PLACEMENT: Proclamations and Special Presentations
TITLE:
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ORGANIZATION OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
executive summary
The Board of County Commissioners is requested to adhere to the outlined steps for restructuring in accordance with the policy.
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DEPARTMENT: Administration
PREPARED BY: Name: Donna Gordon
Title: Administrative Services Program Coordinator
REQUESTED BY: Don G. Donaldson, P.E., County Administrator
PRESET:
PROCEDURES: None
BACKGROUND/RELATED STRATEGIC GOAL:
Organization of the Board of County Commissioners takes place each year at the second regular meeting in November. In an election year, reorganization takes place on the second Tuesday following Election Day. [FL Stat. 100.041(2)(a)].
The Board is asked to follow these steps:
1. Elect a Chair and Vice Chair.
2. Approve the use of the prior Vice Chair's signature plate for check signing purposes until the new signature plate arrives.
3. Adopt a Resolution designating who may sign documents on behalf of the Board.
4. Make appointments to Boards and Councils which require Commission membership. Administration Staff will notify the liaison for each board/council.
5. Districts 1, 3 and 5 Commissioners make District appointments to the Local Planning Agency and Board of Zoning Adjustment and adopt the Resolutions. Administration Staff will contact the members and send them Sunshine Law information.
6. Review and approve the proposed schedule of Board of County Commission Meetings for the 2025 calendar year.
7. Note the schedule of Board approved holidays for the upcoming 2025 calendar year.
8. Adopt the amended Rules of Procedure. Staff is recommending changing the order of the meeting to allow public comment prior to approval of the consent agenda. Additional non-substantive changes include spelling and grammatical changes.
ISSUES:
After appointing two Commissioners to the Value Adjustment Board, the Board is asked to elect one of the two primary Commissioners to be the Value Adjustment Board Chair.
Rules of Procedure
Currently, the Board of County Commissioners adopts the Agenda and Consent Agenda after the Pledge of Allegiance and prior to 9:05 AM Public Comment. The proposed changes move public comment after approval of the additional items and the agenda, but before approval of the consent agenda. Allowing 9:05 AM Public Comment prior to the approval of the consent agenda provides the public a meaningful opportunity to be heard on individual items set on the consent agenda prior to approval by the Board of County Commissioners.
Additionally, the following changes have been made:
• Page 4 - Politicking. Updates election cycle references for candidate advocacy to elect, defeat candidate etc., from “2006” to “2024” and ’04’ to ’26.’
• Page 7 - E. Rules Of Debate. Changes the word “should” to “shall” in first paragraph when describing a commissioner’s desire to speak. In section 5, the words “Should” are also replaced by the word “shall.”
• Pages 9-10 - J. Appearance Before The Commission. Revises subsection 2 to state members of the public are provided three instead of two opportunities to address the Board. The revised section has the first opportunity for public comment during 9:05 AM Public Comment, the second opportunity during the time at which the item is under consideration, and a third opportunity for public comment at the 5:05 PM Public Comment portion of the Board meeting. The revisions remove the distinction for the content of the public comment, (i.e. agenda items, non-agenda items, etc.) and instead allows the public the opportunity to address the Board on any issue of County, person, or general matters of concern.
• Pages 10-11. - J. Appearance Before The Commission. Revises subsection 4.b. changing the word “should” in the first sentence to “shall.” Removes the phrase “if comments are during the Public Comment portion of a Board meeting and not related to an Agenda Item” from subsection 4.b(2)(b). and adds the words “and civil to” subsection 4.b.2(b)(5). Removes redundant subsection 4.b.(2)(6) which reads “Be respectful and civil to other members of the public, County Staff, and the Commissioners.”
• Page 11. - J. Appearance Before the Commission. Revises subsection 4.j. correcting a spelling error of the word “consensus,” and removes the criminal penalty for a person who refuses to leave a Board meeting from being subject to “arrest for committing the offense of trespass in a structure, in violation of Section 810.08(1), Fla. Stat.” to instead being issued “a trespass warning in accordance with County policy.”
• Page 13. - B. Elections. Corrects a spelling error of the word “conjunction” in subsection 2.
• Page 15. - IV. Order Of Business For Board Meetings. 1. Call To Order. Removes subsections c. Additional Items, d. Approval of Agenda, and e. Approval of Consent Agenda. Creates new subsection 3. Approval of Agenda and adds former subsections Additional Items and Approval of Agenda as subsections 3.a. and 3.b. respectively.
• Pages 15-16. - IV. Order of Business For Board Meetings. 3. Comments. Renumbers this subsection from number 3 to number 4. Removes the phrase “on matters not on the Agenda” in subsection a and replaces it with the words “regarding any scheduled agenda item or any non-agenda matter(s) of personal or general concern.”
• Pages 16-17. - IV. Order of Business For Board Meetings. 4. Consent. Renumbers subsection from 4 to 5 and changes name from “Consent: to “Approval of Consent Agenda.” Adds the former phrasing from subsection 1.e. “Approval of Consent Agenda” to the new subsection 5.a. Adds new subsection 5.b. - Discussion of Pulled Consent Items, which reads “Agenda Items that were pulled from the Consent portion of the Agenda for discussion by the Board before a vote is taken.” Renumbers former subsections 5-14 to subsections 6-15 in accordance with the addition of the new subsection 4 Comments.
• Page 17. - IV. Order of Business For Board Meetings. 13. Public Adds the following phrase “any agenda item pr any non-agenda matter(s) of personal or general concern” and removes the phrase “items not appearing on the Agenda.”
• Page 17. - V. Board Meetings - Cancellation Corrects spelling error of the word “display” in the second paragraph.
LEGAL SUFFICIENCY REVIEW:
To the extent this item contains legal issues it has been reviewed for legal sufficiency, though it is primarily a matter of Board policy.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
RECOMMENDATION
1. Move that the Board elect a Chair and Vice Chair.
2. Move that the Board approve the use of the prior Vice Chair's signature plate for check signing purposes until the new signature plate arrives.
3. Move that the Board adopt a Resolution designating who may sign documents on behalf of the Board.
4. Move that the Board make appointments to Boards and Councils which require Commission membership.
5. Move that the Board confirm Commission Districts 1, 3, and 5 appointments to the Local Planning Agency and Board of Zoning Adjustment and adopt the Resolutions.
6. Move that the Board review and approve the proposed schedule of Board of County Commission Meetings for the 2025 calendar year.
7. Move that the Board note the schedule of Board approved holidays for the 2025 calendar year.
8. Move that the Board adopt the amended Rules of Procedure.
ALTERNATIVE RECOMMENDATIONS
None
FISCAL IMPACT:
RECOMMENDATION
None
ALTERNATIVE RECOMMENDATIONS
None
DOCUMENT(S) REQUIRING ACTION:
☐Budget Transfer / Amendment ☐ Chair Letter ☐Contract / Agreement
☐Grant / Application ☐Notice ☐Ordinance ☒Resolution
☒Other: 3 Resolutions