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Minutes 10-13-10 MINUTES OF THE COMMUNITY RELATIONS BOARD MEETING HELD IN COMMISSION CHAMBERS, CITY HALL, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA ON WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2010 AT 7:00 P.M. PRESENT: Regina Waterhouse, Chair Victor Norfus, Vice Chair Sandy Mayer Brian Miller Joyce Mura Stanley Sorgman Phyllis Stern Floyd Zonenstein Thelma Lyons, Board Liaison ABSENT: Blanche Hearst-Girtman Doris Jackson, Alternate Ben Lowe, Alternate I. Openings A. Call to Order Chair Waterhouse called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. B. Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag The Board members recited the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. II. Roll Call The Recording Secretary called the roll as noted above. A quorum was present. III. Approval of Minutes from September 16, 2010 Meeting Since Chair Waterhouse was not present for the September 16th meeting, she asked Vice Chair Norfus to conduct the proceedings for approval of the minutes. Motion Mr. Miller moved to approve the minutes. Mr. Mayer seconded the motion that carried unanimously. IV. Announcements None 1 MEETING MINUTES COMMUNITY RELATIONS BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA OCTOBER 13, 2010 V. Approval of Agenda 1. Additions, Deletions, Corrections Ms. Lyons announced a change in the agenda to include a discussion with Carisse LeJeune from the City Manager's Office. She requested moving up Old Business so that Ms. LeJeune would be able to address some of the Board members' concerns. In addition, Ms. Lyons added an item to the agenda under New Business regarding the selection of two volunteers to serve on a committee to rename Jaycee Park. 2. Adoption Motion Mr. Miller moved approval of the agenda with the additions from Ms. Lyons to adopt the agenda. Mr. Zonenstein seconded the motion that carried unanimously. VII. Old Business: A. Board Members Concerns Carisse Lejeune, Assistant to the City Manager, thanked the members for the opportunity to appear before the Board for the purpose of responding to questions that were posed to the City Manager. . City Marquee - Requests for posting on the marquee must be approved by the City Manager's Office. Requests can be e-mailedto Pam Welsh, Administrative Assistant, at Welshp@bbfl.us. Requests may be considered based on the appropriateness of the request and availability of the space on the marquee. . Group E-mail Account - City e-mail accounts are for employees and members of the City Commission only. . Business Cards and ID Badges - The City does not provide ID badges or business cards to advisory Board members. While Officer John Huntington did provide ID badges to this Board in the past, that action was performed without the knowledge or approval of the City Commission. It is assumed the cost was absorbed by the Police Department since there is no line in the budget for such items. . Usage of City Logo - The use of the logo is governed by the City Logo Guide which is produced by the Department of Public Affairs for the City. The City logo is a trademark which is owned by the City and may only be used as authorized. Ms. LeJeune read from Page 2 of the guide, which is available through Wayne Segal. Requests for ID badges and/or business cards with the City logo cannot be approved at this time. 2 MEETING MINUTES COMMUNITY RELATIONS BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA OCTOBER 13, 2010 Ms. Stern said the Community Relations Board has programs in the City that they are interested in moving forward. She does not understand why the Board is not regarded as a mechanism of the City of Boynton Beach and questioned why the members would not be permitted to have an ID badge or use the City logo. Ms. LeJeune apologized and advised that she was quoting from the Guide. However, if the Board is moving forward with a program that is related to the City that has been duly authorized by the City Commission, then a request for logo could be presented to the Director of Public Affairs. Ms. Stern recalled going to certain facilities when she was asked to procure books for the Boynton Beach Library. She carried credibility because she was able to provide evidence that she was doing it for the City of Boynton Beach under the auspices of the Community Relations Board. As part of the Children and Youth Advisory Board, the situation was similar when fundraising was done for the children. Credibility was necessary. Ms. LeJeune said she was unaware of any City Commission approval for this Board to receive ID badges. She advised that she could not speak about what was done in the past that staff was unaware of. To her knowledge, no other advisory Board is issued an ID badge. She recommended this request be sent to the City Commission. The reason for her appearance was to report on policies, procedures and the Code. She does not have the authority to approve or disapprove any activities of this Board. Chair Waterhouse confirmed that if the Board wanted to pursue obtaining ID badges and business cards, it would be necessary to make a presentation to the City Commission. Mr. Mayer commented it is common practice to have a business card for introduction purposes. He suggested that Ms. LeJeune or someone from the City Manager's Office do research to cut out the bureaucracy. Chair Waterhouse reiterated that the Board needs to go through the process explained by Ms. LeJeune. . Publication of Meeting Minutes - Ms. Lyons distributed a handout which was See. 2.106, Article VI, Part 2, Chapter 2, of the Code of Ordinances, that delineated the duties and responsibilities of the Community Relations Board. Ms. LeJeune presented this handout for the purpose of explanation of the following: 1. Under Publication, Section B.6, the minutes are to be forwarded to the City Commission within 30 days of the meeting. Publishing the minutes to the media is not provided in the Code and for that reason, there is no assumption it is an allowable action. Ms. LeJeune does not recommend the minutes be published to any of the news media. 