CITY OF TALLAHASSEE
CITY COMMISSION AGENDA ITEM
ACTION REQUESTED ON: June 10, 2009
SUBJECT/TITLE: Sunset Review of City Commission Policy 144 – Filling Unanticipated City Commission Vacancies; City Charter Language
TARGET ISSUE: N/A

STATEMENT OF ISSUE

City Commission Policy 144, Filling Unanticipated City Commission Vacancies, provides a process to fill unanticipated City Commission vacancies and a method to implement Section 14 of the City of Tallahassee Charter that deals with commission vacancies. The policy was adopted November 26, 2002, became effective January 15, 2003, and is now subject to sunset review by the City Commission.

The language in Section 14 of the City Charter requires that a special election be conducted in the event that a regular municipal election is not scheduled to be held in the November following the filling of the vacancy. The Leon County Supervisor of Elections estimates the current cost of a standalone special City election would be approximately $342,000, and that his office requires 12 weeks notice before the election is held. Due to current economic conditions, staff recommends that Section 14 of the City Charter be amended to eliminate the special election requirement to avoid the potential of incurring the added election costs.

City Commission Policy 144 provides a nomination sequence to fill a vacant City Commission position based on seniority. However, the policy does not address the nominating sequence when Commissioners have equal seniority. Staff recommends that City Commission Policy 144 be readopted and revised to provide that, if two or more Commissioners have the same seniority, those Commissioners will nominate in the order that they last served as mayor pro-tem starting with the current mayor pro-tem.

RECOMMENDED ACTION

Options 1 & 2 – Introduce Ordinance No. 09-O-30 and schedule for June 24, 2009 public hearing and readopt City Commission Policy 144 with revisions.

FISCAL IMPACT

$342,000 - $680,000 potential savings.

Gary Herndon, City Treasurer-Clerk

James R. English, City Attorney

For information, please contact: Gary Herndon, 891-8131 or Jim English, 891-8554.

SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL/ISSUE ANALYSIS
HISTORY/FACTS & ISSUES

Issue 1 – Charter language:

The language in Section 14 of the City Charter requires that a special election be conducted in the event that a regular municipal election is not scheduled to be held in the November following the filling of the vacancy. The Leon County Supervisor of Elections estimates the current cost of a standalone special City election would be approximately $342,000, and that his office requires 12 weeks notice before the election is held. Due to current economic conditions, staff recommends that Section 14 of the City Charter be amended to eliminate the special election requirement to avoid the potential of incurring the added election costs.

Issue 2 – Procedures for Filling a City Commission Vacancy:

Prior to the adoption of City Commission Policy 144 (Filling Unanticipated City Commission Vacancies), the process for selecting an interim City Commissioner was reflected in Section 14 of the City Charter. The Charter essentially required that a replacement Commissioner be identified within ten (10) calendar days after the vacancy occurred. The language provided no detailed procedures that should be used to identify the new Commissioner; fortunately, there have only been two instances over the past 40 years when a Commissioner has died while in office, and another few instances when a Commissioner has been unable to complete his/her term of service.

Commission Policy 144 (CP 144) was approved by the Commission on November 26, 2002, and became effective on January 15, 2003. The purpose of CP 144 is to provide a process to fill unanticipated City Commission vacancies and to provide a method to implement Section 14 of the City of Tallahassee Charter that deals with commission vacancies. The policy provides advertising guidelines, applicant qualification, deadlines for filing an application, and a City Commission selection process. CP 144 also provides a nominating sequence to fill the vacant position based on the seniority. The policy does not address the nominating sequence when Commissioners have equal seniority. Staff recommendation is to readopt CP144 with a revision that provides that, if two or more Commissioners have the same seniority, those Commissioners will nominate in the order that they last served as mayor pro-tem, starting with the current mayor pro-tem.

At the time of the policy’s adoption in 2003, the City Charter was also amended to reflect an expansion of the period of time the Commission would have in which to fill a vacancy, from 10 days to 20 days.

CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTIONS

N/A

OPTIONS

1. Introduce Ordinance No. 09-O-30 and schedule for public hearing, which modifies Section 14 of the City Charter to remove the language calling for a special municipal election to be held for the purpose of filling an unanticipated city commission vacancy.

2. Readopt CP144 with a revision that provides that, if two or more Commissioners have the same seniority, those Commissioners will nominate in the order that they last served as mayor pro-tem, starting with the current mayor pro-tem.

3. Reaffirm Commission Policy 144, without making changes to the requirement for holding a special election(s) should a regular Municipal Election not be scheduled for the following year, which results in no changes to Section 14 of the City Charter.

ATTACHMENTS/REFERENCES

1. Ordinance 09-O-30
2. Proposed revised City Commission Policy 144
3. F.S. § 166.031(6)