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Home My WebLink About2002/12/13-Minutes-City Council-Special Called C SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING DECEMBER 13, 2002 Date & Time On the 13th day of December, A.D., 2002, the City Council of the City of Fort Worth, Texas, met in special session, at 3:36 p.m., with the following members and officers present: Attendance Mayor Kenneth Barr; Mayor Pro tempore Ralph McCloud; Council Members Jim Lane, Chuck Silcox, Frank Moss, Clyde Picht, Jeff Wentworth and Wendy Davis; City Manager Gary Jackson; City Attorney David Yett and City Secretary Gloria Pearson. Council Member Becky Haskin was absent. With more than a quorum present, the following business was transacted: Attention of the City Council was called to a call of the Mayor for a special meeting of the City Council, as follows: NOTICE OF SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING (TO BE HELD ONLY IF THE ITEMS LISTED BELOW ARE NOT ACTED UPON AT THE DECEMBER 10, 11, OR 12, 2002 CITY COUNCIL MEETING) Notice is hereby given that the City Council of the City of Fort Worth will hold a special meeting in the Council Chamber of the Fort Worth City Hall, 1000 Throckmorton, Fort Worth, Texas, on Friday, December 13, 2002, at 3:30 p.m., to consider the following items: I. Call To Order II. Presentations by the City Council Adoption of Ordinance Providing for the Issuance of City of Fort Worth, Texas Combination Tax and Revenue Certificates of Obligation, Series 2002-A (Convention Center Hotel Project) in an Aggregate Principal Amount Not in Excess of $160 Million; Providing for the Levy, Assessment and Collection of a Tax Sufficient to Pay the Interest on Said Certificates of Obligation and to Create a Sinking Fund for the Redemption Thereof at Maturity; Pledging Certain Revenues in Support of Said Certificates; and Ordaining Other Matters Relating to the Subject. III. Report of the City Manager M&C L-13466 — Adoption of Appropriation Ordinance, Authorization to Purchase the Tarrant County College District Downtown Campus Located at 1500 Houston Street and 1400 and 1408 Throckmorton Street, and Authorization to Enter into a Lease Agreement with the Tarrant County College District. IV. Executive Session l CITY COUNCIL MEETING FORT WORTH, TEXAS DECEMBER 13, 2002 PAGE 2 of 7 The City Council will conduct a closed meeting in order to: 1. Seek the advice of its attorneys concerning the following pending or contemplated litigation or other matters that are exempt from public disclosure under Article X, Section 9 of the Texas State Bar Rules: a) Legal issues concerning any matter on today's City Council meeting agenda; as authorized by Section 551.071 of the Texas Government Code; and 2. Deliberate the purchase, exchange, lease or value of real property in accordance with Section 551.072 of the Texas Government Code. Deliberation in an open meeting would have a detrimental effect on the position of the City in negotiations with a third party. V. Adjourn In accordance with Chapter III, Section 5 of the Fort Worth City Charter, I hereby call a special meeting of the Fort Worth City Council to be held at the time and place stated above. The object of the meeting is to consider the matters listed above and no business transacted at such meeting other than to consider such matters. Signed this 6t" day of December, 2002. /s/ Kenneth Barr Mayor Mayor Barr requested that City Secretary Pearson report her findings regarding the petition. REPORT ON PETITION FOR ELECTION CONCERNING ISSUANCE OF CERTIFICATES OF OBLIGATION December 13, 2002 The Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council City of Fort Worth, Texas CITY COUNCIL MEETING FORT WORTH, TEXAS DECEMBER 13, 2002 PAGE 3 of 7 Ladies and Gentlemen: On November 19, 2002, the City Council adopted Ordinance No. 15333 directing publication of notice of intention to issue combination tax and revenue certificates of obligation for acquisition of property, design, construction and equipping of a convention center hotel. Adoption of an ordinance providing for the issuance of such certificates of obligation was placed on the agenda for the December 10, 2002 City Council meeting. On Monday, December 9, 2002, Citizens for Taxpayers Rights delivered to my office a petition protesting the issuance of such certificates of obligation and calling for an election concerning issuance of the certificates, pursuant to Section 271.049(c) of the Texas Local Government Code. The petition contained 17,267 signatures. STATUTORY REQUIREMENTS FOR THE PETITION Section 271.049(c) of the Local Government Code provides as follows: If before the date tentatively set for the authorization of the issuance of the certificates or if before the authorization, the municipal secretary or clerk if the issuer is a municipality, or the county clerk if the issuer is a county, receives a petition signed by at least five percent of the qualified voters of the issuer protesting the issuance of the certificates, the issuer may not authorize the issuance of the certificates unless the issuance is approved at an election ordered, held, and conducted in the manner provided for bond elections under Chapter 1251, Government Code. The petition is governed by Chapter 277 of the Election Code. Section 277.001 states as follows: This chapter applies to a petition authorized or required to be filed under a law outside this code in connection with an election, except a petition for a local option election held under the Alcoholic Beverage Code. Section 277.002(a) of the Election Code provides that for a petition to be valid, the petition must: CITY COUNCIL MEETING FORT WORTH, TEXAS DECEMBER 13, 2002 PAGE 4 of 7 (1) contain in addition to the signature: (A) the signer's printed name: (B) the signer's date of birth and the signer's voter registration number and, if the territory from which signatures must be obtained is situated in more than one county, the county of registration (C) the signer's residence address; and (D) the date of signing; and (2) comply with any other applicable requirements prescribed by law. The petition presented on December 9, 2002, was reviewed for compliance with the above-described statutory requirements. 