Apopka City Charter Review meetings begin today

The Apopka City Council begins a series of workshops tonight (Wednesday) to change the document it uses to govern itself.

The Charter Review Meetings begin today, and while it's going to be a comprehensive look at the entire document, the idea of transitioning from a strong mayor form of government to a city manager form is at the forefront and on the agenda for tonight.

 "I make no secret of my intentions to bring forth an argument to transition to a City Manager-Council form of government, like most every municipality in Central Florida with the exception of Orlando, and how this would benefit both employees and our residents," said Commissioner Kyle Becker.

City Attorney Cliff Shepard compares it to a municipal wellness check.

"A periodic charter review is like going to the doctor's office for a checkup," he said. "You tend to overlook things that can be important, and you don't want to be reminded of them only when there's a problem.

One of those problems arose back in April.

Previous City Attorney Michael Rodriguez and Mayor Bryan Nelson were under increased pressure after the City Council voted 3-2 to remove Rodriguez at the April 5th meeting. Nelson described that vote as ceremonial and retained Rodriguez.

"It's just a ceremonial vote," Nelson said on April 14th. "They (the City Council) have no authority to fire anybody."

That shifted the issue into a debate over the wording of the Apopka City Charter.

The City Council, however, saw things differently.

"My interpretation of our Charter permits the collective City Council, of which our Mayor is included as part, the ability to fire the City Attorney, which we did at our last meeting with causes stated by three of the majority members," said Commissioner Kyle Becker. "Clearly, we will need to take further steps to make that a reality. It appears the mayor seeks the will of our Council only on topics convenient to him."

Shepard also recommends periodic review of the Charter in the future.

"The frequency of a full review varies from government to government, but a good rule of thumb is every 5-7 years. Of course, if an issue does arise between full reviews, it can be addressed case by case."

But for many reasons, Becker sees this charter review as having more significant implications than just a checkup.

"I think it very healthy to be on a cycle of continuous inspection of our policies to ensure relevancy in how we want our city to be governed, and our Charter is the most important of these," he said. "Apopka is no different than other cities or bodies of government that grapple with questions regarding terms limits, number of elected positions, who those elected officials represent and where, and most importantly, what form of government we should be governed by. I look forward to hearing the various priorities from my fellow Council members on these many topics."

The two primary models of municipal government in the United States—Strong Mayor and Weak Mayor with City Administrator—offer distinct approaches to leadership and decision-making. 

The Strong Mayor Model:

Under the Strong Mayor form of government, executive power is concentrated in the hands of the mayor, who is elected independently by the public. This model grants the mayor considerable authority over the city's administration, including vetoing legislative decisions, proposing budgets, and hiring and firing key officials without council approval. The mayor is often directly involved in policy-making, significantly impacting the city's day-to-day operations.

Advantages of the Strong Mayor Model:

1. Clear Leadership: The Strong Mayor model provides a clear line of leadership, as the mayor is the executive branch's head and a prominent political figure.
2. Decisiveness: The mayor's authority allows for swift decision-making, which can be crucial in times of crisis or rapid change.
3. Accountability: Since the public directly elects the mayor, they are accountable to the citizens, providing a direct link between leadership and the community.

It's obvious, but a strong mayor form of government is only as good as the mayor sitting in the seat.

The Weak Mayor with City Administrator Model:

In contrast, the Weak Mayor system features a mayor whose powers are limited, with an appointed city administrator responsible for the day-to-day operations. The mayor's role is often ceremonial or as a part of the city council, and they may have limited authority over policy decisions. The city administrator is a professional hired for their expertise in managing municipal affairs and overseeing the city's administrative functions.

Advantages of the Weak Mayor with City Administrator Model:

1. Professional Administration: A city administrator brings professional expertise to the role, ensuring that day-to-day operations are managed efficiently and based on best practices.
2. Shared Decision-Making: The city council often makes policy decisions collectively, promoting a collaborative approach to governance.
3. Stability: With a city administrator handling administrative tasks, the mayor can focus on broader issues, promoting stability and long-term planning.

As she has maintained for years, Commissioner Diane Velazquez would like to see better language in the Charter about the role of city commissioners.

"When I previously interviewed (with The Apopka Voice), I had expressed the Charter did not define a role for commissioners to be more interactive," she said. "The last 2 1/2 years have shown how limited the roles of commissioners are when it concerns important issues in our community or within city staff. With our city growing exponentially, residents and constituents are looking to the commissioners to be more effective. When they come to us for whatever reason, we take their concern and issue to the City Administrator or bring the subject matter for discussion at the public Council meeting and hope it gets resolved or the mayor agrees with the consensus. I look forward to reviewing the Charter and hearing the input from our public and co-commissioners. We already know the role of a strong Mayor under the current Charter, so we have a document with duties set in stone since 1993 with only one change in 2015, defining the role of the Chief Administrator." 

Commissioner Nick Nesta doesn't have a specific issue he wants to tackle but wants to take this opportunity to edit the entire document and come away with a clearer Charter.

"There's been references that maybe we'll skim through sections of the charter and maybe not touch it at all and move on. For me, if we're going to do this, we're going line by line, we're touching every word, we're touching every sentence, especially now that we had some verbiage being questioned on just one word. I'm taking a deep dive into every single one, and that's how we should properly do it. We haven't done it in decades. So, let's make sure we're doing it correctly. I don't have anything specific other than I want to hear a lot of public input. What does the public want? How are they seeing our city grow? And that's what I want to hear... and then, we'll apply that to the changes within the charter."

The Apopka City Charter Meetings start at 5 pm in the Council Chambers of City Hall today (Wednesday).