10-16-89 Special
[IT' OF DELRAY BEA[H
100 N.W. 1st AVENUE
DELRAY BEACH, FLORIDA 33444
407/243-7000
Please be advised that if a person or persons decides to appeal any
decision made by the City Commission with respect to any matter con-
sidered at this meeting or hearing, such persons will need a record of
these proceedings, and for this purpose such persons may need to ensure
that a verbatim record of the proceedings is made, which record includes
the testimony and evidence upon which the appeal is to be based. The
City does not provide or prepare such record.
SPECIAL MEETING
OF
DELRAY BEACH CITY COMMISSION
Pursuant to Section 3.07 of the City Charter of the City of Delray
Beach, Florida, Mayor Doak S. Campbell has instructed me to advise you
of a Special Meeting of the Commission to be held in the Commission
Chambers at 5:30 P.M., Monday, October 16, 1989.
This meeting has been called for the purpose of considering:
(1) Finalization of Bond Referendum Measures.
~~~~t'l~
Eliz eth Arnau
cit Clerk
City of Delray Beach
THE EFFORT ALWAYS MATTERS
[IT' OF DELRAY BEA[H
100 N.W. 1st AVENUE
DELRAY BEACH, FLORIDA 33444
407/243-7000
M E M 0 RAN DUM
TO: Malcolm T. Bird, Interim City Manager
FROM: Elizabeth Arnau, City Clerk t~
SUBJECT: Non-Publication of Notice of Bond Election on October
6, 1989 (1st Run)
DATE: October 16, 1989
The following is an outline of the sequence of events leading up
to the discovery that the "Notice of Bond Election" which had
been scheduled for its 1st run on Friday, October 6, 1989, was,
in fact, not published.
(1) The "Notice of Bond Election", as prepared by Mudge Rose and
transmitted to the City Attorney's office, is hand delivered
to City Clerk by Assistant City Attorney on Tuesday, October
3, 1989, at approximately 4:45 P.M. City Clerk reviewed
advertisement with Assistant City Attorney, noting five (5)
dates of publication (10/6, 10/13, 10/20, 10/27 & 11/3).
(2) On Wednesday, October 4, 1989, shortly after 8:00 A.M., the
City Clerk telephoned the advertising department at the
Delray Beach News and spoke with Diane, the individual whose
name we had been given as contact upon the departure the
previous week of our prior, long-term contact person. The
City Clerk informed Diane that the "Notice of Bond Election"
would be faxed to her office within the next 15 minutes or
so, and also discussed the dates of publication for the
notice, with the first publication on Friday, October 6,
1989. After this phone conversation, the City Clerk gave
the "Notice of Bond Election" to the Assistant City Clerk
who, in turn, faxed it to the Delray Beach News (copy of
Activity Report attached).
THE EFFORT ALWAYS MATTERS
To: Malcolm T. Bird, Interim City Manager
October 16, 1989
Page 2
(3) At approximately 9:00 A.M. on Wednesday, October 4, 1989,
the City Clerk called the Delray Beach News to confirm that
the "Notice of Bond Election" had been received; receipt
verified by Diane at Delray Beach News. Also on October 4,
1989, a copy of the "Notice of Bond Election" and a copy of
Resolution No. 70-89 were hand delivered to the Supervisor
of Elections office, West Palm Beach, at approximately 10:00
A.M. Later in the day, the City Clerk received a phone call
from the Supervisor of Elections office pointing out a
discrepancy in the wording of the questions for the ballot.
Three of the questions read, "Shall the Ci ty issue ...",
while one read, "Shall the City of Delray Beach issue ...".
The City Clerk immediately checked with the City Attorney's
office as to the correct wording to be used and was told to
omit the words "of Delray Beach" from the second question on
the ballot. The Assistant City Clerk contacted the
Supervisor of Elections office by phone to notify them of
this change; the City Clerk called Diane at the Delray Beach
News, asked if she had the notice at hand, was told yes, and
proceeded to discuss the change involved. The City Clerk
was told that it would be taken care of, with publication to
commence on Friday, October 6, 1989.
(4) On Tuesday evening, October 10, 1989, at the regular meeting
of the Delray Beach City Commission, Resolution No. 76-89
was adopted wherein it was resolved that the bonds shall
mature at such time or times not exceeding twenty (20) years
from the date or dates of issuance, as opposed to thirty
(30) years. On Wednesday morning, October 11, 1989, the
Delray Beach News was called in order to make the change
from thirty to twenty years before the second publication of
the "Notice of Bond Election" on October 13, 1989. The
Assistant City Clerk placed the call, asked to speak with
Diane, was informed that Diane was no longer with the
company, and was referred to Nancy. Upon speaking with
Nancy to request the change to the notice, the Assistant
City Clerk was informed that the ad could not be found. The
Assistant City Clerk notified the City Clerk of the
situation; the City Clerk immediately notified the City
Attorney's office so that they would be fully informed as to
the status and could take whatever action they deemed
necessary from a legal standpoint. A second copy of the
"Notice of Bond Election", as amended to reflect 20 years
instead of 30 years, was faxed to Nancy at the Delray Beach
News (copy of Activity Report attached), with verbal
instructions to publish on October 13th.
