2018 CHARTER REVIEW COMMISSION MARCH 12, 2018 at 6:30 P.M. Austin City Hall, Room 1029 301 W. 2nd Street AUSTIN, TEXAS CURRENT BOARD MEMBERS: Joy Authur Roger Borgelt Martha Cotera Matt Hersh Fred Lewis Diego Martinez-Moncada Karl-Thomas Musselman Jessica Palvino Jeff Smith Tane Ward Ingrid Weigand AGENDA CALL TO ORDER 1) CITIZEN COMMUNICATION: GENERAL (3 minutes to speak) The first 10 speakers signed up prior to the meeting being called to order will each be allowed a three-minute allotment to address their concerns regarding items not posted on the agenda. 2) APPROVAL OF MINUTES a) Approval of minutes from February 26, 2018 and the March 5, 2018 meetings. 3) NEW BUSINESS The Commission may discuss and take action on the following agenda items: a) Recommendation from the Campaign Finance and Ethics Working Group on an Independent Ethics Review Commission. b) Recommendation from the Campaign Finance and Ethics Working Group on a Voucher Program. c) Recommendation from the City Auditor regarding staff of the Auditor’s Office being exempt from Municipal Civil Service. d) Discussion on the impact of redistricting on the 2022 Election. e) Discussion on Revenue Bonds 4) FUTURE MEETING DATES AND AGENDA ITEMS The Commission may discuss and identify additional meeting dates and future agenda items, topics or presentations. ADJOURNMENT The City of Austin is committed to compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Reasonable modifications and equal access to communications will be provided upon request. Meeting locations are planned with wheelchair access. If requiring Sign Language Interpreters or alternative formats, please give notice at least 2 days (48 hours) before the meeting date. Please call or email Myrna Rios or Jannette Goodall with the City Clerk’s Office, (512-974-2210 or myrna.rios@austintexas.gov or jannette.goodall@austintexas.gov), for additional information; TTY users route through Relay Texas at 711. For more information on the 2018 Charter Review Commission, please contact Jannette Goodall at 512-974-2210.
1 2018 CHARTER REVIEW COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING MINUTES FEBRUARY 26, 2018 The 2018 Charter Review Commission convened in a regular meeting on Monday, February 26, 2018, Austin City Hall, 301 W. 2nd Street, Austin, Texas. Chair Palvino called the Commission Meeting to order at 6:36 p.m. Commission Members in Attendance: Commissioner Authur Commissioner Cotera Commissioner Hersh Commissioner Lewis Commissioner Musselman Chair Palvino Commissioner Smith Commissioner Ward Commission Members absent: Commissioner Borgelt Commissioner Martinez-Moncada Vice-Chair Weigand Staff in Attendance: Jannette Goodall, City Clerk’s Office Myrna Rios, City Clerk’s Office Jerikay Gayle, Law Department 1) CITIZEN COMMUNICATION: GENERAL (3 minutes to speak) One speaker: Jason Hadavi (City Auditor’s Office) 2) APPROVAL OF MINUTES a) Approval of minutes from February 12, 2018 and February 19, 2018 meetings. The motion to approve the minutes from the February 12, 2018 (as amended to include the names of the organizations represented by the speakers) and the February 19, 2018 meetings was approved on Commissioner Lewis’s motion, Commissioner Smith’s second on an 8-0 vote. 3) NEW BUSINESS The Commission may discuss and take action on the following agenda items: a) Recommendation on budget presentation by Frank Rodriguez. Presentation was made by Commissioner Lewis (see attachment). The estimated fiscal impact is 5 full-time employees at an annual cost of $800,000. Action on this item was postponed to March 5th, 2018 without objection. b) Recommendation on public voucher program. 2 Commissioner Lewis provided an update on the recommendation submitted by the Campaign Finance and Ethics Working Group. (See attachment) A motion to adopt the proposed recommendation with the final recommendation returning to the Commission for adoption was approved on Commissioner Lewis’s motion, Commissioner Musselman’s second on a 6-2 vote. Those voting aye were: Chair Palvino, Commissioners Arthur, Cotera, Lewis, Musselman and Ward. Those voting nay were: Commissioners Hersh and Smith. Direction was given to the Working Group regarding the following proposed options (see attachment): • Consider two smaller voucher amounts ($25) rather than one $50 voucher on item 1. • Change the date to January 1, clarify an expiration date for the voucher and clarify any provisions to validate a voucher has been allotted to a candidate by a citizen for item 2. • Remove “or donate” from item 3. • Consider increasing the seed money from $5,000 to $20,000 for item 9. c) Discussion on the impact of redistricting on the 2022 Election. This item was postponed to …
