Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes 2013-05-20 Regular i 05/20/13 4140 STATE OF TEXAS )( CITY OF FRIENDSWOOD )( COUNTIES OF GALVESTON/HARRIS MAY 20, 2013 )( MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING OF THE FRIENDSWOOD CITY COUNCIL THAT WAS HELD ON MONDAY, MAY 20, 2013, AT 6:00 PM AT FRIENDSWOOD CITY HALL COUNCIL CHAMBERS, 910 S. FRIENDSWOOD DRIVE, FRIENDSWOOD, TEXAS, WITH THE FOLLOWING PRESENT CONSTITUTING A QUORUM: MAYOR KEVIN HOLLAND MAYOR PRO-TEM JIM HILL COUNCILMEMBER BILLY ENOCHS COUNCILMEMBER PAT MCGINNIS COUNCILMEMBER DEIRDRE BROWN CITY ATTORNEY ARNOLD POLANCO CITY MANAGER ROGER ROECKER CITY SECRETARY MELINDA WELSH Councilmembers Rockey and Scott were absent from the meeting. REGULAR SESSION Mayor Holland called the meeting to order. The invocation was given by Pastor Lynn Colby with Calvary Chapel Church. ' Mayor Holland led the Pledge of Allegiance to the United States and to the State of Texas. COMMUNICATION FROM THE PUBLIC Evelyn Timmons, Friendswood resident, addressed Council and stated she has lived in Friendswood for 17 years, was grateful there were such high caliber people that wanted to help run the City such as Councilmembers Pat McGinnis and Deirdre Brown. Thanked Ms. Brown for all the work she did in keeping the welfare of Friendswood first, hope the citizens can continue to count on Ms. Brown to help move Friendswood forward. COMMENTS FROM CANDIDATES AND OUTGOING AND INCOMING COUNCILMEMBERS Candidate Pat McGinnis thanked the citizens and voters for giving him a first term, he was blessed to serve, tried to honor his position, humbled to receive votes and the voter's trust to continue, thanked the citizens from the bottom of his heart. He further thanked Barry Kaplan and Phillip Webb who functioned as consultants on the campaign, thanked Chris and Greg Smith and Dave and Averal Foster for opening their homes, thanked candidate Carl Gustafson's kids who were part of his team and helped get him elected just as much as Carl Gustafson, thanked Jim Barr and his wife Rochelle for Jim's prior service on City Council and for stepping up and offering his abilities again, ran a better race because of it, being a candidate is a hard thing to do, thanked and congratulated Councilmember Deirdre Brown, were elected together three years ago, she has ably served the citizens, used to think he was smart and could study up on the issues, she did her homework for every meeting, always came prepared, set a high bar fdr councilmen to get in depth on the issues, congratulations on ending a successful term, and wished her good luck. He stated as he embarks on a second three year term, assures citizens he is their councilmember whether they voted for him or not, looks forward to the future and a successful new ' Council to be in place. Councilmember Brown stated this is the last time she will speak from the dais and jokingly stated she would read from a stack of papers she had, has been the most rewarding part-time job she has ever had, 05/20/13 4141 met people she would not have met, thanked candidate Carl Gustafson's kids, and thanked the ' Gustafson's for their service. Every challenge on Council has helped her gain knowledge to help others, does volunteer work outside of Council, thanked those who challenged her, learning is best thing we ever do, has been a privilege to serve. Ms. Brown thanked her husband John who has given her never ending support, campaigned for her while she was working, thanked candidates Jim Barr and Tawni Slaughter for stepping up this election, encourages others to get involved on a volunteer basis. If you have a passion, desire, commitment and servant's heart then you can serve, thanked City Staff whose names you never see and whose names you do not know, they are the engine of the City, if you see them out in the City say thank you, they are the true heart of the City, those who work every day with no recognition. Thanked the citizens of Friendswood, the more involved they are the better the City is, do not need the few very involved but need the many involved a little, government serves the people best when the government knows the people are watching and informed. Thanked Council, Staff, Carl Gustafson, and Pat McGinnis, and God bless all of you. Candidate Carl Gustafson addressed Council and stated he would like to thank Mayor Holland, hoped life would slow down after the election, took 10 weeks to get here and will take 20 weeks to get caught up, thanked his wife Theresa, without her assistance, commitment, and hard work he would not be where he is now. Thanked his daughters Kandra, Megan, and Jennifer, Kandra has an amazing amount of confidence and one day will have her own campaign for public office, has been wonderful to watch Megan lose some of her shyness, glad Jennifer was here to experience the campaign, she brought great ideas to the effort, thanked his son Dylan, have missed baseball games this year, managed to save the big moments while he was able to be there, grandson Conrad handed out push cards, waved signs at City Hall, kept him grounded as only a three year old can, thanked his brother John, very special guy, no one could have a more dedicated and hard working campaign volunteer, wished his Mom and Dad were here to see them now, they would be proud of his brother, thanked all who volunteered on his campaign, could not have done it without their commitment and hard work, thanked the Homeowner's Associations and various groups around the City for taking the time to listen, thanked citizens that elected him to , represent them, will be an honor to serve, will come prepared, will be a good steward of finances, respectful of the office and those elected to represent, thanked those who supported and believed in him, would like to reach out to candidate Tawni Slaughter and those that supported her, appreciates them getting involved, asked that everyone get involved in City government in some way, fill out a volunteer form, it takes all to make the City what it is. To Council and Staff he looks forward to working with them and getting started. RESOLUTION "Councilmember Hill moved to approve Resolution R2013-08-A resolution of the City Council of the City of Friendswood, Texas, canvassing the returns of the May 11, 2013, City of Friendswood General Election for Council Positions No.4 and No. 6. Seconded by Councilmember Enochs. The motion was approved 5-0. COUNCILMEMBER- POSITION 4 Patrick McGinnis..................................................................................................... 