HomeMy WebLinkAbout2002.0122.TCREM.Minutes TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS
MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL AND EXECUTIVE SESSION OF THE
FOUNTAIN HILLS TOWN COUNCIL
January 22,2002
AGENDA ITEM #1 - PURSUANT TO A.R.S. 38-431.03.A.1; VOTE TO GO INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION
FOR DISCUSSION OR CONSIDERATION OF EMPLOYMENT, ASSIGNMENT, APPOINTMENT,
PROMOTION,DEMOTION,DISMISSAL,SALARIES,DISCIPLINING OR RESIGNATION OF A PUBLIC
OFFICER, APPOINTEE OR EMPLOYEE OF ANY PUBLIC BODY, EXCEPT THAT WITH THE
EXCEPTION OF SALARY DISCUSSIONS,AN OFFICER,APPOINTEE OR EMPLOYEE MAY DEMAND
THAT SUCH DISCUSSION OR CONSIDERATION OCCUR AT A PUBLIC MEETING. THE PUBLIC
BODY MUST PROVIDE THE OFFICER, APPOINTEE OR EMPLOYEE WITH SUCH PERSONAL
NOTICE OF THE EXECUTIVE SESSION AS IS APPROPRIATE BUT NOT LESS THAN 24 HOURS FOR
THE OFFICER, APPOINTEE OR EMPLOYEE TO DETERMINE WHETHER SUCH DISCUSSION OR
CONSIDERATION SHOULD OCCUR AT A PUBLIC MEETING. THE COUNCIL WILL BE
INTERVIEWING AN APPLICANT TO SERVE AS THE INTERIM TOWN MANAGER.
Councilman Wyman MOVED that the Council convene the executive session and Councilwoman Hutcheson
SECONDED the motion, which CARRIED unanimously.
AGENDA ITEM#2-RETURN TO SPECIAL SESSION
Mayor Morgan convened the regular session at 6:30 p.m. Following the pledge to the flag and invocation by
Councilwoman Ralphe,roll call was taken.
ROLL CALL - Present for roll call were the following members of the Fountain Hills Town Council: Mayor
Sharon Morgan, Vice Mayor John Kavanagh, and Councilmembers Sharon Hutcheson, John Wyman, Susan
Ralphe, John McNeill, and Leesa Fraverd. Also present were Acting Town Manager/Town Attorney Bill Farrell,
Director of Administration/Town Clerk Cassie B.Hansen.
AGENDA ITEM #1 - CONSIDERATION OF APPOINTING AN INTERIM TOWN MANAGER FOR
THE REMAINDER OF THE 2001-2002 FISCAL YEAR.
Mayor Morgan MOVED to appoint Roy Pederson to the position of Interim Town Manager and Councilwoman
Hutcheson SECONDED the motion,which CARRIED unanimously.
AGENDA ITEM #2 - DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION ON LAW ENFORCEMENT OPTIONS
INCLUDING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF AN INTEGRATED LAW ENFORCEMENT PROGRAM
BETWEEN THE MARICOPA COUNTY SHERIFFS OFFICE AND THE TOWN MARSHALS
DEPARTMENT WITH SPECIFIC TASK ASSIGNMENTS AND SUGGESTED LEVELS OF
STAFFING.
