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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2005.0111.TCWSEM.Minutes TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS
MINUTES OF THE EXECUTIVE AND WORK STUDY SESSION
OF THE
FOUNTAIN HILLS TOWN COUNCIL
JANUARY 11,2005
Mayor Nichols called the meeting to order at 4:12 p.m.
ROLL CALL:
Present for roll call were the following members of the Fountain Hills Town Council: Councilman Kehe,
Mayor Nichols, Councilman McMahan, Councilwoman Nicola, Councilman Schlum, Vice Mayor
Archambault and Councilman Kavanagh. Town Manager Tim Pickering and Town Clerk Bev Bender were
also present and Town Attorney Andrew McGuire participated in the meeting using telephonic equipment.
AGENDA ITEM #2 — VOTE TO GO INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION: PURSUANT TO A.R.S. 38-
431.03.A.3 FOR DISCUSSION OR CONSIDERATION FOR LEGAL ADVICE WITH THE
ATTORNEY OR ATTORNEYS OF THE PUBLIC BODY. (SPECIFICALLY, LEGAL ADVICE
REGARDING THE URBAN LANDS ACT.)
Vice Mayor Archambault MOVED to convene the Executive Session and Councilwoman Nicola
SECONDED the motion, which CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. Mayor Nichols recessed the Executive
Session at 5:05 p.m.
AGENDA ITEM#3—RETURN TO THE WORK STUDY SESSION
Mayor Nichols reconvened the Work Study Session at 5:10 p.m.
Present for roll call were the following members of the Fountain Hills Town Council: Councilman Schlum;
Councilman Kavanagh; Councilwoman Nicola; Councilman Kehe; Vice Mayor Archambault; Mayor
Nichols and Councilman McMahan. Town Manager Tim Pickering, Assistant Town Attorneys Dani Rosetti
and Carolyn Oberholtzer, and Town Clerk Bev Bender were also present.
AGENDA ITEM #2 — DISCUSSION OF STANDARDIZING THE SELECTION AND
APPOINTMENT PROCESS FOR COMMITTEES,BOARDS,AND COMMISSIONS.
Mayor Nichols stated that the discussion this evening would be the standardization of the selection and
appointment process for committees, boards, and commissions. He said that the time allotted for this agenda
item was two hours and they would not continue the meeting beyond 7:00 p.m.
Town Manager Tim Pickering commented on problems that had occurred over the past two years regarding
the Town's appointment process, the most recent being the Public Safety Advisory Committee appointment
process. He noted that a large number of applications were received and scheduling difficulties arose as far
as the interviews. He said that, as a result, the Council asked staff to look into developing a standardized
process to ensure consistency and fairness. He explained that at the current time all of the committees,
boards, and commissions were dealt with in a little different way, due to different staff members supporting
the various boards,commissions, or committees and there was no consistent system in place.
Mr. Pickering informed the members that Town Clerk Bev Bender conducted research on this issue,
determined how other cities and towns handled this process, and came up with an initial process. He added
that he and the Town Attorney reviewed the proposed procedure, as had the individual staff members who
were involved with the various committees, boards, and commissions interview process. He said that
everyone involved believed that this was a good process and explained that, if approved by the Council, the
procedures would be changed and the Council would adopt by ordinance. He reviewed that in this proposal
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there would be a smaller committee of the Council made up of three members that rotated each year. He
stated that the recommendation committee would interview the candidates they believed were qualified to
serve and make recommendations to the Council and then the Council would review and appoint the
members. He advised that although what he just provided was a brief summary of the process, staff
underwent a very detailed approach to the issue.
Mr. Pickering pointed out that at the current time the Council did not have any criteria for commissioners and
everyone who applied was interviewed. He added that there were no set standards to compare the various
interviews against and the process was rushed, typically with the Council spending only ten to fifteen
minutes with each applicant. He stressed the importance of implementing an efficient and effective process
that was fair to everyone. He also discussed the development of an application form and said that currently
the various boards, committees, and commissions requested different things from applicants. One might
request a resume, another just asked candidates to send in their names and still another did not request
names, they just reappointed current members. He stated that staffs intent was to stabilize that process as
well and therefore they developed a simple questionnaire that asked some very direct questions such as "Are
you going to be able to meet the various meeting times", questions about their educational background, the
skills they believed qualified them to serve as a member, etc. He said that in this way, everyone would be
compared on an equal basis.
