DISCUSSION AND DIRECTION ….
Dear Readers … Wednesday night was the first Commission Round Table for June …Int. TM Hoffmann was not at the table and Int. Asst. TM Bentley sat in.. Too bad he was under the weather…It was the first opportunity to see him in the TM position if he decides to put his hat in the ring for the permanent position… From what this writer has heard thus far in his Int. Asst. TM position…he is making points with staff…elected officials businesses…and residents…for a calming ..easy manner while looking at the books…code…ord…manuals etc…and the history to get it right…Just what Int. TM Hoffmann touted about her hire…Some of that came out last despite obviously being ill… Also in attendance were all Comms. the Town Atty. … both the Town Clerk and Deputy Town Clerk ..(a position not needed when we get the right Town Clerk in place) along with Development Director Jeff Bowman who once again proved he too needs to be replaced sooner rather than later… No surprise that once again they needed to use hand mikes to be heard on the tape … Any thoughts on the lapel type mikes?…
The Mayor began by asking about adding last minute items on the RT agenda…TAtty. Trevarthern shot the idea down …Apparently the Int. Asst. TM wanted to include the latest Code Enforcement debacle…as he alluded to “Flags in the ROW”…
Interior Digs…
We hear Code Enforcement is after Interior Digs for their flags that are hanging out in front of their store…One has been up for 4 years and the other was put up over Memorial Day… Now it appears the owners need to jump through hoops to keep them up since they hang over Town property!…Hmmm….A Fox News exclusive?… Come on…couldn’t Code be doing something else such as looking into compliance on properties that have been without a real roof for at least 10 years…or unsightly parking on the west side of A1A with no coverage of their lot…instead of stopping flags from being in front of an establishment?… This is why stores on the west side are leaving the Town…Oh, and how about addressing a change in the signage on the front of the T shirt shops enforced last year by the former administration that makes it look like the store is suspect?… Could it be a case of flag envy?…After all the Interior Digs flags look much more impressive than out “too small ” flags at the Commercial entryway nearby!… The flags will be addressed at the next RT…so Code needs to stand down until then…
Mayor Minnet went on to her first item which was to address addition on the regular agendas…The Mayor is usually the one to make these additions but she stated what she puts on does not require any staff time or backup… as compared to Comm. Clottey’s addition for Liliana Pomareda’s “block party” which required permitting…code …BSO…TAtty. input and cost over an hour of time on the dais for what amounted to a neighborhood get together that goes on unnoticed throughout the town and the nation… Comm. Sasser stated he would like no additions to be added unless they are “pressing” because it has the potential for be used to put something on a RTable without the proper time restrictions required for items to be put on …Comm. Clottey wanted more flexibility being as we are a small town and sometimes organizations forget to fill out forms in time and require Commission approval…..Hmmm…. that would fall under “pressing”… This writer agrees with Comm. Sasser…leave the extras off…unless it’s “pressing…
Also Vice Mayor Dodd after spoke of “if” the Commission was going to go to one Comm. meeting /one Rtable each month …Comm. Clottey asked if there needed to be a vote to change it in the Charter…The TAtty. stated she had previously addressed this…(It was after all brought to the Comm. by the law firm)..Trevarthen said it was a code that would need to be changed..Comm. Sasser asked to set a date to be prepared…he got no traction…likely he will put it on the next agenda…
For those naysayers who say where’s the ethics ordinance….it was finally given to the Commission… The TAttys. had their hands full with the former Town Manager ..Bert J. etc… so it took a little longer …VM Dodd wanted to make sure it was easy to understand and referenced one of the Referendum examples from last year..The TAtty. explained what he was looking for was in subsection 1 (scroll down to the RT agenda for the section containing it makes no difference if you are paid or unpaid for a conflict to exist..(2-hats) … Also added were the discussed item of not participating in a shade session as well (2 former Comms. did just that when wearing 2-hats-prev. post) …and a protection subsection for the possibility of a majority having a conflict and waiving the conflict if deemed necessary…It also protects the Commission from the on the books requirement of having a statutory obligation to vote …and complies with statutes…Attached was the state ethics requirements…Comm. Sasser did not like the term “connection” instead of the agreed upon “affiliated”… It will be changed to “affiliated”… Also the VM wanted to make sure the abstaining from voting was not including abstaining from discussion …The TAtty. said it was included…The prev. version last year included the Hollywood version that the Comm. needed to leave the room…Comm. Sasser concurred…The Mayo wanted clarification that this version was not the Referendum that included not being able to do business in LBTS …That was a CIC-Furth directive to Clottey to squeeze the Mayor and VM Dodd…but the one it would have impacted would have been former Comm. Silverstone…The TAtty. assured the Mayor this was purely for “affiliation” with vendors…and cited subsection line 27 for the scope…It will be prepared with the changes for 1st reading within one month… We hear Comm. Sasser’s Code of Conduct will be ready as well…check those off the list of campaign promises delivered…As we approach 100 days this Commission has delivered much both on and off the dais….KUDOS!….
