2001 Amendments and Referenda
The following items are scheduled to appear on the ballot on November 6, 2001.
County Charter Amendments
County Charter Amendment 1 | County Charter Amendment 2 | County Charter Amendment 3
City and Town Referenda
Cape Canaveral Referendum
Cocoa Referendum
Cocoa Beach Charter Amendment 1 | Cocoa Beach Charter Amendment 2
Malabar Referendum
Melbourne Beach Referendum
Palm Bay Referendum 1 | Palm Bay Referendum 2 | Palm Bay Referendum 3 | Palm Bay Referendum 4
West Melbourne Charter Amendment 1 | West Melbourne Charter Amendment 2 | West Melbourne Charter Amendment 3 | West Melbourne Charter Amendment 4
Special District Referenda
Barefoot Bay Referendum 1 | Barefoot Bay Referendum 2 | Barefoot Bay Referendum 3
COUNTY CHARTER AMENDMENTS
(Voted on by all registered voters in Brevard County)
PROPOSED CHARTER AMENDMENT NO. 1
Ballot Summary:
CITIZENS' BILL OF RIGHTS
Shall the Brevard County Charter be amended to include a "citizens' bill of rights" establishing rights of the public pertaining to convenient access to county offices, truth in government, public records, the right to be heard, minimum due process, notices of decisions and reasons, reports by the county manager and county attorney, and the right to financial information about the county?
YES FOR APPROVAL
NO FOR REJECTION
Full Text:
ARTICLE 5.
POWERS RESERVED TO THE PEOPLE: INITIATIVE AND RECALL; LIMITATIONS ON INDEBTEDNESS AND AD VALOREM TAXATION; CITIZENS' BILL OF RIGHTS
[Note: All of the following language is proposed new language.]
5.6 Citizens' Bill of Rights,
This government has been created to serve the people of Brevard County. In order to provide the public with full and accurate information, to promote efficient administrative management, to make government more accountable, and to insure to all persons fair and equitable treatment, the following rights are guaranteed:
5.6.1 Convenient Access. Every person has the right to transact business with Brevard County with a minimum of personal inconvenience. It shall be the duty of the County Manager and the Board of County Commissioners to provide, within the County's budget limitations, reasonably convenient times and places for the transaction of business with the County.
5.6.2 Truth in Government. No County official or employee shall furnish false information on any public matter to any person, knowing that such information is false when furnishing the information. No County official or employee shall omit facts when giving requested information on any public matter to any person when the effect of such omission is to deceive or mislead the person to whom the information is given, knowing of the omission of the facts and intending to deceive or mislead by giving incomplete information.
5.6.3 Public Records. All public records of Brevard County and its boards, agencies, departments and authorities shall be open for inspection at reasonable times and places convenient to the public. For the purposes of this section, "public records" shall mean as defined by general law, excluding records which are confidential or exempt from public inspection as provided by general law.
5.6.3.1 Ordinance Register. The Clerk of the Board of County Commissioners shall maintain and make available for public inspection an ordinance register, separate from the minutes, showing the votes of each member on all ordinances and resolutions listed by descriptive title. The ordinance register shall be revised to include such information for all ordinances and resolutions not later than 30 days after their adoption. The ordinance register may be in book or journal form, on in electronic form if the public may have access to such information from remote locations using the Internet or otherwise.
5.6.3.2 Availability of Minutes. Written minutes of all meetings of the Board of County Commissioners and all other boards, commissions, committees, and other entities of the County who are required by law to keep minutes of their meetings shall be available for public inspection not later than thirty (30) days after the conclusion of the meeting, whether the minutes are in a "final" or "approved" form or otherwise. Minutes shall be made available for public inspection in "draft" form when a copy or copies have been distributed to any one or more members of the board, commission, committee or other entity of the County for review, prior to the approval of the minutes. Such "draft" minutes may be stamped "draft" or "proposed," but the fact that they have not been approved shall not prevent their being made available for public inspection.