1 2018 CHARTER REVIEW COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING MINUTES MARCH 5, 2018 The 2018 Charter Review Commission convened in a regular meeting on Monday, March 5, 2018, Austin City Hall, 301 W. 2nd Street, Austin, Texas. Chair Palvino called the Commission Meeting to order at 6:33 p.m. Commission Members in Attendance: Commissioner Authur Commissioner Borgelt Commissioner Cotera Commissioner Lewis Chair Palvino Commissioner Smith Commissioner Ward Vice-Chair Weigand Commission Members absent: Commissioner Hersh, Commissioner Musselman and Commissioner Martinez-Moncada Staff in Attendance: Jannette Goodall, City Clerk’s Office Myrna Rios, City Clerk’s Office Jerikay Gayle, Law Department Lynn Carter, Law Department 1) CITIZEN COMMUNICATION: GENERAL (3 minutes to speak) No speakers registered. 2) APPROVAL OF MINUTES a) Approval of minutes from February 26, 2018 meeting. This item was postponed to March 12, 2018 without objection. 3) NEW BUSINESS The Commission may discuss and take action on the following agenda items: a) Recommendation Council Budget and Efficiency Officer. Presentation was made by Frank Rodriguez (see attachment). The item was approved as amended below on Commissioner Lewis’s motion, Commissioner Cotera’s second on a 7-0 vote. Commissioner Ward was off the dais. On the proposition language to read “….(1) information with respect to the budget, appropriations, …”. d) Recommendation from the Petition Working Group on revisions to the petition process. Commissioner Borgelt provided an update on the recommendation submitted by the Petition Working Group. (See attachment) 2 The following recommendations were made regarding Power of Recall requirements: • To revise the second sentence to state that “…and shall be treated as a ballot measure for campaign finance reporting requirements from the date such notice is filed.” • To revise the first sentence to clarify that “The people of the city reserve the power to demand to recall any member …”. A motion to adopt the proposed recommendation relating to the Power of Referendum was approved on Commissioner Borgelt’s motion, Commissioner Smith’s second on a 7-0 vote. Commissioner Ward was off the dais. A motion to adopt the proposed recommendation relating to the Power of Recall with the recommendations listed above was approved on Commissioner Lewis’s motion, Vice-Chair Weigand’s second on an 8-0 vote. b) Recommendation on Charter provisions related to terms and appointments of Planning Commission Members. Jannette Goodall, City Clerk’s Office and Jerikay Gayle, City Law Department provided a brief history of the issue and the staff recommendation for the planning commission appointments and terms to …
AUSTIN INDEPENDENT ETHICS COMMISSION Subchapter I - Commission 1.01. Commission Jurisdiction. The Austin Independent Ethics Commission is established to impartially and effectively administer and enforce all city laws relating to ethics, campaign finance, campaign disclosure, conflicts of interest, financial statement disclosure, lobbyist regulations, revolving door, disqualification of members of city boards, and certain conflict of interest and ethics laws, and other responsibilities assigned the Commission. Comment: The Commission’s jurisdiction is drafted broadly to provide the Austin Independent Ethics Commission (EC) authority over all City ethics-related laws. 1.02. Commission Membership The Commission shall be composed of five (5) members, whom shall be selected per Subchapter V below. The Commission shall select its chair from among its members. Comment: Most cities have 5-7 Ethics Commissioners, rather than out current 11 Ethics Review Commissioners (ERC, because a smaller size tends to be more productive than a larger commission, in a specialized subject area such as ethics. 