2. Request for Budget - Article IX - The Community Relations Board shall have no power to appropriate funds. There is no budgetary consideration for advisory Boards and they have no authority to solicit funds on behalf of the Board, City, programs, projects and events without the express permission of the City Commission. The City cannot provide a line item budget and if the Board wants to create partnerships or solicit sponsorships for any programs or events, it is recommended such a request be made before the City Commission. 3 MEETING MINUTES COMMUNITY RELATIONS BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA OCTOBER 13, 2010 3. Soliciting Services from City Vendors or Other Vendors - Since it is not provided in the Code, the advisory Board is not authorized to solicit services on behalf of the City of Boynton Beach without the approval of the City Commission as a whole. Solicitation of services of a vendor by an advisory Board member, acting on behalf of the City without the approval of the City Commission as a whole, may be in violation of the new ethics ordinance. On September 21, 2010, the City Commission approved an ethics ordinance brought forward by the County. It will now be required that all staff, City Commission and advisory Board members to receive ethics training. The method of training is currently being discussed. 4. Removal of Board Members - Ms. LeJeune researched the Code and City policies and only the City Commission, as a whole, can remove or appoint a member of an advisory Board. In the past, some members have missed the required number of meetings and that information was forwarded to the Commission. The Commission voted to remove that member from the Board. Under a majority consensus at a public meeting, if the advisory Board decides a member should be removed, that needs to be presented to the City Commission in a letter from the Chair with documentation showing there is a majority consensus. 5. Staff Liaison -The staff liaison assists in the preparation of the agenda directed by the Chair based upon the wishes of the Board. He/She is also responsible for placing any of the Board's requested items on the City Commission agenda. The staff liaison provides City policies, procedures and obtaining City-specific information. All other tasks are delegated to members of the Board by the Chair. Ms. Lejeune provided the following informational items: · On Saturday, a Special City Commission meeting will be held from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. at Intracoastal Clubhouse regarding the Climate Action Plan. If approved, the Climate Action Plan will be adopted and then the advisory Boards will be able to participate to maximize publiC information and educational outreach related to the Plan's existence in the community. Staff will brief the Board on this Plan. · The City Manager's Office has been tasked by Mayor Rodriguez to evaluate the existing advisory Boards. The purpose and mission of the Boards is being reviewed in order to become more attractive to citizen volunteerism and more relevant to future needs of the community. Board members will be interviewed for feedback on what they would like to see happen with that particular Board. Vice Chair Norfus referred back to the issue of ID badges and business cards. The members go out into the community and solicit requests for problems and provide information. They also attend different community meetings. The Community Relations Board members attend City- sponsored events and interact with the people in the community. Regarding notices of activities, Vice Chair Norfus said the members were interested in getting information out to the public. With regard to alternate Board members, Vice Chair Norfus felt it would be a good thing if the alternate member were moved up into a regular position when a vacancy becomes 4 MEETING MINUTES COMMUNITY RELATIONS BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA OCTOBER 13, 2010 available. Ms. LeJeune said the City Commission may accept recommendations from the Board regarding appointments to the Board. There is a mechanism in the Code to handle this issue. Ms. LeJeune reiterated the language in the Code regarding the Community Relations Board being used as a forum for the hearing of grievances or complaints of all citizens of the City. The Board can make timely recommendations to the City Commission concerning those grievances or complaints. The Board shall act only in an advisory capacity to the Commission and the actions and decisions shall not be binding on the City Commission or City administration. She explained this is one of the reasons why the advisory Boards are being reviewed. All programs or events of the Board should be properly approved by the City Commission. Mr. Zonenstein referred to Item 9, Section 2.106, B.9 where the Board is empowered to review all requests for funds from all social service agencies, schools or community organizations and make recommendations to the City Commission. The Board has not received any requests. The requests are made directly to the City Commission. Ms. LeJeune suggested that a public relations campaign should be launched regarding the purpose of the Community Relations Board urging the citizens to bring their issues to the Board rather than directly to the City Commission. Mr. Mayer referred to the issue of the trolley and he felt it was the Board's job to bring these issues to the City Commission. He addressed the City Commission on this issue and he felt if the Board were to be successful, a wider range of input to the City is needed. The request for continuation of the trolley was successful. The Board needs to assume responsibility to inform the City Commission of such issues. Chair Waterhouse thanked Ms. LeJeune for taking the time to discuss these issues with the Board members and realized the review of the Boards is an opportunity to re-engineer the Board and address the concerns of the members. Ms. LeJeune offered her assistance to bring the Board's message forward and urged the members to allow Ms. Lyons to do the same. Chair Waterhouse suggested developing a questionnaire that the members could fill out in order to guide the conversation during the Board review. VI. Public Audience INDIVIDUAL SPEAKERS WILL BE LIMITED TO 3 MINUTE PRESENTATIONS Molly Stahlman, operator of the trolley, thanked the Board for sending Mr. Mayer to the CRA meeting to speak in support of the trolley. She prepared a packet of information for each of the members regarding the trolley. Ms. Stahlman explained the routes of the trolleys. Approximately 484 riders are served per day that travel for a number of reasons. Fifty percent ride the trolley for work or school or a connection to Palm Tran. Half of the trolley riders do not have cars. The trolley is a direct connection to opportunities. Riders make up a diverse group. The CRA Board reconsidered the service and extended it until January 2011. Ms. Stahlman urged the Board to help through independent verification of the number of riders. At a recent CRA meeting, the tally process was discussed. 