City Council - Charter Change Committee

CHARTER CHANGE COMMITTEE Wednesday, May 1, 2024 at 10:00AM Via Zoom (Remote) DRAFT MINUTES Members Present: Councilor Bergman (Chair), Councilor Carpenter Staff Present: Kim Sturtevant (Acting City Attorney) Others in Attendance: None Meeting called to order at 10:03 AM. 1.0 Agenda 1.01 Motion to amend agenda Motion by Councilor Carpenter, Seconded by Councilor Bergman Final Resolution: Motion Passes Yes: Unanimous 2.0 Public Forum No members of the public present. 3.0 Discussion of Potential Upcoming Charter Changes Councilor Bergman said the Committee has received comments from the Police Commission regarding police oversight charter changes and their memo will be on the list. A second issue from two years ago is councilor compensation. He think we should start with the framework for police oversight changes. Councilor Carpenter said the previous Joint Committee ended its work after having a discussion with the Burlington Police Officers’ Association (BPOA). She said the Committee still needs to parse out what language should be in charter versus ordinance or directives. Councilor Bergman said the next conversation should be with the Police Commission and with the BPOA. The Committee should take testimony and only ask clarifying questions so we have every viewpoint before we move onto drafting the ordinance. Councilor Bergman thinks this shouldn’t be part of a joint committee, but the members of the previous joint committee should be invited. The Attorney’s Office should review the Commission’s memo to ensure this Committee has all the necessary documents and policies that commissioners might have asked for. Councilor Bergman then moved on to Councilor compensation. This includes the question of pay as well as childcare and healthcare compensation. Page 1 of 2 Councilor Carpenter said another issue would be administrative support for the Council. It has been brought up many times. Councilor Bergman added that this is all related to improving the ability of the Council to recruit a diverse range of people. Councilor Carpenter asked that if the current method of having an exact number for Councilor compensation put into charter is necessary. Councilor Bergman said that research into comparable pay structures would likely have to stretch beyond Vermont because the rest of the state’s towns are so small. He requested that the City Attorney’s Office discuss this with the Chief Administrative Officer to see what kind of support can be provided for the Council. He would like to have a report or preliminary findings about what can be done along with analysis of comparable municipalities. 4.0 Discussion of Next Meeting and Schedule Councilor Bergman wants to avoid having a special election for charter changes unless absolutely necessary, so the Committee need to complete its work before the December deadline for the next Town Meeting Day. Next meetings are set for June 12 at 5-7PM and June 18 at 5-7PM. 5.0 Adjournment Motion to Adjourn. Motion by Councilor Carpenter, Seconded by Councilor Bergman. Final Resolution: Motion Passes Yes: Unanimous The meeting was adjourned at 10:50 AM. Page 2 of 2