2010.07.13 – Minutes from City Council Meeting
Sign Ordnance = Ordnance first proposed:
2010.08.10 – Minutes from City Council Meeting
Sign Ordnance = first reading and preliminary vote:
2010.09.14 – Minutes from City Council Meeting
Sign Ordnance = 2nd reading and FINAL vote:
Actual copy of ordnance #248:
2010.11.04 - Revised Agenda for City Council Special Meeting on Nov 4th (Revised):
City Council Members in Office at Time of Ordnance Approval:
Member Term Expires
Gregory J. Olinde, President October 2010
Gloria J. Ortiz, Treasurer October 2012
Raymond D. Carey October 2012
Theodore O. Lokey October 2010
Richard F. Tull October 2010
City Council Members in Office Currently:
Member Term Expires
Richard Lee Outen, Jr. Pres. October 2014
Darlene Kerr, Treasurer October 2014
Raymond D. Carey October 2012
Edwin A. Cowell October 2014
Gloria J. Ortiz October 2012
DID FRUITLAND VIOLATE THE OPEN MEETING ACT IN ADOPTING ITS SIGN TAX?
ReplyDeleteThe Act requires a statement of the specific basis for going into closed session and publication of specific info about what happened behind the closed doors. Here's what the minutes say:
Public Hearing Ordinance No. 248 – Sign Ordinance ‐ 7:40 p.m.
At 7:40 p.m. President Olinde convened a Public Hearing to discuss Ordinance No. 248, which was given First Reading at the August 10, 2010 Council Meeting, and which repeals Ordinance No. 164and enacts in its stead an ordinance providing for a new annual license fee scheme for advertising signs within the City, including signs which are mobile, and/or temporarily providing for limitation of placement of said signs, and providing penalties for violation of the ordinance as municipal infractions.
After City Solicitor Mitchell presented Ordinance No. 248 for Second Reading, President Olinde opened the floor for public comment; after discussion, President Olinde closed the Public Hearing and called for the motion.
On a motion by Councilor Carey that was seconded by Councilor Tull and approved by a four to zero vote in favor becoming effective September 14, 2010, Ordinance No. 248 was adopted with modifications to Section I, Paragraph 3 and Section IV as articulated by Solicitor Mitchell.
SOMETHING'S ROTTEN IN FRUITLAND!
Thanks for the information Diane but you are still not worth all the money they gave you. How did you pull that off without the council's knowledge?
ReplyDeleteI trust the new members to handle this matter. Getting rid of Tull, Lokey, and Olinde is the best thing for all of Fruitland. Tull voted on things that wouldn't apply to him since he's moving out of Fruitland. For someone who claimed he cared so much about this little place, he can't get out of it fast enough.
ReplyDeleteAs for the former council, Olinde never knew what to do, he always relied on Mitchell to tell him what to do next. Mitchell knows the laws for Open Meetings. He violated this. The Mitchell brothers don't seem to think the rules apply to them. Andrew got caught this time!
No, 12:19-- Olinde just 'ended' the public hearing part-- he didn't take it into a closed session.
ReplyDeleteBut they probably do violate the Open Meetings laws by having what they refer to as a "staff meeting to cover agenda items" at 7pm in the back room before the formal meeting.
But, according to their esteemed counsel Andrew Mitchell, by leaving the conference room door 'open', they aren't having a 'closed' meeting.
Do you buy that? Boy, isn't that some transparent government..
ALL DISCUSSION OF CITY BUSINESS should be conducted in the council chambers, in the open, in public, except for those very few instances where personnel issues or real estate/legal issues require a closed session, and those should be well-documented and recorded.
It's time for ALL the back-room crap to end.
Hopefully under the new council it will, though there remains some game-playing and micro-managing that needs to stop.
Hopefully it won't require having to embarrass somebody.
They be gone but legal action can be taken??
ReplyDeleteGlad to see that Gloria Ortiz was not part of this blatent shafting of the Fruitland business community. The rest of you..Shame on you. And Mitchell, guess you don't have an office in Fruitland to hang your shingle on. NOPE !
ReplyDeleteGloria Ortiz was part of it by omission-- she didn't show up for the meeting. That was especially bad because of the other agenda items that were discussed in the same meeting, like changing the funding for the new police building, etc.
ReplyDelete