get started. >> I was waiting, Barry. I was dribbling out the clock for you. >> Well, good morning everyone again. Thank you uh for hanging in there with us at this first meeting. I promise you we'll get started right on the dot at all the
rest of our meetings. But uh just want to say good morning to all of you. Uh really >> great to see so many familiar faces. Um as I told one of those familiar faces when I was walking in. I don't know what
you did to be here, but I'm sure you deserve it. Um and I think that applies to everyone, not just you, Sean. I wouldn't, you know, I wouldn't single you out like that. But um this is a uh it's a power powerful group. Uh got a
lot of horsepower in here. I don't think we'll we may not need all of it for the review of the county charter, but uh looking around this room if we want to uh secede from the state of Florida or something. We may have the right we may
have the right group to do that. Let me uh clarify that it's not within your purview. Okay, that is a it may sound like a good idea some days, but it's not within your in your perview. But let me look at my list here, folks.
Um, as in this on this committee, we have past county commissioners. We have a former city manager. We've got partners from our our nonprofits, longtime partners from our nonprofits. We've got private legal
counsel, real estate and development professionals from banking, political professionals, uh Barry, whatever it is that you do, we've got that here figuring it out. >> Uh university officials. We also have church leaders, uh,
economic development leaders, county employees, elected officials, and that's just Daryl Jones. >> All right. So, it occurred to me though that uh while and I know all of you have interacted with Lyon County over the
years in different ways uh different capacities, but it occurred to me that you probably all have uh the same question uh this morning and I'm going to go ahead and just get that right out of the way uh right off the bat. That question I'm sure is goes something like
this. Uh, in my experience, uh, Leyon County is perfect in just about everything that it does. What could we possibly do here as a committee? Well, I'll get to that in in just a minute. But first, again,
let me uh introduce myself. Uh, I uh uh my name is Vince Long. For those of you who I don't know, I know I know most of you and we've we've been in a lot of the same orbits. Uh, but um we're going to be very informal here. Uh we're going to be spending a lot of time together. So
please uh just call me Vince. Uh alternatively, you can use the nickname that um because we are informal, you could use a nickname that Maryanne used to call me when she was on the county commission. It was very sweet, kind nickname, kind
of cute. She might she might share it with you if you ask her uh nicely. Uh, conversely, I'd like that. I'd appreciate if you didn't ask Anita what the nickname was that she had for me when she was city manager. Uh, it wasn't quite as as as cute. U, just kidding.
They both had the same nickname for me over time. But, uh, hopefully folks, what you what you get from my introduction here is that, uh, while you have important work to do on this committee, we don't plan to torture you. uh we think it's even possible that this
could be an enjoyable and and satisfying time for you. And uh uh let me just say that um on a sincere note that uh we really do appreciate you being here. We absolutely appreciate it on behalf of the board of county commissioners, on
behalf of our county employees, uh on behalf of the community. We appreciate your time and your insights. Uh and before we go any further, let me um uh maybe answer a couple of actual questions that you have right off the bat. Uh first, let me say the obvious
here again just to reemphasize. Uh your role here uh is very important to us. Um, you'll hear us say throughout this process that the county charter is our home rule constitution and a group
like yours convenes only once every 8 years to make recommendations on potential charter amendments to the board of county commissioners to ensure that that charter at county charter continues to reflect the needs and the preferences of our community. So, uh,
that's why you're here and again and that's a very important role to us. Next, what all charter review committee members want to know. Uh, what are our parameters? Let me give you your parameters. Uh, it's it's a long list
because we saw the members on this group. So, uh, let me just tell you, you have very broad latitude. Let me be very clear about that. And the board was very specific about that. Uh there's just one specific issue that the board identified and you'll have that you have in your
materials that they wanted you to specifically uh objectively review uh and make a recommendation to the board one way or another. And we'll get to that a little bit later in the process. But other than that, the board uh didn't limit your purview in any way or to any
subject matter. You'll have 120 days to do your work. Um we've provided some bylaws so that you have productive uh structured meetings. Uh but as far as parameters go, that's about it. Um at the end, you may make significant
uh charter proposed charter recommendations or you make you may make none. But let me very be very clear about this. That will be your decision. Um again, you need to look uh you only need to look around this room to tell this is
not a rubber stamp committee. So again, broad latitude. And finally, uh let me just say that our role as county staff is to support you uh fully through this process. Uh I staffed the initial uh charter um drafting and led the
referendum back in 2002, and I've conducted along with county staff the charter review committee processes uh the two that took place prior to this one over the last 25 years. So along with the county attorney uh Chassity
Ostein, who you'll meet here in just a moment, uh who brings a tremendous amount of uh of insight and knowledge into these issues. Um if you can stump Chassity with a legal question, you'll be the first one to do it. Or maybe that's just me, Chassity. Uh but but
together again, we take a lot of pride uh in staffing you all so that you uh have all the information that you're going to need uh to make the very best decisions uh that that you can along the way. Uh so let me see what else we have here. In addition to this is the most
importantly in addition to myself and chassis uh we have a resource team here from the county that's going to walk you through this process uh every step of the way. And you'll hear me say that quite a bit. Every step of the way. It's going to be very methodical. You're going to review every article of the of
in section of the county charter and you're going to be able to weigh in on all of those. But our team, first of all, Ken Morris right here behind me. He's not my little brother even though uh people people tend to think so sometimes. Uh Ken's an assist our assistant county administrator brings a
wealth of knowledge to the process over 20 years across all aspects of county government. Uh Nikki Hatch, Nikki, there you are. Uh Nikki is our point person for legislative and intergovernmental affairs at the county. She's also your point person uh in this process. Uh she
has extensive experience at the county, including uh helping to staff our last charter review effort in 2018. Again, Nikki will be your primary staff person. And uh Cameron Williams, Cameron, can you wave your hands wherever Cameron's at? There he is back there. Cameron is
our superstar uh policy analyst uh who you'll also be engaging with throughout this process. So again, there's your team folks. Real quick, today for the meeting agenda, uh let me just say that uh again, today as you know, is an orientation. Uh we're going to do a
review uh an overview rather of count of charter county government. Uh importantly, you're going to have uh a presentation on uh uh open uh uh uh government laws. uh very important uh from Chassis Yoin. Uh Nikki and Ken are
going to walk us through the bylaws and the schedule for meetings. Uh again, so we've got uh actually we've got quite a lot to cover today. So before we get started, let us just go around the room quickly here and give you guys the opportunity, give you all the
opportunity to introduce uh yourselves. So uh again, just very quick um because we have a lot to to do. Uh, I say quick cuz cuz you do have elected officials on your committee. So, uh, if Chony, if you want Oh, no. Actually, uh, I almost
called you Ed. Can you believe that, Sllayton? I'm sorry. So, Sllayton Murray, uh, if you could start us off. So, just real quick, your name, maybe a little bit about what you bring to the committee. Uh, and if you have nothing else that you want to say, uh, your most embarrassing moment, that'll be fine. You can just go ahead and do that. So, Slate, you want to get us started?
>> Thank you, Vince. Uh, Slate Murray. Uh, born and raised here in Tallahass, Florida. Um, I'm with NI Talcore, uh, here in Tallahassee. Um, on top of just real estate, um, I also serve as the chair for the Downtown Improvement Authority and also serve on the DRC, so
the downtown community redevelopment agency. Thank you. >> Thank you so much, Mr. County Administrator Vince. Um, my name is Chanty Haynes and I work with the Leyon County Atlarge County Commissioner Carolyn Cummings and I'm just happy to
be here this morning with uh such an august group um for undertaking we only do every eight years. Thank you so much, >> Mr. Administrator Vince. Uh Sean Pitman. Um I'm here uh I don't
know why I'm here. Um, I I figured I'd find out uh pretty soon, but um I run a law firm that that uh primarily practices local government law. So, uh happy to be here. >> Good morning, County Administrative Vince and colleagues. I am Daryl Jones.
I am the deputy director for the Office of Economic Vitality for Minority Women and Small Business Enterprise Programs and a member of the Leyon County School Board representing District 3. Good morning everyone. I'm Anita Favorvers and I am retired uh from the
city of Tallahassee. >> You don't have to sound so happy. >> Uh God is good. Um I was there from actually I was I' I've been in Tallahassee 35 years now. um did not come with the idea that I
would be here nearly this long and thought that I would might might leave after I retired, but this is my home. I love Tallahassee. Uh I'm very honored to be a part of this group. Good morning everyone. My name is Linda
Bon Edwards. I am an attorney and I've represented uh state and local governments throughout my career. I've um elect I've represented elected officials across the state and I hope that helps me uh in this process. I uh
currently however am a mediator and an arbitrator so I've left the litigation world behind and hopefully those u uh uh dispute resolution skills will come into play uh in this process. I'm glad to be here. I've been in Tallahassee for 33
years. I came here to attend uh law school at Florida State. So like um Miss Favors, didn't plan to stay here, but um I'm thankful to be here and I and I think Tallahassee is a wonderful place to live. Congratulations on leaving
litigation. Uh good morning. I'm Liz Ellis. I'm a shareholder at Sterns Weaver Miller. Um I I currently practice solely civil litigation. Um, in my current capacity, I'm pretty adverse to local governments, but in a past life, I represented only
local governments. So, um, hopefully that will assist me in this work. Looking forward to it. >> Still morning. Yeah. My five minutes. Uh, good morning. I'm Barry Wilcox. Uh, I am the director of land use planning and development for Sterns Weaver
Miller. I work with Liz and um, and we brought it over here today. I'll blame it on her. >> It was Barry's fault. It was Liz's fault completely. Um, so, uh, anyhow, I was previous growth management director for Mr. Vince Long, Leyon County. >> If you didn't say it, I was gonna ask.
