A.
The elective officers of the City shall be a Mayor, Controller, five Aldermen, except as provided in Article III herein, Judges of the City Court and three members of the Citizens Review Board. The Mayor, the Controller, the Judge of the City Court and members of the Citizens Review Board shall be elected at large by the electors of each of the five wards, except as provided in Article III herein the City.
B.
The terms of office of all elective officers shall
commence on January 1 of the year following their election.
C.
The Mayor, Controller and Council members shall be
required to participate in education and training related to their
respective offices. The Mayor and Controller shall complete at least
16 hours of education and training annually. The Council members shall
complete at least eight hours of education and training annually.
The Common Council shall establish rules and procedures regarding
mandatory training. Should an official fail to complete the required
education and training, then the Controller shall reduce that official's
salary by 1/2.
[Added by L.L. No. 7-2004, ref. date 11-2-2004]
City elections shall be held in each odd-numbered
year in accordance with and in the manner now or hereafter provided
in the State Election Law.
A.
Mayor. The term of Office of the Mayor shall be four
years.
B.
Controller. The term of Office of the Controller shall
be four years.
D.
Members of the Citizens Review Board. The terms of
Office of the Members of the Citizens Review Board shall be three
years.
[Amended by L.L. No. 4-1982, ref. date 11-2-1982]
A.
The appointive officers of the City shall be a City
Clerk, a Deputy City Clerk, a Corporation Counsel, a City Engineer,
an Assistant City Engineer, a Fire Chief, a Police Chief, a Commissioner
of Health, a Recreation Commissioner, a Director of the Department
of Water and Sanitary Sewers and such other officers as may be required
to be appointive by this Charter or other applicable law. The City
Clerk shall be appointed by the Common Council and the Clerk shall
appoint the Deputy Clerk. Except as otherwise provided in this Charter
or law, all appointive officers of the City shall be full-time.
[Amended by L.L. No. 3-1982]
B.
The term of office of the City Engineer, Corporation
Counsel, Director of Public Works, Fire Chief, Police Chief and the
Commissioner of Health shall be coterminous with that of the appointing
officer.
[Amended 5-6-1980 by L.L. No. 3-1980,
ref. date ; by L.L. No. 4-1989, ref. date 11-7-1989]
C.
Any officer permanently appointed to an office classified
in the competitive class of Civil Service shall hold such office for
an indefinite term, subject to the provisions of Civil Service Law,
Rules and Regulations.
D.
No person appointed to a salaried office shall be
entitled to hold an additional second salaried office during his term
unless otherwise provided by the Charter or ordinance.
[Added 12-20-1982 by L.L. No. 3-1983, ref. date 11-8-1983; amended by L.L. No. 8-1989, ref. date 11-7-1989]
An officer appointed for a specified term may
be removed from that office by the Common Council for cause upon recommendation
of the Mayor after such office has been given a copy of charges constituting
grounds for removal and a hearing, upon not less than 10 days' notice,
has been conducted, at which the officer so charged has had opportunity
to appear in person or by counsel to subpoena and present witnesses
and evidence in his own behalf, and to cross-examine witnesses against
him. A decision of the Common Council to remove an officer shall be
subject to review pursuant to the Civil Practice Law and Rules.
A.
Except as otherwise provided by law, no person shall
be elected or appointed to a City office unless he shall be and continue
be a resident elector of the City and, in the case of the Office of
Alderman, unless he is at that time a resident elector of the ward
from which he shall be elected.
B.
Every elected or appointed City officer shall possess
the qualifications prescribed by the Public Officers Law, except as
otherwise provided in this chapter.
C.
If a nonresident of the City is appointed to a City
office, that appointment shall require a majority vote of the Common
Council for approval.
[Added by L.L. No. 5-1989, ref. date 11-7-1989]
The compensation of the Mayor, the Controller
and the Aldermen shall be fixed by local law, except as otherwise
provided in this Charter, and any increase or decrease shall become
effective only at the start of the term of office next succeeding
that in which it was enacted. The salaries and compensation of employees
of the City and of the appointive officers shall be fixed by the Common
Council.
[Amended by L.L. No. 9-1989, ref. date 11-7-1989]
Except where otherwise authorized by this Charter
or by law, no Alderman shall hold any other salaried City office or
City employment other than Commissioner of Deeds.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Former Subsection B, which
prohibited an Alderman or the Mayor from holding certain offices for
90 days after expiration of their term, which immediately followed
this section, was repealed 12-5-2000 by L.L. No. 10-2000.
