OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

City Commission Workshop on Robert's Rules of Order and Open Government – October 14, 2025

City CommissionTuesday, October 14, 2025
BodySarasota, Florida
SessionCity Commission
DateTuesday, October 14, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 3:18:53

Transcript — Verbatim
22:06

All right, good morning, everyone.

22:08

I'm opening this uh October 14th, 2025 City Commission workshop.

22:15

And our first agenda item is a and our only agenda item is a presentation of Robert's rules.

22:23

If we could get a brief presentation, um introduction, city attorney would like to do that.

22:28

All right.

22:29

Mr.

22:29

Paul Zach.

22:30

Mayor Commission, appreciate it.

22:31

So uh as discussed before, this was something I've wanting to do and we're able to do today uh in conjunction with the city clerk.

22:38

Uh bringing before you today is Randy Mora, who's uh highly respected local government attorney, city attorney in his own right, and does a lot of training and statewide presentations on these very topics today.

22:49

So I'm excited to have him part of my team.

22:52

As you all know, I use uh subcontractors, including his firm.

22:55

They're an integral part of my team, incorporated them into my uh operations, and including today.

23:01

This will be the one of many trainings that I'm gonna ask him to do.

23:04

Hope to do this on a annual basis before you.

23:16

So without further ado, I'll let uh Randy introduce himself a little further.

23:20

Uh thank you, Commissioners.

23:21

This is gonna be very hard to to complete.

23:23

I'm not used to having such a handsome man on a screen in front of me.

23:27

Um attorney Polzek indicated.

23:33

I'm certified by the Florida Bar in City, County, and local government law.

23:37

Um I've been doing this practice for eleven years now, roughly.

23:40

Uh through my practice, I've served as a city attorney in four different cities in Pinellas County.

23:45

I'm presently the city attorney in Pennell's Park among the larger jurisdictions in our county.

23:49

In addition to serving as a city attorney, uh I work with my firm with the Florida Municipal Insurance Trust, which is the insurance side of the League of Cities.

23:57

And through that, we represent cities in litigation.

24:00

And then finally, I have this, which I consider to be my favorite part of my practice, uh, which is educating uh elected officials, employees, staff members serving government.

24:09

It's uh, you know, low stress to billable ratio.

24:12

Uh, we're not starting from a place of crisis.

24:14

We're starting from a place of just wanting to do a little better and ra elevate our awareness about how we can serve our job and how we can serve the public trust.

24:22

Um as we go today, my aim for you is to get the information you seek.

24:28

Um, I I'm sure each of you come to the table wanting to learn something specifically or address something specifically in the broad scope of the topics we're discussing.

24:36

This is your meeting.

24:37

I'm just here.

24:38

Um so if you have those um questions, uh please ask them.

24:42

I want to make sure this gives you and your public uh the value added that you might seek uh from having somebody in person as opposed to just clicking play on a YouTube video.

24:51

Uh as a just far as far as roadmap and expectations.

24:55

This is not in satisfaction of your four-hour ethics uh Sunshine Law Records training.

25:00

It's my understanding many of you have already done that.

25:03

If any of you it seems there might be some uh jokes and trends about who might be latecomers to certain topics, but if anybody hasn't done their training yet, um we are offering a four-hour training through the League of Cities tomorrow, uh four hour webinar, which I'll be handling uh to check that box and then one more in December if you're really trying to get in under the wire.

25:22

Um that said, today is going to focus on a few topics.

25:25

Um I believe firmly in um shared expectations, and and that's what a lot of today is going to be about.

25:32

And so this is our roadmap of the topics we're going to cover.

25:35

Uh if any of you don't see any of the topics that you were hoping to cover, then we can get the disappointment out of the way early and just start there.

25:42

Um we're gonna be starting with ethical guidelines.

25:45

I think it's an important pole star when you're talking about any topic, and as some of you may have noted, I do quarterly ethics trainings with the League of Cities, so it's uh an important part to me of government practice.

25:55

We'll talk about team-based solutions and service, which really focus on your city, how you work, and how all the parts fit together.

26:01

Uh we in before we talk about public meetings in terms of parliamentary procedure, we're gonna focus on the the foundation, just the basics of the Sunshine Law Open Meetings Law.

26:11

It's not gonna be an hour, I promise.

26:13

Um, but just enough to build the foundation so we can talk about how meetings work.