>> I was, uh, I'm a I'm a city planner, you might have guessed, and been about 25 years of experience and I've been here in Tallahassee for 10 years. Uh, love Tallahassee, raised my kids here. We moved up from Orlando. And I tell people
going back to Orlando is like going back to an abusive relationship. I don't know why I spent all that time there. Uh so very happy to be here. >> Hey everyone. U Maxurley. Uh I've spent my career as a consultant and I've made the crazy decision to now be a candidate
for Tallahassee City Commission C3. Um I am a native here and a lover of uh Lyon County and city Tallahassee history, which is why I'm so honored to be here in one of certainly our community's largest legislative bodies ever impanled. And so I want to thank the
board of county commissioners for having the wisdom to appoint all 21 of us. Thank you all. >> Hello everyone. Um my name is Bruce Strubal. I am a 25 year citizen in Tallahassee, Florida. I currently work with Florida&M University as a professor
of political science and I also work with the local nonprofit called Citizens for a Sustainable Future. Very happy to be here. I'm really passionate about environmental justice and human rights. So I hope to bring that perspective to this committee. >> Good morning everyone. I am Joey Davis.
I grew up and born and raised here in Tallahassee area. I've been involved in uh labor relations and uh in emergency medical and fire services for the past 20 years here in the area and I currently serve uh here locally as a
lieutenant firefighter paramedic. >> Morning. Good morning. I'm Dr. Temple Robinson. I am the CEO at Bond Community Health Center, um, one of the federally qualified health centers here in Tallahassee. Um, Joey and I have worked
together in the past on the front line and and u have done good works. Uh, I was appointed by Commissioner Proctor and I'm proud to serve. I also serve on the economic leadership vitality council for the city. Um, and uh, happy to do
the little bit that I can here. Good morning. Katrina Tugerson, Capital City Chamber of Commerce. I'm here because I serve in the community and care. Um, I am also an assistant to Daryl Jones. Um, with what all the things that he does, I'm always right
beside him and a lot of you around this table. So, it's good to be with you this morning. >> Good morning. I'm Jay Terry of Florida State University and president of the 100 black men of Tallahassee. I'm here because I have a background in aligning
education uh specifically post-secary education with the needs of the community. Very happy to be here and appreciative uh that again Mr. Proctor appointed me. Thank you. >> I have no idea what nickname you were talking about.
I do. >> You're not fooling anyone, Maryannne. >> Whatever. >> I'm Maryanne Lenley. I did serve on the Leyon County Commission for 8 years. Uh, and it's like a family reunion here being with so many people I worked with
and uh know all of you from so many different places too. Um, I was a journalist for many, many years before that. I came to Florida right out of college like so many of you thinking well let's see what Florida's like uh would stay a little while but I've ended
up here all these years later so it's real pleasure to work with everybody thank you uh thanks for having us uh current administrator I'm Ryan Ray I'm uh born and raised in Florida lived in Tallahassee for about 12 years uh I work as an aid to city commissioner Jeremy
Matlo across the street um and chair as the Leyon County Democratic Party local government enthusiast. So, a pleasure to be serving with all of y'all. >> Okay. Howard Kesler, retired orthopedic surgeon, recovering u county
commissioner from Colola County, worked as a teacher and of course the orthopedic surgeon. And I've uh I consider myself a civic uh civically concerned person and um that's why I'm here.
Good morning. I'm uh Henry Lewis. I'm a chairman and CEO of Retirement LLC. I stand for living life completely. But prior to assuming that position, I was a dean of the college pharmacy here
at the MU for about 18 years, interim president and former county commissioner. In fact, this facility that we sit in today is the first permanent home of the county library prior to moving from where the
police station is going to be next. And uh it is located in district 1 where I represented at the time we built it. And now the dean of the county commission represents Bill Proctor. So I'm glad to be here as well. Well, good to follow because I'm a proud
graduate of the College of Pharmacy with my doctorate in public health. I'm Dr. Shamario Robertson. I previously served as the deputy secretary for the Department of Health for the state of Florida during the pandemic. Um, I now own my own consulting firm. We focus on management and consulting with a focus
on health and human services DSR. And then we also have a nonprofit RMSR public health foundation where we focus in large part on rural health and minority communities and underserved populations. In addition to that, I own Classic Cleaning Professionals, which is
a cleaning company here in town where we're working to bring highwage jobs to other people in the community. And I am happy to serve here and want to bring my experience as an epidemiologist to the community. >> Great. Well, I told you guys about the horsepower in this committee. clearly
wasn't joking around. So, I also noticed too that uh two commissioners joined us, Commissioner Miner and Commissioner Proctor. I would ask them to say a couple words, but we only have to 1:30 uh as you guys know. No, no, let me let me do that right now. Let me just go off
script. Anything that either of the two of you would like to while we've got the committee here? This is the highest amount of attendance we'll ever have. It's the first meeting, so go ahead, please. The dean uh of the commission, Commissioner Proctor. Good morning ladies and gentlemen. We thank you for
your willingness to be a part of this uh democratic process. uh the gumbo making uh the process that uh undergurs public policym which in this community each of you as I
listen and understand the roles that you play you all are processoriented people and in a moment like this the one that we're existing I am so glad to see the diverse the rich minds and the talent at
the I hope that y'all bang heads hard in clash. That's what democracy is about. And we understanding is something that just doesn't come easy. It often you you
you have to um you have to um wrangle for it and for your willingness to do that for a brief period to undergard the strength of this community. I say thank you and we thank you very much. Bishop Christian Warner.
>> Now, do you see what happened there? I made the mistake of going after a preacher. Listen, I just I wanted to thank everybody for being here. Just being in this room and seeing all of you assembled together for the first time, it's really exciting. Uh I'm going to steal a line from an elected official
that's very well known uh from the Gettysburg Gettysburg Address. He said, you know, government of the people, by the people, for the people. Uh Leyon County is a representation of that. and you being here is a uh is is a is a
strong symbol of us maintaining that commitment to a democracy of the people by the people for the people. So, thank you very much for what you're doing. You are doing a very important public service. Um and it's a it's a solemn duty, but uh as Vince said, you guys are going to have a lot of fun. Uh very
grateful to have you all here. Looking forward to hearing what you all uh come up with over the next uh uh several weeks and uh anything we can do to help you, let us know. Thank you all very much. >> Okay, so everybody ready? >> Ready. >> You ready to go? All right, I told you this is orientation day. We're going to
throw a lot at you. It starts off with a overview of of Charter County government. Folks, let me just say that uh this uh presentation is under tab 6 in your books. It also has room for notes, although you may not want to write anything until you hear from Chassity. I don't know. Or at least be
very careful about what you write. Right, Chassity? So uh again as a professor of mine used to say years ago uh at the end of this presentation at a minimum you're going to be confused at a higher level. So that's something right and uh I need to uh and again let me assure you you're going to be going
through a step-by-step process here. So this is all background just to kind of get us all on the same page a broad overview again to get the ball rolling. I have to admit you'll never be able to tell this by today's presentation. I taught at FSU for about 15 years in the graduate program at at in the MPA
school. And uh to date myself, uh 20 years ago, over 20 years ago, Ken Morris was a student in that class. Uh and and he could tell you, I had a very embarrassing moment one time in that class in the middle of my charter county government lecture. Somebody fell asleep. It was very embarrassing because
that person was me and I was giving the lecture. So, I will tell you this folks, this is the movie trailer version of Charter County Government. I'm going to be going quickly, so hang on. Uh, save your questions to the end if you could. And again, you've got the opportunity to take some notes down there. So, what is
a county charter? Again, we're going to start at the beginning. Like I mentioned to you, and again, I realize that most of you know all of a lot of this, but just to get again that base level of information in the room, it is our home rule constitution. It establishes the
framework and then the broad structure of county government, our organization, our authority. It is a living document, folks. And the most important thing that I'll say is that it can only be approved and amended by the local electorate.
So, why county charter uh charter county government? Quite simply, it's born out of the idea uh that for local governments, one size does not fit all. Uh there are no two counties in Florida that are identical.
