1. Currently according to Roberts Rules of Order the Mayor is a voting member of every committee and eligible to be named or elected as chair of any of the committees (Clarifying information: former Mayors have chosen not to exercise these privileges).
2. The proposed changes to the Rules of Council not only eliminates the Mayor’s committee vote but also eliminates all other authority previously given the Mayor.
3. I’m hoping you ask your council members to amend the proposed changes. At this point there is no indication the current Administration Committee Chairman is willing to discuss in public;
- the process of hiring a new City Manager, more information
- the reasons we pick MEMI to run the Music Center
- the assumptions behind the cost projections of the Music Center and how these costs will affect the budget
- why we haven't returned the money we collect from Alcore back to the Huber Heights City School district where it belongs. more
Sincerely
Mayor Tom McMasters
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The City Attorney provided reasoning for the "modernization" of the Rules of Council that was presented at the last Administration Committee meeting.
Read his logic here - For heavens sake, logic tells us, it seems absurd the Mayor would attend committee meetings.
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Look at the new Rules of Council proposed at the Tuesday Administration Committee meeting. The highlighted sections show the changes. Compare the proposed rules with the ones council put in place in December. You will see the proposed rules would remove as much of the Mayor's authority as possible. All this was prompted because someone realized as an ex-officio member of the committees the Mayor is suppose to have a vote.
During the discussion about these changes not only did I propose that the Mayor remain a voting member of the Committees, I also proposed to amend the rules so that the Mayor is the de-facto Chairman of the Administration Committee. Even though the Mayor only votes on legislation when there is a tie, I believe most people expect the Mayor to influence the direction of the city. The Administration Committee is the most important committee in the City, as Chairman of that committee the Mayor can provide the direction residents desire.
That is the argument I would use for every situation. Today there is even a more pressing reason why the current chairman should be replaced by the Mayor. Today the Chairman of the Administration Committee is leading the city into financial chaos and new direction is desperately needed.
Keep in mind although the current Chairman claims he supports Fire and Police services it was just a short time ago he led the effort to divert $24,000 of Alcore property tax into TIF funds so he could pay for his Music Center. This year and every year since being built, $12,700 of Wal-mart's property tax originally destined for police and fire was diverted to TIF. When calculating the total divert from Fire to TIF don't forget to add in Meijer's property tax and every other TIF business from 201 to Gander Mountain! This is real money lost today, all for the promise of a BILLION dollars later. But instead of a BILLION dollars that promise is about to lead to a Income Tax Levy on November's ballot.
If raiding the police and fire funds aren't bad enough check out page 35 of the Music Center Validation Study. There you will see MEMI paid $6.8 million dollars to build essentially the same building your current Administration Committee chairman authorized Huber Heights to pay $12 million dollars to copy.
These are just a sample of the decisions resulting from having the wrong person in the wrong position.
Look over the proposed changes to the Rules of Council. Do you want your Mayor written out? Let your council members know how you feel. Better yet tell them you want the rules amended so that the Mayor becomes the Chairman of the Administration Committee. The City website does have a useful tool called the Ward Locator, that lets you look up which Ward you reside in. Also remember that the are two at Large members of Council; Mark Campbell and Jan Vargo.
Council plans to vote on the new rules Monday at the City Council meeting that starts at 7 pm. Hope to see you there.
Comments
Clarifying Information
Below you will find the email inquiry I sent to Mr. Schaeffer. Note that he never acknowledged the inquiry and I was unaware he had undertaken the task until Tuesday night when it was revealed he had consulted with other council members to conduct a total re-write of the Rules of Council that removed nearly all the duties and privileges of the Mayor.
As another piece of information at the previous Council meeting Ms Vargo had requested we talk about the Rules of Council requirement to discuss agenda items in committee meetings before they were allowed on the agenda for a regular session. This is item M 2. found on page 5 of the Rules of Council. Mr. Campbell had taken that task as head of the Administration Committee and will claim that task is what prompted him to "modernize" the document (which was last modified this past December and took effect Jan 1st).
Tom McMasters
Mayor of Huber Heights
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From: McMasters, Tom
Sent: Friday, February 14, 2014 9:33 AM
Subject: Voting as an ex-officio committee member
Alan,
The second paragraph in Section 4.04 of the City Charter calls out that the Mayor shall serve as an ex-officio member of all Council appointed committees.
The rules of council also address this in Section V. Committees
The Mayor shall be an ex-officio member of all committees. Committee Chairs shall advise the Mayor of all committee meetings at the same time that members are notified of such meetings.
