Minutes of the Regular Meeting
Denali Borough Assembly
Anderson City Council Chambers
November 11, 2001
CALL TO ORDER Presiding Officer Jerry Mueller called the regular meeting to order at 3:05 pm.
In remembrance of Veterans Day, HALL
read a letter.
ROLL CALL Assembly members present were: Sid Michaels, Jim
Caswell, Teresa Hall, Carol Shields, Jerry Mueller, Teresa Usibelli, Jim Payne,
Scott Stowell, Gerald Pollock, and Mayor Gonzales.
MUELLER introduced former Assembly Members Baxter Mercer and
Bob Muarry.
POLLOCK MOVED to add a discussion of executive session to
the agenda, and USIBELLI seconded.
David Braun, Healy resident, stated that as a member of the
public he thinks that the Open Meetings Act was violated. He stated that it is not up to the Assembly
to decide what is good enough and what is not good enough for the public to
know.
The VOTE on the amendment was 3-6 with USIBELLI, MUELLER,
and POLLOCK in favor of the amendment.
The amendment failed.
The
VOTE was unanimous to approve the agenda.
MINUTES STOWELL MOVED to approve the October 14, 2001 work
session, public hearing, and regular meeting minutes, MICHAELS seconded.
MICHAELS MOVED to amend the minutes under page 14, line 12
to add with the Assembly acting as the canvassing committee, and SHIELDS
seconded. The VOTE was unanimous.
USIBELLI MOVED add in the minutes on page 13, line 39 to say
“USIBELLI asked if Assembly protocol is an appropriate reason to go into
executive session. Seeing no response
USIBELLI asked if anyone’s character is going to be discussed. No response was given. USIBELLI stated she believes that this is a
violation of the Open Meetings Act.
MUELLER said since when did executive session have anything to do with
the Open Meetings Act. USIBELLI stated
that is could put the Borough into litigation.” POLLOCK seconded.
MICHAELS stated that the statement changes what MUELLER said
as well, and asked MUELLER if he said that.
MUELLER stated that he does not believe that he said that and if he did
he was incorrect.
CASWELL stated that he does not remember if that is what
MUELLER said. STOWELL stated that he
remembered USIBELLI ‘S statement but not MUELLER’S.
CASWELL MOVED to amend the amendment to remove what MUELLER
said, and PAYNE seconded.
The VOTE on the amendment to the amendment was 7-2, with
POLLOCK, and USIBELLI opposed.
The VOTE on the first amendment was
unanimous.
USIBELLI MOVED to amend page 9 line 29 to say, “USIBELLI
stated that she is from Healy and she does not appreciate CASWELL
comments. She stated that she has never
heard anybody say that. The people of
the middle district would like to see people equally represented, if they are
not they will repeal the decision.” and SHIELDS seconded. The VOTE was
unanimous.
The VOTE to adopt the minutes was
unanimous.
FINANCIAL The Chair entertained a MOTION to receive the August
2001
REPORT financial report, PAYNE so MOVED and STOWELL
seconded. The VOTE was unanimous.
ASSEMBLY STOWELL stated
that we all need to remember the we all
COMMENTS have strong political views. He stated that when we all walk out of here we should all remain
friends.
COMMITTEE 1.) Personnel Committee
SEAT
APPOINTMENTS The Mayor recommended Teresa Hall for Personnel Committee seat
D. The Chair entertained a MOTION to
approve Teresa Hall for seat D on the Personnel Committee, MICHAELS so MOVED
and SHIELDS seconded. The VOTE was
unanimous.
2.)
Land
Use Planning Committee
The Mayor recommended Tim Venechuk for Land Use Planning
Committee seat E. HALL MOVED to approve
Tim Venechuk for seat E on the Land Use Planning Committee, and SHIELDS
seconded. The VOTE was unanimous.
The Mayor recommended Dave Talerico for Land Use Planning
Committee seat G. HALL MOVED to approve
Dave Talerico for seat G on the Land Use Planning Committee, and PAYNE
seconded. The VOTE was unanimous.