Mr. Pickering advised that additional questions were added that were typically used when interviews were
taking place in an effort to assist the members of the appointment subcommittee. He emphasized that the
process was not set in stone and said that there were several ways this could be accomplished or the Council
might decide not to adopt any policy at all. Mr. Pickering expressed the opinion that when things went
wrong, it was really the fault of the system, not the people, and an efficient, effective and consistent process
would benefit everyone concerned.
Councilwoman Nicola commented that the proposal stated that the subcommittee would consist of three
Councilmembers and the Mayor might choose to appoint himself. She asked whether the intent was that the
Mayor would sit and there would be quorum of four to conduct the interviews.
Mr. Pickering responded that the intent was to have just three members so if the Mayor decided to serve on a
board one year, there would only be two other members of the Council appointed. He added that with a
three-member board,there would be no need to post the various interviews.
Councilwoman Nicola said that a few years ago, the Council was going to conduct interviews and the Town
Attorney advised that they had to have a quorum in attendance. Assistant Town Attorney Carolyn
Oberholtzer expressed the opinion that if the Council was going to conduct an Executive Session or take
action that required a consensus, then a quorum of the Council was required. She added, however, that three
members of the Council could conduct interviews and noted that their charge would be to make a
recommendation to the Council, not to take action.
Councilwoman Nicola expressed concern relative to the sanctity of the interviews because if they were
conducted during Executive Session, they were subject to Executive Session rules and a three-member board
turned it into an honor system and removed the requirements for sanctity of the interview.
Ms. Oberholtzer responded that the Council could retain the current process and added the opinion that the
three-member board was an effort to simplify the process from a scheduling point of view because of the
notice requirements that come into play when quorums were in place.
Councilman Kavanagh commented that it might be better to start at the beginning and cover the various
points in order rather than jumping around. He added that since they started the discussion with the issue of
the subcommittee, they should continue that discussion. He said that he objected to the subcommittee for
two reasons: (1) not all Councils got along as well as this one and often there were divided Councils with
various cliques and groups. He added that if the Mayor was going to be able to appoint two members, they
could have a smaller group control the appointments and politically he believed that would create a lot of
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problems. He added that (2) the present system was created so that at a public meeting the weaknesses and
strengths of the different candidates were not discussed in an attempt to arrive at a consensus as to who
should be appointed. He said they never felt it was appropriate to embarrass people or point out that the
person might not have sufficient knowledge in a particular area. He added that this process would force the
actual discussion into the public arena while now it was done during an Executive Session. He spoke against
public exposure of negative comments about people.
Mr. Pickering stated that Councilman Kavanagh made a good point and suggested that a way to have a
similar system would be to conduct an Executive Session before the appointments were made. He said the
subcommittee would come in and present their recommendations and discussion would take place and then
they could add another step; discuss the recommendations in an Executive Session. Councilman Kavanagh
pointed out that the other members would not have any information and would be at an extreme disadvantage
and would not have had the opportunity to pose their particular questions to the applicants. Mr. Pickering
concurred that they would be placing their faith in some of the Councilmembers to make the right decisions
but added that they would have the applications containing all of their background information and the
answers to some basic questions to review. He stated that should the process become political, the Council
did not have to accept the recommendation and everyone could be interviewed by simply changing the
process or the Mayor might choose not to appoint the subcommittee and proceed with the same process but
with the entire Council. He agreed that the Council for the most part got along very well but said there were
times when two or three people were aligned and that could be a problem. He stated that they might want to
look at how they were appointed or something like that.
Councilman Kehe said he recalled the last appointment experience as far as interviewing and stressed the
importance of refining the process. He added that he believed the proposal was a good one and emphasized
that the subcommittee would not make the appointments, they would merely provide recommendations and
the Town Council would have the opportunity to review the applications and other materials and provide
input prior to any appointments being made. He spoke in support of the subcommittee proposal.
r Vice Mayor Archambault said that perhaps an Executive Session could be conducted after the subcommittee
presented their recommendations and added that the other members should be provided whatever information
was available on the various candidates so that they would have an idea of the applicants' backgrounds. Mr.
Pickering noted that this was already built into the process. The Vice Mayor asked whether they also built in
that they would be operating on a rotating basis and it was determined that it was.