26:17

So while this has been, you know, uh pitched and explained to you as a Roberts Rules meeting, that's really a very small part of what this is.

26:23

This is really uh more towards a totality of how we how we conduct ourselves as public officials.

26:30

Um concerns before I get started.

26:33

I'm usually uh accustomed to standing and pacing, so if you see me fidgeting, uh please understand I'm doing my best to sit still.

26:40

Um that said, uh we'll start where every I think every public presentation should start in Florida, which is under our constitution, your office is a public trust.

26:50

And what the Constitution says is that a public office is a public trust, and the public shall have the right to secure and sustain that trust against abuse.

26:58

Uh very fancy words, but a very important concept, which is you do not hold your office for your own benefit.

27:05

Right?

27:06

And you know that because there's really not enough benefit to it.

27:10

Um there's no fringe benefits to public service.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Public Meetings Law█████████████████████████████████████████████47%
Public Records Management███████████11%
Quasi-Judicial Hearings███████████11%
Procedural██████████10%
Public Engagement██████████10%
Ethics And Public Trust██████6%
Public Records██2%
Personnel Matters1%
Pending Litigation1%
Summary of Proceedings

City Commission Workshop on Robert's Rules of Order and Open Government – October 14, 2025

The Sarasota City Commission held a workshop on October 14, 2025, from 10:04 AM to 1:00 PM, focused on Robert's Rules of Order, the Sunshine Law, ethics, and the roles of charter officers. Attorney Randy Mora (Trask Daigneault, LLP) led the presentation. No official actions or votes were taken; the session was informational.

Discussion Items

  • Presentation on Ethical Guidelines and Public Trust: Attorney Mora emphasized that a public office is a public trust and that commissioners should serve all residents, not just specific groups. He discussed conflicts of interest under Chapter 112, Florida Statutes, noting that passion projects are permissible as long as they serve the public interest.
  • Team-Based Solutions and Charter Officer Roles: The presentation covered the powers and duties of the City Commission, Mayor, City Manager, City Auditor and Clerk, and City Attorney. Key points included:
    • The City Commission establishes policy, appoints/removes charter officers, and must not interfere with administration.
    • The Mayor is selected by the Commission, serves as presiding officer, has a vote but no veto, and is a commissioner in all respects.
    • The City Manager is the executive branch, akin to a CEO, and handles day-to-day management. The manager is appointed by four votes, removed by three.
    • The City Auditor and Clerk serves as parliamentarian, custodian of records, and manages agendas, minutes, pensions, and elections. It was noted that the office has received compliments for efficient records response.
    • The City Attorney is the chief legal advisor to the Commission and charter officers, with attorney-client privilege belonging to the collegial body, not individual members.
  • Sunshine Law and Open Meetings: Attorney Mora explained constitutional and statutory requirements, judicial interpretations, and compliance requirements. He noted that a workshop or work session is legally no different from any other public meeting. He advised that consistent public comment procedures are advisable to avoid equal protection challenges.
  • Quasi-Judicial Hearings: The distinction between legislative and quasi-judicial actions was explained. In quasi-judicial hearings, commissioners apply established criteria to evidence and must base decisions on competent, substantial evidence. Commissioner Ahearn-Koch raised questions about receiving evidence outside hearings and how to incorporate it into the record.
  • Parliamentary Procedure: The presentation covered the flow of meetings, motions, amendments, debate, and voting. Attorney Mora stressed that Robert's Rules are a guideline, not law, and that the city's rules of procedure take precedence. Key points included:
    • Only one motion can be on the floor at a time.
    • Amendments should be introduced with separate public comment to allow input on changes.
    • Points of order and breaches of order were discussed, emphasizing self-policing.
    • Commissioners are required to vote unless a legal conflict exists (special private gain/loss).
  • Discussion on Workshops and Public Comment: Commissioners debated whether to allow public comment at workshops. Attorney Mora recommended consistency, either always allowing or never allowing, to avoid legal risk. City Auditor and Clerk Griggs noted that current rules do not provide for public comment at workshops.
  • Question on Sunshine Law and Workarounds: Commissioner Ahearn-Koch shared a tactic mentioned at a Florida League of Cities meeting: using a noticed workshop with public access and minutes to discuss issues without a quorum. Attorney Mora cautioned against viewing this as a workaround and advised consulting the city attorney on risk tolerance.
  • Question on City Manager Authority: Commissioner Ohlrich asked if the city manager can appoint additional deputies. Attorney Mora confirmed the manager has the authority to delegate and assign, but budget amendments and title changes may require commission approval.
  • Question on Amending Previously Adopted Minutes: City Auditor and Clerk Griggs asked about the process. Attorney Mora stated that minutes are a permanent record and can be amended, but prior versions are not deleted. The amendment creates a new record showing what was changed.