Vice Mayor Kavanagh MOVED that staff be directed to begin the budget preparation based upon the criteria set
forth in the alternate law enforcement plan that he recently submitted and Councilman Wyman SECONDED
the motion(plan on file in Clerk's office). Vice Mayor Kavanagh explained that because the plan had been well
publicized in the various newspapers and copies had been provided to those attending the meeting tonight he
stated that he would not go into great detail. He stated that the issue of whether the Town should have its own
police department or continue contracting with the Sheriffs or go totally with the Sheriffs Department had been
an issue for years. Previous Councils had been continuing with the mixed system for quite some time. The
issue had now come to a head and this Council could no longer procrastinate. A decision must be made. He
reviewed that a consultant had been hired who had recommended a reduction of the Marshals Department to
only about 5 certified officers with the Sheriffs Department pick up most duties other than the local code
enforcement. LEAP concurred with the consultant's recommendation although they went a bit further by
suggesting that the'5 Marshals that remained not be certified officers. He noted that the public appeared to be
split on this issue. Vice Mayor Kavanagh stated that what was certain was that the current system wasn't
L working. The basic problem was that it created a lot of competition between the two departments because no
clear-cut delineation of duties had been defined. He concurred with the consultant that the present system
Special and Executive Session Minutes-January 22,2002
Page 1 of 8
wasn't working. However, he was not prepared to accept the consultant's recommendation to reduce the
-chals to 5. He felt that the Marshals Department was an important part of community policing and the
cil owed something to the Marshals who had served the Town well for many years. He acknowledged that
t 0heriff s Department had also been serving a role in the community over the years and many residents
wanted to see them involved in law enforcement. He felt that somewhere between the two extremes there was a
workable compromise that would preserve the Marshals Department at reasonable strength allowing them to
contribute in policing ways, but also continue with the Sheriffs Department because of their benefits to the
Town, especially in the area of liability. Therefore, he had enacted a compromise plan, which would allow the
two agencies to continue to work in Town. He noted that when the lines of responsibilities were defined there
wouldn't be these types of conflicts. He reviewed his alternate plan contained in Table 1 and displayed it on the
visualizer for the public. The proposed plan defined the responsibilities of both individual departments and
listed the duties that would be shared between the two departments. He felt that the Council needed to act now
to end the conflict between the departments and the citizens. He said this approach would be fair to the
Marshals officers so that they could make their career decisions. He did not feel it would be fair to them to
postpone this issue any longer. The spirit of this plan was that it would continue until something substantially
changed in the Town, perhaps at build out in six years, or if there was a dramatic change in the Sheriff s
contract. One reason that the Marshals Department was kept at a healthy staffing level in the plan was that it
would allow the Town in the futures the option of going with a Town police department.
Councilwoman Ralphe said she respected Vice Mayor Kavanagh's credentials, background in law enforcement,
and as an educator because he could bring some valuable suggestions. She was also appreciative of the time
that went into writing this plan and the communication that had taken place among the various officials. She
expressed that the Council did not know how much this plan would cost. She expressed that she was very
uneasy about voting for something for which there were no cost figures available. She felt that was not a
responsible way for elected officials to proceed. Councilwoman Ralphe AMENDED the motion to adopt the
integrated plan as a temporary framework for fiscal planning for the 2002/03 budget; authorizing for the same
time period between now and 2002/03 the filling of vacant Marshals positions to maintain the equivalent of 2.5 Laincluding grant funding positions; and specifically, that these actions would not preclude at the 2002/03
�t time the examination of other law enforcement alternatives. Councilman McNeill SECONDED the
dment.
Councilwoman Ralphe said that enacting this plan on an interim basis would give the Town and the Sheriffs
Department an opportunity to try the plan out for a time. It would also give the Council the opportunity to
complete financial figures. It would calm immediate fears of Marshal Department deputies about downsizing,
including downsizing from attrition. This might help gain the support of more Councilmembers then the initial
plan,it might draw the community together, and it might draw law enforcement agencies together.
Councilman McNeill expressed his preference to move the Town towards a full fledge Fountain Hills Police
Department. He stated that he supported the amendment. The problem was that if the Town went with only
contractual law enforcement services, the Town would always be at the mercy of whatever the vendor wanted to
charge for those services. He addressed "mission creep" and said it had occurred with the sanction of this
Council and previous Councils. The plan had been to start with a small Marshals Department and build it up
over the years to the point where if the Council wanted to a Fountain Hills Police Department could be formed.
He pointed out that if the Council chose to go with nothing but contracted services, and the County implemented
an increase as they once had in the amount of 70%, such an increase would be devastating to the Town. He did
not think that was an option that the Council could responsibly consider. He suggested that the Council could
responsibly consider continuing the dual system with the option of going to the full-fledged department at some
time in the future. He was of the opinion that it was also a reasonable choice now to go forward with a Town
Police Department at this time.