1.03. Qualifications. All Commissioners shall be registered voters and be residents of Austin for at least 5 years prior to appointment. All Commissioners shall not have served for three years before their appointment as an elected official, political consultant, officer or employee in a political party (other than a precinct chair), lobbyist, City of Austin employee, City of Austin contractor, or candidate for state or local government. All Commissioners shall have demonstrated impartiality and have expertise in ethics, transparency, campaign finance, investigations, enforcement, or other relevant subject matters. All Commissioner shall attest to their support for administering and enforcing all laws under the Commission’s jurisdiction. ; no person shall be appointed who has a history of opposing the Commissions laws or similar laws. Commissioners not maintaining these qualifications automatically forfeit their office and can no longer serve on the Commission in any capacity. Comment: These qualifications are similar to those for Ethics Commissioners in other cities and for the Austin Independent Citizens Redistricting Commissioners. The period of time for various qualification can be adjusted as well as the scope of the restrictions. We thought it best city employees and city contractors not serve as Commissioners, but those provisions are not as typical. 1.04. Terms. Members of the Commission shall serve for a term of five (5) years ending on May 1 of the fifth year of such term and until their successors are appointed and qualify; except the initial five commissioners to be appointed shall by lot …
The Proposed Independent Ethics Commission and the City Auditor: Which Body Should Have Jurisdiction Over Various Conflicts of Interest Investigations? By Fred I. Lewis (3/12/2018) The issue here is the respective investigation authority over conflict of interest and ethics investigations between the City Auditor and the proposed Independent Ethics Commission (“Ethics Commission”). The Commission’s other jurisdictional areas, such as campaign finance and lobbyist disclosure, are not in question. Currently, conflict of interest and ethics (hereafter conflicts of interest”) investigations are handled under Austin City Code, Section 2‐3, by the City Auditor for City officials and employees in various ways: 1) The City Council, City Council staff, and City Manager. The City Auditor hires an outside audit firm to investigate (because of the City Auditor’ sown potential conflict of interests) and the matter is heard by the Ethics Review Commission (ERC). Austin Code, Section 2‐3‐5(K). Recommendation: Since the City Auditor does not handle these investigations, I believe these conflicts of interest allegations should be investigated and presented by the proposed Ethics Commission’s staff. 2) Municipal Civil Service Employees. The City Auditor investigates municipal civil service employees for violations of city laws and policies, including ethics violations; the cases are heard by the Municipal Service Commission, not the Ethics Review Commission. Austin Code, Section 2‐3‐5 (L) Recommendation: Keep the process the same, with the City Auditor investigating and the Municipal Civil Service Commission hearing the conflicts of interest allegations. These municipal civil service cases will not be heard by the Ethics Commission, so its staff should not be investigating these issues. 3) The City Clerk, Clerk of the Municipal Court Clerk, members of Board and Commissions, and City employees who are not members of the Civil Service. The City Auditor currently investigates conflict of interest allegations against these officials and employees, and their cases are heard by the ERC. Austin City Code, Section 2‐3‐5 (L). All these cases would now be heard by the proposed Commission, since there would be no remaining body to hear them. Recommendation: I believe the 2 Clerks should be under the Commission’s investigatory jurisdiction (similar to the City Manager) and the non‐civil service employees under the City Auditor’s (because of the intermingling of city personnel policies with these issues and the workload). The more difficult issue, for me, is whether the Board members should be under the Auditor’s or Commission’s investigatory authority. I believe it should be …
