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Minutes 11-13-13 MINUTES OF THE COMMUNITY RELATIONS BOARD MEETING HELD IN COMMISSION CHAMBERS, CITY HALL, 100 E. BOYNTON BEACH BLVD., BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA ON WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2013 AT 7:00 P.M. PRESENT: Willie Swoope, Chair Matthew Graham, Board Liaison Ben Lowe Margaret Newton Lesha Roundtree Floyd Zonenstein Carol Porter, Alternate ABSENT: Wendy Kelly, Vice Chair I. OPENINGS II. CALL TO ORDER Chair Swoope called the meeting to order at 7.05 p.m. III. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG Members recited the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. IV. ROLL CALL The roll was taken by the Recording Secretary A quorum was present. V. APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM OCTOBER 9, 2013 MEETING Motion Mr Zonenstein moved to approve the minutes Mr. Lowe seconded the motion that passed unanimously. VI. ANNOUNCEMENTS Chair Swoope announced he received an email from Ms. Kelly that she would not be able to attend the meeting There were no other announcements 1 MEETING MINUTES COMMUNITY RELATIONS BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA NOVEMBER 13, 2013 VII. APPROVAL OF AGENDA There were no additions, deletions or corrections to the agenda. Motion Mr Zonenstein moved to approve the agenda. Ms. Roundtree seconded the motion that passed unanimously VIII. PUBLIC AUDIENCE Individual speakers will be limited to three minute presentations. There was no one in the audience IX. OLD BUSINESS a) Survey Update —Assistant City Manager, Carisse LeJeune Carisse LeJeune, Assistant City Manager, began her presentation updating the Board from the last meeting. Ms. LeJeune commented the results of the survey should have come back earlier and apologized to the Board for the delay. Ms. LeJeune explained there was a change in leadership in the project; however, she is now handling the project and is working through the review of all the Advisory Boards for the City Commission based on directive given to staff Ms. LeJeune reported eight surveys were returned and reviewed in addition to approximately 18 months of minutes. Ms LeJeune thanked all of members for participating in the survey Ms LeJeune wanted to discuss the purpose of the Board as it was in the enacting Ordinance 090 -79. The first element is; "providing an alternative forum for the peaceful redress of citizen's complaints or grievances with an emphasis on the concern for the health, safety and welfare of all the residents and citizens of the City of Boynton Beach. To act only in an advisory capacity to the City Commission. To act as a forum for grievances or complaints by the citizens within the City of Boynton Beach. It is stated the Community Relations Board shall consider matters that are of a broad city -wide concern over which the City Commission may have jurisdiction or the authority to act. To act as a forum for hearing disputes and /or grievances and have the authority to conduct independent research into any complaints received by the Board. Again, to review matters which are the city -wide concern and identify any concerns and problems of a city -wide basis and then suggest to the City Commission certain specific programs guidelines and outlines to address these identifiable problems and programs which would serve to promote harmony and communication between all the residents and 2 MEETING MINUTES COMMUNITY RELATIONS BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA NOVEMBER 13, 2013 citizens of the City of Boynton Beach, and to sponsor activities within the community which shall also serve to promote such harmony and communication; provide necessary information to the citizens of the City of Boynton Beach which concerns their health, safety, welfare or housing The Community Relations Board is empowered to review all requests for funds from all social service agencies, schools and /or communities and organizations and make recommendations to the City Commission regarding such requests. The Community Relations Board shall have no power to appropriate funds." Ms LeJeune summarized the comments made by the members as follows: • The members have not been allowed to pursue the mission of the Board; • Members would like to see a different aspect of community involvement by the members, • Is the Board still relevant to the community, • The City Commission is unaware of the function of the Board, • Members' hands are tied due to lack of resources; • More support is needed from City staff and the City Commission; • The community is unaware of the Boards' existence; and Ms. LeJeune referred to the one comment about lack of resources, interpreting it to be related to money and offered to discuss that aspect later on in the meeting. There was also a comment made about working on clean -up projects or working with Habitat for Humanity. On the issue of sunsetting, three Board members were adamant they do not want to see the Board sunset. Four members would be in favor and one member was unsure. Going back through all of the meeting minutes for approximately 18 months, Ms. LeJeune gathered relevant comments in regards to the feelings about the Board's current situation. One of the issues that came up over the years was code violations that are now handled through Dispatch Code Compliance now comes under the Police Department Dispatch will send a Code Compliance Officer or if one is not available, a Police Officer will be sent to the scene to document the issue. Code Compliance will then deal with the issue the very next business day. There was talk about disseminating hurricane information to the citizens which is an excellent idea However, that is already being handled through a regional organization called the CRS (Congressional Research Service). Every year there is a Hurricane Expo at the Boynton Beach Mall open to all citizens There are specific members of the Emergency Management Team available upon request to go to organizations and meetings to give information to the people regarding hurricane preparedness and hurricane information Although this was an excellent idea for the Board, it was redundant. 