5.6.3.3 Copies of each proposed ordinance and resolution shall be made available to the public at a reasonable time prior to the hearing thereon unless the matter involves an emergency ordinance or emergency resolution.
5.6.4 Right to be Heard. So far as the orderly conduct of public business permits, any interested person has the right to appear before the Board of County Commissioners or any County agency, board or department and be heard for the presentation, adjustment or determination of any issue, request or controversy with the jurisdiction of the governmental entity involved.
5.6.4.1 Matters to be heard shall be scheduled for the convenience of the public. The agenda for any public meeting shall be divided into time periods so that the public may know approximately when a matter will be heard. Nothing herein shall prohibit any governmental entity or agency from imposing reasonable and adequate time limits for the presentation of a matter.
5.6.4.2 Upon the timely request of any interested party a public hearing shall be held by any County agency, board, department or authority upon any significant policy decision to be issued by it which is not subject to subsequent administrative or legislative review and hearing. This provision shall not apply to the Department of Legal Services of the County, or to any body whose duties and responsibilities are solely advisory.
5.6.5 Right to Notice. Persons entitled to notice of a hearing shall be timely informed as to the date, time, place, and nature of the hearing and the legal authority pursuant to which the hearing is to be held. Failure by an individual to receive such notice shall not constitute mandatory grounds for canceling the hearing or rendering invalid any determination made at such hearing.
5.6.6 No Unreasonable Postponements. No matter having been placed on a formal agenda of a meeting of the Board of County Commissioners or other entity or agency of the County shall be postponed to another day except for good cause shown in the opinion of the Board of County Commissioners or other entity or agency conducting such meeting, and then only on condition that any person requesting written notice of a postponement is mailed adequate notice of the new date, time and place of the postponed meeting. Failure by an individual to receive such notice shall not constitute mandatory grounds for canceling the hearing or rendering invalid any determination made at such hearing.
5.6.7 Minimum Due Process. At any quasi judicial proceeding such as (but not limited to) a zoning or variance hearing for which judicial review is exclusively by certiorari, a party, in person or through his or her counsel, shall be entitled to present his or her case or defense, introduce oral or documentary evidence, submit rebuttal evidence, and conduct such cross examination as may be necessary for a full and true disclosure of facts in the record. Procedural rules establishing adequate time limits and other limitations may be promulgated and amended from time to time.
5.6.8 Notice of Decisions and Reasons. Prompt notice shall be given of the approval or denial in whole or in part of a request of an interested person made in connection with any County administrative decision or proceeding when the decision is not made at the conclusion of the hearing but is reserved for determination after the hearing. If the decision is a denial in whole or in part, the notice shall include or be accompanied by a statement of the grounds for denial and the facts supporting such decision.
5.6.9 Managers' and Attorneys' Reports. The County Manager and the County Attorney shall each make a public status report periodically on all major matters pending or concluded within their respective jurisdictions.
5.6.10 Financial Information. The residents and taxpayers of Brevard County are entitled to full and complete information regarding the budget, revenues and expenditures of the County and all of its departments and agencies.
5.6.10.1 Budget. In addition to any budget required by state law, the County Manager shall prepare a budget showing the total cost of each program funded with County revenues, regardless of the source of the revenues, for each fiscal year. Prior to the Board of County Commissioners' first public hearing on the proposed budget, the County Manager shall make public a budget summary setting forth the proposed cost of each individual program and reflecting all major proposed increases and decreases in estimated revenues and expenses and in personnel for each program, the purposes therefore, the estimated millage cost of each program and the amount of any contingency and carryover for each program.
5.6.11 Penalties. Any willful violation of these rights by an officer or employee of Brevard County shall be grounds for disciplinary action against such officer or employee.
5.6.12 Nothing herein shall be construed as a change in the terms and condition of employment of County employees who are covered by a collective bargaining agreement or by merit system rules, to the extent that the provisions hereof are or may be inconsistent with the terms of such an agreement or such rules which are in effect as of the date of adoption of this section 5.6.