Councilwoman Nicola commented that in the past they had only gotten copies of applications and resumes of
people who were going to be interviewed rather than everyone who applied. She said they should add that if
only a portion of the Council was going to do the interviewing, they would have to make sure that all of the
Councilmembers received the information. She referred to 9.3(a)(5) which stated, "the consent to Executive
Session form", and said if they were not conducting an Executive Session to do interviews, then she assumed
they did not need to do that. She added that perhaps they did because they were giving out resumes and
confidential information. She said that needed to be considered.
Mayor Nichols pointed out that the proposal stated that the Council would get a copy of the resumes and
background information on all of the people who were interviewed, not all of the people who applied. He
stated that the intent was to have the subcommittee go through and make a "first pass" and eliminate
candidates who did not meet the basic requirements of the function.
Mr. Pickering commented that one of the objectives was that in a case where there were 25 applications and
only 7 seats, the individuals reviewing the applications might decide to simply select the top 12 to interview.
He said they would narrow the field down and stated that applicants not selected would receive a letter
thanking them for their interest.
Councilwoman Nicola discussed the fact that some people might apply for an appointment and only meet the
minimum requirements. She expressed concern that the process would turn into a popularity contest and
only "known applicants" would be selected. She also noted that some people in Town served on three
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commissions and although they might have the ability to do so, there were thousands of people out there who
were equally qualified.
Mayor Nichols pointed out that the proposal limited the number of appointments at any one time to two. Mr.
Pickering added that they could change that number to one if the Council so desired.
Mr. Pickering discussed narrowing down the scope and said right now the appointment process was a
popularity contest and there was nothing in place to stop it from happening. He stated that they sometimes
received just a letter or resume and all they were basing their decisions on were some answers given during
the brief interview. He commented that the proposed application form provided the ability to compare
candidates' educational backgrounds and organization affiliations and directed them to describe the skills
they believed would be useful and beneficial to the Town. He expressed the opinion that the last point was
one of the most important parts. He said they were required to also submit a resume and a cover letter. He
noted that the application could be expanded if the Council wished.
Councilman Kavanagh requested that they go back to discussing the subcommittee issue and then review the
other items chronologically. He stated that during his four years, he had met with three separate Councils to
appoint people and the only time they had a problem was with the Public Safety Advisory Commission. He
expressed the opinion that the reason for that was that it was a brand new Commission and every spot had to
be filled. He added the opinion that it would be a mistake, because of this one occurrence that would
probably never happen again, to reinvent the wheel and exclude some Councilmembers from participating in
the interviews.
Councilman Schlum also spoke in opposition to the appointment of a subcommittee and said he would prefer
that the entire Council participate during an Executive Session. He thanked staff for their efforts to eliminate
previous problems and suggested that they could interview people for twice the number of slots that were
open or discuss it at an Executive Session but review all of the applications together and decide who they
wanted to interview. He added that he liked the idea of keeping it among the entire Council and said he
believed there was less room for any questioning and the process was more manageable. He emphasized the
importance of allowing all interested citizens to apply and added that a lengthier process would also be
beneficial.
Mayor Nichols said he would like to paraphrase what he believed Councilman Schlum was saying and stated
that they were talking about a pre-selection process being conducted by the entire Council. Councilman
Schlum concurred and said that this would occur if needed and he was not sure whether that would occur on
a frequent basis. Mayor Nichols added that the subcommittee's only function would be to separate the
people who would not be interviewed and develop a list of people who would be interviewed in an Executive
Session by the entire Council.
Mr. Pickering noted that would be a change because the way it was currently proposed, the subcommittee
would conduct the interviews. He said he understood the Council's concern regarding the fact that the full
Council would not be involved but stated that the reality was that when they tried to set up a meeting, there
might be one Council person who could not attend. He requested feedback from the entire Council on this
matter.
Councilwoman Nicola said they could look ahead on a calendar year basis for many years and easily
determine when appointments would run out and when they were going to need to conduct interviews. She
expressed the opinion that it would not be difficult to set times and give the Council an interview schedule
ahead of time, perhaps one Tuesday a month. She added that if one or two members were unable to attend, a
quorum still existed and they would proceed with the scheduled interviews. She stated that she liked the
sanctity of Executive Sessions. She said if they had an overwhelming response to a particular opening,
perhaps a Council subcommittee could review the applications and narrow them down into a manageable 41)
group. She commented that citizens who were willing to devote their time deserved the consideration of the
full Council.
