1996-08-15//
MINUTES OF THE REGULAR
MEETING OF THE
BEVERLY ORDINANCE REVIEW COMMITTEE
The regular meeting of the Beverly Ordinance Review Committee was held
on August 15, 1996, in the Council Committee Room, Third Floor, City Hall,
Beverly, MA. Meeting was called to ordered at 7:30 P.M.
PRESENT: Mary Grant, Gerry Parisella, Crystal Atherton, Art Powell and Elizabeth
LeBrun.
ABSENT: Thomas Alexander and Roy Gelineau
Atty. Michael Curran also attended the meeting and passed out to the
members additional information and up-dated draft ordinances.
We now have the following draft ordinances and documents for review which are
numbered as follows:
Documents # 1 Budget/Management Analyst draft ordinance.
Document #2 Listing of various City Department and sub-departments.
Document #3 Department of Municipal Finance -draft dated 5/16/96
(This ordinance has been reviewed by the Committee and
Redrafted by Atty Curran)
See Draft Ordinance dated 7/25/96
See Article 5 of the Charter
Document #4 Department of Minucipal inspections dated 6/14/96
Revised draft dated 8/15/96
See Article 5 of the Charter
Document #5 Department of Human Resources (See Article 5
The Charter)
Document #6 Elective Organization (First Draft dated June 6, 1996.)
Containing 47 pages and listing all offices, multiple
member boards and commission set up by (1) composition
(2) powers and duties (3) Interrelationships and (4) other
boards
Document #7 City Council Organization and Procedures
(A copy of this draft dated 5/16/96 has been
Forwarded to the Council for its review and comments.
Documents #8 General Provisions dated 6/03/96
And Administrative Code
Document #9 Department of Human Resources, Public Safety and
And Public works dated 6/20/96
This Document number 9 has been redrafted and
And is now numbered with various new document
Numbers (CHECK WITH COMMITTEE AS TO
WHETHER THIS DOCUMENT NO. 9 IS NOW
OBSOLETE
Document # 10 Copy of Mayor' s Organizational Chart.
The above are the 10 numbered documents which each member should have. Since
we numbered the documents we have received from Atty: Curran the following new
draft ordinances or re-drafted ordinances:
Department of Community Services dated 8/15/96
(This is the ordinance that will be reviewed with Mr. Scully at this meeting to
which he has been invited and accepted the invitation)
Department of Public Works dated 6/20/96
Department of Public Safety dated August 15, 1996
Note: replaces Document No.___ dated 6/20/96.
Crystal also has received from the Mayor's office copies of the job
descriptions of the various new deparhnent heads under the Mayor' s
reorganizational plan. These have been forwarded to Atty Curran to assist him in
drafting the ordinances.
Each member of the Committee should have received ~'om Atty Curran a new
Draft of the following ordinances dated 8/9/96: Article 1 General Provisions
Article 2 Elective Offices Article 2-300 The Beverly School Committee Article 2-
400 The Mayor; Article 3 Administrative Organization; Article 4 Administrative
Code.
Crystal had invited Thomas Scully, the newly appointed Director of Community
Services, to the meeting to assist the group in drafting an ordinance for that
department. This was an opportunity both for the Committee and for Atty. Curran,
who is actually drafting the ordinances, to interview Mr. Scully and obtain the
information needed to draft ordinances that reflect the intent of the Mayor' s new
organizational chart but also fully comply with the new Charter.
We had many questions as to the scope and powers of the position and Mr. Scully
was extremely helpful in answering questions asked of him. There were a number
of commissions that were ordinally listed on the organizational chart but are no
longer a part of this department for various reasons i.e. Airport Commission but now
also encompasses the following functions: Health Services, Transportation,
management Information System and Youth Services. The Committee had several
questions concerning the management information system function of his
department. He explained that he saw his function as an overseer management
information person. He has many plans for the information system i.e. a Home
Page, tieing in with the school system, Web-cites. He also feels that to manage you
need the power to hire and fire the directors of the various commissions, otherwise,
you have no power to control and direct.
The Committee suggested that that power is with the Mayor. The question of
whether the Mayor wishes to delegate that power to the Director of Community
Services came up and Mr. Scully said it was his understanding that the Mayor
wanted that power in his office but would run it by the Mayor in the morning and
get back to the Committee.
Atty Curran said that with the information learned fi'om Mr. Scully and the job
descriptions provided by the Mayor's Office, he has a clearer picture of the new
organizational plan. With this information, he said he would draft additional
ordinances and get them to each member as quickly as possible. The next ordinance
we wish to clarify is the Department of Planning and Human Resources. Crystal
agreed to get a copy of that draft ordinance to Tina Cassidy, the Director, for her
review and invite her to our meeting on September 23, 1996, at which Atty Curran
will be present.
Since Mr. Curran will not be available this Fall on Thursday evening, after
discussion it was decided to have one meeting without Atty Curran in attendance at
which as many of the members as possible could attend and then met on a different
evening when Atty Curran could attend.
Mary Grant felt it would be extremely helprid to have a meeting with the Mayor and
Board to present the ordinances to them in a somewhat formal setting this Fall at
which time we would be available to answer any questions that either the members
of Executive or Legislative Branch of the City may have concerning the newly
drafted ordinances.
The members reviewed the draft dated 8/09/96 with Atty Curran and several
members had questions concerning some parts of the draft. Under Multiple
Member Bodies there was disenssion concerning the eligibility for service wherein
"no full time municipal employee of the city is eligible to be appointed to a multiple
member body". Crystal felt that there were times when City employees can bring a
great deal to a commission fxom their experience as a City employee. Atty Curran
explained that this was covered in the paragraph will states that this limitation shall
not apply to ad hoe committees as further defined. Because of a eonttiet of interest
factor, some of the members favored no allowing City employees to be members of
multiple member bodies. The Chair called for a formal vote on the issue:
Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was
VOTED: that no city employee may be eligible to be appointed to a standing
multiple member body of the city.
The Committee will continue reading the drafts at home and making notes to discuss
at the meetings. We will meet next on August 27, 1996 at 7:30 and again on
September 23 with Atty Curran.
Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was
VOTED: to adjourn.
Respectfully submitted,
Crystal Atherton
Chairman