The Mayor shall be the chief executive officer of the city.
He shall:
1. Take care that within said city the laws of this state and the ordinances
and bylaws passed by the Common Council and the Board of Health be
faithfully obeyed and executed, and arrest or cause to be arrested
or prosecuted all persons liable to arrest for violating the same
or any thereof.
2. Have authority, with force if necessary, to suppress all tumults,
riots and unlawful assemblages, reveling, quarreling or other disorderly
conduct, to the disturbance or annoyance of the peaceable inhabitants
of said city.
3. Have power to call out and command the police and firemen, whenever
in his discretion he shall deem it necessary, and such command shall
be in all respects obeyed.
4. Have power to administer oaths and take affidavits and acknowledgments
in the said city, and receive therefor the same compensation that
is allowed to Justices of the Peace for the same services.
5. Communicate to the Common Council, on or before the first day of
February in each year, a general statement of the affairs of the city,
in relation to its finances, government and improvements, with recommendations
such as he may deem proper, and from time to time thereafter to recommend
to the Common Council, and to any of the city boards, such measures
as he shall deem necessary or advantageous for it to adopt.
6. Expedite and cause to be carried out all such measures as shall be
adopted by the Common Council.
7. Exercise a constant supervision over the conduct of all subordinate
officers, and examine into all complaints against them for misconduct
or neglect of duty, and report the facts to the Common Council.
8. Have power at all times to examine the books, accounts, vouchers
and papers of any officer or employee of said city, and to summon
and examine under oath any person connected therewith.
9. Sign all appointments, countersign all orders or warrants ordered
by the Common Council to be drawn on the City Treasurer, when the
fund on which it is drawn is not exhausted.
10. At the first meeting of the Common Council in each municipal year,
or as soon thereafter as may be, appoint all standing committees required
by the rules of the Common Council, and appoint all special committees
of the Council, unless otherwise by it ordered. [§ 75,
L. 1911, c. 870]
The Mayor shall not countersign, nor the City Clerk sign, any
warrant or order on the City Treasurer for the payment of money at
any time when the fund whereon said order is drawn is exhausted, or
when there is no money in said fund applicable to and sufficient for
the payment of such order. A willful violation of this section is
hereby declared to be a misdemeanor. [§ 76, L. 1911,
c. 870]
The City Clerk shall:
1. Keep the corporate seal and all papers, books and documents belonging
to said city.
2. Give immediate notice in writing to any person appointed to any office
under this act of his appointment, which notice shall be deposited
in the post office, properly addressed to such person and thereon
prepaid.
3. Make a record of the proceedings of the Common Council, whose meetings
it shall be his duty to attend.
4. Carefully arrange, index and file all books and papers convenient
for use. He shall countersign all licenses granted by the Common Council,
or any officer of said city authorized by this act to grant the same,
and shall enter in an appropriate book the name of every person to
whom such license shall be granted, the date thereof, the time during
which it shall continue in force, and the sum paid for the same.
5. Within 24 hours after each and every meeting of the Common Council,
make and deliver to the City Treasurer a copy certified by him of
all resolutions and proceedings of the Common Council relating to
the finances of the city, including a statement of all orders for
the payment of money by it directed to be drawn.
6. Make and deliver to the Mayor, within 24 hours, a certified copy
of motion, resolution, ordinance or bylaw passed by the Common Council,
except those relating to rules for its own government and appointment
of officers.
7. Keep an accurate account of all moneys received by him belonging
to the city, and upon receipt thereof pay the same over to the City
Treasurer, take a proper receipt therefor and file the same in his
office, and report the same to the Common Council at its next meeting.
8. Draw all orders or warrants on the City Treasurer and keep an accurate
account of all expenditures by the Common Council and of all warrants
or orders drawn on the Treasurer; his accounts shall be kept in such
book or books and manner as the Common Council shall direct.
9. Report to the Common Council, at each regular meeting thereof, the
aggregate amount of the orders drawn by him on each fund during the
current fiscal year, except local improvement funds, and report thereon
when directed by the Common Council, and said weekly report shall
also specify what amount to the credit of the several funds must be
reserved to pay salaries and other fixed expenditures during the remainder
of the fiscal year.
10. Perform all the duties of clerks of towns, not inconsistent with
this act, and his office is hereby declared a town clerk's office
for the purpose of depositing and filing therein all books and papers
required by law to be filed in a town clerk's office, and he shall
possess all the powers and discharge all the duties of a town clerk
except so far as they may be inconsistent with the provisions of this
act or the Local Finance Law. Copies, printed or written, of all papers
filed in his office, the transcript thereof, and the records and proceedings
of the Common Council, and all copies of the ordinances of the city,
certified by him under the corporate seal, shall be evidence in all
courts and places with the like effect as the original would be if
produced.