3 MEETING MINUTES COMMUNITY RELATIONS BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA NOVEMBER 13, 2013 Another very important issue was the Commission not delegating issues to the Community Relations Board This has evolved over time given the nature of our citizens that want immediate resolution and engagement with their elected officials. Citizens come to the City Commission meetings to voice their issues during the three minute Public Audience and most times the issue is resolved at the meeting. The Commission may refer the person to a member of staff or arrange to have a conversation directly with the Chief of Police or the Director of Public Works or Director of Planning and Zoning. Those issues are handled very expediently rather than directing the citizen back to the Community Relations Board. The Community Relations Board would then research it and send a recommendation back to the Commission. There was no decision made to handle public issues this way but this method has evolved over time Ms. LeJeune continued to report on her findings explaining the Community Relations Board's mission is being duplicated by staff Complaints are coming directly to City Hall through the website and then directly to the staff member responsible for that area. There is a mandatory 72 hour turnaround when a citizen will be contacted with either a resolution or preliminary information towards a resolution. Citizens would rather pick up the phone or go onto the website to lodge their complaint rather than wait for a monthly meeting. It would be turned over to the Commission who will turn it over to staff and then staff would try to resolve it The time line is stretched out longer than it needs to be. This is probably why the Community Relations Board is no longer getting a public audience Even if there was better advertisement and everyone knew about the Community Relations Board people still would reach out in the most expedient manner they can The City is also expanding their media capabilities. In February there will be software added based on GIS mapping. Someone with an iPad or Smartphone can log into a system to file their complaint from anywhere in the City. There will be many categories for every conceivable issue. The City will periodically look at the type of complaints coming through and update the categories accordingly. Ms LeJeune clarified the City Manager does not have the duty or responsibility to determine the purpose or the function of any advisory board. The advisory boards are set up through Ordinance by the City Commission and only the City Commission can determine the functionality of an advisory board. All of the research Ms LeJeune has done is based on the factual written information which was analyzed and reviewed for discussion at the meeting. Advisory boards in the City have no authority to take any action not specific to the mission in the enacting Ordinance without direction from the Commission as a body. There were several discussions trying to determine what the best use of the Board's time and energy was or where they could engage the public in order to bring relevance to the Community Relations Board. Unfortunately, advisory boards do not have the authority to change their mission All of the functions of the Board are now being performed efficiently by City staff That has nothing to do with the success or failure of 4 MEETING MINUTES COMMUNITY RELATIONS BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA NOVEMBER 13, 2013 any Board or any member of a Board. It is just the progression of our community and the availability of technology. Ms. LeJeune stated the recommendation to the Commission is will the current Ordinance 090 -79 be repealed as the mission outlined in the Ordinance is no longer relevant. Ms. LeJeune explained there are options available to the Board to discuss and vote on that she can take back to the Commission. Other than sunsetting the Board there are other options There is a volunteer bank members can apply to. As opportunities become available, applicants would be personally contacted. The future for the City of Boynton Beach is project driven volunteerism. This has been discussed by the City Commission and is part of the City's strategic plan. Another option would be to ask the Commission to create a new mission. If the request is for a new mission, the Board has to consider if it wants to remain in an advisory capacity or become more of a civic engagement Board. The City is having difficulty updating and keeping current a listing of all homeowners associations, neighborhood associations and non - profit organizations. The City does not have the staffing to devote to this project full -time. Perhaps this is the type of project the Community Relations Board would like to take on as a continuing project. There were a few comments in the