ORDINANCES 1.) Ordinance 01-10, version B, an
ordinance amending Denali Borough Charter, Article XI, Section 11.01, regarding
a sales tax.
PAYNE asked if it would be appropriate to have a special
meeting to discuss these ordinances.
MICHAELS suggested that the Mayor contact the Borough
Attorney about sending two options to the ballot, and are we limited to two
options.
STOWELL MOVED to set a date for a special meeting to discuss
the tax issue, and HALL seconded.
USIBELLI asked why the Assembly couldn’t make a decision
regarding this issue today.
CASWELL stated that if the special meeting were a work
session then there would not need to be a quorum.
STOWELL asked if it was possible to move the meeting until
January instead of during the holidays.
CASWELL stated that he does not have a problem if we put
this off until the November meeting.
Discussion followed.
STOWELL withdrew his motion and HALL
withdrew her second.
STOWELL MOVED to postpone this ordinance until the next
meeting, and PAYNE seconded. The VOTE was unanimous.
2.) Ordinance 01-13, Version A, an ordinance establishing a
2% general sales tax within the Denali Borough. (Introduced by Assembly member Teresa Hall)
MICHAELS MOVED to postpone, and STOWELL seconded. The VOTE
was unanimous.
3.) Ordinance 01-14, Version A, an
ordinance adding Title II, Chapter 22A, Titled Excursion Tax to the Denali
Borough Code of Ordinances. (Introduced
by Assembly member Scott Stowell)
STOWELL MOVED to amend Version A by substituting Version A
with Version B. PAYNE seconded. The VOTE was unanimous.
PAYNE MOVED to postpone, STOWELL seconded. The VOTE was
unanimous.
4.) An ordinance
amending the Borough Charter, Article VIII, Section 8.02, paragraph 3,
concerning School Board reapportionment.
STOWELL MOVED to introduce, CASWELL
seconded.
HALL stated that she is opposed to this ordinance. She stated that if the School Board is going
to reapportion them they should do it more along the lines of the school
attendance lines.
MICHAELS stated that the Assembly should wait to talk to the
school board before introducing this ordinance. He stated that the Assembly should also wait to see how the
voters are going to react to the Assembly reapportionment plan.
STOWELL withdrew his motion and CASWELL withdrew his second.
MICHAELS MOVED to postpone the introduction, and PAYNE
seconded.
MUELLER asked to relinquish the Chair to Deputy Presiding
Officer HALL. There were no
objections. MUELLER stated that this
ordinance was not written without consulting the School Board. He stated that the School Board does not
want to end up in at-large voting. He
stated that the intention here was to have it introduced and then defer it to
the School Board so that they can take it their body.
MICHAELS stated that the Charter was set up to change the
School Board apportionment by Assembly ordinance. He stated that he would like to stay with that, instead of
changing the Charter.
The VOTE was 8-1 with SHIELDS
opposed.
RESOLUTIONS 1.) A resolution
adopting the determination of population of the Borough as of July 1, 2001.
The Chair entertained a MOTION to adopt, HALL so MOVED and
MICHAELS seconded.
Braun stated that there seems to be a lot of discrepancy on
the population of the Borough. He said
that the Anderson Fire area was funded for the population of 929, that is 129
more than the middle district was funded for.
He stated that there was testimony in April or May it seems the Denali
Borough is paying for fire protection for people outside of the Borough.
MICHAELS stated that today is the day that we need to adopt
this resolution. He stated that the
extension has run out.
USIBELLI stated that she wants to make sure that if the City
of Anderson’s population increases the rest of Borough’s population does not
decrease.
Mayor Gonzales stated that if Anderson does have a higher
head count then it would be added on the Boroughs total population.
MUELLER stated that it would not change the reapportionment
because we have to go by the census numbers.
The VOTE was unanimous. This will be Resolution 01-14.
2.) A resolution of the Denali Borough Assembly thanking
Assembly Member Scott Stowell for his years of service with the Denali Borough.
HALL MOVED to adopt, MICHAELS seconded. The roll call VOTE was unanimous. This will be Resolution 01-15.
Mayor Gonzales presented a plaque to STOWELL for his years
of service on the Assembly.