Vice Mayor Kavanagh responded to the amendment. He clarified that his motion was not to implement the plan
now. The motion was to direct staff to prepare the budget, which would provide the Council with the facts and
f—tres that Councilwoman Ralphe was looking for. Without having the ability to sit down and do the
alations, it appeared to him that the worst-case scenario was that the cost would be the same. He suggested
because there wouldn't be any increase in services and only reshuffling duties, there wouldn't be any
budgetary increase. He felt that in terms of specifying the exact number of beats or officers that should be
Town of Fountain Hills Meeting Minutes January 22,2002
Page 2 of 8
employed by each agency at this time was premature. He noted that both agencies had been discussing the dual
system. Everything was going smoothly and everyone was getting along quite well. He said it was important
that both agencies' representatives sit down with the new interim Town Manager and they sit down to complete
the budgetary calculations for coverage. He reiterated that this plan only directed staff to begin enacting, based
upon the spirit of the amendment, and he trusted staff to do that. He did not think it was necessary to get into
specifics at this particular time. In terms of the staffing level of the marshals, he was committed to staffing at a
level where the Marshals could do their job effectively. This plan would keep a strong Marshals presence. He
explained that the Sheriffs Department had agreed that if local ordinance problems occurred on their shift their
personnel would do that particular task. Both agencies would be backing each other, facilitated by the fact that
they were on the same radio frequency. Vice Mayor Kavanagh expressed both agencies remained strong under
his proposed plan.
Mayor Morgan commented that the staffing should be left up to representatives of both agencies and the interim
town manager. She remarked that it wasn't the role of the Council to become involved with personnel matters.
Vice Mayor Kavanagh clarified that the direction that this motion gave was to direct staff on specific duties for
each agency, with the Marshals Department adequately staffed to do those tasks.
Councilman McNeill agreed it wasn't appropriate for the Council to get involved with the exact positioning of
personnel. He stated it was the Council's role to adopt policy regarding the overall size of the Marshals
Department. He felt that the amendment was aimed at restoring the Marshals Department to the size that had
been previously approved by this Council, which was reflected in the budget adopted this past year. He asked to
hear from Director Gendler. He said that he wouldn't be surprised if part of the reason for restoring those
positions was that the Town had some grant funded positions. Councilman McNeill said that if some of the
personnel that the Town had lost were not restored the Town might be in jeopardy of losing that grant funding.
He commented on putting this plan in place as a working plan with the notion that it would be the policy
document that would be looked at for perhaps the next six or seven years until the Town reached build out. He
reminded the Council that there was an imminent election, which would point to the direction that the citizens
want to see the Town take in terms of law enforcement. He said the voters would have the opportunity to vote
tiotar for people that would support a Fountain Hills Police Department and he hoped they would do so. Councilman
McNeill noted that what the Council was talking about tonight was a plan that had a two or three-month life
span until the new Council was seated. This Council could talk about the issues and set some direction but he
advised against getting excited about this becoming a seven-year document.
Councilwoman Ralphe spoke to the provision in Vice Mayor Kavanagh's plan for putting off this issue again for
another six years. She reiterated that a present Council's action could not bind a future Council's action. She
explained that was why she had made this interim proposal. This would be an acknowledgement of this current
Council's and previous Council's input on this matter. In pointing to the future it provided a perfect format for
the incoming Council in June to take what this current Council was doing, because it was on an interim basis
until June, and modify it in a way that they felt would be best.
Councilwoman Hutcheson agreed one that Council could not bind another Council and that past Councils had
looked at the issue. She noted that there hasn't been one Council that had voted to do anything other than what
this present Council was doing now even though they had discussed it. She did not feel that was the issue as
any Council could look at this issue in any budget year at any time. She felt that the issue was that the
alternative consensus plan proposed by Vice Mayor Kavanagh dealt with some serious liability issues problems
that the consultant's report pointed out. This alternative offered clear task delineation and a settling period. She
acknowledged that this issue would be addressed again at budget time. She stated that it was at that time with
the new Council in place that staffing issues could be revisited. Anything further at this time was unwarranted
and premature. She felt that this was an important step forward and she did not want to see the issues blurred.
She liked the clarification that the proposed plan offered.
Councilman Wyman asked for a point of order and requested that the Town Clerk read back the primary motion.
Director Hansen reread the primary motion. Councilman Wyman reiterated that the primary motion was to
li direct staff to put together a budget based upon the proposed plan's criteria, not to implement the primary plan.
L,. Mr. Farrell said that the Council could give that direction. Councilman Wyman asked for clarification. Mr.
