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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1995-05-22 Consolidation Work Session NEW HANOVER COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS CONSOLIDATION STUDY COMMISSION, MAY 22, 1995 BOOK 24 PAGE 699 ASSEMBLY The New Hanover County Board of Commissioners and Wilmington City Council held a Consolidation Study Commission meeting on Monday, May 22, 1995, at 8:00 A.M. in the Coast Line Convention Center, Room D, 501 Nutt Street, Wilmington, North Carolina. Members present were: Commissioners Sandra Barone; WilliamA. Caster; William E. Sisson, Jr.; vice-Chairman E. L. Mathews, Jr.; Chairman Robert G. Greer; County Manager, Allen 0' Neal; County Attorney, Wanda M. Copley; and Clerk to the Board, Lucie F. Harrell. Members present from the Wilmington City Council were: Mayor Don Betz; Mayor Pro-Tern Katherine B. Moore; Councilmembers Hamilton E. Hicks, Jr.; Laura Padgett; Charlie Rivenbark; Michael Youngblood; City Manager, Mary Gornto; City Attorney, Tom Pollard; and City Clerk, Penelope Spicer-Sidbury. Councilmember J. D. Causey was absent. Chairman Greer and Mayor Betz called the respective boards to order. Mayor Betz inquired as to whether any committee would like to present a report. PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE REPORT Commissioner Sisson read the following proposal prepared by the Public Safety Committee for combining the law enforcement functions of the City and County and reported the Sheriff and Chief of Police had agreed on the concept: Proposal: It is understood that under the consolidated government, the Board of Commissioners will appoint the current Sheriff to serve as the head of the merged law enforcement agency. The Board of Commissioners of the consolidated government has the option to change this arrangement at any time. If the Board of Commissioners chooses to designate someone other than the Sheriff to head the consolidated law enforcement agency, that person will serve at the pleasure of the consolidated government manager. The Sheriff will continue to carry out those duties prescribed in the Constitution of the State of North Carolina. Mayor Pro-Tern Moore explained the proposed concept should address the concerns of some Councilmembers about support of a policy that would allow a person to serve as head of the law enforcement agency as long as that individual was in an elected office. Councilmember Rivenbark reported, for the record, he could not support the concept and felt the new government should be structured to allow the Sheriff to carry out the duties as prescribed in the State Constitution with an appointed Metropolitan Police Chief. Mayor Pro-Tern Moore reported the Sheriff now performs his constitutional duties and also serves as the head law enforcement officer for New Hanover County. During a period of increasing crime, it would be unfortunate to take any arm of law enforcement and delegate that person solely for serving papers and manning the courts. With the merger of any department, someone will have to be in charge, and it is imperative that all departments are combined in the smoothest manner possible before changing or reducing staff during the transition period. Commissioner Sisson pointed out that one of the constitutional duties of a Sheriff was to serve as the Chief Law Enforcement Officer of a county which provides the Sheriff jurisdiction within NEW HANOVER COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS CONSOLIDATION STUDY COMMISSION, MAY 22, 1995 BOOK 24 PAGE 700 all other municipalities located in that county. In his opinion, these duties should not be separated if the City of Wilmington and New Hanover County have a person who can fulfill both functions. Also, the head of the consolidated fire or law enforcement departments will have more complex administrative duties and will probably not be involved with running the daily operation of the department. In his opinion, the proposed concept will merge the constitutional duties with the law enforcement duties, which will provide jurisdiction over the entire County. Mayor Betz stressed the importance of providing stability in all areas of services, particularly law enforcement. He spoke in favor of the proposed concept because the proposal would provide stability to law enforcement and satisfy the concerns of the citizens. Councilmember Rivenbark inquired as to why a structure with an elected Sheriff to carry out the constitutional duties and an appointed Metropolitan Police Officer would not provide stability in law enforcement and satisfy the concerns of the citizens? Mayor Betz responded without knowing the person who would be head of the merged law enforcement department, he feels the citizens would be very uncomfortable and concerned about stability. Councilmember Rivenbark expressed concern for an elected official being the head of a merged law enforcement department and stated this would not be a healthy situation for the newly formed government. Mayor Pro-Tern Moore expressed concern for the proposed