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BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING FRIDAY, MARCH 30, 2007 INTRODUCTORY ACTIVITIES Those in attendance were: TCMA Board Members: President Mark McDaniel, Deputy City Manager, Tyler; President Elect Mike Perez, City Manager, McAllen; Vice President Paul Parker, City Manager, Lufkin; Immediate Past President Rickey Childers, City Manager, Lancaster; TML Board Representative Greg Vick, Assistant City Manager, Farmers Branch; Region 1 Director Linda Weller, City Manager, Gruver; Region 2 Director Jared Miller, City Manager, Snyder; Region 3 Director Darron Leiker, City Manager, Wichita Falls; Region 4 Director Tom Hart, City Manager, Grand Prairie; Region 5 Director Jim Blanchard, City Manager, Pittsburg; Region 6 Director Michael Ross, City Manager, West University Place; Region 7 Director Dick Fletcher, City Manager, Robinson; Region 8 Director Rick Cortes, Assistant City Manager, Seguin; Region 9 Director Tom Blazek, City Manager, Rockport; Representative of the Assistants’ Organizations Matthew Aust, Business Relations Coordinator, Sugar Land. Guests: James Fisher, City Administrator, Bee Cave; Tom Muehlenbeck, City Manager, Plano and incoming Vice President, ICMA-Mountains Plains Region; Bill Keffler, City Manager, Richardson; Bob Turner, City Manager, Tyler; Karen Daly, former City Manager, Greenville; Linda Groomer, former City Manager, Farmers Branch; Ted Benavides, Waters Consulting. TML Staff: Gary Watkins and Kyle J. Jung. President Mark McDaniel called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m. and welcomed those in attendance. Mark informed the Board that Sunny Philip has resigned his position as the Region 10 Representative on the TCMA Board and his replacement for the remaining term will be Craig Lonon, City Manager, Harlingen. Regional representatives updated the Board concerning regional activities and openings. Tom Hart informed the Board that he will resign his position on the TCMA Board effective June 25, 2007 and Bill Keffler will serve the remaining year as the Region 4 Representative. Gary Watkins advised the Board that the Regional Training Fund continues to be underutilized and encourages regions to consider ways to apply the funds. Bob Turner, City Manager, Tyler, welcomed those in attendance to Tyler. On a motion by Greg Vick and a second by Matt Aust, the Board excused the absence of Craig Lonon and Laura Huffman. MEETING MINUTES Upon a motion by Michael Ross and a second by Darron Leiker, the Board approved the January 12, 2007 TCMA Board meeting minutes as presented. MEMBERSHIP APPLICATIONS Upon a motion by Jared Miller and a second by Linda Weller, the following memberships were approved: Full Associate Cooperating Student RECEIVE REPORT FROM TCMA COMMITTEES AND TASK FORCES Mark McDaniel informed the Board about a conference call the TCMA Executive Committee held on March 27. He mentioned the following items: 1. two ethics cases to be addressed during the Ethics Committee update; 2. TCMA sessions at the TML Annual Conference; 3. City Council of the Year award; and 4. TCMA Task Force on Governance. No action was taken by the Board on these issues. Mike Perez, Chair, TCMA Professional Development Committee, provided a handout and updated the Board about the TCMA Annual Conference program. Greg Vick, Chair, TCMA Public Relations Committee, provided an update about the City Council of the Year Award. No nominations were received by the original or extended deadlines. The TCMA Executive Committee will determine which city council will receive this year’s award. Greg Vick informed the Board about the status of the Form of Government research project being conducted by Dr. Benavides at UNT. A Letter of Agreement was provided to Greg Vick asking TCMA to allocate up to 50 hours at a maximum of $1,000 for the upcoming year. On a motion by Greg Vick and a second by Michael Ross, the Board approved the proposal and set a not-to-exceed amount of $5,000 for this project. The motion was approved. Greg Vick also mentioned the Our Town, Texas program and said that the Public Relations Committee was looking for a person to “champion” this cause. Paul Parker, Chair, TCMA Membership Committee, provided an update about the Professional Awards program. On a motion by Paul Parker and a second by Jared Miller, the Board awarded the Clarence E. Ridley scholarship to Micah Grau at Texas State University-San Marcos and Barney Knight/CPM scholarship to James Cox, City Manager, Lindale and Shawn Obre, City Manager, Orange as recommended by the Committee. On a motion by Paul Parker and a second by Darron Leiker, the Board awarded the Lifetime Achievement, Administrator of the Year, and Mentoring Award in memory of Gary Gwyn as recommended by the Committee. The TCMA staff was asked to provide information on the TCMA Internship program to those who did not receive the Ridley Scholarship. Linda Groomer, Chair, TCMA Mentoring and Coaching Task Force, updated the Board about the ongoing pilot program. She reported that 30 mentoring pairs are currently participating in the program. A February deadline to hold a phone panel was missed, but a videostreamed conference call is being planned in the next thirty days. Ted Benavides, Waters Consulting, informed the Board that Waters Consulting is working to develop a list of sponsors to help pay for the Mentoring program in the future. Karen Daly, Chair, TCMA University Relations Task Force, informed the Board that she has visited the political science and public administration programs of several universities (UTEP, Texas A&M, UT-Dallas, UNT, UT-Arlington) to discuss the TCMA Internship pilot