HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem #01 - Discussion ItemTO : Honorable Mayor and Members
of the City ommission
FROM
Walter J.d
City Clerk
CITY OF MIAMI. FLORIDA
INTER -OFFICE MEMORANDUM
DATE : May 3, 2000 PILE'
SUBJECT: Special Commission Meeting -
May 4, 2000
REFERENCES:
ENCLOSURES: (3)'
Our office is in receipt of three memoranda from Vice Chairman Gort, Commissioner Winton and
Commissioner Teele, requesting to have a special Commission meeting scheduled on Thursday,
May 4, 2000 beginning 10 a.m. (copies attached). The subject of said meeting is to discuss matters
covered in the letter of April 28, 2000 from the Financial Oversight Board and any other matters
related to the administration and the possible managerial transition.
City Code Section 2-330) states:
" Special meetings. Nothing in this section shall prohibit either the mayor, or the
commissioner designated as the presiding officer of the city commission, or three
city commissioners, upon the written notice delivered to the city clerk, from
calling special meetings at any time set by the city clerk, provided that reasonable
advance notice of same is given to the mayor, each member of the commission,
city manager, city attorney and the public. No business shall be conducted or a
vote taken at a special city commission meeting on business other than the
subject(s) for which the special meeting is called."
Pursuant to the above-cited section of the City Code, our office will appropriately post a notice
of this meeting, notify the Office of Media Relations of same and request that said notice be sent
out via Omni telefax and televised on our governmental access channel.
WJF:sl
c: Donald H. Warshaw, City Manager
Alejandro Vilarello, City Attorney
CITY OF MIAMI. FLORIDA
r~A-y `~
INTER-OFFICE MEMORANDUM
T~ Honorable Mayor and Members
of the City ommission
DATE : May 3, 2000
FILE
FROM ~ ~~~J'C%~/J(/
Walter J.~f
City Clerk
sus~ECr : Special Commission Meeting -
May 4, 2000
REFERENCES:
ENCLOSURES: (3)
Our office is in receipt of three memoranda from Vice Chairman Gort, Commissioner Winton and
Commissioner Teele, requesting to have a special Commission meeting scheduled on Thursday,
May 4, 2000 beginning 10 a.m. (copies attached). The subject of said meeting is to discuss matters
covered in the letter of April 28, 2000 from the Financial Oversight Board and any other matters
related to the administration and the possible managerial transition.
City Code Section 2-33(j) states:
"Special meetings. Nothing in this section shall prohibit either the mayor, or the
commissioner designated as the presiding officer of the city commission, or three
city commissioners, upon the written notice delivered to the city clerk, from
calling special meetings at any time set by the city clerk, provided that reasonable
advance notice of same is given to the mayor, each member of the commission,
city manager, city attorney and the public. No business shall be conducted or a
vote taken at a special city commission meeting on business other than the
subject(s) for which the special meeting is called." ,
Pursuant to the above-cited section of the City Code, our office will appropriately post a notice
of this meeting, notify the Office of Media Relations of same and request that said notice be sent
out via Omni telefaa and televised on oui• governmental access channel.
WJF:sI
c: Donald H. Warshaw, City Manager
Alejandro Vilarello, City Attorney
,,
CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA
INTER-OFFICE MEMORANDUM
To: Walter Foeman DATE: May 3, 2000 FILE:
City Clerk
SUBJECT:
i'
FROM: I dO (WI y GOrt REFERENCES:,
Commissioner ENCLOSURES:
I hereby request that a special city commission meeting be called for the
purpose of discussing the matters covered in the letter of April 28, 2000,
from the Financial Oversight Board and any other matters related to the
administration and the possible managerial transition. I suggest that such
a meeting be held on Thursday, May 4, 2000, at 10:00 a.m.
Thank you for your cooperation.
