HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-G&IMR-2006-04-24 GOVERNANCE AND INTERMUNICIPAL RELATIONS COMMITTEE PROCEEDINGS
CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK
Regular Meeting Monday April 24, 2006 7:00 p.m.
PRESENT:
Chair Joel Zumoff
Alderpersons (3) David Gelinas, Shane Seger, Mary Tomlan
OTHERS PRESENT:
Mayor Peterson
City Attorney— Daniel Hoffman
Information Management Specialist— Sarah Myers
EXCUSED:
Alderperson Michelle Berry
ADDITIONS TO OR DELETIONS FROM THE AGENDA:
Chair Zumoff requested the addition of the following item: "A Resolution to set up a joint
study group to investigate possible shared services and possible consolidation between
the City of Ithaca and the Town of Ithaca."
No Committee member objected.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES: March 27, 2006
By Alderperson Seger: Seconded by Alderperson Tomlan
RESOLVED, That the minutes of the March 27, 2006 Governance and Intermunicipal
Relations Committee meeting be approved with noted corrections.
Carried Unanimously
PUBLIC COMMENT
Kyllikki Inman, Town of Ithaca, addressed the Committee regarding Second Hand
Dealer's licenses.
Holly Hollingsworth, Town of Caroline, addressed the Committee regarding the flying of
flags on the City Hall flagpole.
Joseph Wetmore, Town of Ithaca, addressed the Committee regarding Second Hand
Dealer's licenses.
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April 24, 2006
Discussion of Record Keeping Requirements for Second Hand Dealers, City
Code Sections 232-25 through 232-28
Chair Zumoff explained that this legislation has been in effect for many years and that it
is being reviewed to see if it should be updated. He has discussed this issue with the
Ithaca Police Department and they felt that the legislation could be updated, but it would
not be appropriate to rescind it because it is a tool they use when conducting criminal
investigations for major crimes. Chair Zumoff explained that he invited representatives
of the Police Department to the meeting, but they were unable to attend.
Discussion followed on the floor regarding whether a quantitative value could be
established whereby record keeping as noted in the legislation would need to be kept.
Committee members recognized the tediousness of the record keeping for dealers if the
legislation was strictly followed and enforced. Further discussion followed on the floor
regarding why these records need to be open upon demand, and not by search warrant.
Chair Zumoff explained that Police Department representatives noted that there have
been instances where they have been able to use the records from small items to solve
cases involving larger crimes. He further stated that there are time issues involved with
the issuance of search warrants, and the Police Department would to prefer avoid that
delay when investigating crimes.
Further discussion followed on legal and privacy issues involved with the record keeping
and how that might affect people who sell their items to Second Hand Dealers because
they prefer to not disclose personal information to the Dealers.
Committee members asked how other municipalities handle these situations, and asked
the Clerk's office to check with NYCOM to see if sample legislation from other
municipalities could be obtained for the Committee to review.
Discussion of the First Draft of a Resolution Concerning the Flying of Flags on
the City Hall Flag Pole
Chair Zumoff stated that a request to fly the Earth Day flag had come up this year and
as a result of research conducted in the Common Council minutes, several resolutions
were found from the early '90's. The City is currently not properly following the
directives of those resolutions regarding the flying of the POW/MIA flag and Earth Day
flag. A recommendation has been made that the City create a policy that would have
specific rules and a methodology to follow when these requests to fly flags on the City
Hall flag pole are made.
Chair Zumoff presented the following draft resolution for discussion purposes only:
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FIRST DRAFT OF
A Resolution Concerning the Flying of Flags on the City Hall Flag Pole
Monday, April 24, 2006
WHEREAS, Resolutions were passed by Common Council on June 6, 1990 regarding
the flying of the MIA/POW flag and on November 4, 1992 regarding the Earth Day flag,
and
WHEREAS, Neither of these resolutions currently are being followed accurately, and
WHEREAS, The 1992 resolution includes a resolved clause saying "that the matter of
flying flags other than the American flag on City Hall be referred to the Charter and
Ordinance Committee to develop a definitive policy on the display of such flags", and
WHEREAS, Appropriate policies and procedures have not yet been approved by
Common Council, and
WHEREAS, The Governance and Intermunicipal Relations Committee is effectively the
successor to the previously constituted Charter and Ordinance Committee, and
WHEREAS, The Governance and Intermunicipal Relations Committee has discussed
the matter and developed a definitive policy, now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the policy of the City of Ithaca with respect to the flying of flags on
the flag pole atop City Hall be as indicated below, and that this policy supersedes and
makes null and void any previous policies whensoever they were enacted.
