Panama City Reporter

City of Panama City Beach issued the following announcement on January 27.

The Panama City Beach City Council approved Resolution 22-90 Thursday morning, calling for a referendum on Charter updates and amendments.

The City Charter has been updated 11 times by voter referendum since it was adopted in 1970. The amendments will be placed on the April 19 Municipal Super Tuesday ballot. The exact terminology for these eight ballot questions can be viewed below.

“For these Charter amendments, the City took a unique approach by appointing one citizen from each of the City’s four wards, to review the Charter and make suggestions,” said Vice Mayor Geoff McConnell, who chaired the Citizen Charter Review Advisory Committee.

“The group did an amazing job getting these changes together. This group met twice a month over several months to discuss how to make the document more viable and relevant in today’s world. As these updates were hashed out, the citizen committee brought in City staff and the Civil Service Board chairman to discuss these changes. This was a community effort and a community-driven initiative.”

The ballot amendments address inefficiencies in areas like purchasing, soliciting bids, buying authority for the City Manager and the inability to make emergency purchases. The citizen committee went over every word, identifying and weeding out language, landing with 27 amendments, which were reduced to eight ballot questions, McConnell said.

Some of the changes are miniscule. For example, staff wants to be able to use digital and electronic signatures on documents which is a widely accepted practice in today’s world.

Another amendment requires that those seeking office in the City, be a resident of the City for at least a year prior to running. Citizens serving on the committee were adamant about candidates being invested in the community. They wanted to see candidates who had lived in the City long enough to know the community and the issues it faces.

Another proposed amendment raises the threshold for routine purchases crucial to daily operations, from $10,000 to $25,000. With inflation and supply chain issues that continue to drive prices, a $10,000 threshold for purchases is simply too low to enable our departments to function efficiently, according to Finance Director Karen Ellis. Some cities and counties have purchasing thresholds as high as $250,000.

Officials said they want voters to feel comfortable with these proposed changes. Committee members will participate in educational videos on the various amendments, and launch a public-speaking tour to educate the public on the ballot amendments. Anyone with questions is encouraged to reach out to City Hall.

Citizens serving on the volunteer committee are Ryan Houk, Rick Ramos, Zach Coleman and Matt Bush.

Here is a link to the City Charter.

The ballot language approved by the City Council January 27 to be sent to the Supervisor of Elections is as follows:

QUESTION 1: INCREASING RESIDENCY REQUIREMENT FOR MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL CANDIDATES.

Shall the City’s qualifications for candidates seeking the office of Mayor or Councilperson be amended to increase the residency requirement from six months to twelve months. If passed, the amendment will require a Council candidate to reside for one year in the ward for which he or she seeks office, and a mayoral candidate to reside in the City limits for one year prior to the election in which they are candidates.

QUESTION 2: SETTING CAP ON SOLE-SOURCE PURCHASES, AND INCREASING PURCHASE THRESHOLDS ON COMPETITIVE QUOTES, FOR UTILITIES.

With regard to the purchase of goods exclusively for the City’s water, sewer, stormwater and reuse water utilities, shall the City cap the sole source purchase of specialized goods, without competitive bid, at $50,000, and increase the purchasing threshold of non-sole source goods with competitive quotes from $25,000 to $100,000? These amendments will not apply to any contract for services or to the purchase of goods for any other department of the City.

QUESTION 3: INCREASING CITY MANAGER EMERGENCY AND ROUTINE PURCHASING AUTHORITY, COMPETITIVE PROCUREMENT THRESHOLD.

Shall the City Manager be granted emergency spending authority up to $100,000, in total, only if the purchase is necessary to respond to an emergency, the City Council is unable to call a special meeting, and the Finance Director agrees with the purchase. Further, shall the City Manager’s power to purchase without City Council approval, and the City’s ability to purchase goods and services without competitive bids, be increased from $10,000 to $25,000.

QUESTION 4: AUTHORIZING USE OF COMPETITIVE BIDS OBTAINED BY OTHER GOVERNMENTAL AGENCIES OR COOPERATIVE PURCHASING ENTITIES.

Shall the City purchase goods on the same terms and conditions obtained by federal, state or municipal governments, or cooperative purchasing entities of which the City is a member, without the City itself advertising for bids. This amendment will not apply to any contract for services. It is anticipated this amendment will significantly streamline the City’s procurement process and reduce the current procurement process by 14 to 30 days.

QUESTION 5: EXEMPTING INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (IT) GOODS AND SERVICES FROM COMPETITIVE PROCUREMENT REQUIREMENTS.

May the City procure without competitive bid the following goods and services: 1) maintenance and service of IT software when the maintenance or services will be performed by the software manufacturer, their service representative or distributor; 2) contracts to acquire proprietary software that is custom made and specifically designed for city use; and 3) purchases of goods or services necessary to prevent or address a cyber-attack or damage or loss of public records.

QUESTION 6: APPROVING CHARTER UPDATES AFFECTING CITY MANAGEMENT AND CHARTER OFFICERS.

Shall the City Charter be amended to establish the duties of the Assistant City Manager (currently the Mayor acts in absence of City Manager), to clarify and provide the City Manager a public hearing in the event of Resolution No. 22-90 Page 4 of 5 termination for cause (because he/she serves at the pleasure of the Council), and to require the City Clerk and City Attorney undergo annual performance evaluations (currently only required for the City Manager).

QUESTION 7: REVISING DUTIES OF CIVIL SERVICE BOARD, UPDATING CAUSES FOR EMPLOYEE DISCIPLINE.

Shall Civil Service Article 6 of the Charter be revised to alter the role of the Civil Service Board to streamline the hiring process, and to delete and conform provisions to implement this purpose; to permit a three-member Board; to clarify the active role of the Board Secretary in the hiring process; and to modernize the causes for employee discipline.

QUESTION 8: APPROVING MISCELLANEOUS CHARTER UPDATES RELATING TO BUDGET, EXECUTION OF CITY DOCUMENTS AND COMPETITIVE BIDDING REQUIREMENTS.

Shall the City Charter be amended to update matters relating to the preparation and adoption of the City’s annual budget, to modernize the method of execution of City documents, the minimum requirements for competitive bidding, and other amendments all as specifically set forth in ordinance 1576 unanimously adopted by the city council on January 13, 2022.

Original source can be found here.