WG/kk
AGENDA/SPC COMM MTG 5-4-00
C: The Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Commission
Donald H. Warshaw, City Manager
Alejandro Vilarello, City Attorney
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CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA
' INTER-OFFICE MEMORANDUM
Vice Chairman Wilfredo Gort
O : DATE : FILE
& The Honorable City Commission May 2, 2000
SUBJECT
Meeting
=ROA;. Commissioner Johnny L. Winton RE=EREr1cES
ENCLOSURES: cZ ~' /^~
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Pursuant to the Apri127, 2000 Commission meeting, please be advised I am availal~l~';on -==° e
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May 4, 2000, at any time. I understand that there have been reports that the votes ar~~io_tr '"' ~
in place to reinstate the City Manager. The Sunshine Law prohibits me from discuss~mg~ ~
city business with my colleagues in any place but a public venue. This law precludes me
from knowing for certain how fellow Commissioners feel about this matter. I would like
the opportunity to discuss this important matter with my colleagues in a public meeting as
soon as possible.
Thank You.
JLW:jw
CITY OF MIAM[
MEMORAND~JM
TO: Members of the City Commission
FROM: Arthur E. Teele Jr., Comm' ione
DATE: May 2, 2000
~~ Response to the Oversight Board's Letter of Apri128, 2000
CORRECTED MEMORANDUM
Attached is a copy of the letter I am sending to the members of the Financial Oversight
Board (FOB). I encourage your review and your endorsement by your acknowledgment below.
Because of the time sensitive nature of the inquiry, this letter is being sent without your prior
endorsement.
Additionally, please consider this a formal request to convene a special city commission
meeting so we can address the FOB letter and other transitional issues. I would suQ~est
Thursday, May 4, 2000 at 10:00 a. m. or such other time as is convenient to the members of the
City Commission. I will present a resolution for your consideration that provides funding for the
position of a Budget Advisor to the mayor and city commission. The position is to be funded
from the mayor's budget.
At your earliest convenience, please acknowledge and return to the attention of the City
Clerk. Thank you.
Commissioner Wifredo Gort
Commissioner Tomas Regalado
Commissioner Joe Sanchez ~ ~ `~
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Commissioner Johnny Winton ~r.^.. ...
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Donald H. Warshaw, City Manager ,, ..w:.
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Alejandro Vilarello, City Attorney `~ --
Walter J. Foeman, City Clerk
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May 1, 2000
Maria Camila-Leiva, Chairperson
Miami Financial Emergency Oversight Board
150 West Flagler Street, Suite 1815
Miami, Florida 33130
Re: Your Letter of Apri128, 2000 to the Mayor and Members of the City Commission
Dear Ms. Camila-Leiva:
I am in receipt of your referenced letter and am deeply troubled that the Oversight Board,
notwithstanding the fine and laudatory service that it has provided this city and its citizens, has
overstepped its statutory and contractual authority. Even more appalling your letter invites us to
violate our own City Charter.
While many shaze a sadness at the recent events that have focused the world's attention
on our great city, those events have not changed the powers, duties or responsibilities of the
city's duly elected and appointment officers, or the Oversight Boazd.
Please be assured that the elected officials of Miami are extremely cognizant of the
approaching budgetary deadlines and actions necessitated by that ongoing process. It is a trying
experience ~ in the best of times, and becomes more daunting during stressful times, such as we
aze now experiencing. However, one thing remains unmistakably clear, "we," and that includes
the legislative and administrative branches of the city, and the Oversight Boazd, can and must
operate solely within the purview of applicable law.
On September 25, 1999, the members of the City Commission, then in office, found it
necessary to send a letter to Governor Jeb Bush, expressing great displeasure at an attempt by the
Oversight Board, at that time, to insert itself into the City's political process by acting on
requests by representatives of labor unions and attempting to influence events surrounding and
pertaining to a then pending election on a Charter .amendment regarding the City of Miami's
"Form of Government." As then pointed out, "history is replete with similar examples of
beneficial institutions overstepping their intended authority, and assuming a detrimental role
entirely different from their mandate...."
~~ Maria Camila-Leiva, Cha~son
~~ May 1.2000
Page 2
®\i
Respectfully, it is clear to this Commissioner that you are doing it again. Your referenced
letter directs that:
[T]he .Mayor and City Commission propose and approve in
principal and deliver to the Oversight Board bq =no later than May
5, 2000 a senior management team transition plan. .which
provides for the orderly transition of management from the current
City Manager and his staff.