To: Malcolm T. Bird, Interim City Manager
October 16, 1989
Page 3
The City Clerk's office has been accused of failing to check the
Delray Beach News on October 6, 1989, to confirm publication of
the "Notice of Bond Election". The City Clerk's office has an
employee assigned to clip legal advertisements from the newspaper
on a daily basis; however, she was not specifically instructed to
look for this particular advertisement and would not have been
aware that it had failed to run. In addition, both the City
Clerk and the Assistant City Clerk were deeply involved in an
effort to coordinate the ballot between the Supervisor of
Elections office and the City attorneys on October 6, 1989.
While this does not excuse the fact that the error was not
caught, it perhaps helps to make it more understandable. Our
relationship with the advertising department of the Delray Beach
News has, for the most part, been satisfactory with respect to
the timely publication of legal advertisements and we generally
relied on their accuracy. Nonetheless, the City Clerk's office
acknowledges the oversight and stands ready to accept the
responsibility for same. To avoid any future incidents of this
nature, however, a procedure will be implemented whereby all
advertisements sent for publication will be logged by title and
date of publication, and the newspaper will be checked on a daily
basis by staff rather than rely on the ads appearing as a matter
of course as has been the primary practice in the past.
EA/AJM/m
Attachments
STATE OF FLORIDA
COUNTY OF PALM BEACH
Before me this day personally appeared Elizabeth Arnau, City
Clerk, who, being duly sworn, deposes and says that the
information stated herein is true and correct to the best of her
knowled~e and belief.
-C:e-cc f'-<--L ~ /-t 7<--'<-<--<- _
Eli beth Arnau, City Clerk
./
Sworn to and subscribed before me this 16th day of October, A.D.
1989.
.62 '-4 d~j /J) /1 C'---C---<A-4.,J
Notary Public
My commission expires:
,,",oi.ary P;JUic, State 0: f1cn'l:lil
Mv (omm;:;sicn hp;re~ f.~rii 21, 1990
B{md..d U\lll lioy fain . (n'1lIan,9 Inc..
[ITY Of DElRRY BERCH
100 N.W. ht AVENUE
DELRAY BEACH, FLORIDA 33444
407/243
FAX COVER SHEET
TO:
Name:
&nmp
Ao {ff'1l1 15fflJrA
(
fW'. () R () t ffi1
'-I( p u Y.'l
Company:
City:
FROM:
CITY OF DELRAY BEACH
. Name of Sender: {)/i:&Jn mfl('~(.!,pr-r;o.e..
Total number of pages
h
(including cover sheet)
Date Sent:
/nj'l/'i59
I
;::)1-/.3 - '706J/
Phone Number:
If you do not receive all the pages, please call as soon as possible
and ask for individual (sender) noted above.
Hl/134/89 138: 33
'5'4137 243 3774
CTY DELRA Y BEACH
@j13131
ACT I V I TY REPORT
TRANSMISSION OK
CONNECTION TEL
CONNECTION ID
START TIME
USAGE TIME
PAGES
3384849
G3
113/134 138:29
134'137
6
[ITY Of DElRRY BERCH
100 N.W, 1st AVENUE
DELRAY BEACH, FLORIDA 33444
407/243.70C
FAX COVER SHEET
TO:
Name:
'-17 D /)lr ( /
/.S. ( f ,1 f'/~ / 131' n. {' },
/
~n, RnTrm
V7{, /k1./
Company:
City:
FROM:
CITY OF DELRAY BEACH
Name of Sender: Q f(Ltcn Y7)J-c~ ~/l fr J
Total number of pages ~ (including cover sheet)
Date Sent:
/0/// /"i?9
# I
aJ/ -3 - 705"1
Phone Number:
If you do not receive all the pages, please call as soon as possible
and ask for individual (sender) noted above.
113/11/89 12:45
'5'407 243 3774
CTY OELRAY BEACH
~13131
ACTI V /TY REPORT
TRANSMISSION OK
CONNECTION TEL
CONNECTION 10
START TIME
USAGE TIME
PAGES
3384849
G3
113/11 12:41
134'139
6