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MIN CC 09/11/2007CITY COUNCIL MEETING SEPTEMBER 11, 2007 59 MINUTES OF THE HUNTSVILLE CITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON THE 11TH DAY OFSEPTEMBER, 2007, IN T CITY HALL, LOCATED AT 1212 AVENUE M IN THE CITY OF HUNTSVILLE, COUNTY OF WALKER, TEXAS AT 5:30 P The Council met in a special session with the following members present: COUNCILMEMBERS: OFFICERS: J. Turner Wayne Barrett Kevin Evans, City Manager Jack Choate Dalene Zander Danna Welter, City Secretary Clarence Griffin Mac Woodward Thomas Leeper, City Attorney Jim Willett Melissa Mahaffey Absent: Mickey Evans WORK SESSION [5:30 p.m. — 6:12 p.m.] a. Discuss Board's and Commission's appointments. Mayor Turner and City Councilmembers discussed the Board's and Commission's appointments. Due to an illness in Councilmember Evans family he was not present and asked the City Secretary to read a letter into the record: Before I address my concerns regarding the mayor's recent appointment nominations to the various boards an( commissions, I have some comments to make regarding the process thus far. The City Charter provides that "The Mayor shall have and exercise such powers, prerogatives, and authorities as are expressly or impliedly conferred on the office by this Charter or by the Council." It should be noted, however, that the Charter is the primary, legal controlling authority of both the powers and duties c the Mayor and other members of council. And, in a council - manager form of government the power and duties of the Mayo are intentionally very limited by the Charter as the Mayor is not the chief executive and is, rather, a member of council witl additional duties and powers beyond those of the other 8 members of council. Moreover, the other councilmembers haven( authority to give the Mayor more powers than specified in the Charter. Only the People may change either our form c government or change the powers of the Mayor or other members of council in an appropriate election. The Charter also gives the Mayor the power, "To appoint, subject to the confirmation and approval of the Council, thi ' City Secretary, the City Attorney, the Municipal Court Judge, the Certified Public Accountant, and all members of all Boards Commissions and Committees of the City." So, while the Mayor can propose nominations forappointed positions, the checks and balances provided byour Charte require that a majority of council must confirm and approve the Mayor's nominations before those appointments can become effective. The Charter also gives the council, composed of a Mayor and eight Councilmembers, the right to determine their owe rules and order of business, as long as they are not in conflict with the guidelines set forth in the Charter. I have no conflict with this Mayor, or any Mayor, making appointment nominations as he sees fit, even when I believe they are politically motivated and constitute what I believe to be nothing more than political pandering to loyal supporters o retribution and payback to those who disagree with the Mayor and his personal political agenda. It is my duty and responsibility as a individual councilmember, however, to ensure that the appointment power of the Mayor is not misused or abused for any reason that violates my oath of office or my personallprofessional values, ethics integrity, and overall concern for the welfare of the City by seriously considering the merits /demerits of each of his individua nominations and making my objections known publicly before I render my vote to confirm and approve any of those nominations. This Mayor has noted that he believes that it is the individual councilmember's duty to seek out the Mayorfor his logic i1 making his appointment nominations. I strongly disagree! As the Charter gives the power to the Mayor to make his nominations, it is also certainly implied, in my opinion, that it is also his duty to not onlyjustify his logic in each case but for him to advocate the merits of each of his nominees to the othe councilmembers, without violating the Open Meetings Act. Doing so is, in my opinion, exercising sound leadership initiative and showing due diligence and support to both those he nominates and to those from whom he seeks confirmation an( approval. In my opinion, this Mayor has done none of that, especially with those he has chosen not to reappoint. That is ; major leadership failure, in my opinion. Last Tuesday, the Mayor and his supporters on council sought to achieve unanimous confirmation and approval of hi'. entire slate of appointment nominees as if he were assuming that it was the duty of the council to simply