Such a request is totally improper, and your attempt to cloak it in the garments of a "fiscal
imperative" does not obviate its improper nature. The appointment of the city's management
"team" is the exclusive purview of the City Manager. Tl~e Mayor and City Commission,
individually or collectively, are specifically and emphatically excluded from that process, under
penalty of law. Specifically, Sections 4(d) and 15 of the City Charter provide, inter alia, as
follows:
Neither the mayor nor any commissioner shall direct or request the
appointment of any person to, or his or her removal from, office by
the manager or any of the manager's subordinates, or take part in
the appointment or removal of offices and employees of the
administrative services of the city.... Any willful violation of the
provisions to this section by the mayor or any commissioner shall
be grounds for his or her removal from office by an action brought
in the Circuit Court by the state attorney of this county.
Consequently, under the Charter of the City of Miami, the chief administrative officer,
and the only individual authorized to assemble a management "team" for the City of Miami, is
the City Manager, who is appointed by the Mayor, subject to City Commission approval. The
Manager is solely vested with the authority to assemble the administrative apparatus of this City,
not the Mayor or City Commission, and certainly not the Oversight Boazd. I am not awaze of
any statute, contract provision, or Administrative Order of the Governor, which allows or even
implies your authority to act in such a presumptuous manner.
In the past the Oversight Board has been applauded for its good work in accord with its
statutory mandate, and again, I very sincerely thank you for your efforts and expertise. As
embarrassing and distressing as the current state of affairs may be, any Oversight Board
action(s), notwithstanding a disclaimer, which involve it in the City's political processes or
improperly in the City administrative processes, can never be considered benign. Quite to the
contrary, as has been stated before, such an action is insidious in character and enters a corridor
fraught with danger and presumptuousness.
- Maria Camila-Leiva, Cl~>rson
- May 1, 2000
Page 3
I respectfully request that the Oversight Board rescind or alternatively modify the subject
letter consistent with the interlocal agreement.
In direct response to the underlying concern contained in your letter, I intend to
immediately call for a special commission meeting and workshop to afford the Manager an
opportunity to outline a "transition plan." Additionally, I intend .to sponsor and introduce
legislation for consideration by the City Commission and Mayor that would establish a Budget
Advisor, and, pending the charter amendment currently on appeal to the Florida Supreme Court,
be funded from the Mayor's Office Budget.
Warmest regards.
~~~ - Faithfull
Arthur E. Teele, Jr.
Commissioner
Honorable Jeb Bush, Governor
Mayor and Members of the City Commission
Donald H. Warshaw, City Manager
Alejandro Vilarello, City Attorney
Walter Foeman, City Clerk
Merltbers of the Oversight Board
Gale Sittig
Mario D. Wallace, Esq.
- APR.28.2000 3~06PM S F A MIAMI OFFICE N0.891 P.2
®~[ L~~~~ ~~1~L~
150 West Flagler Street, Suite 1815
- Miami, Florida 33130
Phone (30~ 347-5633 Fax (305) 371.3160
Apri128, 2000
Honorable Joe Carollo
Mayor, City of Mianti
City of Miami Commissioners
3500 Pan American Drive
Miami, Florida 33133
Re: City of Miami
Dear Mayor Carollo and City of Miami Commissioners:
Robert Beatty
airTnan
SharoaBrown
Maria Camila Leiva
Sheldon Schncidcr
Gabriel Bustamaate
The Oversight Board like everyone in our community has watched
with sadness the events that have occurred in Miami since April 22, 2000.
As you know the Oversight Board has been vested with the responsibility to
oversee the fiscal affairs of the City to ensure that Miami recovers from its
financial emergency and that the health, safoty and welfare of the residents
of and the visitors to the City of Miami is maintained.
'The City has made great progress in recovering from its financial
emergency. Nonetheless, the City is at a crucial time in its road to financial
recovery. Through your efforts and those of the City's profcssional staff the
public financial markets have finally begun to consider Miami as a
financially credible municipality. Only recently and for the first time in
several years Moody's Investors Services revised its outlook for Miami's
general obligation debt from a "stable" outlook to a "positive" outlook.
