Charter Review Committee
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of the City of Rio Rancho 3
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MINUTES
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NOVEMBER 3, 2010 6:00 PM Council Chambers, City Hall 9
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MEMBERS PRESENT: STAFF PRESENT:
Karen Delle Site, At Large David Heil, District 1 Patrick McFarlin, District 2 John Paulson, District 3 Christopher Pacheco, District 4 Thomas DeFeo, District 6 Laura Fitzpatrick, Assistant City Manager
Roman Montoya, City Clerk
Rebecca Martinez, Deputy City Clerk
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MEMBERS ABSENT: 21
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Eddie Sanchez, District 5 24
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CALL TO ORDER AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
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David Heil called the meeting to order at 6:04 p.m.
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APPROVAL OF MINUTES
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1.
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John Paulson moved to approve the minutes. Seconded by Karen Delle Site.
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The motion carried by a vote of 6 FOR and 0 AGAINST.
YES: Karen Delle Site, David Heil, Patrick McFarlin, John Paulson, Christopher Pacheco, Thomas
DeFeo
NO: None
ABTAIN: None
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Minutes of October 27, 2010
CHARTER REVIEW AND AMENDMENTS
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2.
Article I General Provisions and Powers; Construction
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Mr. Heil explained that he had inquired if 1.07 B requiring 5 Qualified electors to file a notice of intent to
file a petition for a charter amendment was still a sufficient number. Rebecca Martinez, Deputy Clerk had
explained that in Albuquerque, the process to file a notice of intent also requires the signature of 5
registered voters. Mr. Heil asked how many registered voters are in Rio Rancho. Mrs. Martinez stated
that there are roughly 48,000. Mr. Heil then stated that this requirement should remain the same,
because a petition for a charter amendment would require approximately 7,000 registered voter
signatures, which is 15% of the number of registered voters from the municipal election immediately
preceding the filing of the notice of intent.
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Roman Montoya, City Clerk explained the petition verification process that occurs and stated that the
signatures would need to be collected and returned to the City Clerk's Office no later than 60 days from
the date the notice of intent was filed.
Christopher Pacheco stated that there may be changes to Article I at a later date depending on the form
of government that the committee decides to propose.
3.
Article II Governing Body
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2.01 Corporate Authority; Composition; General Powers
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Mr. Pacheco explained that he would consider a strong mayor form of government and stated that if the
City Charter was changed, he would also like to add one more city councilor, bringing the number up to
seven. Mr. Pacheco stated that the seventh councilor would prevent regular deadlock. In addition, if the
city did move to a strong mayor form of government, the Mayor would no longer be a member of the
Governing Body.
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2.02 Election: Terms
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Mr. Pacheco stated that if the form changes, this section would need to be revisited for possible
mod ifications.
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The following individuals spoke under public comment:
Chuck Wilkins, 591 Sava Dr.
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Mr. Montoya explained that in Albuquerque, the term limit requirement was overturned in court. Mr.
Montoya did not know if the court's decision applied to the office of Mayor or if it also included Councilors.
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Mr. Montoya stated that there are currently no term limits for Councilors or for the Mayor.
Mr. Pacheco stated that he would like to propose a term limit of two consecutive terms for Councilors. If a
Councilor is filling a partial term, this would not count towards the term limit.
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Thomas DeFeo stated that he would like to know the specifics of the court's decision prior to voting on the
term limit proposal.
The committee stated that they would be in favor of the term limits, pending receiving detailed information
on the Albuquerque court's decision.
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2.03 Council Districts
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Mr. Pacheco stated that if the committee considers a strong mayor, he would like to add one more city
council district to this section.
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Mr. Heil inquired if the city council districts meet the current criteria of as stated in 2.03C(2). Mr. Montoya
stated that the city strives for equally balanced socio-economic demographics within each district. Mr.
Montoya explained that there may not always be compact perfectly shaped districts.
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Mr. Paulson asked if the city would be required to add an additional council district if the population
increased,
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Mr. Pacheco stated that the form of government, along with the number of councilors would be
determined by the changes to the charter, if any, not because of the population increase.
Mr. Pacheco asked when the census data would be available and if the council redistricting would be
done prior to the Charter Review Committee having to present their recommendations.
