The July 10, 2012 Commission Meeting

The next meeting looks like a marathon. I've embedded the agenda below and you can see that it ranges over a wide spectrum of subjects.

Let me jump to the first one that I believe to be important, the update to the Adult Entertainment Ordinance. As regular readers know, I had problems with the form of how this was submitted, as legislation by the city attorney. I didn't like this for two reasons - an aversion to having non-elected officials introducing legislation and that the attorney was unable or unwilling to explain how the ordinance would affect the strip club threat.

The legislation itself is good. It's a recrafting of our existing ordinance to meet the latest thinking on such clubs. It provides clearer information on the restrictions and prohibits the sale of alcohol at such establishments.

A commissioner, Richard Chervony, has signed on as sponsor which eliminates the concern about the lawyer sponsoring the legislation. I have embedded the revised ordinance below the agenda.

Overall, it's a good change and one that I hope passes.

The other key issue is the replacement of Commissioner Paul Vogel. He died June 26, 2012 Under our charter, the commission has 30 days to replace him by appointment from the commission. Failing that, the city needs to hold a special election. Only residents of North Bay Island are eligible for the seat.

It's no secret that the commission is deadlocked over the issue of firing the city manager. There may be concern that whoever is appointed will either be for or against keeping the city manager. Two of the commissioners have deep reservations about the city manager's work and there was a motion which deadlocked to fire him at the last meeting. The subject should rest now. There's a budget to get through and we're already in it. It would be best to readdress this in October and I hope that the commission decides definitively on Tuesday night to appoint someone or to schedule a special election as soon as they can. Don't let it drag on.

And Now For Something Different

The July 4th party at Vogel Park was nice. The band was just great and I'm not a CW guy but that girl knew how to sing. The setup was good for an event like this. It was a nice inaugural event. Of course, it was Miami hot and more shade would be a good thing Maybe it should go later in the day, but those are quibbles. I'm looking forward to further events there.

Below is the agenda for Tuesday followed by the Adult Ordinance. Kevin Vericker July 6, 2012 7-10-2012 Agenda City Commission Mtg Part 1 Proposed Change to Adult Entertainment Ordinance May 2012