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Vice Mayor Archambault noted that they seemed to appoint commissions during the holiday season and
stated that all of the openings came due in the fall. He commented on the resulting scheduling problems and
said he had observed staff struggling to schedule four members of the Council for interviews. He stressed
the importance of looking at when the terms expire and said they were not spread out throughout the entire
year.
Councilman Kavanagh said that having one person absent at a Town Council meeting was rare and everyone
was usually present at Workshops. He stated that he did not see what the problem was in scheduling dates as
long as they avoided the troublesome ones in the future for interviews. He added that if they were to receive
a large number, over 8, they could all be sent the applications and prior to a Regular Town Council meeting
they could conduct a brief Executive Session to vveal the list down to S for interviews with the full Council.
Councilman McMahan concurred with Councilman Kavanagh's remarks and said he did not see a need to
change the process and add another commission.
Councilman Schlum agreed with Councilman McMahan's comment.
The Vice Mayor said he recalled when they were going to interview for the Public Safety Advisory
Commission that a couple of Councilmembers were unable to make the meeting and it became a real issue.
He added that staff rescheduled the entire meeting and stated that it did become an issue if one
Councilmember was not in attendance.
Mayor Nichols commented that he believed he was hearing that the interviews should be held as long as
there were five or six Councilmembers and that reasonable effort should be expended to find a seven-
member accommodation. He added that if they planned dates for an entire year or two in advance, the
members would know the schedule and expend effort to attend.
(1169 Mr. Pickering said that there was another side to the story, namely the applicants' schedules. He pointed out
that if applicants had scheduled vacations for example, they might not be able to attend on the selected date.
He emphasized that there were two sides to scheduling. Mayor Nichols noted that in the past they had made
accommodations by use of telephonic equipment and Mr. Pickering agreed that that could be done.
Mayor Nichols expressed the opinion that planning would eliminate 95% of the problems and suggested that
the application form notify the candidates that the interview would take place on a specific date and verify
their ability to attend. Mr. Pickering commented that sometimes the Council could not attend on a certain
date and staff was caught in the middle of the rescheduling process. He requested input relative to the
parameters (i.e. have to have a quorum and these are the dates,etc.) so staff would know how to proceed.
Councilman Kehe commented that when a selection was made by a quorum, one of the problems was
whether the other three members asked to be a part of the process afterwards. He added that if a quorum was
making the decisions,three people were going to be left out.
Mayor Nichols noted that the recommendations could call for at least five members and Councilman Kehe
said that two members would still be left out. He added that he did not feel strongly enough to contest it but
stated that he would like input from all seven members as to whether they would like the process open to the
full Council, assigned to a subcommittee, or allow a quorum.
Mayor Nichols said his question was whether they wanted to go to a subcommittee or not and stated that they
would start with that question. Councilwoman Nicola noted that they should select a quorum or
subcommittee. Vice Mayor Archambault said he would not be opposed to a quorum if they just stuck with
the quorum. Councilwoman Nicola said she preferred the full Council. Councilman Schlum chose a
quorum. Mayor Nichols selected a quorum. Councilman Kehe also chose a quorum. Councilman Kavanagh
indicated support for a quorum (close to full as possible) and Councilman McMahan selected a quorum.
Councilwoman Nicola said she too would like it as close to full as possible. Councilman Kavanagh
commented that when trying to get everyone to attend, he believed it was reasonable to send out an email to
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everyone saying, "Over the next two weeks, Monday through Thursday nights, which nights are you
available?" He stated the opinion that they were all going to have at least one night in two weeks available
and if staff could not get everyone together on one night, then the person who was unavailable the most
number of nights should be dropped.
Mr. Pickering noted that they often did what Councilman Kavanagh suggested and added that he supported
the idea of setting the dates in advance. The Mayor said there was a consensus among the Council that the
dates be set in advance.
Mayor Nichols asked whether the staff persons, the liaisons to the Commissions, would like to set the dates
in advance and Mr. Pickering responded that they would.