OTHER 1.) Petition regarding reapportionment.
BUSINESS
The
Clerk stated that there is no new information.
2.)
Election
certification for the November 6, 2001 election
The chair entertained a MOTION to Certify the November 6,
2001 election, HALL so MOVED and SHIELDS seconded. The roll call VOTE was
unanimous.
3.)
Oath
of Office for new and returning Assembly members.
David Talerico – seat D, Sid Michaels – seat H and Gerald
Pollock – seat C took the Oath of Office.
4.) Selection of Presiding Officer
and Deputy Presiding Officer.
CASWELL MOVED to nominate MUELLER for Presiding Officer and
SHIELDS seconded.
MICHAELS MOVED to nominate HALL for Presiding Officer and
CASWELL seconded.
USIBELLI MOVED to nominate MICHAELS for Presiding
Officer. MICHAELS declined.
HALL MOVED to close the floor for nominations and SHIELDS
seconded. The VOTE was unanimous.
MUELLER was selected as Presiding Officer.
MICHAELS MOVED to nominate HALL for Deputy Presiding Officer
and PAYNE seconded.
USIBELLI MOVED to nominate TALERICO for Deputy Presiding
Officer. TALERICO declined.
CASWELL MOVED to nominate PAYNE for Deputy Presiding Officer
and SHIELDS seconded.
The Chair entertained a MOTION to close the floor for
nominations. PAYNE so MOVED and HALL
seconded. The VOTE was unanimous.
HALL
was selected as Deputy Presiding Officer.
5.) Set the date for
the Special Election regarding reapportionment.
There was discussion on when to hold
the special election.
TALERICO MOVED to have the special election the 5th of
February. The MOTION failed for lack of
a second.
CASWELL MOVED to postpone this issue until the next meeting
and HALL seconded. The VOTE was unanimous.
PUBLIC David Braun said the Denali Borough government
has
COMMENTS refused to give the public clear and specific on the
executive session that was held in October and they have not identified the
legal grounds for having the executive session. He stated that the public might not have the right to know what
was said in the executive session, but the Open Meeting law specifically says
that we do have the right know what it is about and why it is justified. He stated that the Open Meetings Act also
says that short hand phrases are inadequate. He also stated that a similar executive
session was held in May. He also complained
about the way the meetings have been run.
He stated that there has been very inconsistent application of Roberts
Rules of Order, specifically the introduction of the schedule and formal
introduction of the reapportionment ordinance in May was allowed to degenerate
into a discussion group. He stated that no formal action was taken. He said in July USIBELLI ‘s request for
input was similarly handled and no motion or second was asked for and in other
times the Chair has asked for both motions and seconded. He stated that he hopes that the performance
will improve.
Mercer asked, when it come to Assembly comments, if one of
the Assembly members could give a brief synopsis of the reapportionment issue.
Steve Jones, Denali Resident, stated that Braun has brought
up some good points. He stated that the
Assembly should be more careful on how things are handled in the future.
ASSEMBLY MICHAELS stated again the a mail out should be done
for the
COMMENTS special
election.
CASWELL explained the reapportionment plan the Assembly
adopted during their special meeting held on October 28, 2001.
USIBELLI stated the October meeting tapes were accidentally
erased, and suggested that when the Clerk is taking hand written notes, those
notes should be kept in a separate file and the Administrative Clerk save into
another file the typed notes from the meeting.
She also stated that she is attending the AML conference and she would
like to see the Assembly have some sort of a work session regarding the Open
Meetings Act. She requested that the
Presiding Officer put that on the next agenda.
CASWELL stated that it is fair for the public to criticize
the Assembly. He stated that maybe the
solution is not to criticize maybe the solution is to run for office. He also stated that he thinks that office
staff does a pretty good job. He stated
that it is impossible to keep track of everything that was ever said. He stated that when USIBELLI worked in the
office it was adequate then and nothing has changed.
NEXT MEETING The next Assembly meeting will be held on December 9, 2001 at
the Tri-Valley Community Center in Healy.
ADJOURNMENT MUELLER
declared the regular meeting adjourned at 4:34
pm.
Date Approved:
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