Farrell responded that he was hearing direction to do some of this continued implementation. During the last
Town of Fountain Hills Meeting Minutes January 22,2002
Page 3 of 8
several weeks there had been many hours of meetings with Captain Penrose, Director Gendler, councilmembers
and citizens. A number of issues had been discussed and staff had started some of the processes that, in his
opinion, needed to be started. This was an ongoing process that would direct staff from now until budget time
iliwy to put into position some of these changes. Councilman Wyman said that was fine. He had wanted to ensure
that the Council was dealing with the implementation of the process and not simply whether or not the Council
would examine the budget for it. He asked if the primary motion would have anything to do with implementing
this next week and not next fiscal year. Mr. Farrell said that from his reading of the alternative plan, if it were
to receive four or more affirmative votes this evening, staff would be sitting down with Captain Penrose and
Director Gendler tomorrow. Councilman Wyman addressed the amendment to the alternative plan. He
expressed that much time and work had gone into Vice Mayor Kavanagh's plan with the help of many people to
get it to this point. Councilman Wyman asked if Captain Penrose and Director Gendler had been involved in
what was proposed as an amendment to Vice Mayor Kavanagh's alternative plan. He did not want to frustrate
the purpose of the many weeks worth of work there had been.
Vice Mayor Kavanagh responded to the two issues in the amendment. With regard to the specific number of
Marshals, that had been adequately addressed as being best worked out by the administrative staff and law
enforcement people. He explained that the second issue was that it was really only binding for four months
until when the next Council took over and that was understood in everything that this Council did. He restated
that no Council could bind a future Council unless the action was on the order of signing a contract and that was
understood which was why he did not feel the amendment should be placed on this motion. The spirit of this
compromised plan was to stop the competition, which was causing conflict between the two agencies. If every
year this competition reoccurred, then every year the Town would have the agencies competing and conflicting.
This action would attempt to give a little bit of stability to law enforcement in Fountain Hills. Based upon the
public input, the consultant study, the LEAP study and everything combined, what this plan basically said that
was the Council should try this system out. He said he would be the first to say that a year or two from now if
the conflict did not go away, he would suggest the Council try something different. Vice Mayor Kavanagh
stated he felt this plan would work and the spirit of compromise and the spirit that both agencies could work
together was what were contained in this plan. A big part of the plan was that there wouldn't be a yearly
determination made of who gets to win the prize. He restated that the spirit of this plan was that unless there
was a substantial change in the Sheriffs contract that the Town would stick with this plan until the Town
reached build out. Fountain Hills would be different demographically and it would be appropriate to reexamine
this issue.
Mayor Morgan asked if Captain Penrose or Director Gendler were called upon would they only be able to speak
to the amendment. Mr. Farrell confirmed that was the case and he reviewed parliamentary procedure.
Councilman McNeill MOVED to suspend the rules and allow the public discussion to address the merits of
both the amendment and the motion and Councilwoman Ralphe SECONDED the motion. Vice Mayor
Kavanagh objected, stating that speaking to both issues would be confusing. He suggested dealing first with the
amendment. The motion FAILED on a vote of 5 — 2. Councilman McNeill and Councilwoman Ralphe case
the nay votes.
Mr. Graziano,LEAP member
He stated that LEAP was against both parts of the amendment and they saw no reason it.
Francis Hoffman, 14215 N.Ashbrook
She asked for clarification of the time frame for implementation and a definitive number of officers. Vice
Mayor Kavanagh restated that the amendment stated the motion was good for four months, not one year. He
acknowledged that if the motion passed that a budget would be prepared giving cost figures.
Shawn Dow,Buffalo Dr.
He said there was no need for the amendment and asked that both Director Gendler and Captain Penrose be
allowed to work out the details.
Councilwoman Fraverd said that the amendment had thrown her a bit. She pointed out that the Council had
received the alternative plan at least a week ago and she had the opportunity to discuss the pros and cons with
Captain Penrose and Director Gendler so that she understood it. Councilwoman Fraverd said the amendment
Town of Fountain Hills Meeting Minutes January 22,2002
Page 4 of 8
put a different spin on things and could make it very different. She did not understand the 2.5 beats. She
thought that when the amendment was made that it was asking for more sheriff officers and apparently that was
not the case. For an amendment like this she would have preferred some information ahead of time with a better
f , explanation and input from Director Gendler and Captain Penrose. She questioned if the Town needed 2.5
beats. She asked where this number came from and what would it cost. She affirmed that she needed more
information and she did not see how she could support the amendment this evening. Further down the road if
the community felt that they wanted more officers in the street, she would be willing to look at 2.5 beats when
she knew something about the costs.