Tony advises me the question of whether the Mayor as an ex-officio has a voting privilege has not previously been posed because it is always assumed the Mayor does not.
In researching this issue it appears that many organizations have also made this assumption but have recently become aware by reviewing Roberts Rules of Order that the default privileges of an ex-officio member of committees include voting privileges within that committee.
The only item presently that I see that would counter an interpretation that the Mayor would be a voting member of committees can be found in the first paragraph of section 4.04, â€cethe Mayor shall be a member of Council but shall not have the right to vote on issues before Councilâ€. However, if I recall correctly the definition of â€ceissues before Council†is defined differently than â€ceissues before Committeesâ€
Please advise as to whether as an ex-officio member of the committees the Mayor has voting privileges within the committees.
Thanks
Tom McMasters
Mayor of Huber Heights
Mayor Final Oversight Authority
He advised me that the City Mayor is the person who has this oversight authority, and to go to him.
Regarding the City Counsel filling the City Manager position, I believe this should be posted in the Dayton Daily News and outside professional experienced people interviewed. We need a professional person who is in support of the city residents first. The present acting person in my view is not qualified for this "highly educated business knowledgeable requirements position".
I am in agreement that the Mayor become Chairman of the Administration committe. This is one of the most needed things at this time due to the alleged mismanagement of the city funds and our tax dollars.
I am not in agreement with Conncilmember Kalep proposed changes to the Rules of council. This is not standard to other city governments in the Dayton Area to which most of them are very successful in managing their city governments (ie. Kettering).
I believe any changes to the authority of the city council or the Mayor, should be presented to the residents to vote on.
Sincerely,
Thomas Wood
City Council Authority
I see that you are leading the charge to change the rules of the council. From a resident it is absolutely wrong. It seems you are spearheading the effort to remove the mayor for different boards. Why now, the previous mayor was part of everything….Tom McMasters is our mayor and was fairly elected and now changing the rules because he is asking tough questions on how the cities money is spent and accounted for and getting the word out to the residents to have them become better and more involved in their community. Wow this is what I hear. If this is accurate shame on you and the rest of the council. It is everyone's money in the city. Taking an elected official out of the process is not democratic…why because you and the rest of the council do not like his tough questions; or he does not go with the flow…There is only so much money in the pot to use and mortgaging our cities future by cooking the books and moving money around and trying to hang everything on the police and fire is wrong. I understand the different types of money as I have run several military installations and I know how to move money around. While it is not the same as in the city the overall concept is the same. While some money is fenced and can only be used for certain things others are used in one big pot and distributed as the city sees fit. Let me give you an example…last year we had a very mild winter and probably had excess funds, the money was probably moved somewhere else and now we have this winter and the city is saying overtime, salt reserves etc. are making us go broke. Well, all years are different and one year should not be the factor to cry I broke…better planning and stockpiles would have taken care of most…The mayor is an elected by the city residents and pushing him out because he is MAKING the people be accountable and also working hard to get the word out to the residents is good not bad…Asking tough questions of the council makes them be accountable and makes the city better in the long haul. Tom needs to have a vote on different boards and needs to chair the administration committee. I look forward to you answers and dialog with you on the rationale of the changes. I also understand there will probably be a levy on the August ballot for an income hike. Remember the last time…it was voted down by almost an 80-20 margin. The school levies were likewise voted down…by the same margins. Why you might ask. You and the rest of the council along with the previous mayor would not articulate the need and requirement and additional money and have open communication and hanging everything on the cause is police and fire cost….I think you are wrong. Without communicating with the residents the next time any increase in property tax, school levies will go down to defeat by equal margins. I think you and the other council members need to look the residents and public articulate what is in the best interest of Huber. Make the case. If it is voted down, plan something different. There are always many more ways to solve problem, just not in vacuum. You and the city council need to be held accountable for each and every action and full and open debate of the good and bad is required. Tom is not against different plans and initiatives, he just want s to make sure we address each and every concern. By electing a mayor and then because he asks tough questions and then changing the rules and put him as an outcast will be a larger PR headache for you the city council etc. by making elected officials outcasts and the ability to do anything good for the city, residents and getting justifiable funds for the residents will be flushed out and nothing will get done. In this day and age, the power of information, from the web, facebook, TV newspapers will consume time and shed bad light on the city and council…I do not think that it is what we need…Make the right decision with draw these changes, make Tom the chair of the Administrative Board, and be open and honest about the books…I am fully aware of the big plans the city has for the Heights Area development, but you and everyone needs to be open and honest will all. I look forward to feedback. This might be a little long and rambling but I apologize up front.