LEGISLATIVE ACTION ITEM
SPONSOR: City Council Member Sherri F. Myers
SUBJECT:
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VOTE OF CONFIDENCE FOR COUNCIL PRESIDENT
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RECOMMENDATION:
recommendation
That City Council express, by vote, a Vote of Confidence for the Council President in reference to the September 20, 2017 Special City Council Meeting.
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HEARING REQUIRED: No Hearing Required
SUMMARY:
On September 20, 2017 the City Council held a special meeting to discuss the potential Emerald Coast Utilities Authority (ECUA) emergency storage tanks to be erected near 1750 N. Palafox.
On September 22, 2017 Mayor Hayward delivered a letter addressed to Council President Brian Spencer and copied to City Council Members and the City Attorney. Within this letter the Mayor stated, “I am writing you now to express my displeasure with the tone of the discussion and the disparaging remarks that you allowed the public to direct toward the City Attorney. The days are long past where the governing body of a community can chain individuals to a post in the public square and invite anyone to throw stones at them.”
The Council President has a duty to protect the first amendment rights of citizens who come before the City Council to address their first amendment right to petition their government for a redress of grievance. In every manner, the Council President conducted the meeting appropriately, balancing the need for order and decorum with the right of citizens to express their views.
Given that the Mayor was not a participant in this discussion or this meeting, that City Council meetings as well as meeting rules of decorum are Legislative in nature, free from Executive interference, as well as other determinative factors, it is appropriate for the City Council to express their confidence in the Council President, while, as a body, rejecting the implications made by the Mayor in his letter.
PRIOR ACTION:
September 20, 2017 - Special meeting of the City Council
FUNDING:
N/A
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
None
STAFF CONTACT:
Don Kraher, Council Executive
ATTACHMENTS:
1) Letter from Mayor Hayward re Special City Council Meeting 9-20-17
PRESENTATION: No