| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to the City of Jacksonville, Duval County; |
| 3 | amending Article 17 of chapter 92-341, Laws of Florida, as |
| 4 | amended, being the Charter of the City of Jacksonville; |
| 5 | revising the membership of the Civil Service Board; |
| 6 | revising restrictions to membership; revising criteria in |
| 7 | determining a vacancy; providing for transition to the |
| 8 | amended method of appointment and terms of members; |
| 9 | revising provisions relating to ex parte communications; |
| 10 | revising the two-term limit requirement to conform to the |
| 11 | appointed status of board members; providing an effective |
| 12 | date. |
| 13 |
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| 14 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 15 |
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| 16 | Section 1. Sections 17.02, 17.10, and 17.12 of the Charter |
| 17 | of the City of Jacksonville, as created by chapter 92-341, Laws |
| 18 | of Florida, as amended, are amended to read: |
| 19 | PART A CHARTER LAWS CHARTER OF CITY OF JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA |
| 20 | ARTICLE 17. CIVIL SERVICE |
| 21 | Section 17.02. Civil service board.-- |
| 22 | (a) There shall be a civil service board of the |
| 23 | consolidated government which shall consist of nine seven (7) |
| 24 | members. Each member shall be a resident and qualified elector |
| 25 | of the City of Jacksonville. |
| 26 | (b) The members of the board shall serve without |
| 27 | compensation and shall be appointed for 3-year three year |
| 28 | overlapping terms. Five Three members shall be appointed by the |
| 29 | Mayor, one of whom shall be a member of a union, two members |
| 30 | shall be appointed by JEA, one member three members shall be |
| 31 | appointed by the Duval County School Board, and the ninth |
| 32 | seventh member shall be chosen by the other eight six, with all |
| 33 | appointments subject to confirmation being confirmed by the City |
| 34 | Council. The original Members shall be appointed for staggered |
| 35 | terms commencing July 1, 1995. The board shall elect annually |
| 36 | one (1) of its members as chair and one as vice chair chairman. |
| 37 | Five (5) members of the board shall constitute a quorum. |
| 38 | (c) No member of the Civil Service Board shall be an agent |
| 39 | of or employed by the City of Jacksonville, the JEA, the Duval |
| 40 | County School Board, or any collective bargaining organization |
| 41 | representing employees of the City of Jacksonville, the JEA, or |
| 42 | the Duval County School Board or be connected with the city |
| 43 | administration. The City Council shall be empowered to remove |
| 44 | members of the board for cause under due process of law. |
| 45 | (d) Each member of the board shall continue to hold office |
| 46 | until the member's his successor is chosen and qualified. |
| 47 | The office of a board member shall become vacant upon the |
| 48 | member's his death, resignation, relocating outside the |
| 49 | boundaries of the City of Jacksonville, or removal from office |
| 50 | in any manner provided by law. If any member of the board fails |
| 51 | to attend three consecutive meetings or fails to attend 50 |
| 52 | percent of the meetings in a calendar year, the chair shall make |
| 53 | a recommendation of retention or removal to the Mayor, who may |
| 54 | declare the member's office vacant and notify the appointing |
| 55 | body of the Mayor's recommendation. The vacancy shall be filled |
| 56 | as provided in this act. The City Council shall also be |
| 57 | empowered to remove members of the board for cause under due |
| 58 | process of law Vacancies shall be filled and confirmed in the |
| 59 | same manner as the original appointment for the remainder of the |
| 60 | term. |
| 61 | (e) A board member appointed before or on the effective |
| 62 | date of this act shall serve through the end of his or her |
| 63 | respective term. Thereafter, the first two of the current |
| 64 | positions appointed by the Duval County School Board to become |
| 65 | vacant shall be filled by the Mayor and the JEA, respectively, |
| 66 | and confirmed by the City Council. The Mayor and JEA shall each |
| 67 | immediately appoint a member to one of the two new positions |
| 68 | created by this act, whose terms shall expire on June 30, 2005, |
| 69 | and June 30, 2006, respectively. Thereafter, all vacancies shall |
| 70 | be filled in the same manner as provided in this act. |
| 71 | Section 17.10. Ex parte communication.--Board members |
| 72 | shall not have any ex parte communications regarding complaints, |
| 73 | grievances, and appeals that are pending or are reasonably |
| 74 | anticipated to be considered by the board. |
| 75 | (a) This section shall apply to any proceeding under |
| 76 | section 17.04(b) or (d), where an ex parte communication |
| 77 | relative to the merits, threat, or offer of reward is made to |
| 78 | any member of the elected civil service board by: |
| 79 | (1) A party to the proceeding or any person who, directly |
| 80 | or indirectly, would have a substantial interest in the proposed |
| 81 | board action, or his authorized representative or counsel, or |
| 82 | any member of the public. |
| 83 | (2) Any elected or appointed official or employee of the |
| 84 | city engaged in prosecution or advocacy in connection with the |
| 85 | matter under consideration or a factually related matter. |
| 86 | (b) In the event a Any board member who is involved in the |
| 87 | decisional process and who receives a prohibited an ex parte |
| 88 | communication, the board member as provided in subsection (a) |
| 89 | shall place on the record of the pending matter all written |
| 90 | communications received, all written responses to such |
| 91 | communications, and a memorandum stating the substance of all |
| 92 | oral communications received and all oral responses made, and |
| 93 | shall also advise all parties that such matters have been placed |
| 94 | on the record. Any party desiring to rebut the ex parte |
| 95 | communication shall be allowed to do so, if such party requests |
| 96 | the opportunity for rebuttal in writing within 10 days after |
| 97 | notice of such communication. The board member may, if deemed he |
| 98 | deems it necessary to eliminate the effect of an ex parte |
| 99 | communication received by him, recuse himself or herself from |
| 100 | the proceeding. |
| 101 | Section 17.12. Two-term limit.--No person appointed |
| 102 | elected and qualified for two consecutive full terms as a member |
| 103 | of the Civil Service Board shall be eligible for appointment |
| 104 | election as a member of the Civil Service Board for the next |
| 105 | succeeding term. The two-term limitation shall apply to any full |
| 106 | term which began in 1992 or thereafter. |
| 107 | Section 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law. |