The next item was the valet parking trial …
Int. Asst. TM Bentley provided a presentation with photos as he ran through the backup..(scroll down to Rtable agenda)…He added they would use the 2 parking spaces in front of Country Ham n’ Eggs for the trial service which will be ready to go the weekend after the Comm. gives approval…The staff looked at other possible areas (see below agenda post) and found them inferior or lacking when compard to the proposers preference… Bud Bentley spoke of the stacking requirements and decided 120 feet would suffice…and was available down El Mar Drive…He did have to backtrack a little when the Mayor asked if all the businesses around that area were contacted…They were not…Comm. Clottey wanted not only those businesses but all on El Mar to be notified…Yhe other Comms. were not sure that was needed but it will be done with a hard copy due to time limitations…He spoke of the meeting held and what was offered by the businesses involved..other businesses and those interested parties in attendance.. He went on to explain the use of Aruba using the alleyway by Ham N’ Eggs and having priority…and that the new service would use as well unless it became a problem…then they would forgo it for Washintonia… Hmmm….It was just last year this writer remembers Aruba stated they dod not use the alleyway…and the prev. administration said the alleyway could not be used for that purpose… The same people that do not want to open the Pier alleyway for “public safety” do not see a problem with this alley?… How so?… People cut through there all the time as well as other traffic…How do you stack when you have cars coming east down that alley from not one but two valet services?…This is an alley on then 2005 Master Plan that is to be a pedestrian walkway in the future unless it is scratched… Mr. Bentley spoke of the drop off time being between 45 sec. and 3 minutes per the proposers…He said it depends on those getting in and out of their cars..later he stated a 5 minute max…Comm. Clottey wanted to know about the staffing’s effect on the time…Bentley said they want to move quickly due to time means money and too long in line cars will seek alternatives… Comm. Vincent said he “put in a little time”on this…Welcome to the club!…So did Comm. Sasser…the Mayor (who put this on) …and of course VM Dodd spearheaded it the first go-round last year…. but it went down 3-2 ….Comm. Vincent wanted the use the alley even more for stacking! ….. He spoke of alternatives and stated he thought they went to Washingtonia (just go and watch one night…it’s the alley, El Prado (Minto) parking lot just as the VM stated )….Bud Bentley asked the Comm. not to “design a program at the table”it needed to be done in the field although he did want to hear about trouble areas…..But the Comm. was there to discuss the issue and needed to delve further than trouble areas……There was a brief encounter between Comm. Vincent and VM Dodd when Vincent was still addressing the alleyways and Washintonia where Vincent rather abruptly said “Vice Mayor let me finish”…After the VM spoke of wanting the trial and what has come before this time around…Vincent backed down and said he threw in a couple of suggestions …the Town staff will evaluate and monitor and get back to the Comm. in 60 days… …Comm. Clottey actually had a valid idea of not using or eliminating the parking spot on the west side of the road across from the valet site to make the 2nd lane available by the site… Comm. Sasser explained he had found “big holes” and while he was in favor of the trial…as he was contacted and involved in the process as well…they needed to be addressed before jumping ahead…the stacking…and clusters …He wanted rto know who would be monitoring the pilot program…was it staff?… Com. Vincent stated “let’s commence …let the professionals do their job…and wanted to set the record straight he was in favor of the block party but voted it down due to public safety…he then said we need to have some criteria rather than let loose…HUH?