May 17, 2022 City Council on 2022-05-17 2:00 PM (Special Called Meeting)

Good afternoon and welcome to this special call meeting of the Denton City Council. Today is Tuesday, May 17th. It is 2 p.m. We do have a quorum, so I'll call the meeting to order. First item on the agenda is pledges to the United States and Texas flag. Please stand with me if you're able. Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Honor the Texas flag, pledge allegiance to thee, Texas, one state under God, one in indivisible. Thank you. That takes us to our second item, which is item AID 22773, consider adoption of an ordinance of canvassing the returns and declaring the results of the regular municipal election to elect three city council members to place five, six, and the mayor, which is placed seven, the city council of the city of Denton held May 7th, 2022. Good afternoon, mayor and city council. My name is Rosa Rios and I am your city secretary, and I'm here to present the results of the May 7th, 2022 general election. So the election was ordered on February 15th of this year, and the purpose was to elect city council members to places five, six, and the mayor to place seven, four full terms. For place five, we did have two candidates, Brandon Chase McGee and Daniel Clanton. For place six, also two candidates, Amber Brighill and Chris Watts. For place seven, the mayor's seat, also two candidates, Paul Mouser and Gerard Hutz-Bittsworth was the incumbent. The unofficial general election results report that was included as part of your agenda packet and will also be displayed as part of this presentation are the sum of precinct totals tabulated per district and candidate, the total number of votes received by each candidate in each precinct, and then the city council does need to accept the unofficial results that were provided by Denton County elections to officiate the outcome. And as you can see here, the charter provision is that the candidates receiving the majority of the votes cast for each place shall be declared elected. And of course, because we only had two candidates at runoff election, it's not necessary. So again, for the general election, for place five, the candidate did receive 50% plus of votes cast, so no runoff election is required. The same is for place six, and again for place seven, being the mayor's seat. As you can see here, for place five, Brandon Chase McGee received the majority of votes cast at 54.09%. For place six, Chris Watts received 51.49%. And for place seven, the mayor's seat, Gerard Hudspeth, received 52.05%. You can see here, by council place and precinct, the Brandon Chase McGee results, and I'm just going to display these slides against they were part of the agenda packet. Again, as you can see here, that 8,049 votes were gained by Brandon Chase McGee. For place six, Chris Watts, who received 7,973 votes. For place seven, the mayor's seat, Gerard Hudspeth, who received 8,290 votes. So the recommendation is to consider adoption of the draft ordinance presented, which is to consider the election of council members to places five, six, and seven as presented. I'll take any questions you may have. Thank you, questions for staff, Mayor Pro Tem? We are so blessed to live in a system of democracy, it is my honor to move adoption of the draft ordinance. Councilmember Davis? I second the motion. Okay, we have a motion by Mayor Pro Tem, seconded by Councilmember Davis. Any questions, discussion? Seeing none, we'll vote on the screen. Oh, we may have to do a voice vote because she, I don't know if it was logged in. Is it, okay, there we go, and it passes seven, zero. Thank you. The next item takes us to item B, which is ID 22774, issue the following newly elected council members certificate of election, statement of office, and oaths of office. If you're curious about why this is happening this way, this is my last official act as Mayor Pro Tem. In the name and by the authority of the city of Denton, this is to certify that at a general election held on May 7th, 2022, Gerard Hutsbeth was duly elected Mayor, place seven. Congratulations. Thank you very much, thank you. And then- I'm going to issue. And can I have some folks come down, is that all right? Yes. All right. Yes, if you can have your family come down or anybody that you're interested. Okay, great. Everybody that helped, you can come on down, please, that'll be all right. And then Big Joe, come on, we're videotaping, so you can come on down, too. And Aunt Trinell, if you all come down, please and thank you. Sister Shepard, if you want to, you're more than welcome. Anybody that helped? Barbie, Facebook, Paul? Come on, we're videotaping. Come on down. It's a family affair. Come on, Darren. Thank you. Okay, all right, come on little guy, fellow UNT alum. If you'll please keep your hand raised, your hand raised. Okay, here you go, come on buddy, baby. Can you hold this for me? It's a little