5 MEETING MINUTES COMMUNITY RELATIONS BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA OCTOBER 13, 2010 Chair Waterhouse thanked Ms. Stahlman for the service provided and confirmed the importance of this issue. One of the shortcomings of Florida is the lack of public transportation. Vice Chair Norfus pointed out that the areas of Village Royale, Boynton Bay and MLK have many retirees. He questioned whether there were other such areas along that particular route. Ms. Stahlman said sometimes people are passed up because the trolley is full. Vice Chair Norfus asked if Ms. Stahlman had any suggestions regarding securing funding to assist. Ms. Stahlman said they were not asked to come up with any suggestions. They were just removed from the budget. Mr. Miller knows this trolley is a successful program and it is geared to the Heart of Boynton and District 2 until redevelopment has taken place. The redevelopment in District 2 has not yet taken place. The development has taken place in District 4. Mr. Miller said he could not understand why this program was being removed when it was one of the best programs to move people throughout the City. Ms. Stahlman said she will attend a meeting next week regarding grants and funding. The program was extended by four months because there was money the CRA owed the City and the City Manager offered to have the CRA pay that money back to the City next year. However, they would have to cut a program next year in order to pay back that money. The CRA gave Molly's Trolley four months to figure out ways to continue the program. Mr. Miller questioned who would participate in the meetings. Ms. Stahlman responded the CRA, a representative from the City and she assumed a representative of City management. In view of the fact that the Community Relations Board brought this issue to the City Commission, he felt members of the Board should have been invited to the meeting. Mr. Mayer expressed willingness to attend the meeting and he asked Chair Waterhouse to send an e-mail to Mr. Bressner requesting the presence of a Board member at the meeting. Ms. Stern felt it was important to know who knows how to write grants. There is a category accepted by most City organizations and that is educational. There is money in special categories. She recommended finding a grant writer in the educational field which could offer another revenue stream. Ms. Stahlman said she had three one-year contracts that were supposed to be increased by $1 per hour this year for COLA increases for the drivers. She offered to cut that increase. The amount would have been $435,000 and she offered to cut it to $411,000. Mr. Miller feels if Ms. Stahlman is able to show a willingness to give up some of her profit so that these people can still have services, the City should be willing to maintain this successful program. Ms. Stahlman explained there is a one-mile route in West Palm Beach with 20 stops. There are two trolleys that go back and forth. Approximately 40,000 riders per month are serviced. The route in Boynton Beach is a six-mile route with two trolleys and 10,000 riders per month. It is a very successful route. 6 MEETING MINUTES COMMUNITY RELATIONS BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA OCTOBER 13, 2010 Mr. Mayer said he suggested to Mr. Bressner approaching some of the businesses for assistance. In looking at the names of the stores, he cannot believe they would not be willing to help bring customers to their businesses. This avenue needs to be expanded. Chair Waterhouse felt the Board needed to begin by attending the meetings to see that decisions are not made without vetting them first to observe the impact. VII. Old Business: A. Board Members Concerns This item was discussed earlier in the meeting immediately following adoption of the agenda. VIII. New Business A. Set November 10th meeting agenda items The following items will be included on the November 10th meeting agenda: ./ Results of the trolley discussion; ./ Review of what the Board members are prohibited from soliciting; ./ Implementation of a process to request business cards and badges; ./ Follow-up discussion on ethics training; and ./ Discussion of religious and community activities. Vice Chair Norfus advised that he and Mr. Miller participate as a Board in supporting the high school. Chair Waterhouse felt confident that when the re-engineering of the Board functions occurs, they should be able to develop a template of what the Board can do. B. Naming of Two Volunteers to the Committee to Rename Jaycee Park Ms. Lyons advised that Wally Majors, Director of Recreation and Parks, is soliciting for two members from the Community Relations Board to sit on a committee that will consider renaming Jaycee Park. These members would be working with members of the Senior Advisory Board, Education and Youth Advisory Board and the Recreation and Parks Board. Messrs. Miller and Zonenstein volunteered to sit on the committee that will meet in January 2011. In response to a question by one of the members, Ms. Lyons advised that she had included the area codes to the members' phone numbers in the brochure. 7 MEETING MINUTES COMMUNITY RELATIONS BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA OCTOBER 13, 2010 IX. Adjournment Motion Mr. Mayer moved to adjourn. Mr. Miller seconded the motion that carried unanimously. The meeting properly adjourned at 8: 10 p.m. 1n.~ ~rainito, MMC City Clerk Transcribed from one (1) recording 11/2/10 11/3/10 8