinance as it is. He stated this is only regarding the number of our council members that we appoint to our committees. He added it does not mean we cannot address that item at later time. Ms. Kathy Landing, 2114 Sewee Indian Court of Mount Pleasant, stated she agreed with Mayor Haynie that any possible absences can impact a committee and thinks it would be a great idea to have the opportunity to have up to four members on a committee. Mayor Haynie stated the second half of item (a) is the creation of an executive committee of council. Mayor Haynie stated there were several reasons he asked for this item to be placed on the agenda. The first is under the council form of government, that they receive from time to time items that require the input, signature, letters, speaking on behalf of council for regional issues for example CARTA or the Aviation Authority or things of that nature. He stated they all know under the current form of government the Mayor speaks as part of council. And added it takes an action of council to do that. He stated for transparency reasons he would like these items to be discussed in public in a formal committee setting. Mayor Haynie stated there might be a time when a committee may have to call a special meeting. He added he can see that happening for something like preparation for something really big where they want more than the Mayor and a couple of people  Police, Judicial and Legal Committee December 4, 2017 Page 5 of 8 in on something. In these cases, the executive committee would put their heads together and take a vote in a public session in a duly announced meeting. Mayor Haynie stated there are provisions for emergency council meetings and things of that nature. He stated the executive committee would be comprised of four people. He added it is not a quorum of council, but close. Mayor Haynie stated it would be a good indicator for the rest of council to see what they were thinking in terms of any type of thing like that. Mayor Haynie stated the third aspect for the executive committee would be special issues. He stated in terms of the task forces that sort of burdens a committee. He stated it seems like a lot of those get grouped into one committee or another. Mayor Haynie stated under our current ordinances a task force is appointed by the Mayor. He added since it is appointed by the Mayor and not appointed by a committee who does that task force really answer to. Mayor Haynie stated an executive committee is a good vehicle to have to oversee those appointments. He added under the council form of government it is natural to have an executive committee. Mayor Haynie was interested in hearing from the other members of the committee. Mr. Santos stated he has been on council for a long time. He stated he has never seen any issues or any problems with the current form of government. Mr. Santos stated everyone may want to be on the executive committee so how would it be chosen. He stated it is another layer of government. He stated citizens elect all of the council members equally and added council can continue to govern the way they have been without any issues. He stated unless Mayor Haynie knows of an issue that he does not, he has never seen a matter where they have needed an executive committee. Mr. Santos stated he is not big on adding extra government just to add extra government. He stated we have a great system in place. Mr. Santos suggested watching over the course of the next two years to see if any issues arise but does not think they will have a problem.  Police, Judicial and Legal Committee December 4, 2017 Page 6 of 8 Mr. Bustos stated from time to time there are things that come up in council such as letters to be written as well as directing the Mayor to do things and there is really no committee to refer it to except for the Police, Judicial and Legal Committee where the Mayor is the Chair. Mr. Bustos stated these types of issues do not fit neatly into the committees they currently have and added there should be a way to address those situations and follow up on things like letters or requests. He added there should be some committee that is not beholden to anyone. Mr. Santos stated the Mayor is not beholden to anyone. He stated when something is received from the Mayor of the Town it carries a lot more weight than a committee. He stated council will make the decision whether a letter should be written but the Mayor should be the one to write the letter. Mr. Santos stated he is not for forming another committee when at the end of the day everything will end up with the Mayor. Mr. Santos stated all the committees cover everything in the Town. He added in 18 years he has not seen an issue that has come up that did not fall under one committee or another. Mr. Santos stated there are task forces as well as Blue Ribbon committees that can be appointed to do whatever council is looking at. He stated citizens can also be used on these committees. Mr. Santos restated the current system in place is a good one and thinks every council member wants to be a part of it. Ms. Whitley stated she agrees with Mr. Santos and that by creating an extra layer of government and having an executive committee just creates a division within council. Ms. Whitley explained it is almost like creating a hierarchy within the council and she would be concerned about that. Ms. Whitley stated the title, executive committee, sounds like the creation of a special subset within council. Mayor Haynie stated instead of taking an up or down vote on something like this today, as he works his way into his new position he wanted to make certain that if he did write a letter or appoint a committee or something of that nature, that it is with council’s full blessing. Mayor Haynie stated that is why he wanted to have the discussion.  Police, Judicial and Legal Committee December 4, 2017 Page 7 of 8 Mr. Santos stated council votes before the Mayor sends a letter or takes action therefore there is a complete buy in from full council instead of only the members of a committee. He added he thinks more weight is given to a letter being received from the Mayor then from an executive committee. Mr. Santos stated the Mayor is the top politician of the Town and whenever an issue is addressed it has a lot more weight coming from the Mayor then an executive committee. Mr. Cunnane stated that there is an issue with not having an executive committee. He stated sometime in the past council expressed that they were opposed to using the acquifer for industrial purposes. Mr. Cunnane stated that our representative went to the council of governments and went against what the sense of council was at that time. He stated the executive committee would be a checks and balance against that type of action. Mr. Santos stated that council member is no longer on council. He added you do not change your government because of one individual. Mayor Haynie stated he will commit to working with council in making sure that as he tries to execute the duties of this office that he is not doing anything out of bounds with council given the council form of government and added that is the main intention of that. He stated he likes what he is hearing and will take it as a vote of confidence. b. Executive session to review the Town’s contract for legal services Mr. Bustos moved to go into executive session for contractual matters; seconded by Mr. Santos. All in favor. Mayor Haynie stated, as notice to the public, the committee may take action on any item listed on an executive session agenda or discussed in an executive session during a properly noticed meeting. Executive session commenced at 9:26am and ended at 9:52am.  Police, Judicial and Legal Committee December 4, 2017 Page 8 of 8 c. Post Executive Session Mayor Haynie stated no votes were taken during the executive session. 6. Adjourn There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 9:52am. Minutes submitted by: Laurie Wilson 12/06/2017