By Juliana A. Torres
Staff Writer

Kissimmee commissioners have finalized all but two ordinances that propose several minor amendments to the city charter as well as procedural changes to the way the Kissimmee Utility Authority operates.

Among the amendments finalized Tuesday for the August ballot is a proposal to add “In God We Trust” as the city's motto. Commissioners, down to four in suspended Commissioner Carlos Irizarry's absence from the dais, unanimously decided to give voters the opportunity to vote for or against the motto during the local elections Aug. 24.

The second ordinance passed Tuesday would officially define KUA board member terms as five years long. Also, at the commissioners' request during a previous meeting, the ordinance specifies that members termed out after 10 years on the board must wait a year before they can be reappointed.

The last two proposed amendments to the charter, which have to go to the Osceola County Supervisor of Elections office by the end of June in order to be even included on the ballot, passed through the first of two readings this week. Both ordinances were suggested as commissioners debated other changes to KUA May 18.

Commissioner Cheryl Grieb last month proposed to decrease the number of board members required to live within the city, allowing more flexibility in the pool of residents who could be appointed to the board. Currently, the charter specifies that four of the five KUA board members must be city residents, despite the fact that more than half of KUA customers live outside of city limits.

Grieb meant to increase the potential board members from outside the city from one to three, but staff misunderstood her proposal and wrote the ordinance with three board members required to be city residents.

“I was trying to balance the board accordingly. What I thought I stated was a minimum of two city residents and the balance could be city or county,” Grieb said. “But if how it's written is the will of the commission, that would be fine.”

Commissioner Art Otero said he was against allowing three board members to come from outside the city.

“We own KUA. I think by doing that we're giving away that right. I feel more comfortable that we have three people from the city,” he said.

Commissioners unanimously agreed to pass the ordinance the way the staff had written it. Commissioner Jerry Gemskie suggested that the terms of the two non-city board members should be staggered so both weren't appointed one after another. The city attorney agreed to tweak the ordinance for the second reading.

Gemskie proposed last month the second charter-changing ordinance yet to be approved: allowing for a simple majority approval to change the KUA charter instead of a four-fifths vote as is currently required.

Mayor Jim Swan made a final proposal Tuesday, suggesting that the non-voting member of the KUA board, usually reserved for the mayor, be allowed to vote.

“It is the city's utility, yet no member (of the commission) can vote,” he said. “I'm not bothered one way or another about it. I just felt like it was one thing we should give some thought to.”

Gemskie said he felt as though his equivalent position on the Toho Water Authority granted him the chance to listen and report back valuable information to the commission, rather than a right to sway decisions. He also pointed out that the mayor's suggestion would create an even vote and possible unresolved ties.

City Manager Mark Durbin suggested that one of the five board seats outlined in the charter could be the commission's direct representation, eliminating the need for a charter change. Especially given the time constraints in getting the ballot items to the supervisor of elections, he suggested the commissioners delay the decision until they had to make new appointments to the board next year, to which they agreed.

Swan's was the second suggested change to the charter that was ultimately shot down in the last few months. A proposal from Otero to give city commissioners direct control over who is appointed to the KUA board made it to a written ordinance but failed its first reading last month.

Given final approval of the last two proposals June 15, a total of 10 passed ordinances will outline several dozens of charter changes.

The process of updating the city charter began last year, when a resident advisory committee began going through the 39-page document. The committee was created in the wake of four charter changes proposed by the commission in 2007. The changes, including an elimination of term limits that was ultimately turned down by voters and changes to the election process, went before city residents during the local elections in January 2008.

At the time, Irizarry said he felt a resident advisory committee should recommend the changes before anything was added to the ballot. Other commissioners argued that they wanted the people's opinion on term limits and the date of the local elections no matter what a committee eventually suggested.

All changes to the charter, even the many minor grammar or spelling corrections the committee made, must be approved with a majority resident vote. For an updated list of the recommended changes to the charter, click here.