minutes about recommending volunteer opportunities to the City Commission Different members of the Board commented they could put together clean -up projects or projects to help Habitat for Humanity The most beneficial to the City would not only recommend those project opportunities, but take a strong lead in the planning, recruiting and implementing of those volunteer opportunities Going to the neighborhood associations, the homeowners associations and the non - profit organizations to determine and research what the needs of the community are and then make recommendations to the Commission. The volunteers would take responsibility to plan, recruit and implement those projects The forward direction for volunteerism in the City is for active civic engagement based on volunteer project opportunities. The City is also putting together a volunteer workforce for special projects as delegated by the Commission on an as- needed basis. Perhaps the Community Relations Board is not a Board that would meet on a monthly basis, but only when the Commission decides a project is needed Chair Swoope asked Ms. LeJeune when she would be going to the City Commission to recommend the Community Relations Board be repealed. Ms. LeJeune responded she would be presenting to the City Commission at their December 3 rd meeting. Ms. LeJeune stated she wanted to end her discussion by saying she values volunteerism not only as a City employee but as a citizen. The recommendation to repeal the mission is not a reflection on the Board members. This is a role the members were asked to play for the City that is no longer needed. Community 5 MEETING MINUTES COMMUNITY RELATIONS BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA NOVEMBER 13, 2013 Relations Board members have great ideas on how each member would like to participate Ms. LeJeune let the members know she would be glad to recommend a new mission to the City Commission. The surveys reflected dissatisfaction overall for one reason or another that the mission was not being accomplished The overall feeling was the Community Relations Board was not able to complete the mission of the Ordinance and logically, the Ordinance should be repealed. Mr Lowe commented it sounded like there was a move by the Commission or by the City Manager to get rid of a number of advisory boards. He stated he has heard the Planning Board, the Code Compliance Board and now the Community Relations Board may go. A lot of the power was now concentrated in the hands of the Commission and the Police directly Mr. Lowe was concerned because it seemed to him fewer people were advising the Commission and these were the same people who were making a lot of the important decisions. If the Board redefined itself as Ms. LeJeune suggested, it would not give the Community Relations Board much of an advisory role anymore. Mr. Lowe continued saying he had been on the Community Relations Board for three years and it seemed there had been times when the Board had not been given a lot of respect by the City. There were two instances this year when the Community Relations Board's meeting was cancelled. On Election Day, the Board was told at the last minute the CRA needed to use Chambers. The Community Relations Board had a big meeting planned for that night which included a speaker that had been advertised. The members felt unimportant The other instance which happened more recently, was the Police scheduled a Town Hall meeting on the same evening a Board meeting and invited people to lodge grievances with them instead of coming to us. In some ways it seemed the Board's mission was undercut for quite some time to make it irrelevant. Instead of supporting the Board, the City has taken over some of the Board's functions. Mr Lowe stated he agreed with Ms LeJeune because it expedited the resolution of a number of issues and that was always important. Mr Lowe stated when he first started on the Board one of the issues was transportation The Board went to the Senior Center and to Commission meetings and spoke with people to get the issue resolved That took time to work out and various people had to offer different suggestions and talk to the Board about it Mr Lowe wondered how an issue like that would be decided quickly by someone who works in an office. Mr. Lowe commented he noticed part of the Community Relations Board's mission was to make suggestions how money is to be used. The Board asked this be part of the mission but never got a response. Mr Lowe said he was not sure if the Community Relations Board is relevant or not anymore but does think the process by which the Board has gotten to this point has not been the most edifying. 6 MEETING MINUTES COMMUNITY RELATIONS BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA NOVEMBER 13, 2013 Ms. Newton stated she is aware there have been other communities in our county that are also looking to cut different boards, specifically Lake Worth and West Palm. They too have been faced with changing demographics, changing the way of communicating with each other and the rapidity to answer the community's questions. Ms. Newton was not opposed to sunsetting the Board the way it is today. Ms. Newton stated she was not a member of the Board when it was established but joined a few years later. She remembered the dissatisfaction of the members of the community at that time and the Board being a sounding board Ms. Newton commented that she understands the non - relevancy of the Board and it should be sunsetted. Ms. Newton commented she will not