Man, is that not an understatement? Go ahead. Feel free to insert your Florida man joke here. Uh but Miami Dade and Wakulla County, what do the two have in common, Dr. Kesler? Well, they're both charter counties, for example. That may be the only thing. But while all counties have uh the same general
purpose and the same required state mandates to carry out, uh they all have very unique local issues to address. And the problem with that historically in Florida is that county governments are established much differently than cities. For example, cities all have
charters uh again which are their home rule constitutions that specify and lay out their structure and power and authority in historically and this is an important point. Counties and people not everybody makes this distinction but counties are were created originally
very differently that than that. Originally, counties were created to decentralize state government. Uh, back in the 1800s, for the most part, the county was was geographically divided to carry out skeletal state functions of
that time in, I might add, a rural and sparsely populated state of Florida. And again um uh over time this top-down structure in Florida became obviously very very limited uh in meeting the needs and reflecting the needs and
preferences of of people uh who lived in counties because as we all know with the popularity of the automobile and the construction of the state highway system, the advent of the of the suburbs and handsome county administrators, uh county government evolved very quickly
into modern local governments, right? Full service local governments and charters enabled uh local county governments to address local issues to to realize their full home rule power or their powers of self-government. We'll be talking much more about that in
future slides. And importantly, the ability again to adopt a county charter. And I'll talk a little bit about that. But before we talk too much about home rule, speaking of handsome guys, uh let's talk about what uh what predated home rule just for a moment because I
think it provides important context. So prior to home rule in Florida and in the country for that matter, uh local governments were governed by what is known as Dylan's rule. And uh Dylan, John Dylan was a Iowa State Supreme
Court justice who had a famous 1868 ruling that became the law of the land at the time and for about a hundred years in the state of Florida and and actually for most of the country. And it said that local governments only have those powers that are expressly granted
by the legislature. And when he said expressly granted by the legislature, he meant it as in explicitly granted verbatim in terms of the specific powers that counties could uh carry out that local governments local governments at the time, all local governments could
carry out. And he said, and I love this quote from his ruling, and I've talked about this quote for again for for 20 years, but he said that municipalities were quote mere I don't know why chanty he had to say mere, but he said mere tenants at the will of the legislature.
Um, again, we would were just paying rent. So, he was a big state preeminence guy to say the least, right? Uh, matter of fact, he could probably get elected to the state legislature today. Commissioner Brocker, I'll I'll try to I'll I I'll I'll try to behave. But uh again, this was the law of the land for
about 100 years in Florida into 1968, the 1968 Florida constitutional uh revisions which granted home rule power to uh local governments and to counties and the ability specifically the ability of counties to pass a county charter.
Uh, interestingly though, a few states, very few states still operate under Dylan's rule today. uh what just to provide a little glimpse of what that looked like again prior to um uh home rule because it's it will be again important context for you all but
prior to 1968 the Florida legislature uh under Dylan's rule um and under an 1868 Florida constitution uh at that time which again was established for a rural sparsely populated uh state of Florida um the
legislature was overwhelmed uh in in the time between let's say 1868 and 1968 and uh at that time operating under that uh that uh explicit uh requirement of of of uh of language and otherwise without
such uh language that articulated the authority of of county governments and local governments you were presumed powerless local governments presumed powerless to act. So in for example 1965 there were uh 217 local bills filed in the legislature. If you look back just
to last legislative session there were 35 local bills filed. So if you needed as a county government if you needed to put up a traffic signal or if you wanted to open a county library for example you needed express permission in statute from the state of Florida to do so. Side
note, Sean Pitman says, "That sounds like pretty good business there, Sean. 2100 local villas. You could have handled that, right?" But uh but again, rather than engage in comprehensive local government reform in the 1960s, the state of Florida decided to do
something different. They said rather than try to contemplate all the needs of all the counties across the state of Florida, we are going to simply advance a constitutional amendment to the voters of Florida to allow them and authorize them to pass for any for the voters of
any county to pass a county charter which again would be their constitution provide broad home rule and give them the flexibility to address uh local issues. Um, importantly, uh, each charter again had to provide a mechanism
which brings it right back to you, a mechanism for citizens to review that charter, um, uh, over time as provided in that charter. We'll talk more about that in a moment. A quick glimpse of um, of charter county governments in Florida. We'll also have a comparison
uh, for you all. We have a comparison in your binders and and during this process, we'll go over a comparison of the provisions of of other chartery count charter county governments. But since 1968, 20 counties have become charter counties. Uh that's a minority
obviously of the total number of counties, but it represents about 75 to 80% of the state's population. Um also again, Dr. Castle Rakulla County uh is the most recent charter county having passed the citizens having passed that
charter in 2008. Um the most recent attempt uh to pass a charter uh was a citizen-led petition drive in Manatee County in 2018, but there was not enough signatures to uh get it on the ballot.
Two ways uh for a for a charter to get onto the ballot. We'll talk a little bit about that, too. One is by the uh county commission placing a charter on the ballot. The other is citizen petition. They mostly they're placed on the ballot by uh county commissions.
Okay, that brings us to Lyon County. Again, I said I would I would go quickly here. In 2002, Lyon County passed our our charter. We called it a a starter charter. That's not uncommon for new county charters. And what that basically means is that when a county passes a
charter, that starter charter usually simply um uh uh articulates and codifies memorializes the structure of government that's in place at that time. Understanding again that a charter is a living document and it will be uh amended over time. So, and major
provisions in that charter. Again, it reflected that 2002 charter reflected the organization of of the county government at the time as a council manager form of government. We had a council manager form of government prior to this. But again, that first charter
codified that it um it it had a a uh it has a provision in them that uh that recognizes the roles and responsibilities of the county constitutional officers. Let me pause on that one for a minute because this is this is a little this is interesting. back in 2002. Um, and prior
to that, uh, one of the big reasons that many counties, uh, um, established charters, um, uh, this it was among the the top reasons that you would see, uh, for many years was the ability of counties to, um, change the elected
status and the function of constitutional officers so long as their statutory duties were provided for. So, uh I will fast forward even though our our starter charter reflected that uh at the time which was to not do that. The
understanding was over time you could so if you didn't want to have an appointed or an elected sheriff for example you could have an appointed director of public safety for for instance in 2018 uh the the Florida legislature uh
advanced a uh a constitutional amendment in Florida which um which negates this that provision and it it basically says that you cannot change the structure and authority or elected status of a constitutional officer. Now, there are things that I could say in my class, you
know, because, you know, academic freedom and that sort of thing, but this is kind of fun to to get me back on my soap box from from those days. Look, I love our constitutional officers. And again, this is just a side note. It's a moot point. The the the Florida Constitution has been changed. You
cannot change the elected status or function even through a county charter of constitutional officers. But I used to have a lot of fun with this in class because I'd say, "Well, of course you you have the ability to to have greater efficiencies." Uh, if you uh were to change the elected status or the
function of a constitutional officer, none of our constitutional officers have policymaking power, yet they're elected. They have huge budgets. Again, they're all buying pencils for different amounts of money. And that you have to understand, we're one of very few, we're one of two states in the country that
have an elected supervisor of elections. Um, and so it all of those questions were were good questions at the time and only a few counties ever did amend and and and create different structures for constitutional officers at the time. Uh, but again, I point that out because you
could have when I was in class with students, I used to have fun and say, which again was was very true. I said, "When you elected your tax collector in the 1800s, you elected the person with the best horse because they could get to all the properties and they might have
had relationships with the most people." And again, but again, you could question and you had the authority over that time to question and then some counties did and they would bring in um and if you need only drive to Georgia and realize that the the supervisor elections function is within governments and
professional property appraisers go to college and they get master's degree and that it praised by its administrative function and so but in the state of Florida no can do just interesting that's all. And so again, also uh in as in any charter that starter charter in
Lyon County has a charter amendment process. Let me talk just briefly about that because I'm going to get on to the to the revisions that were made in in 2010 and also in 2018. But before I do that, just to hit very quickly charter amendment processes. How can you amend a
county charter? Again, county charters can only be amended and and changes. uh amendments only approved by a vote of the local electorate. Uh there are three ways that issues can get onto the ballot. One way is through a citizen petition. And this requires signatures
from 10% of the local electorate and that must reflect 10% in each commission district. Um and that can happen anytime. So citizens can can create a citizen petition to amend the county charter. That can happen anytime so long as it goes to a general election ballot.
um that has never been exercised in Lyon County. Uh also, uh uh charter amendments could be advanced by the county commission. The county commission, it requires a a a vote of a majority plus one of the board of county commissioners. Um that can be done at
any time as well. Um, and again, since there's always a lot of talk, and I I've I've helped out with county charters in other counties across the state, and it's funny because especially when anyone's passing a new county charter, they're all very worried that the
citizen petition initiative and even the county's uh a county commission's ability to change the charter, you you could you they spend days on making sure those those those thresholds are high enough because they don't want folks willy-nilly, you know, changing the charter. It's just kind of funny that
generally speaking, those two initiatives generally aren't utilized. What is utilized is the third one, which is which again brings us to us, which is every 8 years uh in the Lyon County Charter. We we convene a citizen committee to review and make
recommendations. So, let's talk about real quick the last two efforts. And again, I know I'll move in quick. In 2010, again, the charter passed in O2. In 2010, we com convened a committee like this, not as good-looking, Anita, but a committee
just like this, a little bit smaller. And they advanced uh seven um initi proposed amendments to the to the board of county commissioners. And I'm going to just walk through this real quick cuz I think it's going to be instructive when you all start considering what charter amendments you may want to
consider. Um and so the first one there is is uh the the tourism development structure or county tourism. Uh so the uh committee at that time in 2010 recognized that uh some organizational structural issues had changed from 2002
to 2010 and in this case that county had that the county had taken over the tourism function. So again they uh made a recommendation to amend the charter to to reflect that minimum countywide standards. I talked about this again. You're going to talk more about this.
