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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Government Review Task Force - 8/24/2000 TOWN OF ORO VALLEY GOVERNMENT REVIEW TASK FORCE MEETING MINUTES AUGUST 24, 2000 • A special meeting was called of the Government Review Task Force and was called to order by Chairman Loomis at 3:02 p.m. • ATTENDANCE: • Chairman Paul Loomis • Vice-Chairman Jim Kriegh • Guest Speaker: Cathy Connolly • Dan Dudley • Susan Baczkiewicz • Kathi Cuvelier • Larry Holden • Marilyn Cook • Don Dvorak • Richard Feinberg • PRESENTATION. Chairman Loomis addressed the public and provided a brief account of why the Government Review Task Force was formed and asked the members of the public to fill out a questionnaire pertaining to districting and increased Council membership at the end of the presentation. Chairman Loomis proceeded to introduce the members of the task force and Cathy Connolly, Executive Director of the League of Arizona Cities and Towns. • COUNCIL, MEMBERSHIP. Cathy Connolly stated that Oro Valley is the last community in Arizona, with a population over 1500, to incorporate with a 5-Member Council. Currently, if a community with a population of 1500+ incorporates, they automatically start with a 7-Member Council. However, once a community reaches a population of 1500+, they may leave the decision to increase their Council membership from 5 to 7 members. Cathy indicated that if the Town maintains a 5-Member Council, this may provide a crisis when trying to reach a quorum and thought that this was rarely an issue for a 7-Member Council. She thought that Oro Valley might not need to increase Council membership since our community has a lot of volunteers. • DISTRICTING. Cathy Connolly stated that the legislature recently changed to allow a Town, with a minimum population of 3000+, to divide into districts. With districts in place, Council members would be elected from a specific jurisdiction or ward and the Mayor would be elected "at large." • Surprise, AZ recently adopted the district system since they had been a strong core community that had a growing population along the F:\Susan\Govt Task Force\Minutes 082400 1 outskirts of the "core." Surprise, AZ wanted to maintain equal voices from the old "core" and the new developments surrounding the core community. • Goodyear, AZ is a charter city that decided to address districting once they reached a population of 60,000. • Bisbee, AZ is divided into 6 districts, which is the most districts a community could be divided into. • PROs • A representative from a geographical district may have an easier time establishing relationships with constituents. • A Council member from a certain district might be more aware of "local" problems and concerns, thus being more zealous regarding such issues presented to the Council • The ballots would be shorter, which would be a benefit for the Town Clerk. • Campaigns would become more "personable." • Since Oro Valley was originally set up by the County, the newly formed districts may realign the Town so that no one part bears the burden of poor roads, etc. • CONs • Districting may not properly represent the minority [racial, ethnic, income level, etc.] voters and the displacement of minorities will need to be evaluated when drawing the districts. • A Council member may not have concern for the community as whole, but rather only for his district. • There may be a concentration of preferred candidates for Council living in a small geographical area and districting may preclude those most beneficial as Council members. • There would be an increase in costs with the district system since focus may be concentrated in a particular district and such district may have many designated Town staff members for that district. • The Mayor must look to the community as a whole since his election is "at large." • Some districts may influence other Council members regarding issues that may not affect Council as a whole. • Districting is costly. An engineering consultant would need to reorganize the Town to draw the districts and then obtain approval from the Justice Department, which the districts may need to be re- evaluated at every Council election. • The drawing of the districts may divide the community, where there was no feeling of division with the current form of government. • First, a question needs to be placed on a future ballot regarding districting. If the community is in favor of the district system, the Town needs to hire an engineering company to calculate/draw the districts, which should be geographically compact within reason and made up of F:\Susan\Govt Task Force\Minutes 082400 2 a collection of persons with like interests. The proposed districts will then need to be approved by the Justice Department. Once in place, the Town's current candidates would be the last group not elected by district. Therefore, they would be working only 2 years thereafter which could change their terms. The Town would need to consider a division of either 2 districts or up to 6 districts. Once districting has been completed, the additional Council members would not be elected at a Special Election, but at the next regular election. • Cathy concluded that there is no global perspective on the district system. Whether Oro Valley uses the district system, this