CITY OF EAST PROVIDENCE

RHODE ISLAND

JOURNAL CHARTER REVIEW COMMISSION

March 9, 2017

7:00P.M.

Room 306, City Hall, 145 Taunton Avenue, East Providence, RI 02914

7:00P.M. Open Session

 

Absences:

Rob Rock

Valerie Perry

 

 

I.                   OPEN SESSION

 

II.                CALL TO ORDER

 

Jim Russo calls the meeting to order at 7:00PM.

 

III.             NEW BUSINESS

 

A.    Announcements

 

Jim Russo notes that he spoke with the City Clerk and she will take the minutes from the video and submit these. 

McKenzie McBurney is present as an intern from the Law Department and she will take notes in Valerie Perry’s place this meeting. 

If someone has something they would like on the agenda email Dylan, Kim or Jim Russo with these.  They can blind carbon copy everyone else if they desire to avoid an open meeting complication. 

They will be looking at every article they just may not be going in exact order but will get to all the articles.  If there are new articles to be added they will get to those as well. 

Dylan Conley explains the Google docs program.  The technical amendments will be posted on line each meeting.  There will be no commenting but it will be viewable. McKenzie McBurney will be assisting Dylan Conley. 

Jason Desrosiers explains how to get on the site that links to Clerkbase to view the Charter Review Commission Meetings and Electronic Docket.

 

B.     Technical Amendment to Update the Charter of the City of East Providence for Review and Passage

 

Jim Russo states he drafted the amendment and sent it to Dylan Conley.  Old language is crossed out and new language is underlined. 

The term City Manager is replaced with Mayor unless the entire sentence is being deleted.

The Charter was drafted in 1954 it is dated and he provided an example.

The notes will not appear on the document submitted to the Council as it is not part of the Charter. 

The amendment can be further amended tonight.  He notes it is extremely important to have another set of eyes on each draft to catch mistakes. 

Copies are passed out to all members of the Board.

The Board reviews each article and each change in those articles. 

The name on the Charter preamble remains Town and will be changed to City because that is a historical statement.

Senator Conley the preamble probably shouldn’t change for historical purposes.

 

A motion is made by Senator Conley to capitalize the words Town and City, this is seconded by Jason Desrosiers and it is unanimous.

 

Jason Desrosiers explains the four year terms were never ratified.  The book version of the Charter and the on line version of the Charter are different. The on line version is not correct.  The City Clerk has indicated that the hard copy from Municode is the official copy what is on Clerkbase was put up in error. 

 

Jim Russo requests Dylan Conley to review. 

 

Jim Russo explains the substitution of President and Assistant President instead of Mayor and Assistant Mayor.   He notes he updated salaries based on the current salaries.  There could be a debate on whether or not that should even be in there.  Also, he took out powers over the City Manager. 

 

Jason Desrosiers asks questions regarding the Council setting policy and the strike outs. 

 

Jim Russo explains that it is stricken because they are now not the only ones making policy the Mayor is, similar to the General Assembly, it does not have to be spelled out due to it being duplicative.  However, the word legislative should be underlined/inserted. 

 

Bill Fazioli discusses department reorganization and how to organize employees and the need to perhaps review that portion.

 

Senator Conley discusses the distinct functions of government.  The departments established in the Charter are part of the Executive Branch.  You cannot change the ones established in the Charter it would be added to.

 

Discussion ensues as to the wording change for clarification.  It is decided that its best not to make the clarification as the wording is already implied elsewhere in the Charter and it may cause confusion. 

 

Jim Russo asks Dylan Conley to provide for the Board the RI General Law created establishing Probate Courts and that the Council is not the only one who can appoint a Probate Court Judge. 

 

The position of City Clerk is discussed. 

Jim Russo addresses a question as to why this position was not changed because although the Mayor does appoint all other departments it states unless otherwise provided by the Charter.  It is addressed already in the Charter and that can be a suggested change later on. 

 

Senator Conley added unfortunately that is correct and it can’t be changed as what they are doing currently is a technical amendment.

 

Jim Russo points out the appointment of Solicitor would be the Mayor’s appointment subject to Council approval and Assistant Solicitors have been added. 

 

Senator Conley states the Council’s practice in these appointments has been consistent even without the word Assistant Solicitor being in the Charter.

 

Jim Russo points out that he changed section numbers which he doesn’t like doing due to legislative citing but due to the vote of the public he was left with no choice.   The numbers or removal of them can be debated at a later date.  He also points out the issue in Finance regarding 4-3 the Finance Director’s salary which was drafted in 1954, which can be changed by ordinance the salary is obviously not current.  At the appropriate time, they could take out the language of salary as no other department head salary is mentioned. 

 

Senator Conley makes the motion to remove the salary wording from this section of the charter, this is seconded by Jason Desrosiers and on a roll call vote it is unanimous and is now part of the technical amendment.

 

Jim Russo discusses section 9-1 a section where it is impossible just to change the name to Mayor and it is a technical change as it is now unnecessary. 

Jason Desrosiers questioned since this it is the only section of the Charter where civil service is mentioned and wouldn’t it make sense just to state the City Council may establish a civil service by ordinance. 

Dylan Conley states that some language enables and some prohibits but if you don’t have specific enabling language it doesn’t necessary limit. 

Rick Lawson addresses the appeal language. 

 

A motion to strike the word “from” of section 9-3 line 2 is made by Rick Lawson and this is seconded by Jason Desrosiers and it is unanimous.

 

Discussion ensues regarding powers to negotiate contracts and the implications of bargaining taking place outside of the Mayor. 

 

Rick Lawson asks if the intent is just to allow employees to organize and if that is the intent then delete the rest which is not necessary. 

