Month 1999-12 December


Meeting of 1999-12-9 Emergency Meeting

MINUTES
LAWTON CITY COUNCIL EMERGENCY MEETING
DECEMBER 9, 1999 - 8:30 A.M.
WAYNE GILLEY CITY HALL COUNCIL CHAMBER

Mayor Cecil E. Powell,        Also Present:
Presiding        Bill Baker, City Manager
            John Vincent, City Attorney
            Brenda Smith, City Clerk

The meeting was called to order at 8:30 a.m. by Mayor Powell. Notice of meeting and agenda were posted on the City Hall notice board as required by State Law.

ROLL CALL
PRESENT:    G. Wayne Smith, Ward One
        Richard Williams, Ward Two
        Glenn Devine, Ward Three
        John Purcell, Ward Four
        Robert Shanklin, Ward Five
        Charles Beller, Ward Six
        Stanley Haywood, Ward Seven
        Randy Warren, Ward Eight

ABSENT:    None.

STATEMENT OF REASONS FOR DECLARING EMERGENCY MEETING (stated below)

BUSINESS ITEMS:

1.    Consider approving a resolution amending Resolutions 99-138 and 99-146, by changing the date of the special election on the adoption of an employment agreement by and between the City of Lawton and the International Association of Firefighters, Local 1882, for the fiscal year 1999-2000. Exhibits: Resolution No. 99-147.

Baker thanked the Mayor and Council for attending on such short notice. He said yesterday afternoon he asked the Mayor to call an emergency meeting, which he agreed to do, and that was prompted by a telephone call from the local election board advising of a problem. Baker said resolutions and an ordinance had been passed that set an election for January 11 for two propositions; the first proposition was to consider the City or the Firefighter Union contract and the second proposition was a sales tax to support the contract if the firefighters contract was chosen by the public. He said the local election board advised him yesterday afternoon that the second proposition required a 60-day advance notice; on the first proposition, it is clear in the State Statutes that only 30 days is required, and we had been operating under the opinion that since both of these were directly related that both of them would fall under that statute as being union related and that each would only require the 30-day notice.

Baker said after receiving the information from the local election board, he consulted with the City Attorney and the City Clerk, and Vincent called the State Election Board and tried to convince them that 30 days was appropriate and they would not come off of that and confirmed what the local election board had stated.

Baker said he would like to state the nature of the emergency. He said it is required when an emergency meeting is called to state the nature of the emergency, and read as follows: "in the written minutes of an emergency meeting, the nature of the emergency and the proceedings occurring at such meeting, including reasons for declaring such emergency meeting, shall be included." Baker said the reason he asked the Mayor to call this emergency meeting was first, the statute allows for emergency meetings if the municipal corporation has or there could be an immediate, significant financial obligation or hardship imposed if the action is not taken. He said the second reason for the emergency meeting was in order to have an election on February 8th, today is the last date that we can pass the resolution. Baker said the statute also says that in matters of contract that once an arbitrator has rendered the decision and the Council calls for an election, that the election should be in a reasonable amount of time, and he did not know how you define a reasonable amount of time, but if you wait too many months, it would not be reasonable, and February would still be reasonable and we must comply with the 60 days. He said it is important to have both propositions voted on at the same date, so we are asking the Council in the first item, to pass a resolution to amend Resolutions 99-138, which was approved November 16 which called for a special election, and Resolution 99-146 that set the ballot propositions. Baker said we are asking that Council pass the resolution to amend both of those resolutions to change the date of the election from January 11 to February 8, 2000.

MOVED by Purcell, SECOND by Devine, to approve Resolution No. 99-147.

Beller said when we talk about the emergency portions of this, his concern was if there would be a problem as to whether this was, in fact, an emergency. He asked why it had to be an emergency meeting and why it could not have been called in the proper order with notices being posted and do this on Monday or Tuesday.  Beller said his concern was we may now cause another gray area over what we are trying to accomplish by convening an emergency meeting.