We're going to have a specific agenda item, if you will, for you all to discuss this. But um charters allow uh for um the ability to clarify where city and county charters conflict or city and
county ordinances rather conflict um that that uh which ordinance prevails to the extent that they conflict. So um while that first charter charter didn't do anything like I mentioned it just simply said hey municipal ordinances are effect in the city county ordinances are
effect in the county in 2010 the the charter review committee advanced an amendment to the board of county commissioners uh to have uh countywide minimum standard on standards for environmental regulations as Anita could talk a lot about at the time there was a
lot of talk about uh storm water not recognizing political boundaries and why should it and that kind of thing. And so I'll talk about that more in a minute. The appointment of the county administrator. Uh this was uh to require a majority plus one vote to hire or fire the county administrator. Um I put that
one in there. No, I didn't put that one in there. I This was done. You guys will review lots of charters. And this was one that the the committee uh reviewed and recommended. They've seen in other charters and um and uh it's actually referred to as the midnight massacre
provision. And again, uh, commonly known so that it requires again a majority plus one. And that a motion to fire the county administrator has to take place at two successive commission meetings. Kind of a cooling off period sort of thing. Considered a good government thing. It's great if you love the county
administrator. It stinks if you don't. But again, anyway, it it's one of those things that um uh was included uh or was recommended by the committee uh to the county commissioner at the time. It similarly non-inference policy. Again, the a non-interference policy, folks, uh prohibits the border county
commissioners from interfering with the performance of the duties of county staff. Uh it's very common. You see it in most county charters. You see it in most city charters, uh if not all. This is something that existed in policy before we had a charter, but this was an
issue again in comparing other charters. The charter review committee at the time wanted included in in our charter, and they recommended that to the board of county commissioners. The other thing here very quickly, campaign contributions. The committee heard a lot from from uh local citizens who came to
address the committee. You all will hear the same uh uh from from from citizens different issues. But at the time uh there was a move to uh uh have minimum campaign contributions uh be uh uh $250
uh per person per election. And uh uh they advanced that. I'm going to tell you the outcome of all these as well, but they advanced that to the county commission. I just want to explain what what the what the amendments were. Six was petition thresholds. They wanted to reduce the number. This is the committee. They wanted to reduce the
number of of of signatures required to propose county ordinances or county charter amendments from 10% to 7% um and 5% in each of the commission districts. Uh the committee believed at the time that the bar was simply just too high. They wanted to lower that. They they
recommended that to the board of county commissions. And the final one, the the future charter review committees. This is something that a past committee was thinking about you guys and they said, "Hey, we want an amendment that says um that will require uh that proposed charter amendments approved by a
four-fifths vote of this board uh not go to the county commission, but go directly on the ballot. What do you think about that?" So, you guys got to get drunk with power here very soon. That's the That's the No, but anyway, let me tell you what happened with all these amendments. So actually before I do that, let me get let me go to 18. 18
fewer amendments proposed to the board of county commissioners by that committee. Uh two, they uh wanted the board to adopt by ordinance a code of ethics and they also wanted a provision for the county attorney that looked like the previous uh provision for uh the
county administrator. In 2010, let me hit these real quick. Six of the seven amendments uh recommended by the CRC to the board were placed on the general election ballot. the board did not accept the proposal uh to advance CRC recommendations uh directly to the ballot. That's the one that that that
they that the board did not place on the ballot. Five of the six amendments um on the 2010 ballots passed. Voters chose not to reduce the petition threshold for citizens. Uh, interestingly, uh, in
2018, just one of the two amendments were were placed on the ballot, uh, by the board, the code of ethics requirement, uh, which was approved by the voters, and the board did not advance the proposed modifications on the employment of the county attorney to the ballot, but instead did that by
ordinance. I say all that to say it it there's a lot that's in there that is instructive to you about uh maybe things to think about when you're considering um uh proposed charter amendments as well. Let me run through just a couple of those and you saw that logic sort of
reflected in several of the charter amendments that I just talked about. So uh first of all very high level not every local government issue uh is a charter issue. uh many of the workings uh of local government can and should
potentially be handled uh in other ways uh such as by uh and exist by policy or by ordinance. So like the county attorney employment modifications uh the bo the the the board ultimately determined that we have the ability to do that by ordinance. Why put it in the
charter? Let's just do it and the board took it up and passed it and did it by ordinance in that case. also existing authority of the board of county commissioners. There's a lot of issues and you guys will probably you all will probably have uh deliberations where you talk about things and you decide, hey,
why put it in the charter? The board should just do it now. They should either do it now or maybe the case that you take a look at an issue and say the board's chewed on that issue and decided not to do it. And then you'll have to decide do we want to propose it as an amendment or not. And in other cases, you'll find that the state legislature
uh either plans to address an issue or we you may determine that it may be um more appropriate at the state to do it, such as the campaign contribution uh issue. Again, our voters app we put it on the ballot and our board has approved the $250 uh limit on campaign
contributions, but in 2021, the state legislature came and made it a statewide contribution limit. Again, we couldn't have known that at the time, but it's just some things to to consider. Um, so what can the charter do? And again, I just got a last few slides here in terms
of throwing all this um against the wall at you. So, what can uh charters change and and do as indicated on the slide? So, first of all, like I said, they can alter the structure of government. They
can expand or restrict uh countywide authority. I want to talk about structure of government folks too. When we go through the county charter, we'll go through the the division of responsibilities on the executive and the legislative function. Again, they can expand or restrict countywide authority. That goes back to that issue
of ordinances. Again, you'll have that issue specifically uh agended for you. Uh electoral representation. We have five uh district commissioners, two at large commissioners. Charters can change that. Charters can say maybe there's a better balance. maybe it should be, you
know, three district commissioners and four out of Again, that's that's all fair game. Um, and and then clarifying and removing outdated or confusing charter language, that sort of things. Things that can't fit. This is obvious to everybody, but it it it's not a quick fix for a recent problem. It doesn't
decrease crime or jumpstart uh the local economy. It doesn't stop a controversial uh project necessarily unless there are larger structural uh elements that that play in. Uh, and again, it doesn't uh necessarily mean that it'll it'll make everyone uh play play nice together,
even though that's a nice um uh objective. Um, bring it in for landing, folks. Here, as I mentioned earlier a couple times now, the board did not wish to limit your purview uh and you've got broad latitude uh in considering charter
amendments. Like I mentioned again, um u you've got 120 days. We're going to walk you through each article and each section of the county charter. You'll be able to consider that ideas that you receive uh from the community, ideas that this group has. Uh one issue that
the board did, however, direct the committee uh to objectively review and consider whether or not to advance as a charter amendment uh is on the screen. and that is to provide that county ordinances prevail uh when there is a conflict with city ordinance except when restricted by
state law and I'm sure Chassity will have a lot more to say about that but again I put that in here first meeting high level only issue that the board said we'd like the charter review committee to look at that want to make a recommendation and again you'll have the opportunity to look at that with all the information and that'll be that'll be
all staffed up for you finally folks I want to leave you with a few dos and don'ts to keep in mind. Um it's important uh chanty not to get these two these two lists mixed up. Don't don't do the don'ts and not do the
dos. Okay. So the uh uh again before I go into that again um reviewing and potentially amending the county charter obviously folks is a major task long lasting impacts for many years to come. Uh so we we we just uh a few dos and
don'ts to leave with you. be a be a team uh player. Uh be cautious about making I would say this is always a good one. Be cautious about making premature statements on on issues that you'll be deliberating. That's just good advice. You may change your mind six times
before it's all over. Um and so be cautious about that. uh try to think beyond uh the special interest and the politics of the day because ultimately any proposal that you advance to the board and that the board places on the ballot uh must have broad support uh
from the community. Folks, we covered a lot today. Uh again, I know that uh um uh that was a lot and it was quick. It was just, you know, a couple hundred years of history and and uh and everything that's ever happened on the Lyon County Charter since 2002. But I
appreciate your patience. Appreciate the opportunity just to sort of get all that out there as a starting uh point. I know that uh up next we've got our our county attorney, Chassity Ostein. Uh but let me do this. I'm okay with stopping. If you
want to just put that up, Nikki, I'm okay with just uh stopping for a minute. If anyone had any burning questions uh that you'd like to ask, I'd be happy to answer any of them based on that presentation. Nothing good. All right. Okay. Claria.
