council of five advisory committee meeting minutes

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Centreville Council of Five Ad Hoc Committee Meeting
December 19, 2019
6:30 p.m.
MINUTES
The December 19, 2019 Centreville Council of Five Ad Hoc Committee meeting was called to
order at 6:30 p.m. at the Liberty Building, 107 N. Liberty Street, 2nd floor meeting room. The
following members and staff were present: Joe Saboury, Ashley Kaiser, Nick Rowdon, Joe
Cichocki, Bill Seth, Eric Johnson, Jr.; Jeff Morgan, Town Council Vice President; Tim
McCluskey, Town Council Member; Steve Walls, Town Manager; Sharon VanEmburgh, Town
Attorney; and Carolyn Brinkley, Town Clerk.
Mr. Walls thanked the members for serving on this committee and taking time out of their
personal lives to serve.
Introductions
Each member introduced themselves to the audience.
Nominations for Chair
Mr. Saboury made a motion to nominate Eric Johnson, Jr. as Chair of the Council of Five Ad
Hoc Committee. Ms. Kaiser seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
Nominations for Vice Chair
Mr. Johnson asked if anyone had a nomination or would like to volunteer for Vice Chair. Mr.
Saboury stated he would volunteer to serve as the Vice Chair. Mr. Johnson made a motion to
nominate Mr. Joe Saboury as Vice Chair of the Council of Five Ad Hoc Committee. Mr.
Cichocki seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
Deliverables
Mr. Johnson read the deliverables as required by the Town Council:
 All meetings shall conform to the Maryland Open Meetings Act and provide the
opportunity for public comment
 Work with Town Attorney Sharon VanEmburgh and include her in your meetings;
reference her memo to the Town Council dated November 5, 2019 regarding the Council
of Five
 Please take into account the cause and effect of any recommendations which would
require additional charter changes and their effect on each other
 A budget of $5,000 is available which can include attorney time, administrative expenses,
and professional services
 Look into other jurisdictions that have made this transition for advice
 Provide at least five (5) separate ideas of how to make the transition
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 At the first meeting, a chair will be elected to run the meetings and a meeting timeline
will be established
 A progress update to the Town Council is requested at their January 16, 2020 meeting
which will include a timeline for measurables and an estimated completion date
Mr. Johnson suggested going through Ms. VanEmburgh’s November 5th memo and look at each
question at a high level. He suggested not getting into too much detail but getting everyone’s
thoughts and feelings in order to establish a cursory path to begin.
1. Districts – not a definite make-up of members were for or against. Additional data is
needed to determine if districts are a pertinent avenue. Ms. VanEmburgh has contacted
MML (Maryland Municipal League) for additional data on determining districts.
Concerns have been heard about how many candidates there will be within a district and
will each district get a representative to run. Continue to look at the data and what
information MML has to send. Districts have to be determined by population.
2. Term of Office – There was discussion whether it should be four- or five-year terms and
four years seems to be the most common for councils of five. Majority of the committee
were in favor of four (4) year terms.
3. Staggered terms or all elected at once – All were in favor of staggered terms.
4. Transition existing terms – the committee skipped this topic at this time.
5. President/Vice President / Mayor/Vice Mayor – Ms. Kaiser stated that it would depend
on what is decided with the districts and that at-large candidates could be elected with a
title. Mr. Rowdon stated that he felt this committee is not responsible for determining
titles and should be left to the elected officials. All were in favor that this committee
does not need to determine titles and how they should be elected.
Discussion:
 All members were in agreement that terms should be staggered. Ms. Kaiser is not in
favor of keeping three (3) sitting members at once which would require an off-year
election.
Timeline
 The committee discussed the need to develop a schedule in order to determine and layout
a timeline. Information needed from staff are:
o Charter amendment schedule – referendum period, posting requirements and,
advertising requirements
o Election schedule – nomination form/financial disclosure requirements; Board of
Elections and Ethics Commission meeting schedule; and advertising requirements
 The committee would like to get information out to the public as quickly as possible but
as accurately as possible.
Meeting Schedule
 The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, January 7, 2020 at 6:30 p.m. at the Liberty
Building, 107 N. Liberty Street, 2nd floor meeting room.
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Committee Roundtable
 Consensus is that it needs to be completed quickly but strategically and feels the
committee is off to a good start.
 Mr. Johnson reviewed current deliverables:
o Ms. VanEmburgh will gather data from MML and other sources regarding
districting; Ms. Brinkley will gather census data;
o Consideration of marking and soft education;
o Consider Charter impact while developing language to add two (2) seats
o Next meeting is January 7th at 6:30 p.m.
 Mr. Johnson asked Ms. VanEmburgh if the deliverables list from the Town Council could
be amended. She stated that she would speak to the Council.
Citizens Comments
Lou Armstrong, Church Hill Road; Elaine Studley, Liberty Street; and Steve Kline, Elm Street;
offered comments.
Adjourn
There being no further business the December 19, 2019 Centreville Council of Five Ad-Hoc
Committee meeting adjourned at 7:43 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Carolyn M. Brinkley
Town Clerk
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