give him what hi wanted without him providing any justification or advocacy on behalf of his nominees. Conceding to that irresponsible am unreasonable expectation, however, would constitute dereliction of duty on my part by simply going along to get along ani confirming some nominees I find unsuitable for those positions. Had the Mayor and four other councilmembers chosen to procedurally force me to vote for all of his nominees or none, would have voted for none of them for the following reasons. ' First, I simply will not abandon my Charter duties and responsibilities due to either the manipulation of our rules c procedure for self- serving political purposes orwhat I consider nothing short of political extortion to give the Mayor more powe than he is permitted by the Charter. Additionally, by doing what is perhaps more politically correct or easy on myself, by voting for the majority of thi nominees I find qualified and suitable along with some of those I do not, I effectively devalue myvoteforthose in whom I haw trust and confidence to perform their volunteer duties to the City of Huntsville well and faithfully. So, in order be fair and balanced to all, I would have voted for none of the Mayor's nominees, hoping that four othe councilmembers would do likewise and encourage the Mayor to embrace a more reasonable and responsible approach ii addressing each of his nominees separately. Given the opportunity to vote YES for approximately 45 of the Mayor's nominees while considering his 5 nominations t CITY COUNCIL MEETING SEPTEMBER 11, 2007 BOOK 'X qQ 60 Planning and Zoning Commission and the Economic Development Council separately, I would have gladly done so. And, ild gladly do so tonight, if given the opportunity to do so by a majority of council. With regards to the Mayor's nominations to the Planning and Zoning Commission, I find them very troubling but nc I do not know Ms. Beth Newman nor has the mayor made any effort to introduce her to me, give me her contac ormation, or provide me with any information regarding her background, credentials, and what he expects her contribution the P &Z might be. Since I do not know Ms. Newman, and the Mayor does not seem interested that I know her or not, I /would vote NO to confirm and approve her appointment to this very important commission. If he will not be her advocatE :n I most certainly will not. Regarding the backgrounds, credentials and reputations of Mr. Wagamon and Mr. Knotts, I already know everything ad to know regarding what their potential contributions to the P &Z will be. Their past political performances speak volume to what I can expect from their future performance on this very important commission whose work is so vital to Huntsville' Both men have made their views on comprehensive planning, zoning, growth, economic development, the role :rnment in economic development, the use of incentives for economic development, and their negative attitudes government and City staff in general well known, particularly over the past 18 months during the comprehensive p I consider both men to be not just political activists but radical, political activists. I believe that they work tirelessly an nost desperately against City government by promoting fear, uncertainly, and doubt through the use of misleadershi :ended to subvert City government in whole or in part. They are, in my opinion, obstructionists unworthy of any senou insideration for any elected or appointed position of public trust. In my opinion, if confirmed and approved, they fully intend to bring both a personal and very partisan agenda to the P& delay, disrupt, and destroy the managed growth and economic development that the citizens of Huntsville said theywante firing the comprehensive planning process. Expected from this Mayor, and now confirmed by his nominations of these two men to such a vital position of public trust the fact that this Mayor understands and supports their personal and partisan agenda and, in my opinion, fully intends to USE am to promote chaos on the P &Z which will allow the Mayor to more easily delay, disrupt, and destroy the growth an :onomic development of the City of Huntsville above the P &Z fray as the ceremonial leader of the City. ' Regrettably, I also fully expect that their individual and combined theatrics on the P &Z will probably drive away other fitter than themselves currently serving on that commission leaving additional opportunities for this Mayor to pursue hi lenda regarding growth and economic development through his sycophants doing his personal bidding on the P &Z b iminating other unsuitable replacements. In my opinion, this mayoral