…The Mayor stated a similar valet service was in place in Del Ray and it works there…She asked Asst. TM if he had the direction he needed (the 1st of many such inquiries of this kind) … Comm. Vincent who had just finished stating he threw a few suggestion out…and leave it to the staff and professionals was not giving heed to his own statements…when he continued on about Demko paying to for an extra person to monitor the trial..Bud Bentley wasn’t buying it and stated the Town would provide extra detail…Vice Mayor Dodd said he had a “violent disagreement” with Comm. Vincent ..you can’t monitor yourself the Town does it…Comm. Vincent responded they could do it together ..you can’t have one or the other..HUH?… Bentley again wanted to make it clear they were not going to evaluate the valet service…they were going to monitor the traffic and the any impact…staff will write a report..they will have Bud, Jeff Bowman and Code Enforcement out there for the first few days…They could also count on BSO detail officers to watch and report…The Mayor added some levity with stating if there are any problems comments will come from a lot of observers…in this town!… Comm. Clottey wanted a security camera to watch!…Bentley said he would see if he could locate on…He also said he would schedule this on the agenda and actively design a program…Yesterday he was to meet with the Town Engineer from Chen and Broward Traffic for the Pier Alleyway…he should have looked at the Ham N’ Egg alleyway as well … Comm. Sasser asked a few more questions…the fre parking for residents with permits not being in the trial..Bentley said it was for the trial only and the Town felt that was a dangled carrot …it raised expectations beyond and he could not condone it…(smart move…too bad it was not permanent)…Comm. Vincent stated that the data would not be the same then…Also after Sasser commented on agreeing with not using Town on the Valet signage …Comm. Sasser reiterated they will not be using any public spaces … The Mayor brought forth the parking at Sun Trust…which the new owner brought to the podium a few meetings back… Bud Bentley responded t that and gave his observations of public parking in their lot…The Vice Mayor’s ears perked up with the realization that there was no public parking in this version of the proposal…He stated last year that was a big reason for the support of the plan…revenue for the Town in the Bougainvilla lot…Now the Town would lose revenue…and there would be no benefit…Not going to fly with him!… Comm. Sasser felt parking in Bougainvilla would not allow parking for residents… The VM thinks Bougainvilla is large enough for both (this writer concurs)… Comm. Vincent was still stuck on the valet parking service and what they could or should do…now stating they could strike a deal with Sun Trust …Bentley said he would confer with the Atty…. Comm. Clottey was not interested in parking and to be now was “a whole new line”…The Mayor informed her they had new owners…(brought up at the meeting the new owner attended)… We are told the VM spoke to 101 Ocean and told them he wants the public parking to add revenue to the Town as agreed to last year… We hear the parking was to be private this time around with Athena…But..if the Comm. goes to bat to keep the Pier alleyway open all the time…the parking for the valet should go to the Bugainvilla lot as promised previously!…
Demko Valet…
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4088 West Palm Air Drive
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BC- the contact online led to nowhere…
The Florida League of Cities needed a delegate…it will be the Mayor and the alternate will be Comm.Vincent who both indicated they will attend the Aug. conference in Hollywood… They will vote on it at the next Comm. mtg….
