City of Cooper City Charter Review Board - 2020 Proposed Charter Changes

Section 1.05 (Advisory Boards): to eliminate reference to “permanent” boards. The proposal provides that the city commission may, from time to time, establish boards to provide advice or recommendations to the city commission or to render decisions on certain matters that may be expressly delegated by the city commission.

Section 3.01 – 3.03 (Voting Districts): to eliminate the current voiting districts and provide that, commencing with the election in November 2022, candidates shall qualify at large to run for the offices of two Commission seats. The candidates receiving the highest number ofvotes are deemed to be elected. Candidates shall have resided continuously in the city for one (1) year prior to qualifying as a candidate

Charter Review Board Voted - David Nall, Bob Sands, Josh Giancarlo, William Athas, Thomas Jones, Jim Federici, John Sims, Yes. Lori Green, No. Motion passed.

Section 3.06 (Compensation;expenses): (1) Effective January 1, 2021 salary increases shall be set by ordinance but only if approved by the electorate of the city pursuant to a ballot referendum which shall include the percentage of the proposed salary increase. (2) members of the city commission shall not be entitield to receive any benefits other than the monthly salary.

Section 3.12 (Swearing In): to provide that swearing in of newly elected officials shall occur at 6:30 p.m. on the third business day following the receipt of certified election results from the Supervisor of Election.

Section 4.01 (City Manager): The city manager shall be appointed or removed by motion or resolution adopted by a majority of the full commission. Also, to include “credentialed” by the International City Management Association. Also, to include that a bachelor’s degree in an“other related field” shall mean the type of degree possessed by any department head who reports to the city manager, including, but not limited to a degree in engineering or public finance.

Section 4.02 (City Clerk): To strike language to make section consistent with Section 4.01

Section 4.03 (Administrative Assistant): To strike this section from the charter in its entirety.

Section 5.02 (Submission of budget and message): To change the budget submission date from July 1 to August 15. To reduce the number of open public meetings for which the City Manager must hold from “no less than two (2)” to “at least one (1)” for public input. To reduce the number of open public meetings with the city commission from “no less than two (2)” to “at least one (1)”.

Section 5.10 (Independent audit of city accounts): to revised the section to state that “no certified public accountant or partner at a firm of such accountants who is responsible for the City’s audit shall participate in the City’s audit if that individual has performed audit services for the City in each of the five (5) precious fiscal years.

Section 5.15 (Requirements for Referendum): to include: 2) Unless included in the adopted budget for a particular fiscal year, no capital project shall exceed five percent (5%) of the city operating budget of the general fund, as adopted at the beginning of the most recent fiscal year, unless approved by a vote of the electors of the city at a referendum election. This restriction shall not apply to expenditures from the city’s enterprise funds, emergency expenditures to protect the health, safety and welfare of the public, or expenditures for projects that were previously approved by the electorate in a prior fiscal year.
- Charter Review Board Voted – Approved unanimously
Section 7.02 (Charter Review Board): to change that the board shall commence every sixth year instead of every four years. To state that if any member of the city commission does not make appointments to the charter review board within fourty-five (45) days of the initial board appointments, the Mayor shall appoint individuals to fill the vacancies. Also, to state that the City Commission shall present any recommended charter amendment receiving a unanimous vote of all members of the Charter Review Board directly to the electors for consideration.