Councilwoman Ralphe responded to the concern about the amendment coming out of left field. She wanted to
know how much the alternative plan would cost. She acknowledged that staff had provided her with facts and
figures showing that a Town owned police department would cost the Town slightly less than the current dual
system and the contract with the Sheriff's department. Councilwoman Ralphe stated that as far as an
amendment that came up quickly, that was just part of the political process. She explained that this amendment
came about from conversations that she had with people in the community. She noted that it wasn't realistic to
think that the Council would know far in advance every little detail that would be discussed at a meeting.
Councilman Wyman reminded everyone that the consultant had noted that although they thought the Town was
somewhat over staffed in certain areas, that collectively the Town's law enforcement efforts at 20% of budget
was at or below the majority of communities in this country. He suggested that law enforcement or fire
protection was an area on which citizens would be willing to spend additional money. If the dual agency system
would give the Town everything needed with regard to cost,than the Town had two agencies working in concert
and the Town was indeed a fortunate community.
Councilman McNeill said he understood the confusion about specifying 2.5 beats. He looked at that as a goal
rather than looking at it as a fixed number. He saw the general intent of the amendment to be the restoration of
the Marshals Department to the staffing levels that had been previously authorized by this Council. He noted
that there were some issues regarding grant funding that the Town might be jeopardizing if some of the staffing
wasn't restored. He felt that this amendment would give direction to staff to restore the Marshals status quo and
rr it was highly appropriate action for this Council to take so the new Council could embark on the final law
enforcement decision.
Councilman Wyman concluded that some of the grant positions had run out and the Town had been obliged to
hire those people when they were no longer being funded by the grant. He acknowledged that he did not know
if there a number of grants that would legally encumber the Council if the Marshals were not restored in the a
particular department. Councilwoman Fraverd asked for clarification if the Town was at 1.5 beats. Director
Gendler replied that they used as a standard 1.5 officers per 1,000. Currently the Town has 6 law enforcement
beats between the Sheriffs Department (3) and Marshals Department (3). He noted that the Marshals
Department had lost several people from the Marshals Department for functions that they would not be
providing under this alternative plan, hence the 2.5 beats that Councilwoman Ralphe was talking about.
Director Gendler said that he would be approaching the Council to purchase additional sheriffs' resources,
probably 3.5 to maintain the same level of service. He explained that a beat was 5.5 officers. He stated that at
one time the Marshals Department had 17 officer positions, with 10 of those grant funded. Currently 6 of those
grants had either expired or would be expiring this fiscal year. Four of the positions would remain as active
grants. As pointed out, the grants carried retention clauses, which meant that the Town was obligated to retain
the individual when the grants expired.
Councilwoman Hutcheson asked what the Town's obligation was towards the grants. Mr. Farrell said that the
Council was not marked in perpetuity to have 10 positions and he remarked that the grants were transferable.
He explained that the idea behind most of the grants was to assist local communities in bringing law
enforcement officers on board. He noted that the Town would like to retain 10 positions if possible. The
Council was not mandated under penalty to maintain 10 positions. If a grant officer left and went to the
Sheriff's Department, the Town could investigate transferring that grant. He stated that Director Gendler had
effectively been able to reassign other officers into those grant positions. Mr. Farrell reviewed that from the 17
kw, positions the department had been reduced to 14 with the possibility of one other leaving which would bring the
Town of Fountain Hills Meeting Minutes January 22,2002
Page 5 of 8
number to 13. With four active grant positions and 13 officers, reassignment could get those four grant
positions filled.
ktow Vice Mayor Kavanagh moved the amendment. Mayor Morgan called for a vote on the amendment, which
FAILED on a vote of 5—2. Councilman McNeill and Councilwoman Ralphe cast the aye votes.
Director Gendler addressed the alternative plan proposed by Vice Mayor Kavanagh. He endorsed the proposal.
He stated that the Town had developed a unique dual agency model that had been surprisingly efficient and
affective. Vice Mayor Kavanagh had drawn from his past experience and put thought into ways that the
departments would improve this dual agency model, which had resulted in the proposal that the Council was
considering tonight. He thanked Vice Mayor Kavanagh for his efforts. He asked that the council look
favorably on the concept and he pledged to do his best to ensure its success.
