by Joe Wilhelm Jr.
Staff Writer
Accountability was the goal of proposed amendments presented to the City’s Charter Revision Commission by its members at its Thursday meeting.
With no speakers scheduled to address the Charter Revision Commission, its Thursday schedule was filled with the discussion of pending issues that the Commission identified as possible amendments to the City’s Charter. The issues included “Constitutional Officer and independent authority budget coherence with the City budget, staggered City Council terms, City pension plans, Ethics Commission and Code and City strategic planning.”
Commission member Jeanne Miller proposed amending Section 6.05 of the City’s Charter to require a two-thirds vote of the City Council to override the mayor’s veto of expenditure in the City’s budget. Currently, only a majority vote, half of the 19-member electorate plus one, is required to override the mayor’s veto. Both Miller and Commission Chair Wyman Duggan have expressed concern over the ability of Jacksonville’s sheriff to lobby the City Council if he doesn’t agree with the mayor’s budget appropriation for the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.
“This is designed to give the mayor the ability, if the Council accedes to the sheriff’s request and passes a line item on the budget that the mayor doesn’t agree with, to execute a line item veto,” said Duggan. “It would be harder for the Council to override that than it currently is.”
Miller has previously expressed her support for the strong mayor form of government which is an essential part of consolidation and explained how the amendment contributed to that.
“This just makes (the Charter) a little more structurally sound in terms of the authority of
the mayor consistent with the rest of the Charter,” said Miller. “It’s after the budget has passed. It allows the mayor to go back in.”
The Commission members present voted unanimously in favor of the proposed amendment, which will be presented in a report to the Council at the end of February.
The Commission also discussed amending the Charter relating to retirement and pension benefits. Commission Vice Chair Mary O’Brien proposed an amendment that would require a thorough financial analysis of any addition or subtraction of retirement or pension plan benefits. Jacksonville Police and Fire Pension Fund Executive Director/Administrator John Keane explained that the analysis O’Brien was suggesting was already being done by the State of Florida. O’Brien countered by explaining the State has its own Ethics Code, but the City has its own Ethics Code and that requiring the analysis of the benefits would support the state’s efforts.
The Commission voted 12-1 in favor of the motion with Commission member Gary Oliveras being the dissenting vote. Oliveras is employed by the JSO and is enrolled in the City’s Deferred Retirement Option Plan (DROP), but the Office of General Counsel has advised him and the Commission that he doesn’t have a conflict of interest because he serves on an advisory board that is not responsible for passing legislation.
Commission member Jim Catlett requested more time to present information on staggering Council terms and the Commission ran out of time to discuss ethics issues.
The next meeting is scheduled for Jan. 28 at 9 a.m. at City Hall and speakers will include Philip Claypool, executive director and general counsel for the Florida Commission on Ethics, and Leslie Jacobs, and educational reform advocate and philanthropist, who has been working to improve the school system in New Orleans.
356-2466