Key Outcomes

  • The training will be provided annually to the City Commission. A separate, customized training for advisory boards and ad-hoc committees will also be conducted annually.
  • No formal decisions or votes were taken. The workshop was educational and clarified procedures for future meetings.
  • Attorneys and staff will continue to work on clarifying evidence standards for quasi-judicial hearings and potential code improvements.

Meeting Transcript

All right, good morning, everyone. I'm opening this uh October 14th, 2025 City Commission workshop. And our first agenda item is a and our only agenda item is a presentation of Robert's rules. If we could get a brief presentation, um introduction, city attorney would like to do that. All right. Mr. Paul Zach. Mayor Commission, appreciate it. So uh as discussed before, this was something I've wanting to do and we're able to do today uh in conjunction with the city clerk. Uh bringing before you today is Randy Mora, who's uh highly respected local government attorney, city attorney in his own right, and does a lot of training and statewide presentations on these very topics today. So I'm excited to have him part of my team. As you all know, I use uh subcontractors, including his firm. They're an integral part of my team, incorporated them into my uh operations, and including today. This will be the one of many trainings that I'm gonna ask him to do. Hope to do this on a annual basis before you. So without further ado, I'll let uh Randy introduce himself a little further. Uh thank you, Commissioners. This is gonna be very hard to to complete. I'm not used to having such a handsome man on a screen in front of me. Um attorney Polzek indicated. I'm certified by the Florida Bar in City, County, and local government law. Um I've been doing this practice for eleven years now, roughly. Uh through my practice, I've served as a city attorney in four different cities in Pinellas County. I'm presently the city attorney in Pennell's Park among the larger jurisdictions in our county. In addition to serving as a city attorney, uh I work with my firm with the Florida Municipal Insurance Trust, which is the insurance side of the League of Cities. And through that, we represent cities in litigation. And then finally, I have this, which I consider to be my favorite part of my practice, uh, which is educating uh elected officials, employees, staff members serving government. It's uh, you know, low stress to billable ratio. Uh, we're not starting from a place of crisis. We're starting from a place of just wanting to do a little better and ra elevate our awareness about how we can serve our job and how we can serve the public trust. Um as we go today, my aim for you is to get the information you seek. Um, I I'm sure each of you come to the table wanting to learn something specifically or address something specifically in the broad scope of the topics we're discussing. This is your meeting. I'm just here. Um so if you have those um questions, uh please ask them. I want to make sure this gives you and your public uh the value added that you might seek uh from having somebody in person as opposed to just clicking play on a YouTube video. Uh as a just far as far as roadmap and expectations. This is not in satisfaction of your four-hour ethics uh Sunshine Law Records training. It's my understanding many of you have already done that. If any of you it seems there might be some uh jokes and trends about who might be latecomers to certain topics, but if anybody hasn't done their training yet, um we are offering a four-hour training through the League of Cities tomorrow, uh four hour webinar, which I'll be handling uh to check that box and then one more in December if you're really trying to get in under the wire. Um that said, today is going to focus on a few topics. Um I believe firmly in um shared expectations, and and that's what a lot of today is going to be about. And so this is our roadmap of the topics we're going to cover. Uh if any of you don't see any of the topics that you were hoping to cover, then we can get the disappointment out of the way early and just start there. Um we're gonna be starting with ethical guidelines. I think it's an important pole star when you're talking about any topic, and as some of you may have noted, I do quarterly ethics trainings with the League of Cities, so it's uh an important part to me of government practice. We'll talk about team-based solutions and service, which really focus on your city, how you work, and how all the parts fit together. Uh we in before we talk about public meetings in terms of parliamentary procedure, we're gonna focus on the the foundation, just the basics of the Sunshine Law Open Meetings Law. It's not gonna be an hour, I promise. Um, but just enough to build the foundation so we can talk about how meetings work.

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TRANSCRIPT VIA PUBLIC VIDEO
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