resign from the Board but wait until the City Commission makes their decision on the status of the Board Ms. Newton responded having been with the Board a couple of years after it was established, she felt the Board is no longer relevant Mr Zonenstein commented he has been on the Board since 2008. In the beginning, there was a purpose and there were people in the audience and the Board did its' job. Today an empty Chamber is what is seen at every meeting Mr. Zonenstein stated when he attends City Commission meetings it hurts that he sits on the Community Relations Board but hears the citizens bring their complaints to the Commission Mr. Zonenstein commented there will not be a need for the Community Relations Board anymore because citizens can go on their iPad or computer and lodge their complaints directly to the City. Mr. Zonenstein felt the Board members are wasting their time sitting on an irrelevant Board when they can be active somewhere else or on another board or another part of the City Mr. Zonenstein agreed the board should be discontinued Ms Porter commented after hearing all of the commentaries she still did not feel the Board should be sunsetted. Ms Roundtree spoke about when she was first appointed to the Board and attended a City Commission meeting There was a lady at the meeting complaining about how Code Compliance had not heard her voice for a couple of years. Ms Roundtree approached the woman and referred her to the Community Relations Board where her issue was resolved One of the major issues for the Community Relations Board is people not knowing they exist. Ms Roundtree stated she would not like to see the Community Relations Board sunsetted but would like to try publicizing the Community Relations Board to see what the response is. Even though people only have three minutes to speak at the Community Relations Board as with the Commission, they are not resolved at the Commission meetings Ms. Roundtree also commented there were things read from the Ordinance as to the mission of the Board she had never known were the responsibility of the Board such as the funds and giving the Commission suggestions Ms Roundtree asked if the Commission ever met with the Community Relations Board to hear their ideas or suggestions Ms. Roundtree stated she would not want to see the Board sunsetted 7 MEETING MINUTES COMMUNITY RELATIONS BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA NOVEMBER 13, 2013 Ms LeJeune wanted to address some of the statements that were made by Ms. Roundtree. The advisory boards make recommendations to the City Commission through the agenda process. The City Commission does not meet with any of the City's advisory boards. It is the responsibility of the liaison to put the minutes and the recommendation into the agenda for the next meeting It then comes before the Commission and the public as a whole to hear the recommendation made by the advisory board. The recommendation is then heard in a public forum for consideration. There was another comment made that people are not given answers right away. Whenever someone steps up to the podium to make a comment or a complaint or they have a question, all information is taken down by the City Clerk. The next day a list goes out to all of the departments relevant to that complaint. The City departments and department heads are held responsible to respond to the City Manager within three days with a resolution of the complaint. When applicable, citizens are contacted with a resolution if a resolution is what they are looking for Chair Swoope wanted to thank Ms LeJeune for getting back to the Board with the results of the survey. From a personal perspective, Chair Swoope stated he has been a member of the Community Relations Board for close to two years He believes the Board's mission and the results it has achieved reflect changes in technology. There have been changes in the City's demographics which reflect changes in the community relations Chair Swoope agreed with Ms LeJeune citizens want answers and solutions in a faster manner This Board has been very good in trying to achieve its mission and fulfill its purpose but perhaps the Board is no longer necessary. Chair Swoope also agrees the Board is no longer relevant as it used to be because times have changed. As an individual Board member Chair Swoope stated he would be willing to support the recommendation that the Community Relations Board Ordinance be allowed to sunset. At the same time, however, Mr. Swoope was not sure if he was interested in trying to devise another mission for the Board. As Individual members of the Community Relations Board and as citizens of the City, it would be each person's choice to find other ways to support the City if they choose to do so. Chair Swoope continued to say based on the things he has seen for the last two years perhaps it is time to sunset. Mr. Lowe asked Ms. LeJeune the role of advisory boards in general It seems it is all coming from the top down Ms. LeJeune responded by saying there is no plan to get rid of advisory boards or diminish the advisory capacity. Staff was tasked by a previous Commission to review the missions of the advisory boards. This was based on a survey back on 2008 done by our then Director of Public Affairs, Mr. Wayne Segal The volunteerism for the advisory boards was dropping significantly. People were not applying to be on advisory boards There were vacancies every Commission meeting that could not be filled. The research and the survey was done, a marketing plan