Except as otherwise provided by law or this
Charter, whenever any elected or appointed officer shall cease to
be a resident of the City, his office shall thereupon become vacant,
and whenever any Alderman shall cease to be a resident of the ward
from which he was elected, his office shall thereupon become vacant.
A.
Except as otherwise provided by this Charter or by
state law, a vacancy occurring in the office of Mayor, Controller,
Alderman or Supervisor for which there is an unexpired term shall
be filled by vote of the electorate at the next general election occurring
not less than 60 days following the date the vacancy occurs.
[Amended by L.L. No. 10-1989, ref. date 11-7-1989[1]]
(1)
Within 30 days following the occurrence of a vacancy
in the Office of Mayor, Controller or Alderman for which there is
an unexpired term the Common Council, by a majority of its remaining
members and notwithstanding other quorum requirements set forth herein,
shall appoint a qualified person to fill the vacancy until the person
elected at the next general election occurring not less than 60 days
following the date the vacancy occurs shall assume the office.
(2)
Any person appointed to fill an unexpired term in
the Office of Mayor, Controller or Alderman shall be of the same political
affiliation as the person creating the vacancy on the date the vacancy
occurs.
B.
Except as otherwise provided in this section, in the
event that the Office of Mayor, Controller or Alderman shall become
vacant on the first day of a new term of office because the person
elected to that position is unwilling or unable to serve, the Common
Council by a majority of its remaining members shall appoint a person
of the same political affiliation to serve until the next general
election, at which time an election for the remainder of the term
shall be held. In case no qualified person is elected at the preceding
general election, the person appointed need not be of a particular
political affiliation.[2]
C.
In the event that the Office of Controller or Alderman
shall be vacant on the first day of a new term of office by virtue
of a tie vote in the preceding general election, the Mayor in office
on that day shall promptly contact the Governor and request that the
Governor proclaim a special election for the position, in compliance
with state law.[3]
D.
In the event that the office of Mayor shall be vacant
on the first day of a new term of office by virtue of a tie vote in
the preceding general election, the Common Council shall, at its first
meeting of the new year, direct one of its number to promptly contact
the Governor and request that the Governor proclaim a special election
for the position, in compliance with state law.
E.
In the event that the Governor, after having been
contacted as set forth herein, refuses to proclaim a special election
to fill the vacant position; then, in that event, other provisions
of this article shall set forth the procedure for filling the vacancy.
F.
If a vacancy shall occur in any appointive office
of the City for which a term is prescribed, otherwise than by expiration
of the term of office, the officer or body authorized to make the
original appointment of such officer shall appoint a person to fill
said vacancy for the remainder of the unexpired term.
Every appointment to a City office shall be
made by a certificate of appointment signed by the appointing officer
or, if made by the Common Council, signed by the Mayor as presiding
officer of the Council, and if made by a board or commission, signed
by the presiding officer thereof. A copy of each certificate of appointment
shall be filed in the Office of the Controller and in the Office of
the City Clerk.
Each elected and appointed officer of the City,
before taking office, shall take and file the Constitutional Oath
of Office as required by § 10 of the Public Officers Law.
Officers of the City of Amsterdam shall be subject to the Code of
Ethics as set forth in the Public Officers Law § 74.
A.
The Controller, the City Clerk and such other officers
and employees as the Common Council may require shall file an official
bond in the amount and form with such sureties as the Common Council
shall direct. The Common Council may by resolution determine that
such undertaking shall be executed by a surety company authorized
to transact business in the State of New York and that the expense
thereof shall be a charge upon the City.
B.
The City may also provide blanket undertakings as
authorized by the Public Officers Law. All official undertakings shall
be filed in the Office of the City Clerk except that the undertaking
of the City Clerk shall be filed in the Office of the Controller.
Resignations of elected officers shall be made
in writing and presented to the City Clerk, and of all other officers,
to the appointing officer or agency. The officer or agency receiving
such resignation shall file copies in the Office of the Controller
and in the office of the City Clerk.
The Common Council shall designate each year
a newspaper published or having general circulation in the City to
be the official newspaper of the City for the publication of public
notices required by law or otherwise pertaining to the activities
of the City.
