title
Appointment of a Chair and Chair Pro Tem of the Gainesville Community Redevelopment Agency Board (NB)
recommendation
The City Commission: Appoint a Chair and Chair Pro Tem for the Gainesville Community Redevelopment Agency for 2015/2016.
explanation
It was brought to the attention of the City Attorney's Office that at the recent Community Redevelopment Agency Board member training conducted by the Florida Redevelopment Association (FRA), FRA staff stated that the City Commission, not the CRA Board, is required to appoint the Chair and Vice-Chair of a CRA. The City Attorney's Office researched the matter and confirmed that the Attorney General of Florida in a written opinion issued in 1991 stated that "the appointment of the chairman and vice chairman [of the CRA Board] by the governing board of the municipality is statutorily prescribed" and that "the community redevelopment agency has not been granted the authority to appoint its chairman or vice chairman." The Attorney General concluded "[a]ccordingly, it is my opinion that the city commission must designate the chairman and vice chairman of the community redevelopment agency, regardless of whether the commission has designated itself as the community redevelopment agency." In order to be consistent with this legal guidance from the Attorney General and the FRA, the City Attorney's Office recommends that the City Commission appoint the Chair and Chair Pro Tem for the CRA Board for 2015/2016 and each year thereafter.