concept not being acceptable, particularly when this matter had been studied for the past year. She stated in previous consolidation efforts, the law enforcement matter was the issue that caused the voters to reject consolidation. In her opinion, the citizens in the County will not understand or support consolidation when realizing the Sheriff will not be the head of law enforcement. She inquired as to whether this was an effort by some Councilmembers to kill the consolidation effort. Councilmember Youngblood expressed concern for anyone feeling that a disagreement by a member of the Consolidation Study Commission was an attempt to kill the consolidation effort. He urged all members to allow each member to present their opinions and work through this type of exercise before making decisions. He stated, in his opinion, there are two separate jobs involved with a merged law enforcement department, one being the Sheriff who carries out the constitutional duties and the other being the Chief Administrator of law enforcement. He announced he would be visiting Mecklenburg County to see how the Sheriff and Metropolitan Police Chief had worked out the law enforcement issue. Mayor Pro-Tern Moore responded the Sheriff in Mecklenburg County had indicated he did not desire to be involved with metropolitan policing. She inquired as to the number of Councilmembers that voted to request the City Manager, County Manager, Sheriff and Police Chief to study merging the law enforcement departments. Councilmember Rivenbark responded no member of the Wilmington City Council would ever vote against merging any departments if money could be saved. Mayor Pro-Tern Moore, again, reiterated that every member of the City Council voted to authorize a study for the merger of the law enforcement departments. Mayor Betz responded the Council voted to authorize the study, not to authorize the conclusion of the study. NEW HANOVER COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS CONSOLIDATION STUDY COMMISSION, MAY 22, 1995 BOOK 24 PAGE 701 Commissioner Sisson reported in order to promote consolidation, the people must have confidence in the Sheriff and Police Chief. The Sheriff and Police Chief, who are competent and popular law enforcement officials, have met and agreed with the proposed concept. He stressed the importance of having a law enforcement agency that has jurisdiction in all other jurisdictions within the county since the towns of Carolina Beach, Kure Beach, and Wrightsville Beach will not be a part of the consolidated government. He stated the proposed concept will assure that two trusted officials will be working together to provide competent law enforcement in the County. Councilmember Padgett noted the key provision to the statement was the ability of the consolidated board to make a change at any time. If the consolidated board chose to designate someone other than the Sheriff to head the law enforcement agency, that person would serve at the pleasure of the manager, which places this position under the same performance and review process that is used for all other department heads. Councilmember Youngblood commented on clarifying whether the consolidated board or the manager would hire the head of law enforcement. Commissioner Sisson explained that the consolidated board would make the decision to change the arrangement and would hire the new head of law enforcement who would serve under the manager and be removed by the manager. Chairman Greer recommended changing the first sentence of the statement to read as follows so the consolidated board would not have to officially appoint the Sheriff as head of the merged law enforcement agency: "It is understood that under the consolidated government, the current Sheriff will serve as the head of the merged law enforcement agency." Councilmember Rivenbark recommended leaving the statement as written because it would not be fair to the other department heads. Councilmember Padgett reported the consolidated board should not be involved in the appointment of department heads once the consolidated government is implemented. Councilmember Youngblood expressed concern for establishing a precedent at the beginning of the new government that could become quite difficult to change at a later date because of personalities. He recommended establishing the correct structure for law enforcement so this procedure would not have to be changed in the future. A lengthy discussion was held on the structure for the Fire Department. Mayor Betz suggested discussing this item when a proposal had been presented by the Public Safety Committee. Commissioner Barone spoke in favor of accepting the law enforcement statement as written. Councilmember Youngblood requested postponing the vote until all Councilmembers were present before voting on the law enforcement proposal. Chairman Greer expressed concern for postponing the vote because the process could be stalled at any time if a member of the Consolidation Study Commission decided to be absent, which would not be fair to the members that had