Vincent said in order to meet the State mandated election deadline for filing resolutions for the February 8 election, today is the final day; if we waited past today, we would have to go to the March election and that is certainly possible, but the nature of the emergency is in order to meet the public policy of getting the contract on to the people, the election on the contract issue, there is a financial requirement to fund the firefighters' decision, if that is the one the people make, in order to meet Article 10, Section 26 of the Constitution, which is the debt limitation provision which says we cannot enter into obligations without the proper funding to fund those obligations. Vincent said it has been the City's policy, as adopted by Resolution 99-146, that sufficient funds are not available, therefore, we have to keep the sales tax and the contract provisions together on the same ballot.
Beller said his question would be is February 8th a drop dead date; does it have to be done by February 8th. He said the only concern was whether we are once more getting ourselves into a problem or gray area where someone can shoot at us again if it is, in fact, not an emergency. Vincent said we have two gray areas; the gray area of the emergency which his office and the City Manager believe it is an emergency, and the other gray area is how far you can push off an election on a contract under the reasonable time standard of the statute. Vincent said we got the decision back on November 4th or 7th, or early in November, and if we had done everything possible, we might have even made a December election but we did make the January election, and now because of the state election board's ruling that the financial part, the sales tax part, has to have the 60-day notice, which we do disagree with and they offered to allow us to file a lawsuit against them but that would just complicate everything, February 8th is the next available date and we believe it does meet the emergency test under the financial requirements.

Shanklin asked Vincent if he was saying it is legal to do this. Vincent said as far as he was concerned it was legal because you have the quagmire of the reasonableness of the contract and then you have the financial obligation, so there is a potential problem either way you go. Shanklin said we hire Mr. Vincent to make these decisions and he has made them.

Williams said if we are truly looking at a 60-day window, getting the decision back from the arbitrator sometime early in November, that would have put the election in January at the earliest, so if we are here because of the test of reasonableness, he did not know if February versus March, it would still seem to be in a reasonableness criteria, and would have the same questions Beller had expressed.

Devine asked if the firefighters were objecting to this, and if we are going to have a gray area, where is the gray coming from; if no one objects, that is one side of the argument and this is the other side in trying to settle this. He asked Gary Brooks if they had a problem with this.

Gary Brooks, Fire Union President, said he did not know that anyone had listened to any of their objections so far and that they were just watching.

Purcell said you have got a gray area, regardless of what you do there will be the problem; if someone wants to declare today to be a problem because this was not an emergency, that would be one question; if you wait until next Tuesday and do it as a non-emergency and then not have the election to March, someone could object to that. He said it would be a similar problem either way.

VOTE ON MOTION: AYE: Williams, Devine, Purcell, Shanklin, Beller, Haywood, Warren, Smith. NAY: None. MOTION CARRIED.

(Title only)  Resolution No. 99-147
A resolution amending Resolutions 99-138 and 99-146, by changing the date of the special election on the adoption of an employment agreement by and between the City of Lawton and the International Association of Firefighters, Local 1882, for the fiscal year 1999-2000.

2.    Consider adopting an ordinance amending Ordinance No. 99-42 relating to revenues by inserting a new date, as set by Resolution No. 99-147, for the election referenced in the section establishing the effective date of the ordinance. Exhibits: Ordinance No. 99-43.

Baker said this is a related and companion item, on December 7, Council passed Ordinance No. 99-42 which would allow voters to increase the rate of the current sales tax to provide funding for the collective bargaining agreement, if the agreement proposed by the International Association of Firefighters is selected by the voters. He said the item this morning is an ordinance to amend that ordinance to change the date from January 11, 2000, to February 8, 2000. Baker said he was advised by the City Attorney that the ordinance needed to be read verbatim.

Ordinance was read in its entirety by the Mayor as follows:

"Ordinance No. 99-43

An ordinance amending Ordinance No. 99-42 relating to revenues by inserting a new date, as set by Resolution No. 99-147, for the election referenced in the section establishing the effective date of the ordinance.

Be it ordained by the Council of the City of Lawton, Oklahoma, that:

SECTION 1. Section 4 of Ordinance No. 99-42 shall be amended to read as follows:

Section 4. Effective Date. This ordinance shall be in effect on and after April 1, 2000, subject to the approval of a majority of the registered, qualified voters of the City of Lawton voting on the same, to be held February 8, 2000, in the manner prescribed by law.

SECTION 2. The provisions of Ordinance No. 99-42, except as amended herein, remain in full force and effect.

SECTION 3. Publication. The full text of this ordinance shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the City of Lawton, Oklahoma.

Adopted and Approved by the Council of the City of Lawton, Oklahoma, this 9th day of December, 1999."

MOVED by Purcell, SECOND by Smith, for approval of Ordinance No. 99-43. AYE: Devine, Purcell, Shanklin, Beller, Haywood, Warren, Smith. NAY: Williams. MOTION CARRIED.

There was no further business to consider and the meeting adjourned at 8:45 a.m. upon motion, second and roll call vote.