Maricopa County Sheriff's Captain Penrose stated that he was optimistic for the future of law enforcement in
Fountain Hills. He thanked Vice Mayor Kavanagh for his hard work and dedication and the other
Councilmembers who took the time to find out the truth about this issue. He felt that the Council had the
opportunity to provide the Town with a high level of quality law enforcement. By taking the expertise and
dedication of Sheriffs office employees and the Marshals Department employees and applying it to Vice Mayor
Kavanagh's plan all could win. He promised that both he and Director Gendler would work hard to make this
plan a success. He noted that they had already both been working hard to move forward on this plan.
Maricopa County Sheriff's Chief Jerry Sheridan thanked Vice Mayor Kavanagh for his input and he heartily
supported this plan. He spoke on behalf of Sheriff Arpaio, a resident, stating that he was also in favor of this
plan and he also thanked Vice Mayor Kavanagh and the Council for this viable plan. He hoped that this would
bring the community together, bring stability to the law enforcement, and take the carrot away from both
organization to make things work for the Town at a great cost.
Francis Hoffman, 14215 N. Ashbrook
She expressed concern that six to seven years was a long time to put an officers life on hold to know whether or
not they would grow in their profession.
Vice Mayor Kavanagh clarified the time frame. He restated that any Council at any time could change the plan
so nothing was written in stone because that was the way that democracy worked. The spirit of the alternative
plan was to stop the yearly contest, which had resulted in continuous yearly competition and caused friction.
One of the things that had upset him was that year after year the previous Councils had said not this year maybe
next year. If that was not said out right, it was certainly the implication presented. He did not think it was fair
to string the Marshals along year after year. He hoped to accomplish that with this plan. Although this was not
binding to future Councils, he felt that most in coming Councils held a certain amount of respect for the actions
of past Councils. New Councils would look very hesitantly at overturning that type of a thing. So by saying
that the spirit of the motion was that the Council would address at build out this Council was saying that they
did not want the yearly competition. By the same token this Council was not saying that the Town would not
change in the future and might want to go with its own department and that was certainly an option. He
clarified that this Council was saying it was appropriate to re-evaluate the issue at build out or when there was a
substantial change in the terms of the Sheriffs contract. He felt that was more of a definitive answer to officers
for their future instead of saying maybe next year after year they might have their own department. He stated
this action communicates intent. He acknowledged that this Town was severely divided on this issue and
community support for a police department was important that until there was a consensus in the Town of which
way the citizens wanted to go neither agency could take over. A community split on the way it wants their
policing done would not be fully behind its department, which was the principal of community policing. He
was trying to give a little certainty to this situation and not continue the uncertainty that has happened.
Councilman Wyman said that the Town Attorney would be able to affirm that the Council would not be allowed
under law to enter into a contractual relationship that would specify a given number of years. Contracts had to
be entered into from year to year so there wasn't any contractual obligation here. He agreed with Vice Mayor
ice,, Kavanagh that this plan was a statement of intent so that people could go forward and not have to wonder
whether or not they would be employed year after year. Mr. Farrell said that was correct. The courts had pretty
Town of Fountain Hills Meeting Minutes January 22,2002
Page 6 of 8
well said that absent voter approval, the city and town councils were limited to their political life and Fountain
Hills' life was two years. Councilman Wyman noted that the contract between the Sheriffs organization and the
Town was an annual contract that could be terminated only by giving notice prior to a July execution date. Mr.
illow Farrell explained that the Town had a number of contracts that went beyond a one or two year period. In order
to remain legal and not be able to bind that future Council, there was a non-appropriation clause so that if the
Council chose not to budget the money for that contract in July of 2002, then the contract would terminate. If
the Council chose to follow the wisdom of their predecessors, then the contract stayed in place. He pointed out
that was done with the auditor, landscaping, some materials and other things that the Council would annually
check at budget time.
Jon Beydler, Mayoral candidate
He stated that there was an imminent election in 49 days. He said all five challengers had gone on record that
they support a town police department. He asked why not let the voters make that choice in 49 days, because if
the challengers win there would be a police department.
