Every inhabitant of the city, who shall at the time possess
the qualifications of an elector prescribed by the constitution of
this state for a voter, shall be entitled to vote at any election
under this act in the district where he shall reside, for all officers
to be chosen at such election. The registry of voters of the general
election shall be the registry of voters of the city election, and
the provisions of the general election laws of the state shall apply
to and govern such election, as well as the canvassing of the votes
thereat and statement of the result.
The chamberlain, upon the filing of the certificate of election,
shall mail a notice in writing to every person so certified to have
been elected of his election. Every person elected or appointed to
any office under this act, before entering on the same, shall take
the oath of office prescribed by the constitution of this state, and
file the same in the office of the chamberlain, except the mayor and
the city judges, whose oaths shall also be filed in the office of
the clerk of the county. Every person who shall omit to take and file
the oath of office within ten (10) days after notice in writing from
the chamberlain of his election or appointment shall be deemed to
have declined the office.
The common council shall comprise the legislative branch of
the city government.
Subject to the provisions of the constitution and laws of the
United States, or of this state, the common council shall have power
within said city to make, establish, publish, modify, amend or repeal
ordinances, rules, regulations and by-laws, for the following purposes:
(a)
To license, regulate, and restrain the hawking and peddling of any
articles or commodities in the streets and parks of said city and
to fix a license fee thereof.
(b)
To license and regulate the drivers of vehicles for the transportation
of passengers or baggage for hire, and to limit the compensation for
such transportation and fix a license fee therefor.
(c)
To regulate and restrain the soliciting of passengers for any public
conveyance, and of guests for hotels or public boardinghouses, and
of automobiles for garages.
(d)
To regulate the use of streets, parks and public places for vehicles,
and to regulate the speed of vehicles on the streets of said city.
(e)
To regulate or prohibit the ringing or tolling of bells, the blowing
of horns or whistles, the crying of goods and wares, the discharge
of firearms or fireworks, and the making of any improper noise which
may tend to disturb the peace of the inhabitants of the city.
(f)
To regulate or prohibit the discharging of rifles, pistols or air
guns, loaded with or ejecting a bullet, shot, hard substance or missile.
(g)
To establish and regulate public pounds; to restrain the running
at large of animals; and to authorize the distraining, impounding
and sale of the same for the penalty incurred, and cost of keeping
and proceedings.
(h)
To prohibit the gathering or assembling of persons upon the public
streets or parks; to authorize the police officers to disperse all
such gatherings or assemblages of persons; and to prevent and quell
riotous or disorderly assemblages.
(i)
To prevent racing, rapid and improper driving in the streets or parks,
and to prohibit therein every game, practice or amusement having a
tendency to annoy persons passing in or along the streets or parks,
or to endanger property.
(j)
To provide for taxing and confining dogs, and for destroying such
as may be found running at large contrary to any ordinance.
(k)
To compel all persons to remove snow, ice and dirt from the sidewalks,
and out of the gutters in front of the premises owned or occupied
by them, or of which they have charge as agent.
(l)
To prevent the injury and defacement of fences, posts and buildings,
and to protect ornamental and shade trees in the streets and parks.
(m)
To give names to the streets and numbers to the lots and buildings
and to change the same, and to compel the occupant of any building
to place and maintain the number or numbers thereof in a prominent
place on the front of said building.
(n)
To prohibit the throwing or disposing of ashes, dirt, garbage or
refuse matter of any kind in the streets or parks or in the Fallkill,
and to require the streets to be kept clean and in good order.
(o)
Reserved
(p)
To regulate and restrict the placing of signs, sign posts, awning
posts upon the streets.
(q)
To license, regulate and restrain all exhibitions or performances
for money, and all places of public amusement and to fix the fee for
such license; to prohibit all amusements, performances and exhibitions
which are disgusting or indecent, or have a tendency to disturb the
peace, or injure the morals of the community.
(r)
To regulate and restrain the posting of playbills and representations
of theatrical scenes, or persons in costume, in public places; to
license and regulate billboards, bill posters and bill distributors,
and sign advertising, and prescribe the terms and conditions upon
which any such license shall be granted, and to prohibit all unlicensed
persons from acting in such capacity.