[Note: If Section 5.6 is approved by the electorate, it shall take effect on the date of approval by the electorate.]
PROPOSED CHARTER AMENDMENT NO. 2
Ballot Summary:
LIMIT COUNTY-OWNED TAX EXEMPT PROPERTY
Shall the Brevard County Charter be amended to provide that government-owned, tax-exempt real property shall not exceed forty-five (45) percent of the land area of Brevard County, excluding roads and utilities?
YES FOR APPROVAL
NO FOR REJECTION
Full Text:
ARTICLE 5.
POWERS RESERVED TO THE PEOPLE: INITIATIVE AND RECALL; LIMITATIONS ON INDEBTEDNESS AND AD VALOREM TAXATION; CITIZENS' BILL OF RIGHTS
[Note: All of the following language is proposed new language.]
5.7 Limitation on government-owned tax-exempt real property. Government-owned real property in Brevard County which is exempt from ad valorem taxation shall not in the aggregate exceed forty-five (45) percent of the total land area of Brevard County landward of the mean high water line of the Atlantic Ocean excluding roads and utilities.
[Note: If Section 5.7 is approved by the electorate, it shall take effect on the date of approval by the electorate.]
PROPOSED CHARTER AMENDMENT NO. 3
Ballot Summary:
PROTECTION OF PRIVATE PROPERTY RIGHTS
Shall the Brevard County Charter be amended to provide that private property shall not be subject to regulations which impose an inordinate burden upon the rights of the owner, except upon payment of full compensation for the diminished value of the property, regardless of the date of the regulations adoption?
YES FOR APPROVAL
NO FOR REJECTION
Full Text:
ARTICLE 5.
POWERS RESERVED TO THE PEOPLE: INITIATIVE AND RECALL; LIMITATIONS ON INDEBTEDNESS AND AD VALOREM TAXATION; CITIZENS' BILL OF RIGHTS
[Note: All of the following language is proposed new language.]
5.8 Taking of private property. Regulations and ordinances of the County shall substantially advance the purpose for which they are intended. In their application to private property, if a regulation, regardless of the date of its adoption, inordinately burdens, restricts, or limits private property rights, the property owner shall be entitled to full compensation for the diminished use or value of the property.
[Note: If Section 5.8 is approved by the electorate, it shall take effect on the date of approval by the electorate.]
CITY AND TOWN REFERENDA
CITY OF CAPE CANAVERAL
(Voted on by all registered voters in the City of Cape Canaveral)
FIRE/RESCUE SERVICES REFERENDUM QUESTION
Shall the City of Cape Canaveral be authorized to increase the ad valorem tax dedicated to fire/rescue services related to capital equipment expenditures and the addition of (3) personnel to comply with the National Fire Protection Association National Staffing standards by an amount not exceeding 1.5 mill from the present levy of .5 mill on real property within the City of Cape Canaveral for budgets beginning with the fiscal year commencing October 1, 2002.
YES
NO
CITY OF COCOA
(Voted on by all registered voters in the City of Cocoa)
CITY OF COCOA PUBLIC MARINA
This question is non-binding and for informational purposes only. If an opportunity arises, should the City Council pursue the acquisition of a public marina along the Indian River for purposes of preserving the general public's access to dock boats and other water craft within the Cocoa downtown area?
YES, FOR PUBLIC MARINA
NO, AGAINST PUBLIC MARINA
CITY OF COCOA BEACH
(Voted on by all registered voters in the City of Cocoa Beach)
RESIDENTIAL DENSITY LIMITS, AMENDMENT TO MUNICIPAL CHARTER OF COCOA BEACH, ARTICLE VI, SECTION 6.01
Reduces existing density restrictions per acre from 15 to 10 units for permanent occupancy dwellings and from 40 to 28 units for transient lodging establishments (hotels and motels); creates an exception for buildings in existence or permitted on or before July 19, 2001, and allows those buildings to be repaired or rebuilt to the previously existing density; and provide procedures for variances.
