HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC 1978-03-16 Discussion Itemeifi' 0P MAW r ottDA
INTE14.6rEieE MEMORANbUM
ta, MAYOR MAt t ICE A. FERRE
VICE MAYOR MANdio RtBOS0
COMMISSIONER kOSt GORDON
COMMISSIONER (Rev.) T. R. OT$SON
COMMISSIONER J. t,, PLti *4 R, R.
01toM:
RALPH# G . ONGIE
City Cie
bAtt: Match 15, 1078
ivaJtCt:
Approval of City Cottittnissiotr
Nitrates,
IFtktittNCti:
tNCLetUktS:
Verbatim transcripts of the February 9 and 23 meetings are being sent directly
to the City Commission prior to being sent to the printshop for general distribu-
tion. It will then be in order for the City Commission to approve such Minutes
at our next Regular Meeting.
However, and because of concerns expressed at recent Commission Meetings, I feel
it necessary to explain to the members of the Commission that we are the only
City Clerk's office, of a city the size of Miami, to provide verbatim transcripts
(essentially a court reporter's transcript) of Commission Meetings. Even the
Clerk of the Board of Commissioners for Metropolitan Dade County does not prepare
the minutes in such detail. All the Board ever gets is a "Clerk's Summary" identical
in nature to the one we have been providing the Commission with (a marked Agenda
indicating action taken and the individual vote on same).
I instituted verbatim transcripts seven years ago when I became the Assistant City
Clerk because I felt we would be providing a superior and more detailed service.
The preparation of essentially a 100(plus or minus) page document (average length
of minutes) requires approximately three weeks of typing, proofreading, correcting,
printing and distribution. (This would presuppose the services of two full time and
one part-time transcribers of excellent skill involved, mainly, with transcription
only.
The transcription of the minutes represents, as you may be aware, only a portion of
our total operation; some other areas of responsibility involve:
1. ORDINANCES: Processing, advertising, indexing and filing.
2. BIDS: Receive, open, read in public at prescribed times, compilation of a
Bid Security List, transmittal to appropriate Department and proper
filing and indexing of non -awarded bids which are later sent back to
us.
3. CONTRACTS/AGREEMENTS: Attest, receive, index and file all contracts and
agreements.
4. RESEARCH PROJECTS: Estimated to be approximately 3,800 hours of research
yearly, with heavy emphasis on regular research jobs requested by
the Law Department on account of regular litigation on behalf of the
City.
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`ltMANC=AL DISCLOSURE REPOSITORY: Both county and city requirements.
6. ELECTIONS: Regular, Special and Employee Elections. (As election time
approaches, virtually the entire staff becomes involved in the
process).
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7. MICROEILM PROJECT: Summarizing, indexing and microfilming $2 years of
municipal records.
8. EXTENSIVE TEL%Pi1ONS CONTACT: We are constantly called upon to tender
public information on city matters over the phone and to redirect
citi2en inquiries to the proper city, state, county or federal
agencies, whet necessary.
9. LAWSUITS SUBPOBNAE-COURT APPEARANCES: Court appearances, pursuant to
Subpoenae Duces Tecutn which are commonly served on the City Clerk
as the Official Repository of Documents for the Commission.
Under ideal conditions we should not be but one meeting behind; however, the
practical reality of it is directly affected by:
a) Changes in dates of regularly scheduled Commission Meetings;
b) The addition of one or more Special Commission Meetings (as happens at
Budget time, for instance);
c) The many specific requests for specific excerpts of a given meeting; etc.,
all of which even though necessary, unfortunately, totally disrupts the continuity
of work in our office.
Notwithstanding all of the above, please be reassured that we shall continue to
make every effort to comply with all requests and to provide prompt delivery of
the Minutes and kindly ask you to bear with us if, at any time, circumstances force
upon us slight delays.
In closing, I would like to submit to you the following. The rule on the reading of
the minutes, as stated in Sec. 2-9, p.219, of our City Code is determined, at all times,
by the City Commission, as are all other rules of operational procedure. In essence,
it states:
"Order of Business and Rules of Procedure:
....One: The first order of business shall
minutes of the previous meeting.
A copy of these minutes shall be placed
commissioners to check the contents thereof
be the reading of the
before each of the
while being read...."
Obviously, this section was passed and adopted when Miami was a much smaller city
and prior to the advent of lengthy, verbatim minutes. Were we to comply with such
requirement, reading of essentially 100-page document would require an inordinate
amount of time.
Since this procedure could be easily amended by an ordinance which would more appro-
priately reflect and regulate the present circumstances of our City, I respectfully
suggest such Code change by the drafting of an Ordinance amending Section 2-9 of the
City Code.
RGOmh
cc: George F. Knox / Joseph R. Grassie
-2-
art OP MIAMI, nortiesA
INTERJOFFICE MEMORANDUM
tot COMMissioner t ose Cordon
alph C. Ongie
City Clerk
mot: March 16, 1978
PILE:
iUIJEet: pebruary 23, 1978 Minutes
Planning & toning Meeting
ENdLONukE9:
I have been advised of your visit to the office on Wednesday,
March 15, 1978, in regard to an "error"in the transcription
of Roll Call vote in connection with Motion No. 78-155 found
on page 38 of the minutes.
Please be advised of the following:
(1) Your "NO" vote was correctly recorded in both my book as
well as that of the Assistant City Clerk.
(2) The "Marked Agenda" for that meeting correctly reflected
your "NO" vote on both the First Reading of the Ordinance
as well as the attendant motion.
(3) Any telephone inquiry from the media was correctly handled
indicating your "NO" vote since the information in such
cases is correctly taken from my book.
(4) The printing of the minutes was stopped and the error was
corrected prior to any distribution to anyone else other
than the copy you received.
(5) The transcriber made the error partly due to the fact that
no "Voice reply" was audible which happens when you are
on.the telephone and do not reply vocally to the roll call.
In closing, I regret the inconvenience caused by this "error" and
will do my best to see that it does not happen again.
It is however the kind of thing we can expect when minutes are
rushed by your secretarial staff, such as was the case with these
minutes, and I did not have sufficient time to proofread all of
the many details prior to the copy being sent to you.
Respectfully submitted.
_Zee
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