HomeMy WebLinkAbout770749.tiff RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 100 Leaves
FORM y C.E.MOECMEL 9.0.B L.
MINUTES
WELD COUNTY HOME RULE CHARTER
AMENDMENT STUDY COMMITTEE
August 17 , 1977
The Weld County Home Rule Charter Amendment Study Committee met in regular
session in the Third Floor Meeting Room of the Weld County Centennial
Center, Greeley, Colorado, on Wednesday, August 17, 1977, at the hour of
7 : 00 P.M.
ROLL CALL: The meeting was called to order by Chairman, Gordon Lacy, and
on roll call, the following members were present, constituting a quorum of
the members thereof:
Gordon Lacy, Chairman Blair Macy
Verdie Peddycord, Vice-Chairman Helen Norton
William Butler Barbara Sloan
Dick Boettcher Wayne Brown
Also present:
County Attorney, Thomas O. David, Assistant County Attorney, P. Kay Norton,
County Council Members, Nancy Clark, Bob White and Floyd Oliver, members
of the Press , one member of the League of Women Voters, and Secretaries
Sandy Moorhouse and Cathy Carter.
MINUTES APPROVED: The minutes of the July 20, 1977 meeting were approved
as written with one correction: Article XIV, General Provisions was
changed to show the correction to Article XVI .
The Chairman introduced the three members of the County Council which were
present upon invitation. Nancy Clark noted that John Martin and Bob Martin,
the two remaining members of County Council were both on vacation and un-
able to accept the Committee'e invitation. Gordon Lacy then explained the
intent of said invitation by commenting that they were there to generally
discuss the Charter provisions and to hear the County Council' s input as
to areas it feels are cumbersome and bulky and in need of change. Nancy
Clark noted the Council 's gratitude for being invited to attend.
The first area of the Charter to be discussed was Ordinances . Bob White
made the statement that, out of the ordinances approved by the Commissioners
since the Charter was adopted, three were legislative, eight were appro-
priations and one was for sale of real estate. He noted his ,concerns as
to the small number of approved ordinances . Discussion pursued regarding
real property which Weld County sells. Tom David pointed out that contracts
by ordinance are impractical. The intent, he said, was to allow public
input and a holding period. He said he has found in his experiences that
Resolutions are accomplished faster after property is purchased, and that
statutory provisions govern certain real estate sales . Kay Norton also
added that in regard to real estate transactions, the State statutes have
to be taken into consideration. Tom David noted that the Charter does
not provide for advertisement of sale of real property. The Committee
might, at David' s suggestion, want to consider writing a general provision
into the Charter for such. Bob White suggested that everything sold by
the County go through ordinance process as a possible alternative.
Tom David mentioned the possibility of one ordinance giving blanket authority to contract
for the sale of County-owned property. White stated the group might consider changing
Charter provisions which require action by ordinances on all legislation,
contracts , appropriations and disposition of real estate.
The next area discussed' was the Department of Law. Section 5-2, Quali-
fications. The "for"being deleted was brought up, and the phrase re-
garding five years was discussed. Nancy Clark felt, personally, that
when selecting the Attorney, it would go without saying that they would
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August 17 , 1977
not consider anyone who was not properly qualified. Floyd Oliver voiced
his opinion generally the same as Nancy Clark. Tom David asked the Council
members if they wanted to eliminate the Special Counsel. If a litigation
specialist were hired, he said, then the Attorney hired by the County would
not need as much experience as if said Attorney were to handle litigation.
Nancy Clark noted that this was not up to the Charter, and that there was
no need to eliminate Special Counsel, and that the Charter"APuld not
address itself to the issue.
The next area of discussion was Article VI , Elective Officers, Section 6-4 ,
Term of Office and questions as to whether limitations should be put on
officials or not. Nancy Clark commented regarding terms being longer
than two years. She didn't know whether it would be better to have
continual transitions or not.
Finance and Budget, Article XIV, was discussed next. Nancy Clark voiced
her support for the Charter provision which limits increases in property
tax revenues to five percent annually without special permission from
Council or, in some cases, an election. She felt the procedure the Charter
allows is vervreasonable . Nancy Clark and Bob White both noted that the
procedure allows more local control than the State-dictated procedure,
which requires budget increases to be approved by the State Division of
Local Affairs. Tom David questioned the possiblity of a limitation of
6% or 7% which might tend to hold down increases. Wayne Brown stated
that that would be unreasonable, as far as he was concerned, as he felt
inflation does not mean the County has to increase their budget. Kay
Norton' s opinion was that the County would probably spend up to the level
that was allowed. Floyd Oliver noted the tremendous increase in the
new building for law enforcement and Road and Bridge materials would
increase the budget. Nancy Clark noted that this was another area which
is otherwise provided by law and that they could not go against State law.
Article XIII , County Council was then discussed in length. Gordon Lacy
started the discussion by asking if the County Council was necessary?
All three Council members in attendance stated that they felt the Council
was fulfilling an important role in the County ' s government. Nancy Clark
felt the most important role for the Council is acting as a representative
for the interests of citizens . She said the Council is a group of citizens
trying to make the' government better, and, at the same time, acting as
a guardian of the Charter and trying to insure that the Charter is
implemented by the Commissioners. Floyd Oliver mentioned that the Council
has no interest in exercising administrative control over the County.
The Commissioners and the Council, Oliver said, are not two groups trying
to run the County, because they have no authority. Council's job is to investi-
gate and make recommendations, and watch that the citizen is being protected.
He felt the Council was doing that. It was admitted by Council members that
they needed to do a better job of public relations and that at times they
were misunderstood. Nancy also felt that the conflict of interest provision
should be determined by the County Council and not by the Commissioners .
The fact that County Council members are not paid was a paramount problem
in Nancy' s mind. Dick Boettcher felt that the County Council was doing
its job and had no complaints, but felt its offices should be in
the County Complex. There was deliberation amongst all the members of
the Committee and the Council regarding conflict of interest problems .
Bill Butler noted his‘.concern as to who was the watchdog of the Council .
Gordon Lacy stated his concern with the procedures the County Council
follows during their meetings .
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The next area discussed was Public Notice under Article XVI , General
Provisions, Section 16-6. Tom David felt this provision was very vague
and impractical. Further discussion pursued momentarily on the subject.
Gordon Lacy asked if there were other areas to discuss at this time.
There being no further business to discuss , Gordon Lacy noted that the
next meeting would be September 21, 1977 at 7 : 00 P.M. in the First
Floor Meeting Room of the Centennial Center, due to the large amount
of people in attendance, and that consideration into the possibility of
more than one meeting a month should be discussed, and then the meeting
was adjourned.
APPROVED:
WELD COUNTY HOME RULE CHARTER
AMENDMENT STUDY COMMITTEE
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Vice-Chairman
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