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Minutes 08-21-25MINUTES OF THE BOYNTON BEACH CHARTER REVIEW COMMITTEE MEETING HELD ON THURSDAY, AUGUST 21, 2025, AT 6:00 P.M. IN CITY COMMISSION CHAMBERS, 100 E OCEAN AVENUE BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA PRESENT: Jerry Taylor Shawna Lamb, City Attorney Rev. Richard Dames Stacey Weinger, Deputy City Attorney Dr. Phyllis T. Pacilli Ian Gregorchik, Assistant City Attorney David Katz Angela Troyanowski Shawna Lamb, City Attorney, opened. the meeting at 6 P.M. Ms. Lamb explained that she will Chair the meeting until they elect a Chair and Vice Chair. She commented that the mandate of the Committee is to review the Charter and recommend changes. She commented that the Committee does not have a deadline to adhere with, but does have a deadline of October 21stto make an official report, if any of the proposed changes require being put on the ballot. She recommended reviewing the Charter and selecting sections they want to review that would be placed on the March Ballot first and said that all recommendations require a majority vote of three of the five votes. She pointed out that the City Commission could decide not to move forward with any of the recommendations. Jerry Taylor noted the directions state that they will look at the Charter, Part I and asked if any other parts of the Charter would be reviewed. Ms. Lamb responded only Part I. Elect Chair and Vice Chair Dr. Pacilli moved to nominate Jerry Taylor as the Chair. Ms. Troyanowski seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. Chair Taylor moved to nominate Mr. Katz as Vice Chair because he had prior experience in reviewing the Charter. Dr. Pacilli nominated Reverend Dames as Vice Chair and stated she wanted to reflect inclusivity. Ms. Troyanowski seconded the nomination of Mr. Katz. A vote was taken for Mr. Katz as Vice Chair. The motion passed 4-1, (Dr. Pacilli dissenting.) Meeting Minutes Charter Review Committee Boynton Beach, Florida August 21, 2025 Preliminary Charter sections that may need attention. Can have general discussion. Ms. Troyanowski commented that at the City Commission meeting, there was discussion of having staff present at the meetings. Ms. Lamb stated that the Committee can have staff present, and recommended determining what they want to discuss first so they can prioritize items with the October 21 st deadline and then send an email to staff they want to attend. Vice Chair Katz concurred and advised that the last time the Charter Review Committee convened, the members came to the next meeting with five items they wanted added, changed, or deleted, and then they polled the members and addressed the most requested items. Dr. Pacilli stated that she heard the Commissioners want to consider items that are forward thinking. She commented that she wants something to bridge the digital divide, and wanted the City to use vehicles that reduce the carbon footprint and help the environment. She said she would like to move in that direction, and said it should be part of their mission and vision. There was brief discussion those issues could be included in a Preamble. Vice Chair Katz noted that those are quality of life issues that are dealt with at the Commission and staff level, in terms of ordinances and resolutions, and not the Charter. Ms. Lamb agreed. Reverend Dames yielded his time and said that he had a few items he would like to review further before bringing them up Chair Taylor wanted to discuss Section III. He noted that candidates running for Mayor need to have at least a year of residency in the City and he thought it was not long enough. He thought that three or at least two years would be appropriate. Ms. Lamb responded that when they get into residency longer than one year, that two years residency has not been upheld by the courts for constitutional issues. She said that there are other ways to achieve that goal, which could be to require continuous residency for a year. She stated that she will send a memo to the members. Vice Chair Katz noted that Jupiter, or at least one municipality in the County, has a two year residency requirement. 2 Meeting Minutes Charter Review Committee Boynton Beach, Florida August 21, 2025 Ms. Lamb stated she will conduct a comparison and will send a memo to the members before the next meeting. Reverend Dames inquired if Ms. Lamb was aware of any other municipality that had continuous residency in place. Ms. Lamb said that N Miami Beach has continuous residency. She said that when Boynton amended their ordinance, the language "continuous residency" was added. She said if Boynton Beach does not change the requirement to two years, the City may want to include the language as a protection against a constitutional challenge to that ordinance. Vice Chair Katz asked what the difference was between continuous residency and the requirement, when someone before they qualify to run for office, has to live in the District or the City for a year. Ms. Lamb stated that there was a challenge and, in that instance, the requirement was to live in the City for one year. She elaborated that a candidate lived in the District for 20 plus years, but did not live there continuously for a year prior to running. She said that the court found, because their Charter did not have that provision, and because he lived in the District for more than a year, that he was entitled to run. She noted that Boynton recently had a candidate who lives in D.C. for six months out of the year, that was not continuously living in the City all year. Ms. Lamb defined the difference further. Ms. Troyanowski said that Boynton struggled with compensation for the Mayor and City Commissioners. She said that other cities like Boca Raton have an Ordinance. She asked if it needs to be changed to an ordinance or remain in the Charter. She commented that there is no mention of the City Commissioners' duties, but learned it is in Section 10. Ms. Lamb noted 20 C talks about some of what Commissioners can and cannot do, but it is broad. Ms. Troyanowski requested clarification. Chair Taylor stated that it may be impossible to list all the duties of a commissioner. Stacey Weinger, Deputy City Attorney, explained that the National League of Cities has information on that, so when staff receives further direction, they can present better examples. Ms. Troyanowski asked how the City addresses zoning controls through the Charter regarding notice and public input and about Commission Districts in the Charter. 