program and is planning to visit two other universities (Stephen F. Austin, and Texas Southern University). Rickey Childers asked about Texas Tech and volunteered to make the initial contact so Karen Daly can make a visit. She indicated that the next meeting of the Task Force is scheduled for Austin on Monday, May 7. Mark McDaniel informed the Board that the Large Cities Task Force had completed its work with the development of session topics for the TCMA Annual Conference. Unless other issues come up, the task force is unlikely to meet again. Matt Aust, UMPSET Vice President and current Assistants Organizations Representative on the TCMA Board updated the Board about the meeting of the Assistants Roundtable. The assistants organizations decided that they will end the statewide assistants conference and encourage their members to attend the TCMA Annual Conference. Also, they agreed to an increase in the required percentage of TCMA members to be eligible to hold the position on the TCMA Board from 15% to 20% if the increase was over two years. (Since the percentage is in the TCMA Constitution, this change would require a TCMA membership vote.). Rickey Childers, Chair, TCMA Governance Task Force, informed the Board that the TCMA Executive Committee submitted a draft revised services agreement to Frank Sturzl, TML Executive Director. Following Frank Sturzl’s response and the different viewpoints between TML and TCMA regarding the proposed changes, the TCMA Executive Committee referred the matter back to the TCMA Task Force on Governance for review and a recommendation on how to respond. James Fisher, Chair, TCMA Ethics Committee, updated the Board about the Committee’s work to revise the TCMA Code of Ethics Rules of Procedure for Enforcement. The Committee wants to have revised Rules for Board consideration at its June Board meeting. The TCMA Ethics Committee recommended that the names and titles of those submitting applications for TCMA membership be published in the TCMA Newsletter and allow the TCMA membership to send comments, within 30 days, to the Chair of the TCMA Membership Committee. On a motion by Michael Ross and a second by Darron Leiker, the Board approved this recommendation. James Fisher updated the Board about the online ethics training course. The TCMA Ethics Committee heard two ethics cases and made two recommendations. The TCMA Ethics Committee recommended that Israel Sagredo, former city manager of Alton, be expelled from TCMA and that he be barred from future membership for his conviction on bribery and extortion charges. On a motion by Mike Perez and a second by Michael Ross, the Board approved the recommendation. The TCMA Ethics Committee recommended that another TCMA member be expelled and barred from future TCMA membership for his conviction on theft of public funds charges. The individual requested a hearing and on a motion by Mike Perez and a second by Tom Blazek, the Board approved the request for a hearing, tentatively set for the week of April 16-20, 2007. By consensus, the Board asked the TCMA staff to supply suggestions for outside legal counsel to act as TCMA’s representation during the hearing process. Greg Vick, TML Board Representative, updated the Board about the most recent TML Board meeting. The March 23 TML Board meeting agenda was mainly legislative related (appraisal caps, lobbying bill, ethics training for city council members, eminent domain, municipal court fees, and TMRS). Bill Keffler, City Manager, Richardson and a member of the ICMA strategic planning committee, updated the Board about the activities of the ICMA committee. He provided the Board with a copy of the ICMA environmental scan that is being used as the basis for the ICMA strategic planning process. An ICMA strategic planning meeting is scheduled for May 10-11 in Richardson. Kyle Jung informed the Board that ICMA has contributed $3,000 to the TCMA Mentoring and Coaching pilot program to pay for individual members’ expenses associated with taking the Waters Consulting assessment tool. Kyle Jung updated the Board about a request from ICMA to support their membership drive by providing the list of members who have joined TCMA during the TCMA membership drive (February 1- June 30). A copy of the March 27 proposal from Gary Cannon, ICMA Director of Fund and Membership Development was provided to the TCMA Board. On a motion by Darron Leiker and a second by Jared Miller, the TCMA Board decided to wait until the TCMA dues renewals have been mailed in October to determine how many of the new members actually renew their TCMA membership. This list of new members could be available to ICMA at the end of the year if the ICMA membership recruitment efforts are still ongoing. Kyle Jung provided the balance sheets and profit and loss statements for TCMA and the Texas Foundation for Local Government ending February 28, 2007. On a motion by Michael Ross and a second by Mike Perez, the Board approved the financial statements as presented. The staff informed the Board that the TCMA Board has two options concerning the city manager history book: first, the book could be reprinted immediately with updated appendices or second, the reprint of the book could be delayed until later in the summer (into next fiscal year) and Terrell Blodgett could add a section on the adoption of the council-manager form of government in the City of El Paso as well as the updated appendices. On a motion by Mike Perez and a second by Paul Parker, the Board voted to delay the reprinting until the El Paso section is included. ADJOURNMENT With no other business, the meeting was adjourned at 12:20 p.m. |
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