>> Well, no. I mean, anything about maybe uh the county attorney is going to speak to us speaking to each other off campus being private on this or is there any >> What a wonderful segway >> about that. >> What a wonderful segue. That's exactly what the county attorney is coming up
here to talk about. So, anyway, thanks folks. Our county attorney, Chassity Ostein. Thank you. We are officially into the afternoon. Uh, and we don't have that much time left. I know. I'm going to try to be brief. Um, my name is Chassity Ostein. I
know and have worked with some of you, not all of you. I look forward to working with you as you conduct your work on this committee. Um, before I start, can I get a show of hands on those of you who uh have had prior training or experience with Sunshine
Law, public records, code of ethics? I figured most of you would. Okay, good. Um, and we'll also cover public statements including social media as well. Okay, so jumping right in. Sunshine Law, why do we have it and when
does it apply? Protects the public. The whole purpose is to protect the public from those closed dooror conversations during the decision-making process. Uh and it provides a right of access uh to these governmental meetings. Now, it applies when two or more members of a
governing body discuss matters that may foreseeably come before that body. Okay? Two or more members, something that will for may foreseeably come before that body. Uh so when a governing body delegates some portion of its
decision-making authority to a committee or a group and basically creates this alter ego, that means that that new body is also subject to the sunshine law, which is why I'm talking with you about it now. And I'm going to look at this
because I'm too short to see the bottom of uh the screen in front of me. Uh so what are the three fundamental requirements related to sunshine reasonable notice of the meetings? You guys really don't have to worry about that. That's staff's responsibility to
ensure that the public is well aware of when you are going to be holding your public meetings. They have to be allowed to attend the public. It's accessible to everyone which is why you find yourself now in the library instead of I think traditionally historically we had these
meetings in chambers but this group is too big and we needed to make sure that not only did you all fit but any members of the public who want to attend also there's room uh for them as well and they have an opportunity to be heard. So there is a public comment um portion on
every agenda for every single one of your meetings. Um and that is a state law requirement. Uh written minutes have to be taken and made available promptly. So in your future agendas, you'll be going through that administrative process of reviewing your minutes and
approving those and they are then filed with the clerk to the board so that if someone wants those minutes in the future um they're accessible to the public as well. Now, keep in mind minutes can be summary. They have to capture at least the votes that are taken. Uh they don't have to be
exhaustive. They don't have to cover every remark made by every single committee member. Okay? So, uh it allows the public to observe each preliminary step leading to the final decision. Okay? And it prevents
the governing body from creating closed committees that narrow the board's decisions. Okay? Now, what happens if you violate it? So, it's different if it's a knowing violation versus an inadvertent
violation. A knowing violation is a crime. Uh, it's a secondderee misdemeanor, which means the penalty is imprisonment not to exceed 60 days and or a fine up to $500, and it can result in removal from the
position. Now, I would say that these aren't common prosecutions, but they do occur. So, please be mindful and take this legal requirement seriously. Um, it is a
requirement for a reason. Even if it's inadvertent, there it is a noncriminal infraction, but you can be subject to a fine of not to exceed $500. Uh, and reasonable attorney's fees can be assessed. Now, if you rely on my opinion and there's an inadvertent violation of
Sunshine Law, then the collegial body pays the attorney's fees. Uh, but if you didn't rely on me and my advice and you violate, even it's inadvertent, you pay for the reasonable attorney's fees. Okay? Um and it can be filed against an
individual um well we can go after an individual um if someone asserts that there's been a Sunshine Law violation but it was frivolous or made in bad faith. Hopefully we don't have that happen either.
Um so civil actions um basically it's a default that a violation does constitute an irreparable public injury. Um so a court can enjoin um any future violations if requested by the party who
is asserting the sunshine law violation occurred. Um, practically speaking, it would apply and render null and void any action that was taken outside of the sunshine. Okay. Um, so you might have to
do a doover. Um, and you have to completely engage in a full discussion, debate, and vote all over again about whatever matter was decided outside of the sunshine. Okay. So, uh, what do you
do if you think maybe a violation occurred but you're not sure? Contact me, please. Because under the law, you can cure a Sunshine Law violation. Okay? But what that means is it goes on an agenda. You have an open discussion and
debate. You have to take a vote if that was part of the discussion outside the sunshine. If there was some sort of formal action, you have to go through that process all over again. But it would be better to cure it than for it not to be addressed up front. Not what
anybody would want, but please contact me if you think there might be a problem. Okay. So, to make this a little interactive, is an audio recording of a meeting sufficient for sunshine law purposes?
Anyone? Come on. Anyone? No. Why? An audio recording are not written minutes. Minutes have to be retained in writing. So, an audio recording, it's nice to have a backup, but it is not sufficient to satisfy the sunshine law. So, can a
CCRC member talk with the board of county commissioner who appointed them to the committee? >> Yes. >> Yes. Why? Because you're not on the same collegial body. Okay. May a CCR member talk with the board accounting commissioner who appointed them about how another CCR member plans
to vote on an issue? No. Why? Because basically you'd be trying to do indirectly what you can't do directly. You cannot serve as a conduit and use somebody else to communicate with another member of this board about something that may
foreseeable foreseeably come before this body. Okay. Can you talk with CCR members about blueprint county or city business? >> It depends, right? Is it something that could foreseeably come back before this
body even if it relates to blueprint county or city business? You need to engage in that analysis before you talk to another member of this body about blueprint city or county
business. This is where it can get sticky. If you think it might and you're not sure if you can, please call me. I will talk you through that. Okay. Um, is a verbal conversation with another CCR member about a matter to
come before the CCRC okay as long as there there's nothing in writing about it? No. It does not matter the method of communication. It doesn't matter if it's on the phone, text, email, note,
whatever. You just can't do it. Okay. Uh, is an administrative issue like scheduling something that needs to be discussed during the public meeting? Yes, in an abundance of caution, yes, even though that's not a substantive matter, you might have to come back and
vote on holding like a special meeting, for example. Okay. There was an a decision that came out of the first ECA involving Department of Revenue that came out in the middle of a huge
procurement while I was at DFS and they were going through the competitive bid process. They'd had multiple meetings. Everything was done according to at that time what we thought was required under the sunshine law. Everything was
recorded. They would then like stop the recording and go, "Okay, when are we going to meet again?" And they would talk through just administrative logistics, something that really they were like, "This is not a big deal." Well, that opinion came out and made it clear it doesn't matter if it's administrative or not. So, guess what
DFS did? We went back and we cured because we didn't want someone to be able to use that as an opportunity to to use in a bid protest or certainly was some sunshine law violation that occurred. So, we just had to go back and redo all of it. Okay, that's what I'm talking about when I mean a cure. And
sometimes you have to do that. Okay. Um, is appearing on TV for an interview to respond to a position taken by another CCRC member about a CCRC issue in an op-ed piece a violation? And if there is
a violation, who violated? I I'll give you a minute to think about it. It's a two-part question. >> No. No. Yes, potentially. And both of you would have violated. And the reason is this.
You can't use the paper as a conduit just like you can't use an individual to talk to another CCR member about something that could foreseeably come before this body. Now, the nuance there, right? So, someone takes a position about X issue. You get
a call from a reporter and they're like, "Hey, uh, do you would you care to comment on what Mr. Will Cox said at the meeting, what his position is on X?" You can go, "Well, I can't really speak to that. I'll address that in the next meeting,
but hey, by the way, I would really like to talk with you about my position on Y." That's totally fine because you're not directly engaging and responding to a position taken by another CCR member outside of a noticed public meeting.
Okay? >> So, please be careful about that. If a member of the CCRC sends a memo to the other members taking a position on an issue to come before the CCRC, is that a violation? >> No. >> No. Because it's a one-way
communication. to violate the sunshine law. It takes two. Okay? I'm not recommending you do this. Okay? Why? Because if somebody's not thinking and they respond to it, you have
essential non violation. Okay? So, just be careful, be thoughtful, okay? And again, if you think something might be a problem and you think about it before you do something, please feel free to call me if you're thinking about doing
it. If something happens after the fact, please call me about it because we can figure out if there really is an issue and I can give you advice on whether you should cure it. Okay. So,
>> counselor, >> yes. I mean doing your can we ask a question on on your question and answer please? Um my question is can a county commissioner >> Mhm. >> he or she meet with their members of the
CCRC altogether? >> No. >> Okay. >> Absolutely not. One-on-one. Sure. But that county commissioner cannot discuss with the other CCR members any conversation they have with the other
appointees about anything that may foreseeably come before the CCRC. >> For example, I mean, um, let's just say a commissioner has a viewpoint that they want expressed here at at the charter review committee. So you're saying to me
that they cannot get with all three of their appointees to express what their viewpoint is. They can individually but not collectively. Is that correct? >> There can be a one-way communication, but none of the CCR members can respond
to whatever that opinion is that the commissioner provides in front of each other. Okay. Um, I would also say that um,
sometimes it doesn't require a violation of the law for there to be a perception that the law was violated. Okay? So, the members of this committee can talk to each other about anything you want as
long as it's not a matter that foreseeably come before this committee. But what I will tell you is if you're out in a public place, you're having lunch, Miss Ellis sees Mr. Wilcox, walks over and they start chatting and
there's a member of the public there who knows that you both serve on the CCRC. What do you think that citizen might think that you're talking about something that's CCRC related? Are you? I would assume not. But again,
sometimes perception is reality. So if a commissioner meets with all three of that commissioner CCRC appointees at the same time and they are observed doing that, there will be an inference if anybody observes that that they
communicated about things that are foreseeably going to come before this body. So I would caution against that to avoid even the perception or an
Yeah. Yeah. That the perception of a violation because really the commissioner can do that individually. There's no need to have them discuss that collectively is what I would say. Okay. Any other questions on that? >> Okay.