1. The American flag will fly at the top of the flagpole in accordance with generally
accepted policies and procedures of the federal, state, and municipal governments. No
flag which may be flown beneath the American flag shall be of a size larger than the
American flag.
2. In respect to what has become generally accepted custom, the MIA/POW flag will fly
directly beneath the American flag whenever the American flag is flown.
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April 24, 2006
3. a. A third position below the MIA/POW flag will be available for use by generally
recognized organizations requesting their flag to fly above City Hall for specific reasons
and for a specific time period. Requests for the flying of this additional flag will be made
on the appropriate form available in the Mayor's office. The request must be made no
earlier than three months before the date of the flying of the flag. The request can be for
a period of no more than one month and should correspond with some significant event
of importance to the organization.
3. b. In the event of a conflict where more than one organization requests overlapping
time periods, the Mayor will allocate the time fairly with due consideration to the
significance of the dates to the organizations.
3. c. The organizations requesting the flying of their flag are responsible for delivering
the flag to the Mayor's office in a timely fashion and in retrieving their flag from the
Mayor's office at the conclusion of the flag flying period.
3. d. A separate application is required for each non-continuous period in which the flag
is requested to be flown.
3. e. A request to fly a particular flag may be made only once in any given twelve month
period, and any one organization may make only one request to fly a flag in any given
twelve month period.
4. The flying of the third flag below the American and MIA/POW flags will be done
without discrimination for or against any legal organization and without consideration of
the political opinions represented by the flag.
Discussion followed on the floor regarding the possibility of establishing a second flag
pole separate from the one on City Hall which would be located to the east of City Hall
that could be used to fly different flags. Another suggestion was made regarding the
possibility of having multiple flagpoles that could be attractively located in that same
area. The committee felt that the American and POW/MIA flags should be flown
separately from other flags.
Further discussion followed on the floor regarding how the flag flying requests could be
reviewed for appropriateness without discrimination. The Committee would like to
review how other cities handle requests to fly flags. The Mayor stated that she would
be going to Syracuse for a meeting and she said she would check with them. Chair
Zumoff noted that he would ask Alderperson Berry to contact the City of Binghamton for
their policy. Once these policies are received, the committee will review them and make
their recommendations.
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April 24, 2006
City Attorney Hoffman cautioned the committee to make sure they want to undertake
the business of providing a public forum to express political views, as they can't
discriminate on how the content is used. Some flags could be considered offensive and
when controversial decisions are made, people are more likely to go to court to have
them resolved. He voiced concern regarding the possible unequal treatment of flags
such as if one is flown for a longer period than another based on political content. He
asked committee members to consider these issues carefully. He further stated that if a
policy is established that it should clearly state that the Mayor could deny a request, and
it should clearly state who is making the decision.
Discussion of Common Council Rules and Procedures Concerning Voting Rules
at meetings
Chair Zumoff explained that two years ago when he and Alderperson Tomlan started on
Common Council the Common Council Rules of Order and Procedure were revised. As
new Common Council members have taken office this year, he thought it might be
appropriate to once again review these rules to see if any changes are needed,
specifically regarding abstention voting. The current rules state that a member should
abstain only if there is a conflict of interest. Tompkins County has a different rule
regarding abstention voting, and he distributed information for the committee members
to review and discuss.
Alderperson Gelinas thanked Chair Zumoff for his concern and request for input from
new council members. He asked if the rules would always need to be reviewed when
there are new Council members. Chair Zumoff explained that two years ago there were
8 new Council members and they decided it was appropriate to review the rules
because of how things had operated under the previous administration.
Mayor Peterson stated that there are specific reasons why a member should abstain
from a vote in "Roberts Rules of Order". Chair Zumoff stated that his concern is that
members could abstain because they don't have enough information; however if a
County legislator did this their abstention vote would be considered a vote in the
affirmative. Mayor Peterson stated that she felt that members should vote one way or
another unless there is a true conflict of interest. Further discussion followed on the
floor regarding voting when a person leaves the room during a specific vote and other
situations where members do not vote. It was noted that the Common Council minutes
reflect when members leave the meeting and have not been counted in the vote. This
is especially important when there is a controversy or tie vote.