(s)
To restrain and suppress houses of ill fame, disorderly and gambling
houses, and prohibit all gambling and fraudulent devices, and to provide
for the destruction of all instruments and devices used for gambling.
(t)
To regulate or prohibit swimming or bathing in the waters in or adjoining
the city.
(u)
To regulate the keeping and conveying of combustible, explosive or
other dangerous materials, and to prescribe the limits for the manufacture,
storing and sale thereof.
(v)
To prohibit slaughterhouses and tanneries, and regulate or prevent
the manufacture of any article or carrying on of any business dangerous
in causing or promoting fires, or producing offensive or unwholesome
odors; and to prevent the use of any building, or equipment or appliance
therein or connected therewith, in a manner dangerous in causing or
promoting fires, or dangerous to the life, health or property of any
person.
(w)
To determine what nuisances are, to prevent their creation, and require
their abatement or removal.
(x)
To prescribe the limits within which the erection or placing of wooden
and non-fireproof buildings shall be prohibited.
(y)
To license, regulate and restrain lunch wagons on the streets and
public places and to fix a license fee therefor.
(z)
To regulate and prohibit the presence in or upon any of the streets,
alleys, public parks or places in the city at night, after such hours
as shall be determined and specified, of any children under such age
as shall be determined and specified, unaccompanied by parent, guardian
or other person having legal custody or control of such children;
and to make it unlawful for any parent, guardian or other person having
legal custody or control of any child under said determined and specified
age, to permit such child to be or to remain in or upon any of the
streets, alleys, public parks or places in said city after the hour
at night as determined and specified when prohibited; to prescribe
penalties for the violation of said ordinance; and to prescribe regulations
for the police force of the city for the enforcement of the same,
and for the city court of the city for the punishment of persons guilty
of violations of the terms of said ordinance.
(aa)
To determine and establish by ordinance and amendments thereto
a "building code" regulating and providing for all matters concerning,
affecting or relating to the construction, alteration, repair, removal,
location or use of buildings and structures heretofore or hereafter
erected; to provide for the issuance of permits to construct, alter
or repair buildings in accordance therewith.
(bb)
To grant permission to supply water and extend sewers beyond
the limits of the city.
(cc)
In addition to the powers and purposes specified in the foregoing
subdivisions of this section, to preserve good order, peace and health,
and to provide for the safety and welfare of the inhabitants of the
city and the protection and security of their property.
The common council shall have power by resolution:
(a)
To fix and prescribe the hours during which the office of the chamberlain,
commissioner of finance and other offices shall remain open for the
transaction of business, and it shall be the duty of said officers
to attend accordingly.
(b)
To compel the owner or occupant of any building which may be in an
unsafe condition to render the same safe by repair, alteration or
removal.
(c)
To compel the owner or occupant of any building where a number of
persons congregate or are habitually employed to erect and maintain
suitable means of safe egress in case of fire.
(d)
To require the summary removal or abatement of any nuisance, and
if the same be not removed in such time as the council shall direct,
to cause the same to be removed and assess the expense of said removal
against the real estate upon which said nuisance may be, and cause
the same to be collected in the same manner as other assessments are
collected, as provided in this act.
(e)
To require any elected or appointed City official, employee, board,
or commission to furnish reports, information, estimates, or records
and/or to command their presence at hearings or inquiries, administer
oaths, and compel testimony insofar as the Common Council believes
necessary to perform its legislative oversight duties.
[Amended by L.L. No. 3-2017, 6/19/2017]
(f)
To fix the compensation of officers and employees of the city, except
as specifically provided by the charter or other law, and to authorize
and provide for any expenditure by the city for any purpose which
the council deems proper.
(g)
Notwithstanding the provisions of any general, special or local law
to the contrary, to employ and appoint part-time school traffic directors,
to fix their compensation and order the payment of the same; such
school traffic directors, which acting as such, shall possess all
the powers of patrolmen and peace officers to regulate and control
traffic, and shall be subject to the orders and direction of the mayor
and city administrator.
