Charter Review Committee

MINUTES SPECIAL MEETING CHARTER REVIEW COMMITTEE JUNE 21, 2010 - 10:00 A.M. OLD LAWTON HIGH SCHOOL – MAYOR’S CONFERENCE ROOM The meeting was called to order at 10:00 a.m. in the Mayor’s Conference Room at the Old Lawton High School. Meeting notice and agenda were posted on the City Hall bulletin board as required by State Law. 1. Roll Call: PRESENT: Gary Chambers, Ken Easton, John Purcell, Jr., Minnette Page, John Cameron, Albert Johnson, Sr., Ernest Godlove. ABSENT: Lance Janda, Emil Vyhlidal. ALSO PRESENT: Frank V. Jensen - City Attorney, Traci Hushbeck - City Clerk, Michael Tenis - Ward 2 Councilmember, Emily McKee – City Attorney’s Office, Kim McConnell - Lawton Constitution. ________________________________________________________________________ 2. Approve minutes of June 14, 2010. MOVED by Easton, SECOND by Page, to approve the minutes of June 14, 2010. AYE: Chambers, Easton, Purcell, Page, Cameron, Johnson, Godlove. NAY: None. MOTION CARRIED. 3. Receive input from City Council members regarding any issues/concerns they have with the City Charter. Councilmember Tenis stated he would support the election being held on the second Tuesday in November with the winner of the primary winning the election with no run off. This would save taxpayer funds because every other year we could piggy back onto federal and state elections. He does not agree with term limits and he does not like the idea of at large voting for wards because that would quadruple the cost of elections. 4. Begin review of the City Charter and take appropriate action if necessary. It was the consensus of the group to gather information from the upcoming public hearings before officially voting on any issues. The committee agreed to cancel the meetings on June 28th at 10:00 a.m. and July 12th at 10:00 a.m. Minutes of Charter Review Committee Meeting of June 21, 2010 Page 2 There was discussion by the committee on the following issues that would be considered, awaiting input from the public: * Four year terms with an election held every other year. (Four council seats one year with four council seats and Mayor elected two years later). Elections will be in conjunction with the federal and state elections. * Elections held in July with a run off in November. * Council members will be seated in January. * No term limits. * Discussion regarding city council members elected at large or continue to be elected by wards. 5. Adjournment There was no further business to consider and upon motion, second and roll call vote the committee adjourned at 11:33 a.m.