1,158 votes JimBarr................................................................................................................... 771 votes COUNCILMEMBER- POSITION 6 TawniSlaughter......................................................................................................... 791 votes Carl W. Gustafson................................................................................................... 1,136 votes PRESENTATION OF CERTIFICATES OF ELECTION Mayor Holland presented the Certificates of Election to Carl Gustafson and Pat McGinnis. OATHS OF OFFICE ' i 05/20/13 4142 ' The Honorable Judge Jim Woltz administered the Oath of Office to Pat McGinnis for City Council Position No. 4 and to Carl Gustafson for City Council Position No. 6. COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE MAYOR AND COUNCILMEMBERS Mayor Holland read a letter from Councilmember Rockey who was in Washington, D.C., on a Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership trip. He read, "I would very much like to have been at the Council meeting tonight to say this in person but I am representing the City of Friendswood with the Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership which is in Washington, D.C., lobbying Congress for improvements in the NASA budget, which by the way is a trip Councilmember Brown recommended I go on. So, I have asked the Mayor to read this into the record since I cannot be there live. While I am certain that Deidre Brown will stay active in leadership of our community in the years to came in some fashion, I do want to express my respect for the time and effort Councilwoman Brown has put in for the City of Friendswood! Leadership can take many forms but anyone who puts themselves through an election and then years on Council for no pay, and just for the desire to provide something back to the community is to be respected and thanked with no reservations. Deidre, I suppose you know and possibly relish the fact that serving with you on Council can at times be no picnic. You were exacting, unrelenting, and tireless on the issues that you had strong feelings for. I know we could debate the effectiveness of tactics, but I grew to strongly admire the work ethic you put into your Council duties and have tried to emulate them myself. I can say with certainty that the fear of getting called on some point by you caused me to greatly increase the homework I did for every meeting, which is a good thing and a habit I shall continue. While clearly we did not always agree on issues I did try very hard to listen to you, and I can say with certainty that many times your arguments swayed how I voted. I know that when Council is debating it can often be rougti and tumble and I am certain that there may have been times that I was inelegant in responding to you. I hope that you believe that it was the heat of the moment and cluelessness on my part, and not due to lack of respect for you or your position on an issue. I can also say with confidence that you caused me to ' really learn Robert's Rules of Order. I am not certain I am a better person for that but nonetheless I have learned them. Unquestionably you and the rest of Council are abundantly tired of hearing me say Mayor. Point of Order are we still following Robert's Rules. Even though you are leaving the Council I do reserve the right to contact you on occasion to seek out your opinion on matters that I believe you may be able to help me on. Please let me know what future live acting castings you have at the local theater so I can be sure to be in the audience. Good luck but I will not say goodbye, and to Carl Gustafson welcome aboardf It is always good to have a fellow engineer on Council. You ran a great campaign and I think you area going to be a wonderful elected official." Councilmember Enochs stated on occasions such as these he thinks of blessings, good to see democracy at work and the results it produces, there is a high level of volunteers in the City of Friendswood, thanked candidates Tawni Slaughter and Jim Barr for running, iron sharpens iron,) congratulated Councilmember McGinnis on another three year term, congratulated Councilmember Carl Gustafson, welcome to Council and looking forward to working together, looking forward to continuing to move Friendswood forward in a positive manner. Councilmember Hill stated he agrees with Councilmember Enochs, the City is great because of the people that volunteer, appreciates candidates Tawni Slaughter and Jim Barr for stepping up, campaigningl is hard, have enjoyed serving with Councilmember McGinnis, have found him to be a reasonable and well, measured man, shares some of the same values as Councilmember Carl Gustafson, looking forward to serving with these guys. Mayor Holland presented a plaque to former Councilmember Brown, echoes Councilmember Rockey's sentiments, Councilmember Brown made him a better Mayor and looks forward to working with Carl Gustafson. Mayor Holland read from the plaque presented to Councilmember Brown. ' Councilmember McGinnis stated he cannot remember if he congratulated Carl Gustafson when he spoke earlier, got to know him on the campaign trail, was a tireless campaigner, shows how hard he will work for the City over the next three years, congratulated Councilmember Gustafson. 05/20/13 4143 Councilmember Gustafson stated he would like to say a few words to Deidre Brown, thanked her for her ' service to the City, is a smart, judicious, quick-witted person, always came prepared, respects and admires the level of detail, respects ability to retain information and speak intelligently, appreciates her passion in her beliefs, will not soon be forgotten, wished her good luck and success in her future endeavors. "Councilmember Gustafson moved to adjourn the meeting. Seconded by Councilmember McGinnis. The motion was approved 5-0. A reception was held immediately following the meeting. The meeting was adjourned at 6:53 PM. Mayor Kevi olland Attest: FRI Melinda Welsh, TRMC City Secretary :7f :NjA �'TFOFTE�'••••