>> Hi. >> Clarification on that uh that interview uh you with let's say the press, TV or whatever. And so you give your opinion on >> on an issue that is before
and for it to be a sunshine violation requires the other person to respond. >> Respond. >> But in a way, aren't you now communicating with potentially all the other members of the committee about what your position is on that committee? >> Sure. So, so the the one-way
communication where you express your opinion is not in it of itself a central violation. A lot of people confuse that. Again, it takes two, right? But to your point, if someone responds, if another member of this committee responds to
that, yeah, you're basically opening it up and assuming that all of you read or someone doesn't forward it to you or whatever, then yes, it's become even a bigger Sunshine Law violation. But the two who violate are the ones who
are in trouble. Okay. So, madam attorney, you're >> you're basically saying I can start a text message thing with everybody on it and I can >> send a message to say, "Hey, >> this is my position on XYV." >> Just let
so please don't do that though. So, please do not do that. >> Please don't. >> I think we started it already. Somebody >> Nobody needs to kill it. Like, remove yourself from that text. >> Text messaging. You should you don't mind that talk about that
communication. >> Yeah. So, so again, this communication that would violate the sunshine law, it is anything that happens outside of these meetings. So, again, the the medium doesn't matter. Text message,
phone call, uh I'm not on social media, but Snapchat, Facebook, we'll go over social media in a little bit, too. I mean anything verbal I mean anything anything like that
anything like that any any medium of communication would be a violation Mr. Right. >> If someone responds to a one-way communication, who has violated >> both? >> Both. Right. >> Yeah. Which is why I wouldn't recommend that you send your one-way communication
expressing your views because you might not have initially violated, but if somebody else responds, you're both in trouble. It's not just the second person. It's both of you. >> I see. Thank you. >> Yeah. Mhm. Any other questions? So, councelor, I
mean, just I just have to bring up this point on the very last one. You said if you send a memo, and you know, I just happen to to work for a body that, you know, some individuals have done that. >> It's happened. Let me know. >> And some have done it more than once. >> Yes. Where?
>> Um, >> yes. >> No, they're gone now. the ones that have done it. But um well yeah but uh so it there was no violation because first of all they put at the top they say hey do not respond to this email or whatever it
may be a violation whatever and then they send out whatever it is and say what they have to say. I don't remember if anybody has responded but I know they have sent it out and you but you're saying that is appropriate but as long as you do not respond to that. Is that correct? >> A oneway you recommend not to do it. I
recommend not to do it because it while a one-way communication is not a violation, you open yourself up to the risk that someone who isn't thinking about it will respond and then you have a violation that you have to cure.
>> In fact, it I mean it's a matter of public record. It's happened once on a blueprint matter and they had to go back and cure it in a blueprint meeting because someone expressed their opinion about something that was going to come before blueprint in writing and without
thinking about it, somebody else literally issued a letter responding to it. Boom. Done. Sunshine law violation. Got to cure it. It can happen. I've literally seen it happen. Okay.
All right, public records. So, it protects the right of access to records made or received in connection with the official business of a public body. Now, what are the component parts? It has to be a record. A verbal communication is not a record, and we'll
get more into that in a little bit. Made or received. Note possession is not required. A record verbally shared or reviewed is sufficient to satisfy this made or received component. And we'll get into that a little bit more. In
connection with official business, we'll get into that too. But a re a request when it's made must be acknowledged and a response provided within a reasonable period of time. Under the law, that's all depends. If someone makes a public records request and it's a thousand
records, it's necessarily going to take you longer to produce that than a single email. Okay. So, what is a record? Almost anything. It's just not a verbal communication, but other than a verbal
communication, the assumption is it is a record. All right. Um, does it include a CCR member social media post about CCR business? Yes, it does. Does it include a CCR
member's meeting notes? Maybe. Here's why. So, your personal notes are not subject to the public records law. Why? Because they're your personal notes. But if you use them to communicate, perpetuate, or formalize
knowledge, then they no longer are your personal notes because you're using them to memorialize, communicate, or perpetuate knowledge. So, if you like to take handwritten notes and then you go back and you type them up and you put them in
your file and you keep them, that's not your personal note anymore. Okay? You plan to perpetuate that knowledge. If you have notes from a previous meeting and the issue comes up and you're debating it and you want to go back and you're reviewing your notes and reading
from them in the meeting, you've now shared that note that is now a public record. Okay? So don't interpret what I said about personal notes too broadly because it's very
narrow. Okay? But if you have questions about it, let me know and we can talk about it. Does it include text messages about CCR business? Yes, it does. Is it is a request for information a public records
request? No. Here's why. Because a request for information does not relate to a record. Okay? So, if someone approaches you and they say, "Hey, when's your next
meeting?" That's not a public records request. They didn't ask for a record. They just asked when your next meeting is. Okay? If they say, "Hey, do you have a schedule of your CCRC meetings?" That's a public records request. And then you have to figure out does that
public record exist? And if it does, we have to produce it. Okay? Is that clear difference there? Okay. Are you required to create a record that does not exist? No. And please don't do
that. Okay. Is a request to inspect records a public records request? Yes. Someone can just say, "Hey, I'm not sure if I actually want all of these records, but I want the chance to look at them so I can decide if I want a copy
of all these records." Okay. So what are your obligations? You have to maintain and retain your public records. Okay? So if you if some constituent emails you about a matter
that's going to come up for discussion and debate and vote, that's a public record subject to the public records law. It came to you. No one else has it. If we get a public records request for that record, you have to maintain it and
produce it. If we send out that communication saying, "Hey, do you have any records related to XYZ?" If it's within the scope of that request, we have to produce it. Okay? Which means you have to retain it. You are the custodian
of that record. Now, when don't you have to retain it? If you want to give it to county staff so that staff, the county already has it, then you don't have to retain it because you've given it to the county. Okay? And we can produce it if somebody
asks for it without you having to help facilitate that. Okay? So, it counts for voicemails, notes, emails, texts, unless you forward them to staff. Now, text messages.
What is your setting on your phone for text messages? Do you know like how long your phone retains text messages? Have you ever looked? Well, well, depending depending on the
type of record which dictates the retention schedule, whatever record is created is going to last longer than the work of this committee. And you can't just start deleting text messages. You've got to retain them until that retention
schedule is met. Okay? So, don't start throwing away your stuff, you know, at the end of a meeting or at the end of your business here. Again, you always have the option of giving all of those records to the county and you can make it our problem and then we've got to retain them for you. We basically become
the custodian. But please be mindful, you have to maintain and retain those records. They're solely in your possession until the retention schedule ends. >> Many of us, our phones, for storage reasons, purge every 15 days.
>> And if that's the case, you need to affirmatively ensure that you are forwarding those records to the county staff or otherwise saving them in a different medium so that you can produce them if they're requested. Okay. I I
understand that there are limits to to technology and space and things like that, but the public records law does not care. Okay? And if we end up getting sued, that's not going to be an excuse a judge is going to accept. Okay?
So, who can make a public records request? I led with all the answers, so you guys can just read it. Anybody. Anybody can. Can you ask them why they want it? No, you cannot. Can you ask them to make it in writing? No, you
cannot. They can make a verbal public records request. Uh, what do you do if someone makes a public records request to you? If it's in writing, just forward it to staff and we'll take care of it. We may have to work with you depending on the scope to get records you might
have or confirm whether or not you have them, but then you've kind of let staff take care of that. In fact, I would recommend that you do that so that you're not responsible for public records requests and we know what's coming in and out because we may get more than one of the same public records
requests. Okay? And we want to ensure we are being very consistent and producing everything that's requested every single time. Okay. Uh can you ignore this is an easy one. No.
No, we can't. If you get a verbal request, just tell the requesttor, "Hey, uh, thank you. We'll I'm gonna forward this to staff and staff will get back to you." And then email the information to staff. Okay? Just the basics. Now, some
people don't want to give you their name and that's fine. They don't have to give you a name. All we need is some way to communicate with the requester to facilitate getting the records to them. So, they may be like, "I don't want to give you my name. Here's my email address. these are the records I want.