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April 24, 2006
Chair Zumoff stated that he would check with other members of Council for their input
on this topic, and volunteered to draft a Resolution for Committee review if there is
interest in amending the Rules.
A Resolution to set up a joint study group to investigate possible shared services
and possible consolidation between the City of Ithaca and the Town of Ithaca.
By Alderperson Seger: Seconded by Alderperson Gelinas
WHEREAS, over the last several decades there has been much local and national
discussion over the advantages and disadvantages of shared services or consolidation
of governments, and
WHEREAS, several successful partnerships have emerged in local municipalities during
that time, such as the Ithaca Area Waste Water Treatment Plant, youth and recreation
services, joint city/town fire services, and the Bolton Point Water System, and
WHEREAS, the benefits of cost sharing/ consolidation have been enumerated by the
New York State comptroller as reported in the booklets Local Government Management
Guide: Intermunicipal Cooperation and Intermunicipal Cooperation and Consolidation:
Exploring Opportunities for Savings and Improved Service Delivery, and
WHEREAS, recent state reports illustrate the difficulties that New York State
municipalities have been facing especially in the last 5 years including rising pension
costs and health insurance, and
WHEREAS, the mayor of the city of Ithaca and the supervisor of the town of Ithaca have
recently held meetings including an intermunicipal forum facilitated by Interface of the
Community Dispute Resolution Center, and
WHEREAS, the City of Ithaca Common Council and the Town of Ithaca Board are
desirous of further examination of the mutual benefits between the two municipalities
that could improve services, create efficiencies, and benefit citizens, now therefore be it
RESOLVED, That a study group on intermunicipal cooperation and consolidation be
created forthwith to examine, among others, the legal and regulatory aspects of shared
services and possible consolidation, the pros and cons for both shared services and
consolidation the financial opportunities and liabilities of consolidation or shared
services, an analysis of the property and sales tax scenario for a single jurisdiction
the concept of a new jurisdiction, a unified comprehensive plan, and be it further
RESOLVED, That an analysis of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats
be provided for each topic area, and be it further
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April 24, 2006
RESOLVED, That the study group be comprised of 8 members, mutually agreed upon
by the town of Ithaca Board and the City of Ithaca Common Council, with
representatives having knowledge of finance, law, planning, public works, police, or
organizational culture, including one elected official liaison from each jurisdiction
(making 10 members), such study group and its chair to be nominated by a town/city
joint nomination committee comprised of the mayor, supervisor, one Common Council
member and one town board member, and be it further
RESOLVED, That the city council and the town board identify and work toward
obtaining financial assistance such as grants from appropriate agencies including the
State comptroller's office, and be it further
RESOLVED, That each municipality agree to provide staff assistance to the study
group, including participation from each municipality's historian, and be it further
RESOLVED, That the study group report at least quarterly or as needed to the
Common Council and Town Board at a joint meeting for periodic updates and
consideration of possible amendments or additional directives, with ample opportunity
for public input, and be it further
RESOLVED, That a final report will be presented to the Common Council and the Town
Board for their deliberation on future policy, based on the above topics, in approximately
12 months from the study group's first meeting.
Chair Zumoff explained that the intent of this Resolution is to set up a special
intermunicipal study group to investigate possibilities for cooperation and possible
consolidation between the City of Ithaca and Town of Ithaca. There has been a small
group of people (Mayor Carolyn Peterson, Town Supervisor Cathy Valentino,
Alderperson Joel Zumoff, and Town Board members Will Burbank and Peter Stein)who
have been discussing the formation of the study group and the wording of the
resolution. They are asking the Governance and Intermunicipal Relations Committee to
consider the Resolution at this time to expedite the process, so the group can start its
work in the early Fall after a few months of organizational work. The Ithaca Town Board
will also be discussing the resolution at its May meeting.
Mayor Peterson further explained the Resolution in its entirety to the Committee, and
Committee thanked the Mayor and the others for the work they have done.
A vote on the Resolution resulted as follows:
Carried Unanimously
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April 24, 2006
Alderperson Tomlan informed the Committee that she had put together the notes from
the City/Town meeting from December and given them to the Mayor's Office for
distribution to Council members. She apologized for the delay in getting them out.
ADJOURNMENT:
On a motion the meeting adjourned at 8:30 p.m.
S.ra L. Myers , • -I Zumo
Information Managem- t Specialist Chair
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