heavy. Okay. Got it. Okay. And I'll go slow. Okay. I appreciate you. Okay. Do you state your name, please? I, Gerard Hutzbeth. Do solemnly swear? Do solemnly swear. That I have not directly or indirectly. That I have not directly or indirectly. Paid, offered, promised to pay. Paid, offered, promised to pay. Contributed or promised to contribute. Contributed or promised to contribute. Any money or thing of value. Any money or thing of value. Or promised any public office or employment. Or promised any public office or employment. To secure my election. To secure my election. To city council, place seven, mayor. To city council, place seven, mayor. So help me God. So help me God. Okay. Again, aye. Aye, Gerard Hutzbeth. Do solemnly swear? Do solemnly swear. That I will faithfully execute the duties. That I will faithfully execute the duties. Of the office of the city of Denton. Of the offices of the city of Denton. Council member, place seven, mayor. Council member, place seven, mayor. Of the state of Texas. Of the state of Texas. And will to the best of my ability. And will to the best of my ability. Preserve, protect, and defend. Preserve, protect, and defend. The constitution and laws. The constitution and laws. Of the United States. Of the United States. And of the state. And of this state. So help me God. So help me God. One more. Aye. Aye, Gerard Hutzbeth. Do solemnly swear? Do solemnly swear. That I will faithfully execute the duties. That I will faithfully execute the duties. Of the office of council member, place seven, mayor. Of the offices of the council member, place seven, mayor. Of the city of Denton, Texas. Of the city of Denton, Texas. And will to the best of my ability. And will to the best of my ability. Preserve, protect, and defend. Preserve, protect, and defend. The city charter. The city charter. Court of ordinances. Code of ordinances. And resolutions of the city. And resolutions of the city. Congratulations. Thank you. Thank you very much. If you can stand up. There he is. There he is. Okay. Can we all look that way? And Elvis? Can Elvis come down with that mayor? Is that alright? I really like Elvis. Can we look this way? This way. This way. Right here? Yes, please. Okay. Y'all slide in. And then he's got the camera there. We don't? Look up there. One, two, three. Perfect. Alright. Thank you. Appreciate it. Thank y'all very much. Alright. Thank you. Please. Thank you very much. Appreciate y'all very much. Thank you. Appreciate y'all very much. And we'll take that for you. Thank you. Okay. Got it. Okay. Great. Mr. Brandon Chase McGee, if you could come down, please. And then whoever else you want to invite down with you. It's my honor to recognize the hard work and commitment and impress as few understand what it does and what it takes. So very proud of you and present this to you. Thank you very much. Welcome, Mr. Mayor. Yes. Thank you. You'll please keep your right hand raised. Aye. In your name. Aye. Brandon Chase McGee. Do solemnly swear. Do solemnly swear. That I have not directly or indirectly. That I have not directly or indirectly. That I have not directly or indirectly. That I have not directly or indirectly. That I have not directly or indirectly. That I have not directly or indirectly. That I have not directly or indirectly. That I have not directly or indirectly. That I have not directly or indirectly. That I have not directly or indirectly. That I have not directly or indirectly. That I have not directly or indirectly. That I have not directly or indirectly. That I have not directly or indirectly. Paid offered, promised to pay. Paid offered, promised to pay. Contributed or promised to contribute. Contributed or promised to contribute. Any money or thing of value. Any money or thing of value. Or promised any public office or employment. Or promised any public office or employment. For the giving or withholding of a vote. For the giving or withholding of a vote. At the election at which I was elected. At the election at which I was elected. So help me God. So help me God. Aye. I, Brandon Chase McGee, do solemnly swear, do solemnly swear, that I will faithfully execute the duties, that I will faithfully execute the duties, of the office of the City of Denton, of the office of the City of Denton, City Councilmember, Place 5, City Councilmember, Place 5, of the State of Texas, of the State of Texas, and will to the best of my ability, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend, preserve, protect, and defend, the Constitution and laws, the Constitution and laws, of the United States and of the state, the United States and of the state, so help me God, so help me God, one more, I, Brandon Chase McGee, do solemnly swear, do solemnly swear, that I will faithfully execute the duties, that I will faithfully execute the duties, of the office of Councilmember, Place 5, of the office of Councilmember, Place 5, of the City of