Vice Mayor Kavanagh said that to assume that the election for Council was a referendum on police work alone
was a false assumption. He explained that there were so many issues and factors that went into any voters'
mind that it couldn't be said that any one election was on one issue. When people go to the polls they weren't
saying they were voting for one issue as it was much more complex than that. He commented that this election
was not going to be a referendum solely on any one issue as it was a mixture of many things and he did not
think the voters could be read that easily.
Shawn Dow,Buffalo Dr.
He said if both of the agencies and the 300 residents he had talked with wanted to see this plan go forward, he
asked the Council to do their job and pass it.
Mr. Graziano,LEAP
He stated that LEAP supported this plan. LEAP agreed that the plan would work with stipulations. He went on
Lto outline the main issues behind their suggestions. He discussed the law enforcement background of the LEAP
members because of a recent letter to the editor that LEAP was not qualified to make such a report.
Vice Mayor Kavanagh thanked the members of the LEAP organization for modifying its position in support of
this alternative plan and for clarifying the LEAP members' law enforcement background, which showed them
qualified.
Pen Mower,Ponderosa
He asked that the Council defer their decision on this issue until the new Council was in office.
Bob Howes,Mustang Dr.
He stated that he supported the alternative plan. He thanked Vice Mayor Kavanagh for coming up with this
plan. He expressed the important thing tonight was that two law enforcement bodies came together in
agreement on a plan. He asked the Council to support the plan.
Bob Thomas, 15828 Tumbleweed
He stated that he supported the alternative plan. He was pleased to see a consensus plan being developed after
weeks of divisive debate on the makeup of the Town's law enforcement agencies. He felt that the proposal by
Vice Mayor Kavanagh met the immediate needs of the community and would avoid a continuing controversy,
which would adversely affect the harmonious nature of the small town relations. He hoped that in the
implementation of the plan, proper attention was given to the training and certification of marshals,
supplementation of traffic control and continuing primary responsibility for school grounds security. He hoped
the Council would favorably consider the plan.
Mike Archambault, 10533 El Sombrante
tow He asked if the 2000 perk chart was to be used to progress the Marshals Department in becoming a Police
Department. He questioned if the study had been initiated because problems had been run into because of that
Town of Fountain Hills Meeting Minutes January 22,2002
Page 7 of 8
perk chart at some point in April of last year. He asked if Director Gendler had instituted corrections from that
study. Was this plan going to initiate that perk chart again?
Vice Mayor Kavanagh was not aware of the perk chart. The reason why this particular consultant study was
initiated was because when this Council wanted to address the issue about a lth-year ago, some Council
members felt that they needed more information. They had wanted professional information before proceeding
and that was why the consultant was hired. Mr. Archambault asked if the Council had been at a specific
crossroad where they had to make a decision. Mayor Morgan and Vice Mayor Kavanagh answered no. Mr.
Archambault asked if corrections had been made in the Marshals Department suggested by the consultant. Vice
Mayor Kavanagh answered that Director Gendler had corrected many of the deficiencies.
A roll call vote was taken with the following results.
Councilwoman Fraverd - aye
Councilwoman Ralphe— nay
Mayor Morgan- aye
Councilwoman Hutcheson- aye
Councilman Wyman - aye
Councilman McNeill- nay
Vice Mayor Kavanagh- aye
The motion CARRIED on a vote of 5—2.
AGENDA ITEM#3- CALL TO THE PUBLIC.
No one came forward.
AGENDA ITEM#4-ADJOURNMENT.
toliov Councilwoman Fraverd moved to adjourn the meeting and Vice Mayor Kavanagh seconded the motion, which
carried unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 8:10 p.m.
TOWN F FOUNTAIN LLS
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Sharon Morgan,Mayor
ATTEST: ��-�--'c-- )•=.-L� �..,:-_.
Cassie B. Hansen,
Director of Administration/Town Clerk
PREPARED BY: 6i LZICAa',L
Bev Bender,Executive Assistant
CERTIFICATION
I hereby certify that the foregoing minutes are a true and correct copy of the minutes of the Special and
Executive Meeting held by the Town Council of Fountain Hills on the 22nd day of January 2002. I further
certify that the meeting was duly called and that a quorum was present.
DATED this 7th day of February 2002. C
A )�.LL.�� l tiC��j�
Cassie B. Hansen,
Director of Administration/Town Clerk
Town of Fountain Hills Meeting Minutes January 22,2002
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