 

Rick Lawson makes a motion that under section 9-2 they keep the first sentence and delete the rest, this is seconded by John Faria

 

Under discussion Dylan reads the section.

Senator Conley stated that the City is in a position now which was not present in 1954.  The RI General Laws now make it illegal for police, fire and teachers not to strike and provide for a remedy.  The public policy trade off was to keep those core services from being able to strike by giving them binding arbitration.  Other public employees have different remedies other than binding arbitration and we have laws now that supersede that section of the Charter and respectfully it is not even needed as it is protected under the Labor Act. 

 

the motion is unanimous on a roll call vote. 

 

Jim Russo discusses article 11 section 11-3 line 5 the word December should be September and to reflect the current law for primaries and general elections.  He notes there are filing deadlines also in this section that needs updating and at this point is not changed as he didn’t have the language to reflect this. 

 

Dylan Conley notes the law department has these public laws and will update these sections. 

 

Jason Desrosiers asks if it is in general law is it necessary to be in the Charter then if the law changes again they are chasing the public law. 

 

Dylan Conley explains that it is harder searching the public law and provides a much easier access. 

 

Senator Conley states the public laws are not on line and you need to go to the law library to research.  For municipal law offices, they keep their own set of books which are published each year.  The best way to proceed as this is a half step further than the technical amendment, which would be to just match up the dates to make them accurate by just plugging them in. 

 

A motion to make all the dates match the public laws to make the Charter conform to all the election dates and requesting the law department makes these changes and to bring this back to the Commission next week is made by John Faria, this is seconded by Scott Scienzo and it is unanimous. 

 

Jason Desrosiers addresses 11-7 regarding the language not matching State law. 

 

Mayor Briden states when he was Solicitor the City was sued in Federal Court and it does need to be changed. 

 

A motion to have the law department match the language is made by Jason Desrosiers, this is seconded by John Faria and it is unanimous. 

 

Jim Russo discusses Article 12 to update the wards of the City. 

 

Jason Desrosiers discusses having only the first section and then the section which states updated every 10 years after the census. 

 

Jim Russo states that change would be suggested in the second phase. 

A motion to have Dylan Conley supply the Commission information concerning the wards is made by John Faria, seconded by Scott Scienzo and it is unanimous. 

 

Jim Russo discusses section 13 and portions which contradict State law and asked the law department to provide copies of the State law for the Commission and bring it back to be voted on next week as part of the technical amendment. 

 

Senator Conley explains a full codification is made every 10 years however not every municipality in the State does this.  Part of this costs the cities and towns would be money and time there is the legal review and publishing costs.  East Providence has done it at least twice that he knows of. 

 

Jim Russo calls for a motion to approve the technical amendments provided.

 

A motion to approve the technical amendments is made by Jason Desrosiers, seconded by John Faria and it is unanimous. 

 

C.    Meeting Agenda – 3/16/17

 

Jim Russo explains the next agenda will cover Articles I, II and III.  He also requests the legislation which established the City’s Municipal Court. 

 

D.    Discussion – Public Participation

 

Jason Derosiers states that he has heard from some members of the public and their view that they will be shut out from the process.   Not totally fair to say to the City Council you deal with all of that. 

 

Chris Dias stated he was also reached out to about this and questioned as to the transparency issue.  Do we have the ability to have the public here?

 

Dylan Conley explains the risk to running afoul of the open meetings law with public comment not being noted on the agenda and also the amount of time it might take from the business they have been charged with.  He explains they can send in a communication through the Board and these can arrive through him and the City Clerk. 

 

John Faria states that he is agreeing with Scott Scienzo that it is an important part and by limiting the time for public comment is a good idea. 

 

Senator Conley understands the law department recommendation to be to allow public comment and they have distinguished the difference between public comment and a public hearing.  They set a time limit to 5 minutes like the City Council does.  Also he suggests that as a part of this those comments be directed to the subject matter that is before the Commission that evening. 

Jason Desrosiers agrees it should be limited to the agenda that evening and is fine with 5 minutes and is fine with 3 minutes. 

 

John Faria makes a motion that public comment not to exceed 4 minutes

 

Jim Russo asks that the motion be amended to 5 minutes to be in line with the City Council

 

Senator Conley asks that it be in a specific location on the docket

 

John Faria amends his motion to reflect 5 minutes of public comment

 

Scott Scienzo asks that the public comment be at the beginning so the Board can hear what they have to say and work accordingly in the manner.

 

Bill Fazioli states that they could also hold a public meeting after all the decisions are made and a discussion can follow. 

 

Rick Lawson discusses written submissions to come via the City Clerk and forwarded to the Commission. 

 

John Faria amends his motion to be 5 minutes of public comment held at the beginning of the meeting only on matters set on the agenda input in writing can be forwarded by the City Clerk, Rick Lawson seconds the motion and on a roll call vote it is unanimous.  

 

Mayor Briden informs the Commission he will send information on the website from Columbus Ohio which does address public comments as well as other items. 

 

It is decided that the Commission prefers receiving the copies electronically. 

 

Jim Russo asks unanimous consent to hear from the two public members in the audience. 

 

This motion is made by John Faria, seconded by Scott Scienzo and it is unanimous. 

 

Public Comment:

 

Tom Riley regarding nominating papers and the number of papers they can sign. 

 

The second member does not wish to speak. 

 

IV.             ADJOURNMENT

 

A motion to Adjourn is made by Senator Conley, seconded by Scott Scienzo and it is unanimous. 

 

Approved by Charter Review Commission:  March 16, 2017

Attest:  ____________

                 City Clerk