2021-01-07 CCRAC Minutes4
CITY OF OKEECHOBEE
CITIZENIS CHARTER REVIEW ADVISORY COMMITTEE
JANUARY 7, 2021
OFFICIAL MINUTES
I. CALL TO ORDER
Member Ritter called the regular meeting of the Citizens Charter Review Advisory
Committee (CCRAC) for the City of Okeechobee to order on Thursday, January 7, 2021, at
6:00 P.M. in the City Council Chambers, located at 55 Southeast 3rd Avenue, Room 200,
Okeechobee, Florida. The invocation was given by Member Chandler, followed by the
Pledge of Allegiance.
II. ATTENDANCE
The following CCRAC Members were present: Suzanne Bowen, Noel Chandler, Jamie
Gamiotea, Jeremy LaRue, Cary Pigman, Gary Ritter, Myranda Whirls and Hoot Worley.
Member Sandy Perry was absent.
A. Election or Chair
Member Ritter opened the floor for nominations for Chairperson. Member Worley
nominated Gary Ritter. The nomination was seconded by Member Whirls together with
a motion to close the nominations. Motion Carried Unanimously. Chairperson Ritter
opened the floor for nominations for a Vice Chairperson, which is addressed per
Resolution No. 2020-10. Member Worley nominated Noel Chandler, which he
respectively declined. Member Bowen then nominated Myranda Whirls. The nomination
was seconded by Member Pigman together with a motion to close the nominations.
Motion Carried Unanimously.
B. Given all members were not present at the initial meeting, each one introduced
themselves, shared some information about their background and why they wanted to
serve on this Committee.
Ill. MINUTES
A. Motion by Member Pigman, seconded by Member Chandler to dispense with the reading
and approve the December 15, 2020, Regular Meeting minutes. Motion Carried
Unanimously.
IV. NEW BUSINESS
A. City Attorney Fumero briefly reviewed Resolution No. 2020-10 again for the benefit of
the committee members that were not in attendance at the initial meeting. This provides
the outline of the Chair and Vice Chair duties, attendance requirement, the purpose of
the committee, and a timeline of at least one year. Attorney Fumero explained once the
Committee is ready with their recommendation, it will be presented to the City Council.
The City Council can then choose to amend/modify the recommendations. The result
will be formatted into one or multiple ordinances and placed on the ballot for the voters
to decide on adoption. Chairperson Ritter inquired as to who the Committee Secretary
would be. Administrator Montes De Oca clarified support staff in which Patty Burnette
will be taking the minutes for the Committee. Administrator Montes De Oca and
Executive Assistant Robin Brock will be the points of contact for the Committee.
CCRAC MINUTES, JANUARY 7, 2021, PAGE 1 OF 2
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IV. NEW BUSINESS ITEMS CONTINUED
B. Attorney Fumero reviewed the current City of Okeechobee Charter that was provided to
each member by the City Clerk's Office. He explained the three basic forms of
government: Council -Manager (Weak Mayor), Mayor -Council (Strong Mayor) and
Commission. Strong mayor being mayor -council form, which is directly elected by the
citizens to that office; weak mayor being council-manager form, which is elected from
within the city council, and commission form, which voters elect to a small governing
board. Usually in a strong mayor system, an elected mayor would have direct
administrative authority over the government and its departments. Under a weak mayor
system, an appointed city manager would have that administrative authority. He pointed
out the committee would need to decide whether to review and make recommendations
for changes to the current Charter or start from scratch and create an entire new one.
C. Sample copies of charters from the Cities of Crescent, Hollywood, Palm Coast and
Sunny Isles Beach provided to the committee members by Attorney Fumero were
discussed.
D. Administrator Montes De Oca mentioned the new Charter needs to be clear, consider
not specifically listing department names, and to receive public input.
E. The City will be creating a page on the website specifically where citizens can learn
everything that is going on about the review and provide feedback. Each committee
member will be provided a city email address to be used for conducting and receiving
correspondences related to this committee. Attorney Fumero mentioned again about the
"Sunshine Laws" and not to "reply all" back to emails that they may receive.
F. Chairperson Ritter announced it had been determined at the initial meeting that future
meetings would be held at 6:00 P.M. with the next one being on January 28th. Given
some members that were absent at the first meeting having conflicts with that date, new
meeting dates of February 11th, March 4th and 25th were decided upon to start at 6:30
P.M. The Committee requested for the next meeting, a template of the current charter
from the City Attorney to include a table of contents and a Bill of Rights section. Attorney
Fumero commented he would be drafting a model city charter, based on his research of
modern city charters in Florida, to be used as a starting point for committee discussions
and development of charter amendments.
V. ADJOURN MEETING
There being no further items for discussion, the meeting was adjourned at 7:26 P.M.
Submitted by:
6,0adtkiM
Patty M. Burnette
Approved on: 4-1140
Please take notice and be advised that when a person decides to appeal any decision made by the Citizens
Charter Review Advisory Committee with respect to any matter considered at this meeting, he/she may need to
ensure that a verbatim record of the proceeding is made, which record includes the testimony and evidence upon
which the appeal is to be based. City Clerk media are for the sole purpose of backup for official records of the
Clerk.
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