3 Meeting Minutes Charter Review Committee Boynton Beach, Florida August 21, 2025 Ms. Lamb explained that zoning is statutory and the City is preempted. She explained the City has Home Rule, which means the City can control all things not granted by the State. The City cannot enact stricter provisions than the State has. If it is something governed by Statute, and it cannot be included in the Charter. Ms. Weinger explained that Section 3 B speaks about districts. Chair Taylor explained Districts are controlled by population and that Districts have to be as close as possible to equal population, based on the Census. Ms. Lamb explained that it is best to not have regulations that are too restrictive, because if the Census changes, the boundaries have to have the flexibility to change as well. Vice Chair Katz elaborated that there are federal laws that determine communities of interest, population, registered voters, and all these things have to be taken into account, and then there are mathematical equations on how far off this way, plus or minus one can go in relation to each district. He said that it is fluid, but it is only fluid every 10 years. Ms. Steinger said if they want to clarify a district or redistricting, they can look at it if there are specific concerns. Dr. Pacilli asked about voting at large. Vice Chair Katz said many years ago, the City used voting at large for its Districts. There was the possibility of a federal civil rights that lawsuit on the City and meetings were held to create four individual districts. District 2 became the Black orAfrican American District. They did not necessarily have more registered voters, but it was where the majority of Black and African Americans lived. What used to happen was the two Leisurevilles, Hunters Run, and VRG used to control the elections City-wide. Ms. Lamb explained that the rich communities would put in the person they wanted, a white person, for District 2, and the white person would align with richer communities and not for the best interest of the people in District 2. From a liability standpoint, it is not something they would want to do. Ms. Troyanowski thought adding language around the districts when districts and sizes are changed. Chair Taylor noted it was already contained in the Charter. Ms. Troyanowski said annexation was thrown around in the last election and it was a headache. She inquired, in the long term, if that is something the Charter would address. Ms. Steinger stated annexation is heavily regulated by state law. She said Palm Beach County has an Annexation Ordinance that all county municipalities have to follow. She M Meeting Minutes Charter Review Committee Boynton Beach, Florida August 21, 2025 said that depending on what they are looking to address, would determine what impact it would have in the Charter. She said it can not conflict with state statute. Ms. Lamb offered if Ms. Troyanowski wants to send what she is looking at to her, she will look at it. Vice Chair Katz commented that he will bring his five items to the next meeting as did Reverend Dames. Chair Taylor opened Public Comment. Susan Oyer spoke about Live Local, and said residents overwhelmingly voted twice for a height limit,and asked why the City is not acknowledging it. She said term limits should be properly defined and she gave scenarios. Chair Taylor stated serving any portion of a term is considered as serving a full term, and the Charter specifies one can only serve two terms. Ms. Oyer commented that issue would come up in the next election. She asked if there was anything that more clearly defines the Clerk's duties during elections. She said the public needs to have addresses verified and financial paperwork should not be accepted if it was incorrect. Ms. Oyer stated the City changed rules and instituted better building practices, some of which included having white roofs, removing Palm Trees, and questioned what happened to the changes. She asked if the City is future proofing zoning and said the changes instituted were not being enforced Ms. Lamb agreed with Vice Chair Katz that it is not the City Clerk's job to verify submissions and it cannot be in the Charter. She explained that amendments to the Charter pertain to issues which typically are more ordinance based. She said that there were statutory changes regarding building height limits, which made some ordinances unconstitutional. She suggested that the Committee contemplate issues which may arise in the future, and she cautioned the Committee should not approve amendments that could be found unconstitutional. Dr. Pacilli commented that in listening to the discussion, the Committee can broadly include the direction they would like to see the City move in a preamble. Ms. Lamb commented that a preamble for the goals is fine and brief discussion followed about generic content. Vice Chair Katz announced that the next meeting is next Thursday with each member's five items to be submitted. He noted the last time the Charter was reviewed, they completed the task in six meetings. 5 Meeting Minutes Charter Review Committee Boynton Beach, Florida August 21, 2025 Reverend Dames commented that he would not be present until 7 P.M. Vice Chair Katz suggested the next meeting start at 7 P.M. There were no objections. Motion Vice Chair Katz moved to adjourn. Dr. Pacilli seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 6:45 P.M. dWJL� OL""J_ Catherine Cherry Minutes Specialist 0