attended all meetings. NEW HANOVER COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS CONSOLIDATION STUDY COMMISSION, MAY 22, 1995 BOOK 24 PAGE 702 Mayor Pro-Tern Moore stated, for the record, she had no problem with registering the vote for Councilmember J. D. Causey as a "no" vote because he had made if perfectly clear that he would not support the concept. vice-Chairman Mathews requested Chairman Greer to use a roll- call vote on future items in order for the Clerks to record the correct vote. He also recommended re-voting on the number of members to serve on the consolidated board, and whether the elections should be partisan or non-partisan, since these items received tie votes and some questions had been raised about how the votes were recorded. After a lengthy discussion, it was agreed to re-vote on these lssues. Motion: Commissioner Sisson MOVED, SECONDED by Mayor Pro-Tern Moore to accept the statement as written and presented by the Public Safety Committee for merging the law enforcement agency. Upon vote, the MOTION CARRIED as follows: Voting Aye: Commissioner Barone Commissioner Caster Commissioner Sisson Vice-Chairman Mathews Chairman Greer Mayor Betz Mayor Pro-Tern Moore Councilmember Padgett Voting Nay: Councilmember Hicks Councilmember Rivenbark Councilmember Youngblood Absent: Councilmember Causey Motion: Councilmember Youngblood MOVED, SECONDED by Mayor Pro-Tern Moore to appoint a nine-member consolidated board for the new consolidated government. Upon vote, the MOTION CARRIED as follows: Voting Aye: Commissioner Sisson Mayor Pro-Tern Moore Councilmember Padgett Councilmember Rivenbark Councilmember Youngblood Councilmember Hicks Mayor Betz (Weighted Vote Count: 7.4 rounded off to 7.0) Voting Nay: Commissioner Barone Commissioner Caster Vice-Chairman Mathews Chairman Greer (Weighted Vote Count: 5.6 rounded off to 6.0) Absent: Councilmember Causey Councilmember Youngblood requested the Consolidation Study Commission to postpone voting on the partisan or non-partisan lssue until Councilmember Causey was present. Consensus: Commission elections. After further discussion, to postpone a vote on it was the consensus of the partisan or non-partisan NEW HANOVER COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS CONSOLIDATION STUDY COMMISSION, MAY 22, 1995 BOOK 24 PAGE 703 Councilmember Youngblood stated it was his the paragraphs and sentences now being voted on into a draft document with the group having change these items. understanding that would be assembled an opportuni ty to Chairman Greer responded the group would not be able to vote on a completed document at the end of the study. Councilmember Youngblood responded that he hoped the group would have an opportunity to vote on a completed charter. Chairman Greer responded the charter was being prepared ln various pieces and sections as presented by the committees. Councilmember Youngblood responded that once the pieces were placed in a document, the charter should be brought back to the group. Chairman Greer, again, reiterated the group would not vote on a completed document once the study was finished. Councilmember Youngblood expressed concern for not having an opportunity to vote on a completed charter and stated he felt the Consolidation Study Commission should have a chance to vote on the final document. Chairman Greer reported the group could decide on the issue; however, when adopting the joint resolution on February 28, 1995, the Consolidation Study Commission was directed to develop a plan to present to the voters. In his opinion, it would be unfortunate for the members of the Consolidation Study Commission to have served on the various committees with recommendations being presented and approved by the group with the final document not being approved at the end of the process. Mayor Betz reported the group should take an official vote on the final product; however, it had already been decided by the group to place the consolidation issue before the voters ln October. Councilmember Youngblood reported a complete document should be presented to the voters, and he stressed the importance of informing the voters about the consolidation issue. Mayor Pro-Tern Moore requested the minutes to reflect that the completed document would be voted on as a Consolidation Study Commission group, not as individual governing bodies. REPORT FROM THE CHARTER COMMITTEE Chairman Greer reported the Charter Committee had reviewed the options for phasing out the old elected officials and phasing in the new elected officials. The following modified option was presented: October 1995 Voter approval of consolidation. -City and County continue as separate governments and develop separate budgets for 1996-97. June 1996 General Assembly approved consolidation. July 1, 1996 Consolidated Government becomes effective. July 1, 1996 thru June 30, 1997 Current officials, acting as the Transition Board of Commissioners, appoint interim officials and assume responsibility for consolidation issues. City/County organizations concurrently operate as to respective