Councilman Kehe commented that they had generally agreed that a quorum was acceptable (four or more)
and asked them to look at the situation they recently had where it took them two or three days to conduct the
interviews. He asked whether the same three people would have to be there all three days and what about the
member who only attended one day and wanted to provide input on all of the interviews.
Councilman Kavanagh expressed the opinion that if they exceeded 8 applicants, that at an Executive Session
prior to the next Regular Council meeting, the Council should look at all of the applications and decide
which applicants should be called in for interviews.
Councilman Kehe asked whether Councilwoman Nicola was going to speak against that because she wanted
all of the applicants to have an opportunity to be interviewed. Councilwoman Nicola clarified that what she
said earlier was that everyone should have Council consideration and explained that she had a problem with
staff members throwing out a resume or two because maybe they did not like the names, or someone wrote a
letter to the editor, or one was a former employee, etc.
Mayor Nichols commented that he would not have a problem with that either, if there were over 8 ,44)
applications,the full Council would conduct an Executive Session and short list it to bring it down to 8.
Vice Mayor Archambault asked whether they wanted to interview double the number of vacancies.
Mayor Nichols said if there were over 8, he would like the Council to short-list them.
Councilman Kavanagh agreed and added that they could handle 8 in one night. Councilman Kehe and
Councilwoman Nicola concurred.
Mayor Nichols said it was the consensus of the Council that if they received more than 8 applications for
consideration, the Council would then meet in Executive Session to short list it down 8 people to be
interviewed at an Executive Session prior to the next Regular Council meeting.
Councilman Kavanagh stated that in terms of the applications that the Council reviewed, if someone
submitted an application and was missing something, he assumed staff would call the person and tell them
the item was missing and give them the opportunity to provide the information. He added that if they
provided it, they would be considered and if they failed to do so, they would not. He said he would also
expect that if based on the application the person was not qualified, staff would weed that person out, and the
Council would not see that application. He stated that every application that met the qualifications for the
appointment should go forward to the Town Council.
Mr. Pickering responded that whatever the applicants submitted would be forwarded to the Council and if an
item were missing the applicant would be advised and asked to provide the information. He added that he
did not want staff to do any weeding out.
Mayor Nichols referred to Section 9.4 and said if an applicant turned in an application and the person turned
out to be 16 years of age (versus the 18 year old age requirement) that application would be weeded out and
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not forwarded on to the Council. He added that if the voter registration rolls were checked and the person
was not a registered voter, that person would be weeded out as well. He said there were only three things
that staff would weed out and the third was if the person had not been a resident of the Town for at least one
year(unless waived by the Council). Councilman Kavanagh added that the person should be notified of their
�r elimination and told the reason why.
Mayor Nichols commented that if they were using a subcommittee, there would be a brief job description
and the members would be looking to see whether the applicants had the background and expertise to carry
out the responsibilities of the position. He noted that this would not be done according to the revisions that
were being made to the process. He added that when you looked at Section 9C(3), "a brief description of the
board, commission or committee", it represented a brief description of what the committee was doing and the
requirements/qualifications for that position. Mr. Pickering_ concurred with the Mayor's comment and said
the advertisement would provide an overview of the skills required. Mayor Nichols said that the Section
referenced above should be expanded when revisions were made to the proposal.
Councilman Kehe asked whether they agreed that if there were more than 8 applicants for any given
opening(s), the full Council would go through all of the letters or applications and reduce the number to 8
and only those 8 would be interviewed. Mayor Nichols said that was correct. Mr. Pickering added that a
follow up sentence would be added stating that if the Council did not select any of those out of the 8, they
would interview more. He said a disclaimer would be added.
Councilman Kehe commented that he was a little bit concerned about it because sometimes when
applications were reviewed it might be difficult to select one person over another and asked how they would
eliminate someone whose qualifications appeared to be very similar to another one who was selected.
Councilwoman Nicola noted that the Council could always override its own rules.
Councilman Kavanagh asked whether the ad hoc committees fell under Section 9.1(c) or whether another
cy section should be added. Mr. Pickering expressed the opinion that they should expand the proposal and
noted that sometimes he formed subcommittees to look at different issues the Council wanted more
information on. He said the language could be expanded to allow them to do things like that. He added that
they would leave it flexible on the ad hoc committees
Councilman Kavanagh referred to Section 9.1(C) and noted that traditionally the Parks & Recreation
Commission decided upon the Parks &Recreation subcommittees and said he believed it would be a mistake
for them to try to pick who was going to be on their own subcommittees. He recommended striking 9.1C.1
and letting them deal with that themselves.