Denton, Texas, of the City of Denton, Texas, and will to the best of my ability, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend, preserve, protect, and defend, the City Charter, the City Charter, Code of Ordinances, Code of Ordinances, and Resolutions of the City, and Resolutions of the City, congratulations, thank you, ma'am, okay, we're going to go ahead and take a picture, thank you, ma'am, okay, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, okay, now the process dictates that I invite my friend up, come on up, Councilmember, Councilmember Watts, yeah, I mentioned the process, that should have been your cue, yeah, no, it is my great honor to introduce you to our newest elected Councilmember, my predecessor, I've learned, I appreciate his leadership, support, support, support, support, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. I didn't mention it early but I do want to, I have proclamations for those council members that have served and just want to spotlight the hard work, perseverance, challenges it puts on your family, etc. It is quite the task to serve here and I appreciate everyone that is serving, everyone that has served and even those, the former mayors on the walls and those council members in our community that have served and are no longer on council. It really does take a lot and we are benefited currently by great decisions in the past and so it's, I have a couple of recognitions here so this one reads a proclamation in appreciation of Deb Armitage to all whom these presence shall come greetings. Whereas Deb Armitage has served as council member at large place five of the city of Denton from 2016 to 2022 and whereas the city of Denton has enjoyed the dedicated and outstanding contributions of Deb Armitage and her efforts to make Denton a better city and whereas Deb Armitage among her many contributions to the community has also served on the audit finance committee, committee on community engagement committee, on the environment community partnership committee, convention and visitors bureau advisory board and mobility committee. Whereas Deb Armitage has always served dutifully and beyond the efficient discharge of her duties in the promoting the welfare and prosperity of the city and has earned the respect of her fellow council members, colleagues, citizens of Denton and the loss of her presence will be keenly felt and now therefore the city council of the city of Denton hereby resolves that the sincere and warm appreciation of Deb Armitage felt by the citizens and the staff in the city of Denton be formally conveyed to her in permanent manner by reading this proclamation into the official minutes of the city of Denton forward her a true copy thereof and be it resolved that the city of Denton does hereby officially and sincerely extend its thanks to Deb Armitage and her successful career as council member of the city of Denton pass and approve this seventeenth day of May 2022. Give her a hand. Thank you so much. Thank you everybody and congratulations to the council members. Change is an important part of life and this is an exciting change and I see great things for all of you. Then also we have a proclamation in appreciation of Paul Meltzer to all whom these presence shall come greetings. Whereas Paul Meltzer has served as mayor pro tem of the city of Denton from 2021 to 2022 and council member at large place six and the city of Denton from 2018 to 2022 and whereas the city of Denton has enjoyed the dedicated and outstanding contribution of Paul Meltzer and his efforts to make Denton a better city and whereas Paul Meltzer among his many contributions to the community has served on the agenda committee audit finance committee committee on community engagement committee on the environment committee council airport committee Denton county workforce success leadership team downtown Denton tiff reinvestment zone number one board and mobility committee and whereas Paul Meltzer has also served dutifully and beyond the efficient discharge of his duties in promoting the welfare and prosperity of the city of Denton has earned the respect of his fellow council members colleagues and citizens of Denton and the loss of his presence shall be keenly felt. Now therefore the council of the city of Denton hereby resolves that the sincere and warm appreciation of Paul Meltzer be felt by the citizens of the staff in the city of Denton by formally conveying him in a permanent manner by reading its proclamation into the official minutes of the city of Denton forward to him a true copy thereof and be it further resolved that the city of Denton does hereby officially and sincerely extend its thanks to Paul Meltzer for his successful career as a as council member of the city of Denton passed and approved this the 17th day of May 2022. Worst pictures it's such a privilege to be able to participate in your local government I really encourage anyone who