was put into place to get more people to apply, but it did not work. Ms. LeJeune believed in 2010 the task was then to look into the volunteer opportunities instead of the volunteers. That was when staff was asked to look into all of the advisory boards Some of the questions needed to be answered were 8 MEETING MINUTES COMMUNITY RELATIONS BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA NOVEMBER 13, 2013 • is the mission still relevant; • is the mission something beneficial to the City as a whole; • are there different missions that should be looked at? Ms. LeJeune stated it was never her intent to put all of the boards together and send recommendations to the City Commission Ms LeJeune wanted the Board to know there is a place in her heart for citizen volunteers and she wanted to make sure she did this very carefully and very systematically by looking at each individual board. Mr Lowe asked what Boards seem to be more active where people feel they are accomplishing something Ms. LeJeune said some of the Boards, that are always full are the Planning and Zoning Board, the Code Compliance Board. The Education and Youth Advisory Board has had their ups and downs. The Senior Advisory Board is also a very active Board. The City wants to make sure when a citizen comes to the City to volunteer their time and efforts and take time from their busy lives to dedicate their energy to do something for the City, it is a blessing and she would never let anyone diminish that and what it means to staff. Ms. LeJeune explained this was why she came prepared with other options. If the Board was intent on staying together as a Board Ms LeJeune said she would help them do that. However, the mission needs to be repealed as it stands because it is just wasting the Board's energy Mr. Lowe said he was not suggesting there is a conspiracy, but things happen and fewer and fewer people are making the decisions Ultimately, it is the Commission that makes the decisions. Ms Newton wanted to know what boards were involved with the Brand Promise. Ms. LeJeune replied the branding initiative and brand promise image has been turned over to the new Communications Manager The new Manager is working very hard behind the scenes with social media. Now that the City has one brand image, we want to make sure everything we do is consistent across the board. Other departments have their own branding and it is not always clear it is the City of Boynton Beach. The Communications Manager is trying to gather all of the imaging and the outreach under one brand. At this point it is all being done internally and there has not been an opportunity yet for citizen engagement. Ms. Newton acknowledged Ms. LeJeune answered her question and made her aware of the progression as separate entities with separate missions are becoming one. This is clear from the different boards and the reason why those boards either have to be consolidated or sunsetted. The City wants to function as a whole Chair Swoope inquired if Ms LeJeune had an idea of how long after the Commission meeting would the Board be sunsetted. Ms LeJeune stated she could not answer that question but would have Mr. Graham, Board Liaison send information via email to all the Board members as soon as possible. Ms LeJeune explained there is a legal aspect because it is an Ordinance. Ms LeJeune stated she would send an email to the City Attorney and get a response by next week The minutes of this meeting will be attached 9 MEETING MINUTES COMMUNITY RELATIONS BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA NOVEMBER 13, 2013 as an agenda item to the December 3 d City Commission meeting so they can see the comments and the feelings of the Board. Chair Swoope thanked Ms LeJeune once again on behalf of the all the Board members for attending the meeting Ms. LeJeune wanted the members to know it would be unfortunate to lose any of the volunteers. Ms. LeJeune also told the members she would send an application to each member via email for anyone who is interested in being part of the volunteer bank. Mr Lowe asked Ms. LeJeune to explain how the volunteer bank works. Ms. LeJeune responded it is a new concept of volunteerism throughout the country based on the changing demographics, the introduction of Gen -XRs and Gen -YRs into the community who are now homeowners and parents and working members of society. There is a different way they want to volunteer their time. The City is looking at short term projects that usually have a time span anywhere between 3 -12 months with a specific goal. An example of one those projects was the Green Community Alliance when the City was involved with the Climate Action Plan. There were 36 community stakeholders who had knowledge of all different areas from transportation to energy and fuel. They put together recommendations that were then incorporated into a Climate Action Plan document which was approved by the Commission. That document has been working for three years. Another example was the Brand Promise. There were stakeholders from the City who helped created the Brand Promise. It was community members who met over three months to come up with the brand. City staff was not involved. As the City moves forward with a strategic plan, which is a very robust strategic plan for the next 5 years, there will be a need from the citizens to volunteer their time X. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to discuss, Chair Swoope adjourned the meeting at 8 p.m. Grace Morales } Records Coordinator 11/20/13 6 hours 10