(h)
To provide for the lighting of the streets and parks within the city
by the commissioner of public works.
(i)
To revoke any license given under this act, provided that no such
license shall be revoked until after notice and an opportunity to
be heard has been given to the person holding such license.
(j)
To accept on behalf of the city any gift, grant, bequest or devise,
either absolutely or in trust.
The common council shall have power to enforce all ordinances
under the provisions of this code, by ordaining fixed penalties to
be incurred for very violation of the same, not exceeding one thousand
dollars ($1,000.00) for any one offense, to be recovered with costs
in a civil action. Every ordinance imposing any penalty shall take
effect at such time as the common council shall direct. A copy of
any ordinance, having been certified by the chamberlain, shall be
presumptive proof of the regularity of the adoption and publication
of the same when offered in evidence in any court. The city may maintain
an action to restrain by injunction, a violation of any ordinance
of the common council, notwithstanding such ordinance may provide
a penalty for such violation.
The common council, and any committee thereof, shall have power
to issue a summons to any person to appear and testify or to produce
books and papers before it in respect to any matter pending or referred
to it. Such summons may be served at any place within the state, in
the same manner as subpoenas for witnesses in cases pending in the
supreme court of the state, and the person shall be paid the same
fees and mileage. The chairman of any committee of the common council
shall have power to administer any oath, or take any affidavit or
testimony, in respect to any matter pending before the common council
or such committee. Any person who may be required to take any oath
or affirmation, or give testimony under or by virtue of any provision
of this act, who shall under such oath or affirmation, in any such
statement or affidavit or otherwise, willfully swear falsely as to
any material matter of fact, shall be guilty of perjury.
[Amended by L.L. No. 3-2017, 6/19/2017]
Any person who shall refuse to attend or to be sworn or affirmed,
or to answer any proper or pertinent question, or to produce such
books, accounts, vouchers, documents or records in obedience to any
such summons may, subject to state law, be arrested by an order of
attachment, which may be issued by the common council or a city judge,
upon proof of the service of such summons and of such refusal, and
committed to the county jail until he shall appear and testify as
required. Such witness, so refusing to attend, may also be fined and
imprisoned for disobedience to such summons by a city judge, in the
same manner and to the same extent as witnesses refusing to attend
in obedience to a subpoena duly issued in accordance with law. Whenever
any person summoned as a witness before said common council or any
committee thereof, shall refuse to be sworn or affirmed, or to answer
any pertinent and proper question, or to produce any book or paper
under his control and which he shall have been summoned to produce,
the presiding officer of said council, or the chairman of such committee,
may forthwith seek commitment of such person to the county jail for
a period not exceeding twenty days, or until he shall give testimony
or answer such questions. Such commitment shall be made by warrant,
granted by a court and directed to the sheriff of the county or other
officer having the place of detention in charge, and shall recite
the cause of such commitment, and such officer shall keep such person
in close confinement until discharged. If the chairman of any committee
request it, the corporation council shall examine the person so summoned.
The entries in the book of bylaws, journals and minutes of the
common council shall be presumptive evidence in all courts and places
of the facts therein stated.
(a)
The common council of the city shall not enact or adopt local laws,
ordinances or resolutions having a present or future fiscal impact
on the city in excess of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) unless,
prior to the enactment or adoption of any such local law, ordinance,
or resolution, the common council has before it a fiscal impact statement
as more fully set forth herein. The fiscal impact statement shall
be provided by the mayor after consultation with the city administrator
and commissioner of finance or, at the election of the mayor, with
such other city officer as is designated by the mayor. The fiscal
impact statement shall set forth, so far as is practicable, the dollar
amount of city monies, revenues or appropriations to be affected by
approval of the proposed local law, ordinance, or resolution. In addition,
there shall also be a similar estimate, to the extent practicable,
for future years. A fiscal impact statement shall also include such
analysis and recommendations as the preparer of the fiscal impact
statement believes to be appropriate to be provided to the common
council for the purpose of assisting the common council in its deliberations.
