Notes: Council Committee of the Whole

March 24 Pensacola City Council Committee of the Whole notes:

In the end, the Committee of the Whole approved the budget for the Charter Review Commission, but earlier in the afternoon the outcome sure didn’t seem certain.

The reasons for lots of frantic phone calls by CRC proponents earlier in the day became apparent when Councilman P.C. Wu spoke on the group’s budget. Wu talked about the grim reality of budget cuts and city employees losing their jobs. The councilman also mentioned a recent trip he took to Tallahassee, where he said he learned next year’s statewide budget cuts will total $3 billion.

Wu also said he’s a board member of the Council on Aging of West Florida, where eligible seniors now only receive one meal a day, and it’s frozen.

Wu indicated he wouldn’t approve the CRC’s proposed $65,010 budget, $50,000 of which its members believed had already been secured when they began their meetings.
Though other committee members also spoke as if they wouldn’t approve the budget, it passed 9-1, with only Wu dissenting.

All committee members were present.

CRC members DeeDee Ritchie and Mark Crutcher were among the charter review proponents in the audience.

CRC chair Crystal Spencer told the committee members her group does not have charter experience and, referencing the white paper and a 2007 memo, said neutral expert witnesses and speakers are needed to educate them, which requires a budget.

Most of the budget, $30,000, is for six speakers’ visits.

Three hundred thousand to $500,000 was a range given for CRC budgets in other cities, albeit some larger.

Spencer also noted two of the group’s consultants, Margaret Stopp and Robert Freedman, are being paid, and that money is coming from somewhere.

In addition, legal consultant Stopp’s hourly wage is a discounted discount, and consultant William Haraway is performing CRC work daily pro bono, the chair said. Spencer, a lawyer, also noted she does a great deal of CRC work without being paid. She also said Ideaworks is handling the public relations at a largely discounted rate.

“So we have cut this budget down to bear bones,” Spencer said.

Still, Deputy Mayor John Jerralds asked for “a cap – to not let this thing get out of control.”
Jerralds also asked what is expected of the expert witnesses. Haraway said the CRC will bring in academics, practitioners and other city managers to become educated on different forms of government before the CRC begins its review of the charter.

“We decided on the front end to go ahead with it,” said Councilman Mike DeSorbo, who was among the committee members who asked that the CRC to keep them apprised of its moving line items around.

Jerralds also asked if there is an in-house ad agency the CRC could use instead of Ideaworks. Spencer said the group notifies 42 news outlets of its meetings. The CRC chair also said she has written some of the press releases and she has a journalism degree, but she has “long sense forgotten AP style.”

Councilman Mike Wiggins said he supports the budget, but he hopes the CRC will hear from city council members. “That’s a no-charge line item…” Wiggins said.
Spencer said the group plans to.

Mayor John Fogg said all city council members should be involved. Otherwise, “it’s just not healthy for the whole process.”

Councilman Marty Donovan noted sale of the property at 16 S. Palafox hasn’t closed. City manager Tom Bonfield has indicated the CRC will be funded through the estimated $440,000 sale, of which $300,000 is allocated to Escambia Area Transit and $50,000 to MGT of America to review the city’s procurement practices.

Donovan also asked if the CRC can reduce its budget to $50,000 or less.

“I think that it would be quite difficult,” Spencer said. She noted the new charter can be written by the attorneys on the CRC with pro-bono work through the Bar Association. But to reduce the budget by $15,000, they would have to reduce the number of speakers.

Donovan said he’s watched the videos of the CRC meetings, and “there seems to be a lot of misunderstanding about how city government works.” He reiterated Wiggins’ suggestion for the CRC to hear from city officials free of charge.

“I’m not being paid,” said consultant Haraway. “I’m not a resident of the City of
Pensacola. I’m a university professor with three or four degrees. I think it’s only fair to present all sides of the debate.”

Regarding the budget, Councilwoman Jewel Cannada-Wynn said it’s “not out of line,” from her research. But after a mention of strong mayor, she said she thought the CRC’s goal was to “identify the weaknesses and strengths in the current charter.”

“We don’t have enough information to have an agenda, candidly,” Spencer said.
Councilman Jack Nobles said he has every belief that the property will close, “but I have been surprised before.
“I’m torn. I really am torn.”

Councilman Sam Hall said “we’ve got to fund it and not let it die from lack of funding.”

“If we’re going to do it, let’s do it right,” said DeSorbo, who added that he wouldn’t even consider a charter recommendation that only included input from two experts.

The League of Women Voters’ Sharon Barnett and Dan Lozier, an attorney who works with Spencer, encourage the committee members to approve the budget. Lozier even offered to do the legal work pro bono.

After the vote approving the budget, there were sighs, a high five and an audible pat on the back in the audience.

In other business, the committee made appointments to a number of boards, and discussed the upcoming City Evaluation and Appraisal Report and the selection process for a new city attorney.

Councilman Ronald Townsend suggested the committee rescind the ad for a new city attorney and instead use “upward mobility” to promote a qualified candidate from within.

Also, a number of Pensacola sanitation employees spoke on behalf of their service and their jobs when solid waste consolidation was discussed as follow-up from the recent joint city-commission meeting.

Donovan also talked about the security concerns he has at City Hall.

In other business, the committee approved allowing FDOT to install patterned textured pedestrian crosswalks on Bayfront Parkway.

Members also discussed buying property from Baptist Health Care for annexation.