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Mr. Montoya stated that the census data would be out in December 2010. At that time a Request for
Proposal (RFP) would be issued and the winning contractor would have several months to analyze the
census data and present recommendations to the Governing Body for approval.
2.04
Mr. Heil stated that he earlier inquired if the Governing Body could vote themselves an automatic raise.
Mrs. Martinez explained that if the Governing Body adopted a pay increase by ordinance, the raise would
go into affect after the next regular municipal election.
Mr. DeFeo asked if the raise would be retroactive for the members of the Governing Body who were in office at the time the increase was voted on. 14
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Mr. Montoya stated that the raise was not retroactive. 16
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2.06 18
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Mr. Pacheco stated that if the committee chose to add term limits, 2.06 would need to include language
stating that a partial term to fill a vacancy would not count towards the term limit.
Mr. Montoya provided an example of a partial term by sharing how Mayor Swisstack filled a vacancy for
two years and then running again for a full term.
2.07
Ms. Delle Site stated that she read through Chapter 10 of the New Mexico State Statutes and found that it
was reasonable language pertaining to the types of action that would result in forfeiture of office.
2.09 A.
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Mr. Heil inquired why the committee was asked to look at the postponement of Governing Body meetings.
Mr. Montoya stated that the Governing Body adopts an Open Meetings Act resolution each year in March.
The resolution includes meeting notice requirements, the locations in which the notices are posted and
when meetings are held. 37
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Mr. Montoya stated that the resolution references the Open Meetings Act. The Open Meetings Act does address how to postpone a meeting. Laura Fitzpatrick, Assistant City Manager, explained that the issue of how to postpone a meeting was
raised by various members of the Governing Body to Mr. Jimenez.
Mr. Montoya stated that he would provide the committee members with a coPy of the resolution. Mr. Pacheco explained that he feels it would be appropriate to handle the postponement of meetings through the resolution, rather than the City Charter. 2.14 50
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Mr. Pacheco inquired how original ordinances are currently kept and if the method is in conformance with
the Charter requirements.
Mr. Montoya explained that ordinances are codified and provided in hard copy and online iust after
adoption by the Governing Body.
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Mrs. Martinez explained how the original ordinances are retained, as well as, provided to individuals
requesting copies.
There was discussion on if the current language in the City Charter was still utilized by the Clerk's Office
in the preservation of ordinances and resolutions.
Mr. Montoya stated that he would ask the City Attorney's Office if 2.14 B is still needed in the City Charter.
OTHER BUSINESS
Mr. Pacheco stated that he would like to go over Articles 3 and 4 at the November 17, 2010 meeting. Mr.
Pacheco also recommended including Articles 1 and 2 on the notice so that the committee could make
changes if needed.
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Mr. DeFeo inquired if the committee should also include additional sections on the notice just in case the
committee gets through the other sections Quickly.
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Mr. Montoya stated that the committee has to give proper notice of anything they will be discussing. If it
is the will of the committee to include additional sections on the notice they may do so.
Mr. Heil asked the committee members what time they would like to end each meeting. Mr. Pacheco said
he would not mind if the meetings lasted until 9:00 p.m. Ms. Delle Site stated that she would like to see
the meetings end by 8:00 p.m.
The committee agreed that they will try to finish each meeting by 8:00 p.m., however if they are in a
heated discussion they will go longer.
Mr. Pacheco requested that James Jimenez and Mayor Swisstack be at the next meeting because the
committee will be addressing forms of government.
Mr. DeFeo also requested that each City Councilor be invited to attend.
Ms. Fitzpatrick recommended using the New Mexico Municipal League (NMML) as a resource. Ms.
Fitzpatrick explained to the committee that they should identify what they feel is not working well in the
current form of government and then consider how a different form would resolve the issue.
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Mr. DeFeo requested that the NMML be invited to the next meeting to provide information on different
forms of government utilized across the state.
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ADJOURNMENT
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Thomas DeFeo moved to adjourn the meeting. Seconded by Patrick McFarlin.
The motion carried by a vote of 6 FOR and 0 AGAINST.
YES: Karen Delle Site, David Heil, Patrick McFarlin, John Paulson, Christopher Pacheco, Thomas
DeFeo
NO: None
ABSTAIN: None
The meeting was adjourned at 7:22 p.m.
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APPROVED THIS NOVEMBER 17, 2010