: Message View
| Date Received: | 5/9/2024 10:36:23 PM | ||||
| To: | Bryant, Kristen; Chestnut, Cynthia M; Ward, Harvey L | ||||
| Cc: | |||||
| From: | Scot Smith | ||||
| Subject: | Re: [EXTERNAL] Police advisory committee | ||||
| Attachments: | image001.png | ||||
| Message: |
Ms. Bryant: Thank you for clearing up the question of my ability to apply for committee membership in the future. I was explicitly told by your office that I forfeited by right to serve on citizen advisory committee's in the future unless I agreed to resign from the police advisory committee. This made no sense because I wasn't on the committees at the time. I had nothing to resign from. In the current online "Advisory Board Participation Handbook", it says under Staff Liaisons, "Record attendance of members in the agenda management system and notify members where attendance is in jeopardy". I don't recall receiving a notification that my attendance was in jeopardy. I request that you supply me with a copy of the notification. The Handbook says the city will "Provide initial orientation for board members". I went to city hall chambers on either February 13th at 10:00am or February 15th at 1:00pm (my calendar is ambiguous for these dates). I recall waiting for several hours whilst city employees received service awards. By mid-afternoon, I had to excuse myself due to another engagement and I notified the clerk. She told me it was OK and that they wouldn't be getting to me for several more hours anyway. She promised to get in touch with me. Was this supposed to be my orientation meeting? I never received an orientation meeting which is mandated. The Handbook says the city will "supply background information on agenda items one week in advance of meetings". I never received notices for January or March. Would your office kindly provide me with the notices for these meetings with my name and address? In the Handbook, under FAQ, it says "Q: What is attendance policy? Ans.: Advisory boards and committees - two excused absences; may be removed for failure to attend, 4 of 6 preceding meetings. City Code of Ordinances, Article V, Div., Sec. 2-247. This seems to contradict the city code you quoted me which says committee members must be removed under statutory regulations for 3 consecutive unexcused absences. In summary, kindly provide me with:
I appreciate your attention to this matter. Sincerely, Scot E. Smith On Thursday, May 9, 2024 at 07:15:19 PM EDT, Bryant, Kristen <bryantk1@cityofgainesville.org> wrote: Mr. Smith,
You are welcome to reapply for any current board opening.
A list of board openings may be found at: https://www.gainesvillefl.gov/Government-Pages/Government/City-Clerk/Advisory-Boards-Committees
Take care,
Office of the City Clerk Resource Hub: access information on Records, Public Meetings, Advisory Boards, and more HERE.
Public Records Disclosure: Under Florida's public records law, most written communications to or from City offices and employees regarding City business are public records and are available to the public upon request. Your email communications may be subject to public disclosure.
From: Scot Smith <scotearle52@yahoo.com>
Ms. Bryant:
I was never advised of committee meetings in January or March. I only received a calendar of scheduled meetings after I was removed from the police advisory committee. I never received a committee handbook.
The current on line handbook for advisory committees states “4 out of 6 meetings” cannot be missed and it uses the phrase “may be removed” not “requires removal”. Regardless, I never received a copy of the rules and regulations for advisory committees. How was I supposed to know that I was required to be ask to be excused?
Current members of the police advisory committee tell me they get around the attendance rule by attending every other meeting. I refuse to play those games. It would make more sense for the rule to require a minimum number of meetings be attended annually.
It is a counter productive rule that people can never serve on an advisory committee once they have been removed for unexcused absences. It seems clear that the city doesn’t want citizen participation. It makes it difficult to volunteer and impossible to serve due to a simple mix up of emails. One email list serve mistake and you are off the volunteer list for life!
I thought that, in retirement, I could serve the city, but I’m really discouraged. Your rules are inflexible and is the reason for the expression “you can’t fight city hall”. I’ll put my efforts where they are appreciated like Habitat for Humanity and let people currently on the police advisory committee, who attend every other meeting, stay on.
Please don’t take my venting personally. You are just enforcing rules which I, and many Gainesville residents, find counter-productive.
Scot E. Smith
On Thursday, May 9, 2024 at 05:07:01 PM EDT, Bryant, Kristen <bryantk1@cityofgainesville.org> wrote:
Good afternoon, Mr. Smith,
Thank you for your email. I would like to clarify one point. Sec. 2-247(c)(2) of the Code of Ordinances requires removal of a board member who has not attended 3 meetings.
As mentioned in my previous email, the board liaison provided you with the meeting notices she sent you in January, February, and March. I am happy to review any correspondence you sent the liaison indicating you would not be at the meetings.
Take care,
Office of the City Clerk Resource Hub: access information on Records, Public Meetings, Advisory Boards and more HERE.
Public Records Disclosure: Under Florida's public records law, most written communications to or from City offices and employees regarding City business are public records and are available to the public upon request. Your email communications may be subject to public disclosure.
From: Scot Smith <scotearle52@yahoo.com>
Dear Cynthia:
Thank you for speaking with me after the Tom Petty park meeting.
I was appointed to the Police advisory committee in December 2023. I did not receive anything from the city (i.e. calendar of meetings for 2024 or handbook for advisory committees). I did receive notification of a meeting on 28 February. Unfortunately, I had a Habitat for Humanity meeting (I'm on the BOD) that evening and I failed to request an excused absence.
The rule for advisory committee attendance is: "members may be removed for failure to attend 4 of 6 preceding meetings". Since I only joined the committee in January 2024, it would be impossible for me to have missed 4 of 6 preceding meetings. There hadn't been 4 meetings between January and March when I was dismissed. At the most, I missed 3 meetings, but I only received one notification (February).
A possible reason for my not receiving the meeting notifications is that I provided my CV which contains my University of Florida email address. That address may have been used and might have gone directly to spam. I never check spam email on my ufl.edu account. I can't explain why I got a notice of the February meeting on my yahoo account.
I'd like to serve on the committee, but was told that once I was dismissed, I couldn't apply to be on an advisory committee again unless I resigned from the Police Advisory committee. That made no sense. Why would I resign if I was already off the committee?
I'd like to serve the City of Gainesville and anything you can do to help me woud be greatly appreciated.
Thank You,
Scot E. Smith
|