Councilwoman Nicola commented that she was not sure why Eagle Mountain CFD was included (9.1D.4)
and Mr. Pickering said that he would look into that. Mr. Pickering asked staff why the Parks & Recreation
subcommittee was included and staff advised that they were attempting to cover every issue that could
possibly arise. Mr. Pickering stated that they did not want the Council appointing to that and so removing it
would be okay and the Parks&Recreation Commission would continue to appoint without change.
Councilwoman Nicola said that they should talk about the Municipal Property Corporation (MPC), (9.ID.1)
and stated that this item should be included in the section but the other three (Cottonwoods Improvement
District, Cottonwoods Maintenance District and Eagle Mountain CFD) should be eliminated.
Mr. Pickering noted that the MPS was appointed by the Council and did not meet at a regularly scheduled
time. He added that there were other legal entities that the Town included and expressed the opinion that
MPC was an important process and should be included.
Councilwoman Nicola asked what the terms were for the MPC and Mr. Pickering responded that he did not
know but would find out.
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Mayor Nichols stated that he liked the idea of having standardized application forms.
Councilman Kehe commented on the application forms, specifically the one for the Board of Adjustment,
and said he had a negative feeling about the questions that were being asked. He said he likened it to a
process that would occur prior to a judge's appointment, asking what they would do, and asked whether
answers to questions 1 through 7 were necessary.
Mr. Pickering said the questions could be revised and pointed out that some of the questions dealt with fact
rather than opinion and the fact questions were pertinent to determining knowledge. Mr. Pickering noted that
the Council did have the authority to ask the type of questions contained in the proposal and said that the
Town Attorney had reviewed them. He said they could look at the questions again and perhaps not he as
direct.
Councilman Kavanagh stated that the Board of Adjustment, according to Section 9.1(E) could be abolished
by the Council and asked whether they had the legal ability to do so or if Planning and Zoning as well as the
Board of Adjustment should be added to the "except" list. He said he believed that statutorily they must
have a Board of Adjustment and Mr. Pickering stated that staff would check on that.
Councilwoman Nicola referred to Section 9.3(B) Notification of Vacancies and expressed the opinion that
that was the minimum that should be used. She said that she received a list from the Scottsdale area
Association of Realtors of all of the board and commission openings in Scottsdale encouraging people to
apply. She commented that she received more information from the Chamber of Commerce email
information about what was going on than many places and asked whether they wanted to use some
additional communication arenas to reach more people.
Mayor Nichols stated that it was the consensus of the Council that the word minimum be included.
Councilman Kavanagh referred to 9.4A.2 and suggested that the Council also had the power to waive the
one-year residency requirement for a particular applicant. He explained that if there was a need for a special
committee and a resident of just 6 months was extremely qualified to fill the position, he would like to be
able to take advantage of that person's expertise. Mr. Pickering informed the Council that they would have
to have an ordinance change in order to do that and said they could consider allowing someone who was not
a resident to serve, such as a business owner. He stated that staff would look to see if it was required by
ordinance.
Councilman Kavanagh also referred to 9.4.B. that states", Councilmembers may serve on boards,
commissions or committees unless bylaws of such boards, commissions or committees state otherwise." He
stated that he would like to see Councilmembers prohibited from serving on regularly scheduled boards and
committees. He added that he did not have a problem with ad hoc committees but believed they did not have
any business serving on Planning & Zoning, Parks & Recreation or other advisory boards that provided
recommendations to the Council.
In response to a comment from Councilman Kehe, Councilman Kavanagh responded that the Technical
Advisory Committee for Strategic Planning would not be included since it was not a regularly scheduled
committee.
Councilman Kavanagh clarified his opinion that Councilmembers should not be able to serve on the Planning
& Zoning Commission, the Board of Adjustment, the Parks & Recreation Commission, the McDowell
Mountain Preservation Commission, the Community Center Advisory Committee, or the Public Safety
Advisory Commission. He added that it should state that Councilmembers might serve on boards,
committees and commissions except for those outlined in 9.1B.