1 Campaign Finance Committee Recommended Draft (March 12, 2018) (Highlights below are changes pursuant to our preceding discussions since February 26) I. Austin Democracy Dollars Program (A) Austin Democracy Dollars Program’s Purpose. Democracy Dollars are vital to ensure all the people of Austin have equal opportunity to participate in political campaigns and be heard by candidates, to strengthen democracy, to fulfill the purposes of single-member districts, to enhance candidate competition, and prevent corruption. (B) Issuance of Democracy Dollars. (1) Amount and Delivery. On the first business day of February of the year in every municipal election year, the Austin Independent Ethics Commission (hereafter “Commission”) shall mail to each person who was on or about that January 1 duly and actively registered to vote in the City of Austin, at his or her address in the voter registration records, two $25 in Democracy Dollars Voucher ("Democracy Dollars") for each city-elected position, council and mayoral that the person may vote for in Austin, for a maximum of four $25 Democracy Dollars Vouchers. However, the Commission may deliver Democracy Dollars online or in other manners if the Commission so elects. Thereafter, the Commission shall regularly issue two $25 Democracy Dollars Vouchers for each city-elected position that the person may vote for in Austin, to any person becoming a duly registered City of Austin voter after that January 1st, up until the third Tuesday in November of the election year. Any adult natural person who resides more than 30 days in the City of Austin, and who is a registered voter, or is eligible to vote under state law, may opt in to the Program and obtain an equivalent number of Democracy Dollars Vouchers by application to the Commission. Any such eligible adult may request Democracy Dollars be mailed or emailed to an address other than that indicated in the voter registration records, or be delivered at the Commission offices, and as soon as the Commission shall have developed a secure system for such distributions of Democracy Dollars, including distribution online, in person, or to an address not listed in the voter registration records. No resident outside Austin, no corporation or other non-human entity, no person under the age of 18 years, and no person ineligible to vote under state law, may receive a Democracy Dollars Voucher. The Commission shall set by regulations the delivery dates, redemption dates, and other deadlines for Democracy Dollar …
Office of the City AuditorAs of March 1, 2018Corrie StokesCity Auditor Jason HadaviDeputy City Auditor Katie HoustonAssistant City Auditor Patrick JohnsonAssistant City Auditor VacantChief of Investigations Andrew KeeganAssistant City Auditor Olga OvcharenkoQuality Assurance Coordinator Robert ElizondoAuditor III Karl StephensonAuditor II Rachel CastignoliAuditor II Sam NaikAuditor I Kathie HarrisonAuditor III Mary DoryAuditor III Matt Clifton Auditor III Tope Eletu-OdiboInvestigator III Keith SalasInvestigator II Angie GuerreroDept. Exec. Assistant Henry KatumwaAuditor III Jojo CruzAuditor II Galen Eagle BullInvestigator II Tyler MyersAuditor I Nick BroussardInvestigator 1 Cameron LagroneAuditor II Neha SharmaAssistant City Auditor Kate MurdockAuditor I John AcostaAdmin. Specialist Bobak ReihaniAuditor Temp
§ 11. - REVENUE BONDS. The city shall have power to borrow money for the purpose of constructing, purchasing, improving, extending or repairing of public utilities, recreational facilities or facilities for any other self liquidating municipal function not now or hereafter prohibited by any general law of the state, and to issue revenue bonds to evidence the obligation created thereby. Such bonds shall be a charge upon and payable solely from the properties, or interest therein, acquired and the income therefrom, and shall never be a debt of the city. All revenue bonds issued by the city for projects whose total cost exceeds $__ million shall first be authorized by a majority of the qualified electors voting at an election held for such purpose. All power and water purchases whose total price for each project exceeds $__ million shall also first be authorized by a majority of the qualified electors voting at an election held for such purpose. The amounts subject to voter approval shall be modified each year with the adoption of the budget to increase or decrease in accordance with the most recently published federal government, Bureau of Labor Statistics Indicator, Consumer Price Index (CPI-W U.S. City Average) U.S. City Average. The most recently published Consumer Price Index on December 31, 2018 shall be used as a base of 100 and the adjustment thereafter will be to the nearest $1,000.00.
