City Council

Taylorsville City Council Minutes February 24 2010 Page 1 City of Taylorsville SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING Minutes Wednesday February 24 2010 Council Chambers 2600 West Taylorsville Blvd Room No 140 Taylorsville Utah 84118 6 00 p m Attendance Mayor Russ Wall Council Members City Staff Council Chairman Bud Catlin John Inch Morgan City Administrator Vice Chairman Morris Pratt John Brems City Attorney Council Member Dama Barbour Cheryl Peacock Cottle City Recorder Council Member Larry Johnson Jessica Springer Council Coordinator Council Member Jerry Rechtenbach Marsha Thomas Judge Shell Summers Court Clerk Tess Falkner Court Clerk Del Craig Chief of Police Michael Kwan Judge Laci MecWing Court Clerk Wayne Dial Assistant Police Chief Donald Adams Grants Manager Citizens John Gidney Howard Wilson 18 00 31 Chairman Bud Catlin called the Special City Council Meeting to order at 6 00 p m and welcomed those in attendance City Recorder Cheryl Peacock Cottle conducted a Roll Call wherein all Council Members were present Taylorsville City Council Minutes February 24 2010 Page 2 1 Ordinance No 10 03 Creating a Judicial Code by Enacting Chapter 2 13 of the City of Taylorsville Code of Ordinances John Brems 18 00 54 City Attorney John Brems presented an ordinance creating ajudicial code for the City s Code of Ordinances He cited a court case in Sandy City regarding a challenge to a separation of powers 18 01 59 Council Member Pratt inquired about specifying certain expectations within the ordinance 18 02 56 Mr Brems suggested that such language could be included in clauses at the beginning of the ordinance He clarified that the proposed judicial code creates a framework and foundation and does not address specific programs 18 04 01 Council Member Johnson inquired about possible ways to limit time that defendants are allowed to stay in special court programs 18 04 14 Mayor Wall said that time frames are defined by state statute 18 04 45 Council Member Barbour inquired about Council control ofthe Court budget and the requirement to stay within that budget regardless of special programs 18 05 26 Mr Brems explained that the Court cannot overspend their budget and the City Council controls budget amounts 18 06 16 Council Member Rechtenbach discussed scenarios where the Court may spend all ofits budget before year end and questioned whether the court can then be shut down He inquired about the latitude ofthe Council in controlling the court s budget 18 07 08 Mr Brems said that the judges salaries cannot be reduced because they are statutorily required but pay could be suspended for others in the court if the budget runs out 18 09 36 Further discussion ensued regarding the budget for the court 18 1 0 22 Additional discussion was held regarding the costs for prosecutors 18 10 56 Chairman Catlin invited Judge Michael Kwan to address the Council 18 II 30 Judge Kwan stated his intent to do more collections and generate additional revenue and fewer expenses He referenced adjustments that must be made Taylorsville City Conncil Minutes February 24 2010 Page 3 Judge K wan stated that the Council will oversee the budget and the judicial branch will administer the court and ensure that justice is served He noted that revenue is already increasing through recent collection efforts 18 13 02 Judge Kwan cited many unknown factors in the handling of cases He stated his intent to do his best with cases that are sent and to manage as efficiently as possible He agreed to look at programs that are cost effective 18 13 53 Discussion was held regarding court staff size and possible reductions based on the caseload 18 15 18 Judge Kwan cited some things that the court has no control over but noted the need for close management of expenses 18 15 45 Council Member Barbour stated her great desire to see the Taylorsville Court succeed She asked whether Judge Kwan might consider suspending certain programs until the budget is under control 18 16 32 Judge Kwan stated that special programs are not the real budget problem and noted that only 29 000 would be saved if such programs were discontinued He said that if programs were stopped expenses would then increase due to the need for public counsel and jury trials 18 17 54 Council Member Johnson inquired about costs for merging the Taylorsville Court with the West Jordan Court 18 18 18 City Administrator John Inch Morgan stated that West Jordan has expressed interest in discussing a merger but costs to do so have not yet been determined 18 19 00 Discussion was held regarding slight amendments needed to language in other city ordinances in order to avoid inconsistencies in the code Mr Brems noted a need to amend the organizational chart 18 21 06 Council Member Johnson asked Judge Kwan ifhe were confident he could resolve the problems in the court 18 21 31 Judge Kwan responded that he is absolutely confident and has done so in the past 18 2147 Council Member Morris Pratt MOVED to adopt Ordinance No 10 03 Creating a Judicial Code by Enacting Chapter 123 of the City ofTaylorsville Code ofOrdinances Council Chairman Bud Catlin SECONDED the motion Chairman Catlin called for discussion on the motion There being none he called for a roll call vote The vote was as follows Barbour no Taylorsville City Council Minutes February 24 2010 Page 4 Catlin yes Pratt yes Johnson yes and Rechtenbach no All City Council members voted and the motion passed with a three to two vote 2 Other Matters There were no other matters for discussion 3 Adjournment 18 22 49 Council Member Morris Pratt MOVED to adjourn the City Council Meeting Council Member Dama Barbour SECONDED the motion Chairman Catlin called for discussion There being none he called for a vote The vote was as follows Barbour yes Catlin yes Pratt yes Johnson yes and Rechtenbach yes All City Council members voted In favor and the motion passed unanimously The meeting was adjourned at 6 22 p m C Jztiuclu tJJflL l Cheryl Pe ock Cottle CIty Recorder Minutes approved CC 03 03 10 I finut es Prepared by Cheryl Peacock Cottle City Recorder