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Minutes, September 26, 2019 P a g e | 1 <br /> <br />MINUTES <br /> <br />City of Charlottesville Electoral Board <br />Meeting of September 26, 2019 <br /> <br />The meeting was called to order by the Chair at 10.06 a.m. on Thursday, September 26, <br />in the second-floor conference room of the Charlottesville City Hall. Those present <br />were Electoral Board members Anne Hemenway (Chair), Jon Bright (Vice Chair), and <br />Jim Nix (Secretary), Acting Director of Elections and General Registrar Jamie Virostko <br />and Charlottesville City Manager Dr. Tarron Richardson. <br /> <br />Public Comment <br /> <br />Ms. Dianne Gilliland was present for this meeting but did not make any comment. <br /> <br />Discussion with City Manager <br /> <br />Memorandum of Understanding: The Chair introduced the members of the Electoral <br />Board and explained that this discussion constituted the annual meeting between the <br />Board and the City Manager called for in the May 2015 Memorandum of Understanding <br />(MOU). The Chair presented Dr. Richardson with a draft update of that MOU and <br />highlighted the only substantial change proposed by the Board – a statement that the <br />City’s grievance procedures should apply to the staff of the Office of Voter Registration. <br />Without agreeing immediately Dr. Richardson informed the Board that the City is <br />working on a revision of its employee manual and employment policies and added that <br />he sees no problem with this proposal. However, the grievance issue may not be <br />settled until the new HR director has an opportunity to weigh in and John Blair reviews <br />the final draft. Dr. Richardson added that he felt it was important for the General <br />Registrar to attend the bi-weekly meetings of the Leadteam along with other City <br />department heads. <br /> <br />Purchase of New Electronic Poll Books: The Chair informed the City Manager of the <br />need for new poll books and reviewed the steps taken thus far for their procurement by <br />the Board and the Registrar’s office staff working in conjunction with the City finance <br />office. The Chair explained that competing bids by three vendors had been reviewed by <br />the Board and the Registrar’s office staff and provided the rationale for the decision by <br />the Board to select the DemTech system for procurement. The Chair acknowledged <br />that, while the Registrar’s Office budget includes significant Capital Improvement <br />Program (CIP) funds for this procurement, additional funds will be required. Dr. <br />Richardson raised issues about coordination with the City’s IT Department and <br />emphasized the benefits of centralized purchase of technology to ensure that we get the <br />best price and that the City can offer technical support. The Chair explained that the <br />voting equipment is completely separate from the City’s computer network and that