A local law, ordinance, resolution or motion shall be deemed to have
a fiscal impact requiring a fiscal impact statement if any such local
law, ordinance, resolution or motion provides for an appropriation
exceeding fifty thousand dollars ($50,000), provides for the creation
or increase of a charge on the city treasury in excess of fifty thousand
dollars ($50,000), or provides for an increase or decrease in city
revenues in excess of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000).
(b)
Upon a vote of two-thirds (2/3) of the members of the common council elected, the common council may vote to waive the requirement for a fiscal impact statement as set forth in Subsection (a) preceding or, in the alternative, by the same vote, may vote to require such a fiscal impact statement for items of expenditure that are not in excess of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000).
[L.L. No. 1997-1, § 1]
The common council, at its first meeting in each year shall
designate one or not more than two newspapers published in the city
as the official newspaper or newspapers. All notices required to be
published by the charter, this code or state law shall be published
in such newspaper or either of such newspapers if two arc so designated.
The chamberlain, commissioner of finance and such other officers
as may be required by the common council shall, before they enter
upon their offices, each execute a bond to the city, in such sum as
the common council shall direct, and with such sureties as the mayor
shall approve, conditioned that he will faithfully discharge the duties
of his office, and pay over all moneys received by him. All bonds
given by such officers, shall be filed by the mayor in the office
of the clerk of the county, and by said clerk shall be recorded in
a book to be kept for that purpose.
Every officer required by this code or by any resolution of
the common council to execute an official bond shall execute and file
the same on or before taking the oath of office, otherwise his office
shall be vacant and the same shall be filled in the manner provided
in cases of vacancies in offices, except that any person in office
required by the common council to give a bond or furnish additional
sureties to a bond already given shall have ten days after notice
to give such bond or furnish such sureties. In all cases in which
a bond is required from any officer by the provisions of this act,
the sureties therein shall justify in an amount which shall be in
the aggregate twice the penalty of such bond.
No officer elected or appointed under the charter or this code
shall receive any perquisite, fee, emolument or compensation for any
act done or service rendered by virtue of such office, whether done
under this or some other act, except as hereinafter expressly provided.
[Amended by L.L. No. 3-2017, 6/19/2017]
The common council shall fix the annual salary of every officer
of the city, except as otherwise provided by law. The salary of each
officer appointed for an indefinite term shall be fixed in the annual
budget or, within the terms of the budget, at any other time after
receiving and considering the recommendation of the mayor. Pursuant
to Section 4.03 of the Charter, which shall become effective January
1, 2018, a Salary Review Commission, comprised of seven members, shall
review the salaries of all City elected officials and make recommendations
for salary adjustments to the Common Council.
The compensation of inspectors of election, ballot clerks and
poll clerks shall be in an amount to be determined by the common council
for each day of registration, general election day, special election
days, and for primary day. The word "day" shall be construed as the
period which the several officers are required by law to sit, including
such additional time as may be required to complete their duties.
[Added by L.L. No. 3-2017, 6-19-2017]
Each councilmember shall be required to participate in education
related to his or her office. Each councilmember shall complete at
least 8 hours of education and training by June 30th annually. The
training requirement as set forth in Section 2.11 of the City Charter
for all councilmembers can be satisfied by any training program presented
by the New York Conference of Mayors or, in the alternative, any program
closely related to the duties of the elected official. Such programs
are to be preapproved by the Commissioner of Finance. Should any councilmember
fail to complete the required education and training, then the Commissioner
of Finance shall reduce that councilmember's salary by 10%.
[Added by L.L. No. 3-2018, 5-21-2018, § 3]
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The common council shall retain and provide in the city budget
for the retention of professional staff to assist council members
in their consideration and enactment of ordinances, local laws, and
resolutions, their review of the city budget and fiscal management,
and their oversight of the management of the city government and its
departments.
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The council member at-large shall appoint all legislative professional
staff retained in accord with this section, subject to approval by
the majority of the common council. The legislative professional staff
so appointed shall serve at the pleasure of the common council member
at large, subject to reappointment by him or her, and reapproval by
the majority of the common council, at the time of reorganization
of the common council following each election of a council member
at large.
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