responsibilities. NEW HANOVER COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS CONSOLIDATION STUDY COMMISSION, MAY 22, 1995 BOOK 24 PAGE 704 June 1997 Transition Board adopts the combined budget. July 1, 1997 Consolidated effective. Organization & Budget become Fall 1997 New Board Elected Dec., 1997 New Board takes Office and Appoints Officials Results: (A) The mayor 1995 will three ( 3 ) term. and three (3) Councilmembers elected in serve a two-year term. The remalnlng Councilmembers will serve a four-year (B) The two Commissioners elected ln 1994 will serve a three-year term. (C) The three Commissioners elected ln 1996 will serve a one-year term. Discussion was held on establishing a one-year term of office. Commissioner Barone reported as a member of the Charter Committee, she did not vote to establish a one-year term. Chairman Greer reported after study and review of all options presented, the modified option presented was the only way to phase in the old and new elected officials without having to change the State election law. Councilmember Youngblood inquired as to the number of members on the consolidated board during the transition period. Chairman Greer reported the two governing bodies would serve jointly as the Consolidated Board of Commissioners until new officials were elected in 1997. Councilmember Youngblood commented on the beach communities deciding not to become a part of the consolidated government and inquired as to whether persons from these communities could run for office. Chairman Greer responded persons from the beach communities would be allowed to run for office and vote because they would still live in the County and pay taxes to support the schools and other serVlces. Councilmember Padgett expressed concern for a resident of the beach community being elected to serve on the consolidated board with authority to make decisions that will greatly impact the consolidated government, but not the beach communities. Councilman Youngblood requested the Charter Committee to check into the Jacksonville/Duvall situation to see if any information is available about municipalities within the consolidated government. Commissioner Sisson suggested looking into the possibility of offering the beach communities contracted services without becoming part of the consolidated government. For example, if a beach community chose to contract with the consolidated government to provide law enforcement capabilities, there should be a procedure in place to contract services. Motion: Commissioner Sisson MOVED, SECONDED by Mayor Pro-Tern Moore to accept the modified option as presented by Charter Commission. Upon vote, the MOTION CARRIED AS FOLLOWS: Voting Aye: Commissioner Caster Commissioner Sisson Vice-Chairman Mathews NEW HANOVER COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS CONSOLIDATION STUDY COMMISSION, MAY 22, 1995 BOOK 24 PAGE 705 Chairman Greer Mayor Pro-Tern Moore Councilmember Padgett Councilmember Youngblood Councilmember Hicks Councilmember Rivenbark Mayor Betz Voting Nay: Commissioner Barone Absent: Councilmember Causey REPORT FROM THE FINANCE AND BUDGET COMMITTEE Mayor Betz reported the Finance and Budget Committee had prepared a budget form to be reviewed and completed by the committees, and he urged the committees to return the forms as soon as possible. Councilmember Youngblood reported the recommendation for the fire service may not be resolved until June 7, 1995, because of additional time needed to work out the equipment and debt for the seven Volunteer Fire Departments. REPORT FROM THE ADMINISTRATION AND PERSONNEL COMMITTEE Commissioner Sisson reported the Administration and Personnel Committee was moving forward with salary comparisons and beginning to review classifications and job descriptions. Hopefully, a report could be presented at the next meeting of the Consolidation Study Commission. DISCUSSION OF FINAL REPORTS Mayor Pro-Tern Moore requested committees to present final reports as prepare the charter. the Chairman to urge the soon as possible in order to CONSOLIDATION STUDY COMMITTEE MEETING SCHEDULED FOR JUNE 5, 1995 Commissioner Sisson announced he would be out-of-town from June 8 through June 18, 1995. Motion: Mayor Betz MOVED, SECONDED by Commissioner Caster to schedule the next meeting of the Consolidation Study Commission on June 5, 1995, at 8:00 A.M. in the City Council Chambers. Upon vote, the MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. Staff was directed to prepare a draft document of the action taken by the Consolidation Study Commission as of this date. Commissioner Sisson commented on a group of citizens that were very supportive and active during the last consolidation effort and recommended contacting these people to actively support and circulate information on the consolidation effort. Chairman Greer agreed with Commissioner Sisson and stressed the importance of providing correct information to the public. ADJOURNMENT Chairman Greer adjourned the meeting at 9:25 A.M. Respectfully submitted, Lucie F. Harrell Clerk to the Board