The cart was before the horse for approving the shed the evening before for 101 Ocean…….according to the Devel. Director after Vice Mayor Dodd questioned the cost for making changes for “access buildings” in Chapter 30 …and the TAtty. asking if there was any urgency…and Jeff Bowman explained that the night before it was approved and the recipient would be able to put the shed anywhere …that there would be no restrictions…and it would fall under the current language..Comm. Vincent spoke of the “ambiguity” he found with the calculations when compared to the avg. plot and house side in his area… After some discussion on the pros and cons of “bundling” the TAtty. will look to determine if it needs to be done …or if there are other code changes that fit with it…The Mayor spoke of the perception that bundling could raise concerns of “what are they trying to do.”…Comm. Clottey was concerned over the change not having any teeth and went on to explain her own situation when a flying shed took down her gutters and she was left with paying the bill… Comm. Vincent said it was covered …The TAtty. said it is subject to general penalties …there is no “perfect penalty” ..and we could have a fine…
$2500 for Haiti got the nod from all 5…This writer still contends that’s a mistake…Many in town have already given on their own as well as the VFD…2nd thoughts….anyone?….
PRESTO -CHANGE-O ….Item G. is Gone….Gone…Gone….
g. Town Manager Selection Process (Public Information Officer Steve
d’Oliveira) Deferred at the June 8, 2010 Commission Meeting for further
discussion by Commissioner Sasser…
BC- On the backup agenda and online video item g. is gone..no reference to the TM Selection process…just Discussion items 1 & 2 after item f. …During the discussion the TAtty. said candidates would be looking to see what said at these meeting…Hmmm…no way to know if they look at the archived video “library” and not the RT agenda…
On to the Town Manager Profile and hiring a search company…TAtty. Trevarthen reminded the Commission of the Int. TM’s points at the last meeting…to have a search team in place with an RFP for when the candidates submit their resumes…a 90 day process… Comm. Clottey still had a problem understanding the Charter could not be changed period…The TAtty…finally told her not a period or a comma …nothing without a vote of the people…She also reiterated a Political Science Degree was consistent and reasonable to use for fulfilling the educational requirements listed in the Charter… The Mayor explained that the Charter Review board felt the verbage was the true definition and allowed for reasonableness…Clottey wasn’t letting go..she said she agreed with Comm. Vincent’s statements the night before about experience outweighing degrees and did not want the Town to limit ourselves from those not meeting the criteria…. The Mayor asked if the previous TM met the requirements.. … Clottey said she was not speaking of a specific individual …that our Charter needs to be broader…”We didn’t hire Esther we inherited Esther.”…Seeing the meeting about to deteriorate…the Mayor stopped it…The Mayor led the group to give recommendations for Steve (PIO D’Oliveira who was assigned the profile job- scroll down prev. post- RTable agenda)…Vice Mayor Dodd was concerned about some of the clauses including the benefits that were written up as comparable to other municipalities… He stated it was time not to do what others are doing…Comm. Sasser wanted to take that out altogether salary but deplete the benefits… The Town Atty. suggested just stating total compensation as a way to not address the benefits…She included that we are not alone many cities are looking at these perks “with fresh eyes”..Comm. Sasser stated competitive rather than comparable…The Mayor wanted Broward County added in the 1st paragraph and more description under responsibilities plus not singling out each public safety vendor as the profile included…She also felt it was not necessary to include elections are every 2 years.. Comm. Vincent wanted to get rid of the turmoil and the more professional task by the Int. Town Manager…the Mayor said it was technological and “Clueless” Clottey said we “are pretty cutting edge” because we have our meetings online…YIKES!… Comm. Sasser said he may agree on the internet but not the technology and phones…previously brought up by Comm. Sasser and Vincent who found out quickly VM Dodd’s ongoing trouble with the antiquated system over the prior two years…Comm. Clottey hung tight to her point stating most cities are not on the internet…I would like to see that data… The Mayor stated it was the business in town the internal organization…Clottey said we were looking for someone technologically savvy…The TAtty. had her turn at levity by stating most candidates would be searching online to watch these meetings …(see above)…With that Comm. Vincent added to that levity by stating “I yield!”