YES APPROVAL
NO DISAPPROVAL
BUILDING HEIGHT LIMIT, AMENDMENT TO MUNICIPAL CHARTER OF COCOA BEACH, ARTICLE VI, SECTION 6.04
Reduce Building height limit from 85 feet above mean sea level to 45 feet above the grade of the building site; creates an exception for buildings in existence or permitted on or before July 19, 2001, and allows those buildings to be repaired or rebuilt to the previously existing height; and provide procedures for variance.
YES APPROVAL
NO DISAPPROVAL
TOWN OF MALABAR
(Voted on by all registered voters in the Town of Malabar)
INCREASE IN MILLAGE FOR FUNDING THE RECREATIONAL NEEDS WITHIN MALABAR COMMUNITY PARK
Shall the Town of Malabar assess an additional ad valorem tax of .5 mill ($ .50 per one thousand dollars of taxable assessed real property value), commencing in fiscal year 2002 and continuing for a period of three years, in order to provide for the park and recreational needs of the community. This money would be spent on capital improvements for Malabar Community Park, for projects such as, but not limited to, the construction of an irrigation system for the ball fields, to purchase maintenance equipment to maintain both the playing fields and the open park land, install dugouts and bleachers, purchase playground equipment, and provide for the lighting of the ball fields and courts.
YES
NO
TOWN OF MELBOURNE BEACH
(Voted on by all registered voters in the Town of Melbourne Beach)
UTILIZATION OF AVAILABLE FUNDING TO CONSTRUCT FACILITIES TO PROVIDE ESSENTIAL MUNICIPAL SERVICES
The Town proposes to construct a municipal complex providing police, fire, public works, and administrative services. Site access is onto Ocean Avenue with sufficient building floor area to meet needs for the future. Handicapped accessible and meeting new building codes, the facility will not encroach into park space and will avoid stormwater surface retention in Ryckman Park open space. Proceeds from $1.85 million bond obtained and Town reserve funds not exceeding $600,000 will fund construction.
YES (FOR APPROVAL)
NO (FOR REJECTION)
CITY OF PALM BAY
(Voted on by all registered voters in the City of Palm Bay)
REFERENDUM NO. 1: INCREASING THE TERMS OF THE OFFICE OF CITY COUNCIL FROM 3 YEARS TO 4 YEARS
Shall the City Charter be amended to increase the terms of office of the Mayor and Councilmembers from 3 years to 4 years commencing in November 2002, with the stipulation that serving 2 years or more of any term shall be considered a full term of office for the Mayor and Councilmembers, rather than the current provision that 1 year or more is considered a full term?
YES (FOR THE AMENDMENT)
NO (AGAINST THE AMENDMENT)
REFERENDUM NO. 2: INCREASING THE MAYOR AND COUNCILMEMBERS' SALARIES AND PROVIDING FOR A SCHEDULE FOR INCREASES THEREAFTER
Shall the City Charter be amended to increase the Mayor's salary from $8,000 to $9,000, and Councilmembers' salaries from $4,000 to $6,500, with the provision that commencing in November 2002, they shall also receive a 3% increase upon election to a full term of office? This amendment replaces the current provision allowing the Council to determine its salary and to increase it by up to 5% in any calendar year.
YES (FOR THE AMENDMENT)
NO (AGAINST THE AMENDMENT)
REFERENDUM NO. 3: REVISING THE METHOD FOR TABULATING VOTES FOR SPECIAL ASSESSMENTS, SECTION 6.02, CITY CHARTER
Shall the City Charter be amended to alter the way that votes for special assessments are counted by replacing the words, "must be approved, in writing by a majority vote of affected property owners" with "must be approved, in writing by a majority vote of affected owners that return a ballot"? The ballot of a non-responding property owner will not be counted.