155 pages of the 3853-page petition did not contain the county of registration, as required by Section 277.002(a)(1)(B). However, signatures were not disqualified for failure to include the county of residence. In addition, a signature was not disqualified even though the signer's printed name was not included if we were able to ascertain the signer's name from the written signature. NUMBER OF VALID SIGNATURES REQUIRED ON THE PETITION As of December 9, 2002, there were 276,787 registered voters in the City of Fort Worth. In accordance with Section 277.0024, voters whose names appear on the list of registered voters with the notation "S", or similar notation (the Suspense List), were excluded from the computation, leaving an adjusted total of 242,242. A petition submitted under Local Government Code Section 271.049(c) must be signed by at least five percent of the qualified voters of the City. Pursuant to Section 277.0021, a reference to "qualified voter" relating to eligibility to sign a petition means "registered voter". Accordingly, 12,113 valid signatures by registered voters were required. FINDINGS Of the 17,267 signatures presented, 496 signatures were of persons not residing within the corporate limits of the City of Fort Worth, 292 were duplicate signatures, and 833 were of persons with insufficient addresses or illegible names without voter registration numbers. After disqualifying 1,621 signatures, a total of 15,646 valid signatures were presented. CITY COUNCIL MEETING FORT WORTH, TEXAS DECEMBER 13, 2002 PAGE 5 of 7 CONCLUSION The petition was required to contain 12,113 signatures of registered voters. The petition contained 15,646 valid signatures. Pursuant to Section 271.049(c) of the Local Government Code, the City Council may not authorize the issuance of certificates of obligation for acquisition of land, design, construction and equipping of a convention center hotel unless the issuance is approved at an election ordered, held and conducted in the manner provided for bond elections under Chapter 1251, Government Code. APPRECIATION The validation process involved not only the entire staff of the Office of the City Secretary, but also four employees from the IT Solutions Department, four employees from the Finance Department, four employees from the Department of Mayor and City Council, three employees from the Human Resources Department, one employee from the Water Department, eight employees from the Department of Municipal Courts and City Attorney David Yett and Deputy City Attorney Marcella Olson of the Law Department. My appreciation is extended to each of these City employees for the rapidity of their responses, their hard work, dedication, professionalism and spirit of cooperation that resulted in the validation of the petition in such a short amount of time. Respectfully submitted, /s/ Gloria Pearson City Secretary City Attorney Yett advised Council that February 1, 2003, was the next uniform election date and requested direction from the Council regarding the placing of this item on next week's agenda. Council Member Davis made a motion, seconded by Council Member Lane, to continue the adoption of ordinance providing for the Issuance of City of Fort Worth, Texas Combination Tax and Revenue Certificates of Obligation, until February 4, 2003. Council Member Picht made a substitute motion, seconded by Council Member Silcox, that this item be continued until the second week in May, 2003. The motion failed by the following vote: CITY COUNCIL MEETING FORT WORTH, TEXAS DECEMBER 13, 2002 PAGE 6 of 7 AYES: Council Members Silcox and Picht NOES: Mayor Barr; Mayor Pro tempore McCloud; Council Members Lane, Moss, Wentworth, and Davis ABSENT: Council Member Haskin Ordinance to The original motion to continue this item until February 4, 2003, issue carried by the following vote: Certificates of Obligation AYES: Mayor Barr; Mayor Pro tempore McCloud; Continued until Council Members Lane, Silcox, Moss, February 4, 2003 Wentworth, and Davis NOES: Council Member Picht ABSENT: Council Member Haskin City Attorney Yett informed Council that staff intends to post information at the next City Council meeting ordering an election for February 1, 2003, unless there were objections from the Council. L-13466 There was presented Mayor and Council Communication No. L- Continued until 13466 from the City Manager recommending that the Council adopt February 4, 2003 an Appropriation Ordinance, Authorization to purchase the Tarrant County College District Downtown Campus Located at 1500 Houston Street and 1400 and 1408 Throckmorton Street, and Authorization to Enter into a Lease Agreement with the Tarrant County College District. Assistant City Manager Paniagua requested that this item also be delayed until February 4, 2003. He further stated that they might also come back next week with an option to purchase without the use of certificates of obligation in order the College to know that the City was still interested in purchasing the property. Council Member Davis made a motion, seconded by Council Member Wentworth, that consideration of Mayor and Council Communication No. L-13466 be continued until February 4, 2003. The motion carried by the following vote: CITY COUNCIL MEETING FORT WORTH, TEXAS DECEMBER 13, 2002 PAGE 7of7 AYES: Mayor Barr; Mayor Pro tempore McCloud; Council Members Lane, Moss, Wentworth, and Davis NOES: Council Members Silcox and Picht ABSENT: Council Member Haskin Chip Diano Mr. Chip Diano, 554 S. Summit Avenue #1010, appeared and stressed the importance of the project, stating that it would greatly benefit the City as a whole. He stated that vitalization was the key. He further stated that the individuals circulating the petitions came to his address, which had a posted sign for people not to solicit. Joan Crownover Ms. Joan Crownover, 1041 East Robert Street , appeared before Council and requested that the City Council stop delaying this issue. She stated that she would prefer if Council would just vote the hotel up or down and get on with the business of the City. City Attorney Yett informed Council that there was no need to meet in Executive Session. Adjourned There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 4:00 p.m. CITY S TARY MAYOR