You know, send me send me what you have. Okay? And that's totally fine. Uh should you try to redact any records? No. Okay. One, because you can only redact public records before they're
produced if a statutory exemption applies. Now you might not like information in a record but you don't get to decide what you get to redact and you don't and when we produce a redacted record we have to
site to the statute as the basis for that exemption. So we have to tell the requester why we're why we're not producing the entire record they requested. Okay. Uh so please don't redact your records. The other reason we need it unredacted is if we get sued,
the court has to hold an inc camera hearing or an inspection. Basically, a hearing where the court looks at it and decides whether we should have produced the record in whole or in part. And they are going to need an unredacted version of the record to review. Okay? So, don't
try to redact records. Just let us do that for you. Um, let me ask a question. So, uh, let's say you're bored, uh, or you're mad or whatever and you text with somebody during one of these
meetings over an issue that's hotly debated and you say something unflattering about a fellow committee member. Okay. >> Is that a public record? Yes. Do you get to not produce it because I really in the heat of the
moment said something unflattering that I wish I hadn't said? You don't get to not produce that. That is a public record. So the other thing I would say is be really careful what you put in writing because it very well
could end up in the paper. Okay. All right. So what are the remedies? You know, I put this voluntary mediation program on the slide. I have never heard of anybody actually taking advantage of it, but apparently it is available through the office of the attorney general as an alternative dispute
mechanism when there's a public records dispute. Um, usually someone just sues us uh because they've been denied the right to inspect or the right to records. Um and a court can issue a ritandamus to compel the official body
to comply with the public records law and they can issue an injunction to prevent uh the body from violating the public records law in the future. Uh again they also get reasonable costs of enforcement including reasonable attorneys fees. Um now for them to to
get this though they have to give us at least 5 days notice in advance. So, we get a chance to basically produce like a last chance, if you will, to produce before if they sue us, they get attorney's fees uh for a public records
violation. All right. So, criminal penalties, again, I I like this because it makes people take it seriously. I think annoying violation again is a crime. first degree. This time though, punishable by possible uh one year in prison or $1,000 fine or
both. Uh and it subjects somebody to suspension and removal or impeachment. For this body, it would be removal. Uh and it can for non inadvertent violations. It can also be uh a noncriminal fraction punishable by fine
not to exceed $500. And these are prosecuted by the state attorney's office, by the way. Okay. So, any questions about public records law? I know I'm going fast. You can always contact me after if you have specific
questions. Okay. So, code of ethics, it protects against conflicts of interest and establishes the standards of conduct of elected officials, in your case, appointed officials and government employees where conflicts can exist and
they do arise sometimes. uh it applies to board-appointed committee members as I said and it just prohibits certain actions and conduct and it requires disclosure to the public in certain circumstances related to some conflicts. So category of the statutes different
categories soliciting or accepting gifts I think this should be fairly self-explanatory uh but if you accept anything of value and it is a broad definition of value anything of value uh based on the based on the understanding that's going to
influence your vote your action or your judgment uh then that's a violation okay you can't do business with your own agency I don't see this is going to such an issue for this body, but it is in the standards. Okay. Uh and then you can't
engage in conflicting employment or contract relationships either. Again, I don't think that's going to be as much of an issue for the work of this committee, but it is part of the standard. So, I'm going over it now. The last two are waveable not by you, but by
the board of county commissioners. Okay. Accepting unauthorized compensation. So again, you neither you nor your spouse or minor child can at any time accept any compensation payment, anything of value when you know with the exercise or
with the exercise of reasonable care should know that it was given to influence your vote or other action. Um so related to the CCRC business to be clear, okay? You can't misuse your public position.
So you can't corruptly use or attempt to use your position or your property or resources which may be within your trust uh perform these duties to secure a special privilege, benefit or exemption for yourself or somebody else. Okay. And
then the final one is disclosing or using certain information. So again, this is pretty limited. Uh, I don't think really there should be that much of an issue with this one, but you cannot, and this applies to you even after you leave your work here on the
CCRC, you cannot disclose or use information not available to members of the public and gain by reason of your position on this body for your personal gain or for the benefit or personal gain of any other person or business entity.
Okay. So, specific to voting conflicts. So, you can't vote on any officer to the special gain or loss. It doesn't apply to just gains. It can be losses
too of you any principal or entity by whom you are retained uh other than an agency or the parent organization or subsidiary of a corporate principal by which the member is retained. That's the second category
or that would enure to the special private gain or loss of any relative or business associate of yours. And this relative definition there are a couple in the code of ethics. This one is really broad. Okay.
So, since you're an appointed body, the rules are a little different from if you were elected, right? Since this is an appointed body, if you don't plan to participate in the matter, what does that mean? It means any attempt to influence the decision by oral or
written communication, whether made by you or at your direction. Okay? So, if you don't plan to participate in a matter for which you have a voting conflict, then the procedure is you make an oral declaration of the nature of the conflict, you abstain from voting and
then you file what's called a form 8B uh memorandum of voting conflict with the county's clerk within 15 days of the vote being taken. Okay. It's different though if you uh wait sorry
I have does not on both of these don't I sorry um so um this second one is when you do plan to participate >> it says does >> oh okay great um well it
>> oh does intend yes sorry I misread that myself I was like I thought I got that right okay so if you do intend to participate, then the process is a little different and it's more of a timing issue. Okay? If you do intend to participate, then you file the memorandum of voting conflict prior to
the meeting. Okay? And the memo is provided to the other members and it's read into the record publicly at the next meeting after the memo is filed. Now you can do that or you can make the disclosure early at the beginning before participating and then you still have to
file the form 8b memorandum of voting conflict with the clerk within 15 days after the oral disclosure. But then it's also immediately provided to the other members and read at the next meeting and then filed by the clerk. Okay? So you can always refer back to that if this
comes up. If you wonder if you have a voting conflict at all, then let's talk about it. call me and I can talk you through that so that you know. >> Yes. >> With the exception of recommendations
relative to elections, does that pro does that mean that electives or potential candidates would have a conflict? If there are to be recommendations made relative to elections or processes associated with elections,
>> I would need to research that. I know that there's not there's an exception for um members of collegial bodies to vote on matters like salaries like their salaries. They can obviously vote on that. Otherwise, they could never act as
a body to address that sort of sort of an issue. But I would need to research that >> because based upon the recommendations that have come from pre previous charter committees, right? That there are persons who were say for example on this
well there are everyone here is uh was a candidate for the city and I'm with the school board but outside of that any recommendations would not have any inured potential conflict for any of us. I can't imagine. >> Yeah, it's always a a case by case
analysis. So, what we're going to have to do is as potential issues come up for debate and potential voting, we're going to have to analyze those on a case- by case basis depending on your current situation, whether you're a sitting u
official, whether you're a candidate, um, or whether you have some other role, informal or formal. Okay? So, it's going to really be a case- by case analysis that we're going to have to analyze every single time. Okay? U ma'am. Um yeah, fine. The uh on the
previous page the word agency. What is captured by the agency? Would that for instance be the city school board? >> It's not going to be either of those. It certainly is the CCRC. It could be the county, but again, it's going to really kind of depend to some extent on the
particular individual um and the particular issue upon which the body's going to be voting. So again, it's going to be like a case by case. >> Thank you. >> Yeah. Any other questions?
>> Okay. All right. Um, so final thought here and this is a slide that I'm starting to just now put in my presentations and it's not public records and it's not sunshine and it's not ethics, but it is important. Uh, I'm
not really like in social media, but some people love it. Uh, I actually really am glad that I don't really talk with the press. Some people love it. Uh, and there's going to be a lot of interest in the work of this committee.
So, you're going to get requests for your positions and comments and how you feel about things. Uh I would note uh there's a clause in the bylaws that says the chairperson is tasked with representing the committee at all
functions and activities but even the chair does not have authority to state any position of committee not previously approved. Okay. You also all have your first amendment rights to free speech. Okay. But those
are not unlimited. Okay. Uh please keep in mind that again those rights are expansive. Um if that ever becomes an issue and the board of county commissioner wants to remove you
for some public statement or position or whatever you've taken, your first amendment right to free speech may or may not protect you from that removal. Okay. There's a whole line of case law under the 11th circuit. Uh it's very well settled. binding
precedent in this jurisdiction. Okay. Uh and it's analyzed as if you were a public employee. You're not a public employee, but that's the analysis that the court uses and it's generally called the Pickering analysis. It's very fact
specific in every case. If you want to talk with me more about that, I'm happy to do so. I can tell you what those citations are and you can go read the cases yourselves. Okay. Um, so just something to be mindful of and I want
you to have that information on the front end. Okay. All right. Any other questions? >> One. And you didn't mention it. So I'm believing that it does apply. Is there any requirement for financial disclosures or anything as part of this
committee? >> It is not. No. >> No financial disclosures. >> Yeah. Yeah. I didn't see these slides in our binder. You're going to >> We can release those to you. Sure. >> Please. Thank you. >> Yeah. Anything else?