YES (FOR THE AMENDMENT)
NO (AGAINST THE AMENDMENT)
REFERENDUM NO. 4: SPECIAL ASSESSMENTS FOR WATER, SEWER PROJECT IMPROVEMENTS ONLY, IN ACCORDANCE WITH STATE STATUTES, CHAPTER 170
Shall special assessments, for water and sewer project improvements only, be excluded from the City Charter provision that currently requires written approval of the affected property owners? This amendment is proposed to follow state statutes authorizing the City Council to place and collect special assessments upon property benefited. An ordinance will allow geographic areas the option to vote to be removed from a special assessment project.
YES (FOR THE AMENDMENT)
NO (AGAINST THE AMENDMENT)
CITY OF WEST MELBOURNE
(Voted on by all registered voters in the City of West Melbourne)
QUESTION NO. 1: AMENDMENT TO THE CITY CHARTER ESTABLISHING THE VOTING REQUIREMENTS TO SETTLE CERTAIN LITIGATION.
Shall the City of West Melbourne adopt an amendment to its Charter establishing voting requirements to settle litigation relating to a development order; providing if the City is considering settlement of litigation concerning a development order such settlement must be approved by the concurring vote of the same number of votes required to approve the original development order.
YES
NO
QUESTION NO. 2: AMENDMENT TO THE CITY CHARTER AUTHORIZING THE ADOPTION OF THE CITY'S ANNUAL BUDGET BY RESOLUTION.
Shall the City of West Melbourne adopt an amendment to its Charter authorizing the City Council to adopt its annual budget for the City by resolution.
YES
NO
QUESTION NO. 3: AMENDMENT TO THE CITY CHARTER INCREASING THE COMPETITIVE BIDDING REQUIREMENT TO FIVE THOUSAND ($5,000.00) DOLLARS.
Shall the City of West Melbourne adopt an amendment to its Charter increasing the competitive bidding requirement for the contracting of City improvements or the purchase of goods, supplies or materials to five thousand ($5,000.00) dollars.
YES
NO
QUESTION NO. 4: AMENDMENT TO THE CITY CHARTER INCREASING THE COMPENSATION OF COUNCIL MEMBERS AND MAYOR.
Shall the City of West Melbourne adopt an amendment to its Charter increasing the compensation of individual Council members to two hundred dollars ($200.00) per month and increasing the compensation of the Mayor to two hundred fifty dollars ($250.00) per month.
YES
NO
SPECIAL DISTRICT REFERENDA
BAREFOOT BAY RECREATION DISTRICT
(Voted on by all registered voters in the Barefoot Bay Recreation District)
REFERENDUM 1: AMENDMENT OF BREVARD COUNTY ORDINANCE 84-05 AND FLORIDA STATUTE SECTION 418.304(13) TO ALLOW COST OF LIVING INCREASES
Shall the Board of Trustees of the Barefoot Bay Recreation District request of the Board of County Commissioners of Brevard County, Florida and the Florida Legislature that Brevard County Ordinance 84-05 and Florida Statute Section 418.304(13) be amended to allow for increases in the $25,000.00 spending cap based on increases in the annual consumer price index as defined by the Bureau of Labor and Statistics (1982-1984=100).
YES
NO
REFERENDUM 2: AUTHORIZATION FOR THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES TO CONSTRUCT ADDITIONAL REST ROOM FACILITIES IN BUILDING "A"
Shall the Board of Trustees of the Barefoot Bay Recreation District be authorized to construct additional rest room facilities to service Building "A" in excess of the $25,000 acquisition limitation?
YES
NO
REFERENDUM 3: AUTHORIZATION FOR THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES TO ENLARGE THE EXISTING LOUNGE FACILITIES
Shall the Board of Trustees of the Barefoot Bay Recreation District be authorized to enlarge the existing Lounge Facilities at the Building "A" complex in excess of the $25,000 acquisition limitation?
YES
NO