has any desire to have a say and to be heard and to represent your neighbors to to have that experience and I have every confidence that this council will continue to improve the city of Denton thank you. Okay all right that takes us to item C which is ID no no did that item D ID 22776 election of the mayor pro tem and so everyone has received the process I will and we'll do a hand vote after the oh you have it great thanks again good afternoon mayor and city council Rosario is your city secretary I'm sorry trying to go back in time here. So under article 2 section 2.03 of the Denton city charter the council shall as soon as possible after the annual election elect from its membership a mayor pro tem and the mayor pro tem shall act as mayor during the absence or disability of the mayor the election of the mayor pro tem at this meeting will meet the requirements set forth above and the process was included as part of the Friday the May 13th Friday report as well as the agenda packet and I'm going to just go ahead and quickly just display the process I will go into it it was provided in advance and of course mayor head Smith will answer any questions you may have thank you great thank you very much and so I will open the floor for nominations with the nomination of councilmember Jesse Davis and here's why he was nominated mayor pro tem right after winter storm Uri or just before winter storm Uri and the pandemic hit and so he he served his entire opportunity with never having an agenda committee and obviously we were sheltered in place for a large portion of that and we never met and so I feel and he's the senior member on council he's been reliable great voice and he's he's a long term you you you are born and raised here in Denton that you get here shortly thereafter I know he's been here a while but yeah see six well then he's not he's not a flow baby but he'll do but so so that that's that's that for me is important that he that I kind of open give him the opportunity to serve understanding very well with that pandemic and that life under that time did so I put forward that nomination and then I'll accept any other nominations councilmember McGuire thank you mayor I would like to nominate Brian back for the position of mayor pro tem during his time on council and his time on the planning and zoning commission councilmember back has demonstrated deep understanding of the issues facing our city particularly issues related to planning and development which are especially urgent issues that we're facing right now and I would love to see his voice and his perspective represented on the agenda committee he's also one of the most responsive members of council and I say that with a little bit of chagrin because I think he's much more responsive and has his pulse on the his hand finger on the pulse of the community even better than I do but I think that councilmember back would be an outstanding mayor pro tem okay any other nominations seeing none I'll close the nomination period we'll take these in order and then so I want to make sure councilmember Davis do you accept the nomination I do thank you councilmember back I do great okay then we'll have to have a voice vote so the first is Jesse Davis and councilmember back how say you name councilmember McGuire name councilmember McGee name mayor hudspeth is a I mayor watts I thank you councilmember bird name councilmember Davis I that fails four to three takes us to councilman councilmember back's nomination councilmember back I'll say you I councilmember McGuire I councilmember McGee I mayor hudspeth is a nay councilmember watts name councilmember bird I councilmember Davis name and that passes for three thank you that takes us to our that concludes this so what we have now is there's an opportunity we have refreshments downstairs and light snacks you can there's space down there for tables and sitting and then you can also stand in the city hall chamber there I mean in the in the hallway there there's space as well for for distancing and so please hang out take pictures visit and also and then I just want to kind of recognize my so my wife is here if you raise your hand so I should do that she puts up with me and so I want to at least give her ado and then and then mom dr. doe she's a she's amazing she's so she was a former home economics teacher in middle school I don't think they teach that middle school anymore they need to bring that back and matter of fact she she put up with Lee Ramsey say hey Lee yeah so so that means she's battle tested if you know it's something when your teacher remembers you like 80 years later you're like oh yeah I know him so that's impressive but yeah so thank you all very much everyone for being here let's please hang out fellowship with us and then we'll be back we have a work session at four so we'll get right to business with the new council but please join us for concessions thank you