Significantly, Moody's and other rating agency ,concerns over the financial
condition of the City have focused in large part on "significant turnover" in
the City's senior management. Assuredly, the City's recovery has benefited
from stability at the senior levels of City management. -
Unfortunately, the City has suffered recent loses in the senior
professional management of the City, The sad and untimely death of the
APR.26.2000 3~07PM S F A MIAMI OFFICE NO.B91 P.3
Mayor and City Commissioners
Apri128, 2000
Page - 2-
City's Finance Director, the departure of the City's Budget Director and the
imminent departure of the Assistant City Manager for Budget and Finance
may serve as impediments to the City's effective and timely budgeting
process. In addition as everyone knows last night Mayor Carollo took
action to fire City Manager Warshaw. Just today the City's Police Chief
resigned. These combined actions may serve to undermine Miami's
continued financial recovery.
As always the Oversight Board will not inject itself into the political
and personnel decisions undertaken by the Mayor and City Commission.
However, the Oversight Board will take steps to reject City action that
jeopardizes the .fiscal health of the City.
The City currently is in the midst of preparing its 2001/2002 Budget.
As you know Florida law requires that the City adopt a Budget as approved
by the Oversight Board by October 1, 2000..'Ihe City is scheduled to
submit a Proposed Budget and Five yeaz Forecast to the City Commission
on June 8, 2000 and the City Commission is scheduled to submit the
Proposed Budget and Five Year Forecast to the Oversight Board by no later
than July 2; 2000. The City cannot expect to satisfy these obligations
without experienced senior professional management in place.
Tn this crucial time in Miami's recovery the City must act to preserve
the managerial stability of the City, Criven these considerations the
Oversight Board requests that the Mayor and City Commission propose and
approve in principal and deliver to the Oversight Board by no later than
May 5, 2000 a senior management team transition plan that thoughtfully
and reasonably provides for the orderly transition of management from the
current Ciry Manager and his staff. Simply put the Oversight Board
considers it imperative that the City maintain strong professional
management and that the City undertakes an appropriate management
transition that does not leave a management void in the City.
IAPR.Z8.2000 3~07PM ~A MIRMI OFFICE
Mayor aad City Cammiseian~
A~ ag, zoao
Page - 3-
• NO.B91 P.4
Already the Oversight Board hag le'amed 'that cert$~a fines rating
agcecies have e~ressed concern over what appeaas to ba a as immxaent
void in tb,e City's prof~ss4.oaa1 management.
The City Est act to allay these valid concerns sand the Oversig~.t
$osarc'i loop forarand tm=eceaving tiv~ manages~aeant traasitioa plan that will
addiess theso con~rxrns .
s~e~y,
~Q¢14 CQI'Y) i L~r U~
Mara Camda-~.eiva
Chair, Oversight Board
cc: Oversight Board
Mr. Donald ®VaL's3~aw, ~tY ~
Gale Sittig
ivdarl~ D. Wallace, Esq.
® CITY OF MIAMI
MEMORANDUM
TO: Members of the City Commis,~i
FROM: Arthur E. Teele Jr., Co
DATE: May 2, 2000 ,
~: Response to the Oversight Board's Letter of Apri128, 2000
Attached is a copy of the letter I am sending to the members of the Financial Oversight
Board (FOB). I encourage your review and your endorsement by your acknowledgment below.
Because of the time sensitive nature of the inquiry, this letter is being sent without your prior
endorsement.
Additionally, please consider this a formal request to convene a special city commission
meeting so we can address the FOB letter and other transitional issues. I will present a resolution
for your consideration that provides funding for the position of a Budget Advisor to the mayor
and city commission. The position is to be funded from the mayor's budget.
At your earliest convenience, please acknowledge and return to the attention of the City
Clerk. Thank you.
Commissioner Wifredo Gort
Commissioner Tomas Regalado
Commissioner Joe Sanchez
Commissioner Johnny Winton
cc: Mayor Joe Carollo w/attach.
Donald H. Warshaw, City Manager w/attach.
Alejandro Vilarello, City Attorney w/attach.
Walter J. Foeman, City Clerk w/attach.
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