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Agenda Item 3. HRA Meeting Minutes – Tuesday, August 18, 2015 Page 7 1 under the City Manager’s control, except you’re really not since the HRA has that control. Mr. 2 Bilotta opined that this simply broke down the structure. 3 4 Chair Maschka noted the only other option at this point was to discontinue the agreement. 5 6 Majerus clarified that motion before the Board at this time was to accept or reject this draft 7 services agreement; not to say something else may not come along in the future, but for 8 tonight, this is the status. 9 10 Chair Maschka noted that it was now August and the 2015 services agreement had yet to be 11 approved, indicating to him that the current system must work. While not disagreeing that 12 some valid issues haven’t been brought up, Chair Maschka stated his main concern was that 13 the HRA and City Council could retain and continue to build on their cooperative relationship. 14 15 Member Wall clarified that no one felt otherwise, but keeping those interests in line, in sync 16 and of a cooperative nature, the HRA Board couldn’t be a puppet of the City Council either 17 when holding the responsibility to use its good judgment and act upon its fiduciary 18 responsibility. Under those circumstances, Member Wall opined that the Board had no choice 19 but to have the executive director’s position one of independent support and not have that 20 position clouded with the city’s bureaucracy or government. 21 22 Member Etten clarified that he was not in favor of the HRA hiring its own executive director, 23 since there were obvious financial and professional benefits under this services agreement. 24 Member Etten opined that if Ms. Kelsey were to map out her time in a detailed format, there 25 would be many indications of the give and take of her time and others collaborating in HRA 26 efforts. Member Etten further opined that the HRA was different than the RVA in being 27 funded through general taxes. From his perspective, Member Etten opined that there had to be 28 some middle ground, and suggested this draft agreement get feedback from the City Council, 29 the City Attorney as well as the HRA Attorney to create a formalized way to address roles for 30 both parties. 31 32 Specific to this draft of the services agreement in Section 2 (Executive Director), Member 33 Etten suggested the addition of “annual” related to the City Manager’s sole discretion in 34 nominating a candidate, providing that additional checkpoint in line with HRA by-laws. On a 35 related note, if it was the consensus of the Board, Member Etten suggested the by-laws could 36 be amended to change “shall” from “may” or some appropriate language providing steps to 37 help the HRA’s situation. 38 39 Member Masche concurred, opining that Member Etten’s comments and suggestions were 40 well-stated. Member Masche opined that there was an agreement to be had, but he didn’t feel 41 comfortable with this draft or that it reflected the desire for a cooperative attitude between the 42 City Council and HRA Board. Member Masche noted that the executive director was the most 43 important person performing the job of the HRA, and a document better reflecting tonight’s 44 discussion was needed. While recognizing that it more than time that an agreement be drafted 45 and accepted, Member Masche agreed that this draft needed more work. 46 47 After voting on the motion currently on the table, Member Majerus proposed getting the HRA 48 and City Attorneys together to draft a proposal to come before the body in a certain number of 49 days yet to be determined based on their legal expertise. 50 51 Member Wall opined that the HRA needed to provide a framework to the attorneys on those 52 areas of this draft services agreement that the Board found acceptable and those it did not in 53 order for them to understand where the Board was coming from. Member Wall suggested 54 meeting with those legal representatives and having that discussion prior to another document 55 coming back before the Board. Also, Member Wall noted the need for feedback from the City