11. Perform such other acts and duties as may be required of him by the
Common Council. [§ 77, L. 1911, c. 870; amended by
L. 1943, c. 710; L.L. No. 3-1965]
In case of sickness, absence or disability of the Clerk to act,
the Deputy City Clerk shall act as City Clerk and shall have all his
powers and perform all his duties. [§ 78, L. 1911,
c. 870]
The City Physician appointed under this act shall be a physician
and surgeon of good standing, and shall discharge all the duties of
a physician and surgeon for the Commissioner of Public Welfare and
the Police Department, and furnish all necessary medicines, and perform
all necessary surgical operations for those Departments. He shall
also be Health Officer of the Board of Health. [§ 79,
L. 1911, c. 870; amended by L.L. No. 2-1939]
The Corporation Counsel of said city shall prosecute and defend
all actions brought by or against said city, and render such other
professional services connected with the affairs of said city as may
be required of him by law or by the Common Council, except that he
shall not be required to collect accounts due Lockport Memorial Hospital
for services rendered by or at said hospital. Such accounts due to
the hospital may be collected by collection agencies or by counsel
hired for that purpose by the Board of Managers of the hospital. Actions
for the collection of such accounts may be prosecuted by counsel hired
by said Board of Managers for the purpose of collecting such accounts.
In actions brought by or defined by the Corporation Counsel in any
court of record, wherein costs shall be adjudged in favor of said
city, he shall be entitled to have and receive the same when collected.
The Corporation Counsel may appoint a stenographer, who shall act
as his secretary and assist the Corporation Counsel in rendering professional
services connected with the affairs of the City of Lockport. [§ 80, L. 1911, c. 870; amended by L.L. No. 2-1954; L.L.
No. 2-1957; L.L. No. 4-1962]
The Supervisors of each of said wards shall have the same powers
and duties as Supervisors of the towns in the County of Niagara, except
as otherwise provided in this act or the Local Finance Law, and the
said Supervisors shall be members of the Board of Supervisors of the
said county. The Supervisors shall receive the compensation allowed
by law in the same manner as Supervisors of towns. [§ 81,
L. 1911, c. 870; amended by L. 1943, c. 710]
The Sealer of Weights and Measures shall be a practical mechanic,
competent to perform the duties of his office. He shall possess the
same powers and be subject to the same duties as sealers of weights
and measures in cities, and the laws applicable to weights and measures
and to sealers thereof in cities shall be applicable to said city
and said City Sealer of Weights and Measures, except that said Sealer
shall be entitled to receive for his services the salary fixed by
the Common Council instead of the fees prescribed by § 16
of the General Business Law. He shall, in addition to his other duties,
as often as shall be necessary, and at least once in each year, procure
the weights and measures used by every person keeping any store, grocery
or other place in said city for the sale or purchase of such commodities
as are usually sold by weight or measure, to be compared with the
official standards in his possession, and he shall from time to time,
as such duties are performed, cause to be entered in a book kept for
that purpose in the City Clerk's office in the City of Lockport, the
names of each and every person whose weights and measures he has caused
to be sealed, the number and kind of such weights and measures, and
the date of such sealing. It shall be the duty of every person keeping
any store, grocery or other place in said city for the sale or purchase
of such commodities as are usually sold by weight and measure, at
least once in every year, to procure the weights and measures used
by him to be compared with official standards in the custody of said
Sealer, and every such person shall be subject to a fine of $5 for
every neglect to comply with this provision, to be recovered by any
person who shall prosecute therefor. Any Sealer of Weights and Measures
of the City of Lockport who shall receive any sum of money, gift or
gratuity for the performance of any of his duties under this section
other than the salary herein provided, or who shall enter in the record
book in the City Clerk's office any record of unsealed weights and
measures, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. [§ 82,
L. 1911, c. 870]
The Commissioners of Deeds may administer oaths and take affidavits
and acknowledgments of written instruments at any place within the
County of Niagara; their oaths of office shall be filed with the County
Clerk of said county; they shall have the powers and be entitled to
the fees and subject to the duties of commissioners of deeds, by and
under the general laws of the state. [§ 83, L. 1911,
c. 870]
The Justice of the Peace in said city shall have and keep an
office or place for the transaction of his official business within
said city, and not elsewhere; he shall have and exercise all powers
and authority, and discharge all the duties and be entitled to all
the fees and compensation of Justices of the Peace of the several
towns in this state, except as modified by this act; he shall have
and exercise all the powers of a Commissioner of Deeds in and for
the cities of this state; he shall have the same territorial jurisdiction
as if said city constituted a part of the Town of Lockport; and before
entering upon the duties of his office he shall give a bond in the
penal sum of $1,000, conditioned that he will faithfully pay over,
on demand, to the person, firm or corporation entitled to the same,
all moneys that may come into his hands as such Justice; and a neglect
to give said bond for 10 days after the time for entering upon the
duties of his office shall vacate his said office. [§ 84,
L. 1911, c. 870]
The Constable in said city shall, before he enters on the duties
of his office, give a bond in the penal sum of $1,000, conditioned
that said Constable shall and will pay over to the City Treasurer
daily all moneys collected or received by him upon any tax list or
other process or precept placed in his hands for collection by the
City Treasurer, and that said Constable shall and will pay to each
and every person who may be entitled thereto all such sums of money
as said Constable may have become liable to pay, by reason or on account
of any execution or other precept which shall have been delivered
to him for service or collection, and that he will faithfully perform
the duties of his office. All actions on any such instrument shall
be prosecuted within two years from the expiration of the term for
which he may have been elected or appointed, and an action may be
maintained thereon by and in the name of said city or other corporation
or any person entitled to money collected by virtue of any such tax
list, process, execution or precept, or who may have sustained damages
by his default or misconduct, and a copy of such instrument, duly
certified by the Clerk of said city under the seal thereof, shall
be presumptive evidence in all courts of this state of the execution
of the same by said Constable and his sureties. [§ 85,
L. 1911, c. 870]