decision is a "local" decision for the Town. It should be noted that the current form of government needs to be carefully looked at and if it isn't "broken," then perhaps it should not be fixed/changed by implementing the district system. Cathy suggested that the Town sponsor a speaker from a community that recently established a district system to hear practical views regarding staffing, costs, etc. • ANSWERS TO TASK FORCE QUESTIONS. • 1) The theoretical basis for districting is basic political decision-making. • 2) Those geopolitical communities larger than Oro Valley typically benefit from districting. • 3) Residents within a district have one representative to contact about issues that concern them/their district, which makes residents more responsive to the issue of representation by the Town. • 4) There is no assumption that districting would bring local government closer to the people. • 5) There is no evidence that growing towns benefit from districting. • 6) Most communities in AZ are without districting since such communities started initially as an "at large" form of government and have not made any changes since their current form of government works well for the community. • 7) There is no evidence that governmental services are more responsive and beneficial to the residents within a districting system. • 8) Whether Oro Valley remains a 5-Member Council as opposed to a 7- Member Council is a "local" decision, though it would appear that the 5- Member Council is an appropriate form of government for this community to date. • 9) Voting for Council members "at large" may provide more of a choice in candidates rather than voting for a candidate in a particular district. • PUBLIC QUESTIONS/ANSWERS. Chairman Loomis opened to the members of the public for questions. • 1) The staff members would not likely feel the impact of a greater workload if the Town went to a 7-Member Council, since such projects are delegated through the Town Manager. • 2) If the Town were to go to a 7-Member Council, this would provide more Council members to act as committee liaisons. F:\Susan\Govt Task Force\Minutes 082400 3 • 3) There are no Council members in AZ that are full-time positions. Currently, Council members are volunteer positions that are compensated. • 4) Though the demands upon a Council member may preclude some community involvement since such Council member may be working, outside employment does allow the Council member to be "out" in the community working alongside follow residents. • 5) The GTF was brought to the table since some policies and procedures were outdated and various other issues may also be addressed to provide a recommendation to the Council. • 6) If the Town were to go with the district system, the Mayor is elected "at large" per law. • 7) Because the Town may change its boundaries, the process of re- districting would need to be addressed every 10 years [contracting with an engineering company and obtaining approval through the Justice Department]. Before that time, if the Town annexes more land, it would be added to an adjacent district, however, affecting population in that district. • 8) The residents of the Town would vote for incorporating the district system without knowing the exact district boundary lines. • NEXT MEETING. The following meeting date will be Thursday, September 14, 2000, at 4:30 p.m. That agenda will cover the following: • Approval of Minutes • Discussion regarding Council Policies/Procedures • Final recommendation of the Amendment to Town Code § 2-2 regarding Mayor, Vice-Mayor, and Acting Mayor • Sub-committee Reports • New Business • Discussion of Next Meeting/Agenda • ADJOURNMENT. Don Dvorak moved to adjourn at 4:20 p.m. Larry Holden seconded the Motion. Motion carried 5-0. RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED, TOWN OF ORO VALLEY Su . Baczkiewi Civil Paralegal F:\Susan\Govt Task Force\Minutes 082400 4 MEMORANDUM TO: Oro Valley Mayor and Town Council • CM))144/ FROM: Kathi Cuvelier, Town Clerk 0.4-vt' DATE: August 1, 2000 SUBJ: Status of Government Review Task Force The Government Review Task Force has been meeting on the 2nd/4th Thursday of the month from 4:30— 6:30 p.m. Cathy Connolly, Executive Director with the League is scheduled to meet with the Task Force on August 24th from 3:00— 5:00 to address some of the issues the Task Force is considering. Below is a listing of the status of the issues the Task Force is now reviewing: Issue Status Vice Mayor Selection Process Proposed amendment is being prepared by the Attorney's Office reflecting the GRTF's recommendations. 5 to 7 Council Membership No recommendation at this point, However, the Task Force is interested in studying the District system to see if it would be beneficial for Oro Valley (based on the recent change to the state law [SB 1372] allowing for towns to be governed by districts by a majority vote of the electors). Council Policies/Procedures A sub-committee was appointed to review this item. The first amended draft of the Council Policies/Procedures was submitted during their 7-27-00 meeting. Appointment to Boards/Committees A sub-committee has been appointed to review this item. No information has been submitted to date. Advisory Boards A sub-committee has been appointed to review this item. No information has been submitted to date.