Four-year terms for Council under review
An increase in terms for Town of Fort Myers Beach elected officials could become reality if the issue is called for a referendum and passes via a public vote.
Last Thursday, the 2014 Charter Review Commission discussed this major proposal of four-year terms for the Fort Myers Beach Town Council and other points during an evaluation of the first five articles of the legislative document, referred to as the ‘mini’ constitution for the island. The five-member board -chairman Tom Babcock, vice chair Miffie Greer, Dan Parker, Dan Hughes and Jay Light- is dissecting the Town Charter’s 17 articles during a planned, periodic review.
While the commission held an initial meeting to discuss the task at hand in what was referred to as an organizational session, last week’s meeting was the first chance for this commission to review the charter article by article.
“Our primary focus was on the form of government and election process,” said Babcock. “This was the first meeting that we really started to look at the charter, analyze it and decide what changes we might want to recommend to Town Council.”
Regular meetings will be held in Council Chambers on the second and fourth Thursdays of each month at 9 a.m. Upon completion, changes will be brought to Council for possible adoption.
The commission chair did caution that all suggestions are not yet final. The reviewal of all articles could be brought up again, especially with the insertion of public comment, which is deemed critical for such a reviewal process.
“This is the first cut, so hopefully those kind of things will come back. If there is strong public comment, we will certainly consider it,” said Babcock. “I think what we are trying to do is walk through what feedback we got from the public and hear how the five members of the commission feel about each of these articles.”
A form that would list specific changes for Council recommendation is expected to be used once a first perusal and discussion of each article is accomplished.
“We want to provide any points of view that we receive both pro and con to those changes,” said Babcock. “The last thing we will really do is try to prioritize that list, simply because it is unlikely that Council will want to have a large number of referendum items be considered for changes in the Charter.”
Babcock believes Town financing will be one of the major discussion points as well as term lengths for Council members. Elected Town officials currently serve three-year terms and elections for such offices are staggered. If extending term lengths is approved by Council, the idea would be to call for a referendum in 2016 and begin the new procedure in 2017, followed by the next election year in 2019.
“This would give a two-year window of when you have a consistent Council,” said Babcock. “There is a learning curve on how you work together. It would give an opportunity (for new members) to get up to speed, which takes a while. (It allows) some creative time to work as a team.”
Hughes favored the concept and weighed in.
“One rationale is that it reduces the number of elections,” he said. “Two out of every three years you have an election now. This would reduce it to every other year.”
“I think four years would be a good opportunity to see the fruition of your wishes and your performance show,” added Parker.
While all commission members agreed on the concept in theory, Light wondered if the extension may scare potential Council candidates away.
“I think it is too long potentially for the individual and likely a deterrent for someone who is running,” he said. “And I think it is too long for the Town because you can end up with someone on (Council) you just wouldn’t want there that long.”
Council members currently serve two terms. With a proposed increase of a year per term, discussion about term limits or eliminating term limits also came into play.
“I have strong feelings that if we go to four-year terms, eight (years) is enough,” said Light.
Town charter reviews must be held within a cycle of every 10 years. During the last review, Council did not accept any of the changes made by the former commission. Clerical edits and other non-substantive changes currently being made will be presented to Council. Some may be changed by approval. Others- like changing length of terms- need to be addressed by referendum.
Other Article V (Nominations and Elections; Terms of Office) conversation centered on proposed added language needed for a canvassing board to count votes and certify them to Council. That is being researched by Town Attorney Derek Rooney and could possibly be written up in a new section within that article.
During the review of Article IV, Charter Officers, the Council-Manager format was reviewed and, more definitively as a subset, to see if a “weak” mayoral or “strong” mayoral position is needed.
“Our system is where the mayor has the responsibility, primarily, to run the meetings and be the ceremonial head,” said Babcock. “I think the impression, at least initially, was that the mayor would be different in terms of their powers relative to other council members. This point in time, we didn’t see that happening.”
The commission also evaluated and provided consensus about the election process for the mayoral position. The question lies if a mayor should be elected independently instead of by fellow Council members, as it is now. Remarks about how some mayors exercise more power due to the allowance of the rest of the Council beefed up that part of the conversation.
“We did not see value in having a separate election for mayor,” said Babcock.
Rotating the mayor position on a yearly basis was also discussed. A potential downside to that proposal would be if the elected mayor has an inability to run a meeting properly.
Minimal changes were performed on Article I, Corporate Name, Purpose of the Charter; Article II, Territorial Boundaries; and Article III, General Powers of the Municipality.
Again, public input is seriously being sought. The next commission meeting will be held in Council chambers on Nov. 13, at 9 a.m. If you cannot attend the public meetings, you may either send an e-mail to the Town Clerk (Michelle@fortmyersbeachfl.gov Charter Review in the subject line), drop off any written comments at Town Hall or speak directly with any members of the CRC.
Article XI, Financial Procedures, will be reviewed first at that commission meeting. Input could be expected from the Town Audit Committee. Once that discussion is complete, Article VI, Town Manager; Article VII: Town Clerk; Article VIII: Town Attorney; Article IX: Administrative Departments; and Article X: Ordinances and Resolutions will fall in order.
“I think that will become extremely important starting next meeting when we will be talking about how the Town finances things like capital improvement,” said Babcock.
The task ahead for the five commission members will be daunting, but appreciated. The Town Charter was crafted by members of the now-defunct Fort Myers Beach Civic Association in conjunction with other beach residents. This is the third review of it since it was drawn up.
“I really am pleased with the cross-section of people we have on the commission,” said Babcock. “We bring a lot of diversity with both backgrounds and opinions. We have been receiving emails and input from the outside on suggestions for the charter. Those are all really good things.”