… Comm. Sasser put it together taking it all into account …Com. Vincent offered up shareholders rather than stakeholders and Comm. Clottey stated stakeholders was the proper title…There was more discussion about the benefits and salary…with the TAtty. stating compensation competitive and negotiable…The Mayor wanted the fought hard to stop huge condos changed to Citizen’s Referendums limited heights… For a while there was a lull as they needed to decide a range for salary per the recommendation of the Int. TM…Comm. Sasser finally came forward with $120,000-$170,000 …Comm. Clottey thought that was too high to start at the median range per the report they had in the backup (prev. post) …Comm. Sasser stated they could go with up to $170,000 and the VM wanted it tied into ability…the salary would be structured on that…The TAtty. reminded them that it was not proportional to Town size… It will be on the next Comm. meeting…
PIO D’Oliveira sent the Comm. a second draft on Thursday which took into account all that was discussed …removing and reworking it for their input…it will be on the next Comm. agenda for June 22nd…
Then it was onto the RFP search and there was some back and forth after again the TAtty. reminded the Comm. of Hoffmann’s advice …that they could get the whole package nuts to soup or possibly spell out what would cover their needs…a cost savings of approx. $5000 from approx. $20-22,000 for the whole thing…based on Pompano and other recent searches …. Comm. Vincent must have rethought his prior position of spending up to $20,000 for professionals as he now thought the Comm. has the ability to give recommendations on the candidates …stating they did a very good job before and the same names would be in consideration again … going down the list of requirements …the top 3 education ..experience etc….It was discussed afterward by the TAtty. about a per candidate rate for doing the background check required …The Mayor wanted to know if they would be obligated to use the team… The TAtty. added a clause to stop or forgo the RFP is in every Town bid…and later added an unsatisfactory performance clause could be included as has been in place with other contracts…Vice Mayor Dodd wanted to perhaps have the search firm do the initial cut down to 5 which would save the Comm. from perhaps giving the nod to a person who does not check out… Comm. Vincent and the Mayor spoke of the costs to do that…and Comm. Vincent stated that’s a decision we have to where where to spend the money… After some more back and forth on the pros and the cons…along with the costs…Comm. Clottey wanted to know if it was illegal to give a negative recommendation..The TAtty. said not illegal but there could be liability…She went on to explain a search consultant was not only going to look at the recommendations a candidates supplies …the search co. will contact every elected official who worked with the candidate in the past 5 years along with the Chamber in that town…citizen leaders…local newspapers etc… (Boy the LBTS Chamber … LBTS citizen leaders and BTSFuture are hoping the former TM and Asst. TM are soon to be inquired about by some search firm…to be able to have their say!)… Vice Mayor Dodd and Comm. Sasser laughed and said “Google”!… Comm. Sasser made the suggestion it could be presented to the search companies in 2 parts…because he did not like making a decision without knowing the money involved ….The questions would be the cost before Comm. chooses…and the cost after Comm. chooses 3-5 candidates… With that the Mayor asked Trevarthen if she had the direction she needed …Trevarthen read back the above…that Steve will do the profile ..it would be advertised ..also a solicitation will go out for a search consultant and it will include the suggestions Comm. Sasser put in as well as a per candidate rate …she will try to have it by the June 22, 2010 Comm. Meeting…as the Mayor informed the Comm. at the start that Ms. Hoffmann might not want to continue and time was of the essence ….
Final subject was the Soccer program …The Mayor said it was something that might be available this summer…Not sure about that one…She also added the proposer said the field was fine for kids and adults…Comm. Sasser said he would not question the Soccer provider but that he hoped the field was level… As stated before..there are better soccer fields in Iraq!…
The meeting was less than 2 hours…and shows that much can be dealt with when having these two forums available…and used well by a Commission that works well together….
more to come….
Tags: Lauderdale By The Sea June 9 2010 Commisison Round Table, LBTS Agendas/Meetings, local government, Local Politics, Scoops
