2005 CHARTER REVIEW COMMITTEE

The 2005 Charter Review Committee met on May 10, 2007, at 7:17 p.m. with Chairman Leary presiding. Members present were Mrs. Malone, Dr. Miller, and Mrs. Merritt. Mrs. Greenwood, Mr. Jones, and Mr. Scheller were absent. Mrs. McDowell was also present.

AGENDA ADDITIONS/DELETIONS

Mrs. Malone moved for approval of the agenda, seconded by Dr. Miller and unanimously carried.

DISCUSSION - RECOMMENDATIONS AND FINAL REVIEW

Members were provided with the minutes of the 2005 Charter Review Committee along with a draft of the committee’s recommendations as a result of their previous meetings. Mrs. McDowell, City Clerk, indicated that any motion or direction of the committee for amending the Charter had been highlighted for their reference. She reminded members that in accordance with the committee’s direction of October 20, 2005, the Model City Charter was used as the framework and those sections of the City Charter that they felt should be retained have been incorporated. Mrs. McDowell stated that there were areas where it is very clear that the committee’s recommendation was to move sections of the City Charter to the Dover Code, delete parts of the City Charter, or omit parts of the Model City Charter; however, that was not always the case. She requested that members review those sections that are noted for needing “additional action” so that appropriate notations can be made prior to presenting the recommendations to City Council.

At the request of Mr. Leary, members discussed the various sections of the draft recommendations and made the following corrections or additional action to the recommendations:

1)Deletion of “City Manager” from the Preamble;

2)Deletion of “The Mayor shall be a voting member of the city council” from Section 2.03, Subsection (a), on page 9;

3)Confirmation of the committee’s recommendation with regards to the establishment of a Compensation Committee (Meeting Minutes of July 20, 2006);

4)Mrs. Malone moved to retain the last paragraph of Section 5 of the City Charter, as indicated on page 13 of the draft, relative to a seated member of Council giving up seat to run for Mayor. The motion was seconded by Mrs. Merritt and unanimously carried.

5)Retention of the second sentence of Section 33 of the City Charter, as indicated on page 13.

6)Mr. Leary recollected discussion regarding the requirements of the City Manager being professionally accredited. However, in reviewing the draft, it does not appear to have been included. Concurring, members recommended that language should be inserted in the 3^rd sentence of Section 33, of the City Charter, as indicated on page 13, as follows: “The manager shall be professionally accredited and”, prior to “appointed for...” .

7)Replacement of the words “moral turpitude” with more contemporary terminology and that City Solicitor Rodriguez be requested to provide that language as noted in Section 2.06 of the Model City Charter and Section 13 of the City Charter (page 14). City Clerk’s Office Note: Response from City Solicitor Rodriguez included herewith as Exhibit #1 (email dated May 14, 2007).

8)Members did not feel that it would be necessary to amend the language regarding the recording of votes in order to address electronic voting.

9)Members recommended that the entire document be reviewed and amended to reflect gender specific issues. Dr. Miller advised members that the AP Manual is updated periodically for all newspaper reporters throughout the country to utilize. Dr. Miller moved for the final editing of the recommendation to be reviewed by an editor with experience in contemporary terminology for issues such as gender. The motion was seconded by Mrs. Malone and unanimously carried.

10)Deletion of Subsection B, Streets, of Section 28, and that any reference with regards to assessments for streets should be eliminated. Mr. Leary stated that under Section 28 of the City Charter, on page 35, delete “and levy assessment for public improvements; municipal lien docket” from the title, and the deletion of Subsections A and B in their entirety.

11)Deletion of Subsection (b), “Districting Commission; Composition; Appointment; Terms; Vacancies; Compensation” and Subsection (c), “Powers and Duties of the Commission; Hearings; Submissions and Approval of the Plan” of Section 6.02 of the Model City Charter.

12)Deletion of Paragraph (1), Initiative, and (2), Citizen Referendum, of Section 6.04 of the Model City Charter. Members felt that there should be further review of Paragraph (3), Recall.

Members requested that the City Clerk include the additional recommendations of the committee into the 1^st Draft Review - Recommendations of the 2005 Charter Review Committee for the development of a 2^nd Draft. The City Clerk was also requested to review the material to determine if there are any additional issues that require further review and action by the committee. Members requested that a 2^nd Draft be presented to members by the end of next week. Once members have an opportunity to review the 2^nd Draft, Mr. Leary indicated that another meeting would be set to finalize the recommendation.

There being no objections, the meeting was adjourned.

Meeting Adjourned at 8:04 P.M.

Respectfully submitted,

Thomas J. Leary, Chairman

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Exhibits Attached to Original Minutes and File Copy

Exhibit #1 - Email Dated May 14, 2007 Received from City Solicitor Rodriguez