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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/09/2010 Special Business Meeting • 328 YAKIMA CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL BUSINESS MEETING SEPTEMBER 9, 2010 7:00 — 9:00 P.M. COUNCIL CHAMBERS — YAKIMA CITY HALL 1. Roll Call Present: Council: Mayor Micah Cawley, presiding, Assistant Mayor Kathy Coffey, Council Members Maureen Adkison, Dave Edler, Rick Ensey, Dave Ettl and Bill Lover Staff: City Manager Zais, City Attorney Cutter and Acting City Clerk Claar- Tee 2. Public Hearing regarding Council- Manager / Mayor - Council forms of government • Mayor Cawley opened the public hearing. Mary Place, former Council member and mayor, stated that Yakima is one of the few full service cities in the state which is one of the reasons it has chosen professional management. All of the bigger cities that are Mayor - Council also have city administrators, a professional that is responsible only to the mayor. She declared this change would not be a budget saving measure and also pointed out that every time there is an election it costs the taxpayers money. As an example, costs for the 2009 special election were $48,205 plus a third of the indirect costs of $38,000. She urged Council to keep politics out of it; upgrade the Charter, but not change to a Mayor - Council form of government. Lynn Buchanan, former Council member and mayor, also spoke against the Mayor - Council format suggesting that what is needed is a strong City Council. He felt a Mayor - Council format would be too costly. He commented on the need for weekly meetings rather than twice a month. Sandy Massong - Lloyd, 5501 W. Arlington Avenue, agreed the Mayor - Council format is not appropriate mainly because that it would take four years to remove the mayor if it were necessary. She commented that the City needs a strong City Council, not a strong mayor. Paul George, former Council member and mayor, also a strong supporter of the Council /Manager form of government, said it has kept the City stable. Richard Miller, 1214 Karr Avenue, emphasized the need for accountability. He said a politician is not more accountable because he can't get fired. He feels we already have accountability and he doesn't want his tax dollars used to go through a big change. He spoke about continuity and the risk that an elected mayor may come in and replace all department heads with his own people. He summarized by saying he doesn't see any benefit, no increased accountability and certainly no cost savings. 329 PUBLIC HEARING ON FORMS OF GOVERNMENT SEPTEMBER 9, 2010 Bernie Sims, 210'Arthur Blvd, spoke against changing the current form of government noting that this process was gone through before. He warned that there could easily be missed opportunities if there wasn't a strong manager running the city. He urged Council to look into changing the Charter if necessary. Benine McDonell, 7004 W. Pierce Court, opposes changing to a Mayor - Council form of government. She pointed out that any person can be elected if they raise enough money and that in a Mayor - Council format the mayor is the CEO of a multi - million dollar organization and may not have any management training. She urged Council to not go to the expense of putting this to a vote of the people. Max Golladay, 302 Santa Rosa, encouraged Council to put the question to a vote of the people. Bill Duerr, 320 W. Yakima Avenue, spoke about the impact a vote would have on the City's budget and said the City doesn't have the money for an election. He also referred to the expense of staff time to prepare a change to the Charter. He suggested waiting to make changes until after the economy turns around. He suggested that Council's motive for change was to take control from the City Manager, but they already have it, they just need to use it. Mr. Duerr spoke highly of City Manager Zais' skills and accomplishments. Harris Meyer, 1909 Yakima Avenue, spoke in favor of a Mayor - Council form by saying the issue is accountability and committees (like the Council) are ineffective. Clarence Barnett, 916 17 Avenue, was concerned there was no proposal to review and it would have been more useful to outline a specific plan for a change before asking the public to comment. He submitted a list of questions he would like Council to discuss. Larry Mattson, 2810 Shelton Avenue, spoke in favor of a Mayor - Council form of government. He agreed that there needs to be a proposal to review. From his experience on the City Council, he felt that running the City by a seven - member council slows things down. He also felt that city time and resources should be expended to come up with a charter revision. Bruce Smith, 4228 Nola Loop, said he felt strongly that the issue should go to the voters. It was his opinion that the problems with the city are inherent as part of the current system. Paul Schaeffer, 2606 Tieton Drive, spoke in favor of the current Council /Manager form of government. One of his fears with the Mayor - Council format is the constant change of the City's direction each time a new mayor was elected. • Mayor Cawley closed the public hearing. Council Member Ensey agreed it is difficult to discuss the issue without details and he would like to see a plan developed that could be discussed. Assistant Mayor Coffey commented that there hasn't been a groundswell of interest in this from the public. Council Members Adkison and Ettl also agreed that they haven't seen public interest in the subject. Council Member Edler disagreed stating he has heard a lot of public interest. 2 330 PUBLIC HEARING ON FORMS OF GOVERNMENT SEPTEMBER 9, 2010 He also said that, although originally he came onto Council with the idea it was necessary to "get rid of Dick," once inside he felt the problem was the current system, not the City Manager. He said the City needs leadership that is accountable to the people and the Council. ENSEY MOVED AND EDLER SECONDED TO HAVE THE COUNCIL FORMA 3- MEMBER COMMITTEE TO HAMMER OUT THE DETAILS, INCLUDING DECIDING WHETHER TO INCLUDE THE PUBLIC ON THE COMMITTEE OR PUT IT ON YPAC, AND THEN BRING IT BACK TO COUNCIL. FOLLOWING THAT, IF COUNCIL IS COMFORTABLE WITH IT, TALK ABOUT PUTTING IT TO THE VOTERS. During discussion of the motion, Council Member Ensey suggested it be accomplished within 30 days. The motion failed by a 5 -2 roll call vote; Adkison, Cawley, Coffey, Ettl and Lover voting no. COFFEY MOVED AND ADKISON SECONDED TO END DEBATE ON THE MAYOR - COUNCIL FORM OF GOVERNMENT. The motion failed by a 5 -2 roll call vote; Cawley, Edler, Ensey, Lover and Adkison voting no. Following discussion of what to do next, EDLER MOVED AND COFFEY SECONDED TO CANCEL THE STUDY SESSION SCHEDULED ON THE SUBJECT. The motion carried by a 5 -2 vote; Lover and Cawley voting no. 3. Adjournment ENSEY MOVED AND EDLER SECONDED TO ADJOURN. The motion carried by unanimous voice vote. The meeting adjourned at 8:48 .rp. READ AND CERTIFIED ACCURATE BY �� ✓�Z���� C(23u1 CIL MEMBER DATE UNCIL MEMBER DATE ATTEST: a. % r CITY CLE MICAH CAWLE AYOR Minutes prepared by Linda Watkins. A CD and DVD of this meeting are available in the City Clerk's Office 3