City Council

DocuSign Envelope ID: 7DD1E595-30B9-44DA-989F-DE3B4A74DDD8 MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL CITY OF SEAT PLEASANT CHARTER AMENDMENT PUBLIC HEARING MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2022 6:00P.M. 1. OPENING 1.1.1 Call to Order Councilmember President McCarthy called the meeting to order at 6:04p.m. 1.1.2 Roll Call Present: Councilmember Monica Higgs, Councilmember Hope Love, Councilmember Shireka McCarthy, Mayor Kelly Porter, Councilmember Gerald Raynor Sr., Councilmember Kizzie Scott, Councilmember Gloria Sistrunk Staff: Dashaun N. Lanham, City Clerk, Stanley Mosley, Interim City Manager, Channelle Smith, Staff Assistant 1.3 Invocation and Pledge of Allegiance  The invocation was given by Mayor Porter 2. Meeting Topics: 2.1 Charter Amendment Resolution-City Clerk Dashaun Lanham  Council President McCarthy requested for the City Clerk to give a brief overview of the Charter Amendment Resolution  City Clerk Lanham stated that the Charter Amendment Resolution was presented to the City Council in May and unfortunately the advertisement was missed by two days.  City Clerk Lanham stated that the City Council met on May 11, 2022, and agreed to keep the Charter Amendment Resolution as one document.  . City Clerk Lanham stated that in section C-302 and C-401 changing the ages to requirements to twenty-five.  City Clerk Lanham stated that in filling the vacancy added the language to state that if is less than fifteen months will be filled by Special Election, as well as adding C-401 to this section. The filling of the vacancy applied to both the Mayor and Council, but section for the mayor was not reflected just the title.  City Clerk Lanham stated that with Forfeiture of Office, the council added the following 5, Engaged in Misconduct of Office, 6. Impeachment process held by trial of the elected official, or a judiciary committee compromised of the Governmental Affairs Committee, 7, Forfeiture occurs by the mayor of DocuSign Envelope ID: 7DD1E595-30B9-44DA-989F-DE3B4A74DDD8 councilperson they should not be reappointed or eligible to run for office until the next scheduled election.  City Clerk Lanham stated that section C-604 Board of Election changed to state that can be removed from the Board of Election by the Council at any time  City Clerk Lanham stated that section C-607 removed the Board of Supervisors of Election shall remove any person from the Voter Registration List by strike out the names of voters that have moved. This was removed because the city does not maintain its own Voter Registration List. The Voter Registration list is maintained by the Prince George’s County Board of Elections. The request the list from the Prince George’s County Board of Election.  City Clerk Lanham stated that section C-615 Special Election language added to state that a Special Election shall be held for the Mayor or Council with fifteen months or more remaining shall be held by Special Election and requires the election to be held with seventy-five days that the vacancy occurred.  City Clerk Lanham stated that section C-617 deleted six months and added two years to make it consistent with the State approved Records Retention Schedule.  City Clerk Lanham stated that section C-619 was amended by removing Women and changed to Equal Rights. All person who are otherwise eligible in holding city office shall have the same rights regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, or sex.  City Clerk Lanham stated that section C-623 Term Limits to state that the Mayor and Council shall hold their seats effective September 2024 shall hold their seats for two consecutive terms.  City Clerk Lanham stated that section C-701 City Manager added language to state that the City Manager shall be evaluated annually in accordance with the Personnel Rules and Regulations Manual. CITIZEN’S COMMENTS:  Maurice Simpson stated that he wanted to thank the council for bringing the Charter Amendment back from May to tonight. He wanted to state the disappointment in the council for not having a more robust citizen engagement process.  Mr. Simpson stated that he does not feel that the term limits should be implemented, as there are term limits every four years the citizens vote for the candidates of office. DocuSign Envelope ID: 7DD1E595-30B9-44DA-989F-DE3B4A74DDD8  Mr. Simpson stated that he does not feel the age limit for the council should change from 21 to 25 but feels that the age limit for the mayor should change from 18 to 21, as he does not see any reason to disenfranchise anyone of legal age.  Council President McCarthy inquired about the separation of council person to council person at-large, as far as the term limits that will allow a person to serve as council person, council person-at-large, and mayor. The council agreed to this change.  City Clerk Lanham stated that the City Attorney stated that the language would need to be changed in the charter to distinguish the difference in the two.  Councilmember Love stated that after reading section C-623 Term Limits and she does not feel that we need to be implemented. She recommends that section C-623 be removed from the Charter Amendment Resolution.  Council President McCarthy inquired if any of the council recall the conversation?  Mayor Porter stated that he recalls the conversation, and it was stated that the language would need to be changed.  Councilmember Raynor stated that he remembers the conversation but do not recall if the council agreed to have two sets of qualification for the council person.  Council Vice President Higgs stated that she had review her notes and it was stated but the council did not provide a definite response to the change.  Council President McCarthy stated that the council will need to decide if this what we want since this is what the council agreed upon.  Mayor Porter inquired if the decision to make the changes would fall under the guise for referendum for the ballots.  City Clerk Lanham stated that all Charter Amendment Resolutions provides the citizen with a right of a referendum, which is 40 days from approval with twenty percent of the registered voters.  Council President McCarthy stated that she would like to see what the council agreed upon in the Charter Amendment Resolution.  Councilmember Love stated she feels that the council agreed to that the change due to section C-623 Term Limits, and if the council agreed to remove the language it will eliminate the need to separate the position.  Council President McCarthy stated that she can agree to that as well.  City Clerk Lanham stated that it can be removed at the approval of the council by approving the Charter Amendment Resolution with amendments.  DocuSign Envelope ID: 7DD1E595-30B9-44DA-989F-DE3B4A74DDD8 4. LEGISLATION 4.1 Charter Amendment Resolution CA-22-05 Amendment of the City Charter for Seat Pleasant 5. ANNOUNCEMENTS 5.1 See Public Session Meeting Agenda for Announcements 6. ADJOURN 6.1 The meeting was adjourned at 6:31p.m. Submitted by, Dashaun N. Lanham, CMC City Clerk