strategy has nothing to do with providing either balance or a better cross - section of th immunity on P&Z. On the contrary, it has everything to do with providing imbalance and promoting the Mayor's persona immunity of supporters rather than the best interests of the City of Huntsville. Therefore, I totally reject the nominations of Jack Wagamon and Bill Knotts to the Planning & Zoning Commission an II /would vote NO to their confirmation and approval. Regarding the nominations of Jim Balzaretti and Bob Barragan to the Economic Development Council, I find bot isuitable for service on the basis of phone conversations I had with each of them a week ago prior to our last meeting Dreover, I find Mr. Balzaretti's aggressive confrontation with Councilmember Woodward following our meeting last Tuesda rening to confirm for me that he has neither the temperament nor professionalism appropriate for service on this importan ilunteer council. On a procedural note, I find that the desire of those on council who added a rule to curveting standards last April 200 at require a delay of five working days after a work session before voting on that issue to now want to suspend their own rul expedite something they want fast - tracked to be both fascinating and humorous. Regardless, I do not object to suspendin e rule in this case because I thought it was nutty to begin with and voted NO to its inclusion into our rules of procedure. CALL TO ORDER [6:13 p.m.] Mayor Turner called the meeting to order. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE to US AND TEXAS FLAGS, INVOCATION Councilmember Barrett led the invocation. STATUTORY AGENDA Consider suspension of City Council Rules of Procedure as stated in Section 11.1, Suspension of Rules in relation Section 9.5, Work Sessions. loeo me motion. All votea Tor except Gouncnmemoers yyWeu ano Mananey. I ne motion Passea O -Z. MAYORICOUNCILMEMBERICITY MANAGER REPORT Consider Mayor Turner's Commission and Board appointments: Board of Adjustment and Appeals — reappoint King Chandler and Jerry Moorer and appoint Janet Ridley Board of Adjustment — Zoning — reappoint George Miles, Matt Hannes, Roberta Plant and Leroy Hilton; Huntsville Arts Commission — reappoint Dana Nicolay and Jaspyr Sanford and appoint Gene Myrick; Huntsville Beautification Committee — reappoint Debra Gilbert and Hazel Wyatt and appoint Karen Lang; Huntsville Cemetery Advisory Board — reappoint Morris Waller, Dell McAdams, Stephanie Smither, Joyc CITY COUNCIL MEETING SEPTEMBER 11, 2007 BOOK'X', 61 Robinson and appoint Gary Joyce and Kay King Mitchell Huntsville Economic Development Council —reappointJack Parker, Davd Ward and Ed Sandhop and appoint Bob Barragan and Jim Balzaretti; Huntsville Main Street Advisory Committee — reappoint Robert Ernst, Jr., Lee Jamison, Sam Moak, and Laura Bruns and appoint KimmThomas, James R. Barnes and Billy Frady; Huntsville Public Library Board — reappoint Marion Barren and appoint Glinda High; Lay Representatives to HAILS — reappoint LaDean Sapp and Sharon Vann; Parks and Recreation Advisory Board — reappoint Nate Grigsby and appoint Chris Holm and Christen Maltsburger, Planning and Zoning Commission — appoint Beth Newman, Bill Knotts and Jack Wagamon; Police Promotional Review Board — reappoint Randy Garner; Youth Advisory Board — reappoint Margi Eglsaer, Walter Bennett and four youth. Huntsville Housing Authority - reappoint Joe Soliz, Norma Howard and Dr. Ross Lovell Walker County Public Safety Communications Center Board — reappoint Jim Willett. Councilmember Woodward requested that the Economic Development Council and the Planning and Zoning Commission be pulled from the remainder of the Boards and Commissions. motion. The motion passed unanimously. Planning and Zoning Commission: ' Beth Newman — All Councilmembers voted for except Councilmember Willett. The motion passed 7 -1. Bill Knots —All Councilmembers voted for except Councilmember Choate. The motion passed 7 -1. Jack Wagamon — Mayor Turner and Councilmembers Barrett, Mahaffey, Zender and Griffin voted for and Councilmembers Choate, Willett and Woodward voted against. The motion passed 5 -3. Economic Development Council: Bob Barragan - Mayor Turner and Councilmembers Barrett, Mahaffey, Zander and Woodward voted for and Councilmembers Choate, Willett and Griffin voted against. The motion passed 5 -3. Jim Balzaretti — Mayor Turner and Councilmembers Barrett, Mahaffey and Zander voted for and Councilmembers Choate Willett, Griffin and Woodward voted against. The motion failed 4 -4. b. Consider City Council's Board appointment: TIRZ #1 Board — reappoint Sam Dominey. ADJOURNMENT [7.02 Danna Welter, City Secretary