On May 22, 2024, the Frederick Mayor and Board of Aldermen held a combined Business Meeting and Workshop. The Business Meeting approved routine items: minutes of May 8, a surety bond release, and a special ordinance amending the FY2024 budget for speed camera revenue. The Workshop focused on discussing four draft charter amendment resolutions (8-11) from the Charter Review Committee, covering the legislative process, elected official compensation, and mayoral appointments. The meeting also included public comment and closing remarks from elected officials.
We have minutes to approve May 8th, 2024. Move for approval. Second. Motion by Alderwoman exempt check second by Alderman Shackleford. All those in favor. That is 4-0 with Albert McShane not present. We have a business meeting today. Items on the business meeting agenda considered routine by the mayor and board heard at the workshop pursuant to the rules of procedure. They will be approved in one motion without a separate discussion of each item unless any person present request an item be removed. An item that is removed will be considered separately at the end of the business meeting or a regular public meeting. If you would like to have any of the items below considered separately, please say so when I announce the category. Category A is release of sureties. Move for approval. Second. Motion by Alderwam exempt check, second by Alderman Shackleford. All those in favor, that is four zero. Thank you. Item B is special ordinances. Move for approval. Second. Motion by Alderman exempt check, seconded by Alderman Shackelford. All those in favor. That is 4-0. Thank you very much. Our workshop agenda today consists of a few more draft resolutions relative to the recommendations from the Charter Review Committee, something that we are trying to do on a regular schedule on the fourth Wednesday of each month, which is today. Just gonna jump right in here. If I could, um my chief of staff guy and Sampson is not here this afternoon. It says he is one of the others present. His sister is graduating from Tuscroar High School this afternoon, so he's there. Okay. So the first one concerns the legislative process. The committee's recommendation was that the charter contain an established process with timelines for the introduction consideration, public outreach, and passage of proposed legislation, the veto thereof, and the overriding of any veto. As we've discussed several times now in drafting these resolutions and trying to conform as closely as possible to the recommendations of the committee. So this resolution simply says an ordinance may be introduced by one or more members of the Board of Alderman. It will bear the name of each member introducing it, the date of introduction, and then it will proceed in accordance with the rules of procedure. Um and then just generally the rules will include provisions for public notice, approval, rejection, and amendment of ordinances. The specific timelines and things spelled out in the rules of procedure is that the rules are more flexible, they can be amended easily, they can be suspended if necessary. The references and the recommendation to vetoing and overriding vetoes, those are already covered in in other parts of the charter. So I didn't make any further any changes in that regard with respect to those things. That's that one. Are there questions on draft resolution eight? Yes. So just for my clarification, this ordinance introduction by members of the board of aldermen does not preclude the mayor from moving ordinances forward that are staff-based or routine. Or is that somewhere else in the charter? Well, that's a good question. And mostly I have been doing these resolutions completely independently of each other as we've discussed, and sort of in a vacuum. Um so I guess the answer is it it it depends on on whether or not other charter changes that have been discussed go into effect. Um you know, if the mayor's not participating in meetings of the legislative body, then probably the mayor would not be introducing ordinances. I'll note that the current charter says any aldermen may introduce proposed legislation for consideration by the board of aldermen with no further description or you know, detail of what that means, and obviously our normal practice for years and years and years has been that the executive branch brings forth legislation, whether you want to call that an introduction or not. So um so that's a that's a good question.