>> All right. Please call me. I'm a resource for you. >> Yes. >> I noticed that you mentioned in that in your last slide about the chair. >> Mhm. >> Will we be electing are we electing a chair for this body today? >> I believe Vince is going to cover that
later in your agenda. Mhm. Okay. Thank you everybody. All right, folks. Uh so, as you've probably seen by now, uh we've provided each of you with a committee binder uh that is full of resources uh to help your review of the county charter over
the next few months. Um under tab three, you will find your bylaws as provided by the board to assist you in this process. I know we've covered a lot today. Um, so I'll just hit on some of the most important components uh just to get you started, but we're always here to answer
any questions that you have. Um, I can't emphasize enough we are a resource uh to help you in your in your work. So, starting off with quorum requirements. Um, before the committee can take action on anything, they must have a quorum. This will be a majority of the
committee's membership. So, 11 members, they must be present. Um, if you're unable to attend a meeting, just g give us a heads up so that way uh we're able to ensure that we'll have a quorum for the upcoming meeting. Once a quorum is established, the committee will follow
Robert's rules of orders. Uh, if you need a refresher on those, we've provided a little cheat sheet under tab four of your binder. Um, tab four, as you'll see, also provides a voting thresholds cheat sheet just as a quick glance guide uh to the committee's mo to
help guide the committee's motions and required votes uh through your work. Also, each of the committee committee meetings will provide an opportunity for public comment where citizens will have a few minutes to speak on matters before the committee. We'll have that uh
segment later uh today. But just a couple reminders. Uh this is an opportunity for you all to receive uh community input. However, public comment does not mean public dialogue. And uh what I mean by that is public comment is one way communication that the committee
can take into account when making decisions, but it does not require you to uh respond or take any action in the moment. Uh citizens may also uh submit written comments to the committee which will be compiled and provided to the committee uh for its review in in
advance of each of its meetings. Finally, one of the the first actions of the committee will be electing its chair and vice chair. Uh the chair will have a critical role in leading meetings and keeping your decision-making process on track and in proper order. Uh with this
in mind, um I did want to take an opportunity to open it up to you all. Um if anyone would like to make a potential nomination for a chair here, go ahead. >> Well, I think in lie of what you've described,
I think experience in the in the charter review process, I think is important to me, particularly Oh, particularly with this being is that better? particularly with this being for many of us our first time serving on this committee. others may have been here before and I think
someone who's also been a part of the charter review process particularly when I look at this audience and I look at those who who are currently serving and I'm looking at a a great community servant at the end of the table
commissioner Maryanne Lley who was a commissioner when we last had our charter review committee process and I think she would make a great chair So, so this is where I make the nomination. I' I'd like to nominate Commissioner
Maryanne Lyn. Second. >> Okay. Um All right. Uh this will normally be handled uh by the chair going forward, but to help facilitate this right now, uh we will call a vote uh for uh Miss
Maryann Lindley. Um as chair, um all those in favor, please say I. >> I. I. Any in opposition? >> All right. I guess I guess we have a new chair. >> She might oppose. >> Well, thank you. I'm total completely
shocked. Thank you. >> I appreciate. Yeah, looking forward. Do I just take over for now? >> Um I mean, if you wanna if you want to call a vote for or nominations for the vice chair, I'd love to hand it over. >> Sorry. Yeah, let me get my head together for a minute. Um, well, I guess that's
exactly what we need to do next is do I hear any motions for vice chair of the committee? >> Yes. May I? Yeah, excuse me. >> Chanty Haynes. >> Chanty Haynes has been nominated. Do I hear a second? >> Second.
>> Second. Are there any other nominations? Okay, without further ado, uh all in favor of Chanty Haynes as our vice chair of the committee, please uh say I. I. >> Those opposed, >> Chanty. Congratulations. You're vice
chair. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> I just want to clarify who the second was on that. >> J Terry. >> J Terry. >> Well, congratulations. Uh, so with that foundation, um, I know it's very quick.
Again, if you have any questions, we're here. Uh, but now I'll hand it over to Ken Morris to provide a look ahead of your process, um, as well as your schedule for the upcoming, uh, weeks ahead. >> All right, time's running short. I'll run through these real quick. Two quick slides. Both of them are cheat sheets in
your binder. The first is uh, tab five in your binder. This just covers a little bit about how the process is going to work for the committee. U, how do you really get started? uh starting at at the next meeting. Um and this is all based on the bylaws, this onepage cheat sheet. Um
it's intended to provide you the a guide on the deliberate purpose for each meeting. Um we promise the next meeting won't be as presentationheavy. Um a lot of things we had to cover today as part of the orientation, but going forward you'll have three types of meeting. They'll they're sequential. First you'll
have issues and discussion items. This is where you're you're gathering information. You may request um more information about how a county service or function is provided. We can bring in uh department directors in if if that's helpful. We can provide the committee
written information. Uh all of this is done just with a simple majority vote of the committee. Uh as the committee starts to hone in a little bit on on where they want to go, what they want to do, and start talking about potential amendments, again, request a full analysis. We'll bring it back to you.
Here's the lay of the land. here's what you could do, can't do. Um, you may want to know where the county might be preempted by state law. Chassity covered some of those things. Vince covered some of those things. You may want to understand um where we may have a
conflict with the city or not. Uh where we're allowed to um push the the charter provisions. We can bring all that back to you in the written analysis. Again, in most circumstances, if the committee wants to advance an issue, it's going to require a simple majority vote. The only
time where we where we move up to the 2/3 majority vote is if you want to go back in the process. So, when you get to your decision-making meetings, um that's where you're looking at draft language for an amendment. And in those meetings,
you can approve it, you can, you know, deny it, you can amend it, manage it, uh, however you want. This is ultimately going to be your product. But once you reach those decision meetings, if at that point you want to introduce a new
issue or bring back an old issue, that's when we say that's going to be a 2/3 majority vote because again, we've moved on to different types of meetings. Um the next slide lays out a schedule for you. Um we've got nine meetings total
including today. Uh we may need all of them. We may get done early. The last charter review committee finished all their regular meetings in six meetings plus three public hearings. No pressure on you guys. Uh we're we're here to support what the committee needs. um
after the scheduled February 19th meeting, we'll provide an interim report to the county commission in March. And then from there, we'll be able to establish what our official meeting dates are for the public hearings, assuming you have recommendations for the charter. Those meetings would be in
the summertime, sometime in in June and July. There's specific requirements about how far apart, but not too far apart those meetings can be. Uh so, but we'll cover that later on. So again, we would anticipate you to finish up by
February 19th or sooner. You see, we have scheduled out here what we anticipate being the issue and discussion meetings, but if by the fourth meeting you want to jump in a decision, you're ready for it. Again, that's the will of the committee. We're here to support you and and ultimately
your recommendations back to the county commission. Thank you. Uh let me know if you have any questions about bylaws before we move on. The question if persons out of the uh country and uh the ability to use Zoom is that is something
that the uh commission takes up themselves or is it established? >> The bylaws require inperson participation. >> Uh quick question. Uh you said the last county uh county charter review finished in three meetings. Is that what you said?
>> Six regular meetings plus there three public hearings. You've got nine regular meetings scheduled including today. I was just trying to see what the press. >> No pressure. >> Yes, sir. >> The bylaws can be amended with the two-thirds vote of the committee. >> Yes.
>> Yes. >> Well, also if a person is missing, they can listen in on Zoom but cannot vote or participate or be counted as part of the quorum. Correct. >> That is correct. I mean, there's no objection to that, but they have no role in terms of asking questions or participating.
>> They're not counted for attendance purposes. And I would just clarify, they can listen online. It wouldn't be a Zoom. >> Okay. >> Participation. It would just be on TV, online, like >> just like me. >> All right. >> All right. Um, again, any questions
along the way, just reach out. We're happy to help. Um so the last segment of our agenda today is public comment. Um as noted previously, speakers will have three minutes during this segment to provide uh comments to the committee. Um just going ahead um and explain the
routine process for this. Um we'll call speakers in the order in which their speaker cards are received. Um however, I don't believe we have had any uh speaker card submissions today. Um so so we'll keep moving along. um
what unless there is anybody in the audience that would like to provide comment. All right. So, as a closing reminder, your next meeting will be on Thursday, November 6th. At that time, we'll provide a brief overview of Lyon County
government as well as the government structure um as set forth in the county charter. um will uh present the board's proposal for committees for the committee's consideration and have an opportunity uh for initial deliberation among the committee uh for discussion.
Uh so with that in mind, thank you again um to each and every one of you for your time today. Uh if any questions come up between now and your next meeting, we're available. Please don't hesitate to reach out and we look forward to seeing you in a couple weeks. And I would now like to hand it over to
our new chair for closing comments and adjournment. >> Well, the only comment is thank you very much for your trust in me. I hope to uh be a good spokesperson for our committee. Look forward to working with you all and getting to know some of you better too. Um at that point, if we're
ready to adjourn, I hear a motion to adjurnn. So second that. Okay, without objection. We're adjourned. Thank you very much.