Councilwoman Nicola said it would be easier to state that Town employees or officers shall not be eligible
for appointment to any board or commission but may serve on committees unless the bylaws of the
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committees prohibited that from occurring. She pointed out that the Council did not appoint to committees,
as that was a management function.
kilo Councilman Kavanagh explained that he wanted to prohibit Councilmembers from serving on the
commissions listed in 9.1B.
Mr. Pickering commented that staff understood the intent and would develop the appropriate language.
Councilman Kavanagh referred to Section 9.5F.3. and suggested that the language be changed to state that if
a member missed three regularly scheduled meetings that member would be asked to resign.
The Mayor said he has a question of 9.-TB. and asked what the definition of appointed officers was. Mr.
Pickering stated that there were four, Mr. Pickering. the Town Attorney, the Judge and the Prosecutor.
Councilman Kehe commented on 9.6, Alternates, and expressed the opinion that it was a "cop out". He
stated that there was a process for filling openings should anything happen and therefore he did not see a
need for alternates or trying to rank alternates. He added that they were trying to make it too complex a
process. It was the consensus of the Council that this section be removed.
Councilman Kavanagh referred to 9.5.G. and expressed the opinion that a vote of four members rather than
five should remove a member.
Councilwoman Nicola asked whether there was a self-regulating component already built in and Mr.
Pickering explained that the Commission could ask the person to resign. He added that this section was to
take care of anyone who the Council felt was getting out of control and said the Council appointed and also
"un-appointed."
Councilman Kavanagh asked whether 9.8 Residency Requirements was in conflict with prior discussions and
titio it was determined that the Section should be revised to state that the person should be a resident, a property
owner, or a business owner, and the Council concurred.
Councilman Kavanagh stated that he assumed that before this came before the Council -for a vote, every
commission, committee, and board would be provided a final draft and their comments would be solicited.
Staff advised that this would be the case and prior to it being agendized they would have an opportunity to
provide input.
Councilwoman Nicola asked if there were people who were currently appointed to three or more
commissions how they were going to be dealt with and Mr. Pickering responded that he was not aware of
anyone serving on that many commissions at this time.
Councilman Kavanagh commented that as far as the "two" limit, he would exclude ad hoc committees and
everyone concurred.
Mayor Nichols thanked Ms. Bender and other members of staff for their hard work on this difficult issue.
Mr. Pickering commended the Council for their efforts as well. He asked whether staff had any comments to
present at this time.
A member of staff said that there was one vacancy on the current Board of Adjustment that had existed for
quite some time that they had been unable to fill. Mr. Pickering noted that only one application has been
received.
(kir. Councilman McMahan pointed out that the Board of Adjustment meets as needed and asked for some history
on this issue.
E:\BBender\Documents\Current Minutes 2005\Work Study 1-11-05.doc Page 9 of 10
Janice Baxter provided an overview of the Board of Adjustment and noted that it had met five different times
since 2000. Mr. Pickering said they actually had two openings and one person on the committee had shown
an interest in filling one. He suggested that this was part of the Council's responsibility. He added that staff
could advertise for the openings but encouraged the Council to jot down names as they met people so that
`141)
they could target quality members.
Mayor Nichols said it would be helpful for him to have a one-page list of all the commissions, their basic
responsibilities, the number of meetings they held, and how often they solicited members. He stated that
they could distribute that to people and Mr. Pickering said he believed they had most of the information on
one page and would develop a sheet containing all of the information mentioned by the Mayor.
COUNCILMAN 1\ICI\IAHAN MOVED that the Council adjourn and COUNCILWOMAN NICOL.
SECONDED the motion, which CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. The meeting adjourned at 6:25 p.m.
TOWN 0 UNTAIN HILIS
./6. i ._.1) /,,,A,Y---
By v Th-/ .
Wally Nich ls, or
ATTEST AND
PREPARED BY:
614 N L 1,,r,'C'Ll'-N -b)Q A/\4',( L
$evelyn J. B ndt#,Town Clerk
j
CERTIFICATION
I hereby certify that the foregoing minutes are a true and correct copy of the minutes of the Executive/Work
Study Session held by the Town Council of Fountain Hills on the 11th day of January 2005. I further certify
that the meeting was duly called and that a quorum was present.
DATED this 31TI day of February 2005.
n
Bevelyn J. Be der,l'own Clerk
'01)
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