There is hereby created and established a Community Development Advisory Committee for community development, hereinafter referred to as CDAC, to make recommendations to the Mayor and the Council of the City of Binghamton regarding the planning, development, monitoring, coordination and evaluation of a comprehensive community development program pursuant to and in accordance with HUD regulations, and in accordance with the interests and needs of the residents of the City of Binghamton.
[Adopted 8-15-1988 by Ord. No. 103-88 (Ch. 2, Div. 15, §§ 2-163.56 through 2-163.66, of the 1970 Code)]
A.
The CDAC shall be composed of 13 members, each of whom shall have one vote. The members of CDAC shall be appointed as follows, effective January 1, 1983:
(1)
One member appointed by each of the nine City Council members. Council members shall seek recommendations of prospective appointees from their active neighborhood citizen groups.
(2)
Two City Council members, one being the majority leader and the other being the minority leader, shall serve as ex-officio members of the CDAC without voting power.
(3)
Four members appointed by the Mayor of the City of Binghamton.
B.
The Mayor of the City of Binghamton shall serve as an ex-officio member of CDAC without voting power.
The term of office for each CDAC member shall be for two years as follows:
A.
The members appointed by the Councilmen of the even-numbered Councilmanic districts shall expire on the even-numbered years.
B.
The members appointed by the Councilmen of the odd-numbered Councilmanic districts shall expire on the odd-numbered years.
C.
The terms of the majority and minority leaders shall correspond to their term of office as majority and minority leader.
D.
The members appointed by the Mayor of the City of Binghamton shall serve for an initial term of two and three years. Two members shall be appointed for two years and two members shall be appointed for three-year terms. Two members' terms will expire at the end of even-numbered years and two members' terms will expire on odd-numbered years after the term of the initial appointment expires.
[1]
Editor's Note: This section also provided that the initial appointments shall be effective 1-1-1983, and shall expire 12-31-1983.
The following procedures shall be followed regarding vacancies and terminations of CDAC members:
A.
Vacancies. In the event a vacancy occurs in the membership of the CDAC for any reason, the appointing power shall expeditiously appoint another person to fill said vacancy for the unexpired term in conformance with § 18-90 of this article.
B.
Termination. If a member of CDAC misses three consecutive regular or special meetings, or 50% of the meetings in a six-month period, he or she may be removed from the membership upon recommendation by the CDAC to the City Council.
[Amended 12-7-2011 by Ord. No. 11-49]
The CDAC shall constitute the official citizen participation structure for the community development block grant program in the City of Binghamton. The following shall govern the activities of the CDAC:
A.
The CDAC shall recommend plans and proposals to the Mayor and City Council for review, amendment and approval. Such plans and proposals must be approved by at least seven members of the CDAC at a regular or special meeting. In addition, the CDAC will respond to specific requests of the Mayor and City Council for comment on issues that do not require City Council approval.
B.
The CDAC shall react to plans and proposals presented to it by the Director of Planning, Housing and Community Development, and make recommendations to the Mayor and City Council with respect to acceptance or rejection of such plans.
C.
The CDAC may make recommendations to the Mayor in connection with the implementation of the City's community development programs as approved by Council of the City of Binghamton. CDAC members would provide input to the Mayor and City Council relative to the responsibility of the grantee for ensuring that each activity to be carried out with CDBG funds is eligible and benefits low- and moderate-income families or aids in the prevention or elimination of slums or blight or meets other community development needs, having a particular urgency because existing conditions pose a serious and immediate threat to the health or welfare of the community where other financial resources are not available to meet such needs.
D.
The CDAC shall meet at least once per month, namely, the second Wednesday of each month. Said meetings will be open to the public.
E.
A three-day written notice must be sent to each CDAC member before any CDAC meeting is held indicating the time, place and agenda of the meeting.
F.
More than 50% of the appointed members of the CDAC shall constitute a quorum which must be present to conduct an official CDAC meeting.
G.
The CDAC shall have authority to devise additional rules of order and operating procedures which are not inconsistent with this article or Robert's Rules of Order as revised.
H.
Special meetings may be called by the Chairperson and/or a majority of the CDAC.
The CDAC shall elect by a majority of the membership the following officers: Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson and Secretary. The election of officers shall occur at the first meeting in January.
A.
Chairperson.
(1)
Duties.
(a)
The Chairperson shall preside over meetings of the CDAC.
(b)
The Chairperson shall prepare the agenda for the CDAC meeting in consultation with the Director of Planning, Housing and Community Development; however, the Director of Planning, Housing and Community Development shall not have a veto power over items placed on the agenda, nor shall the Chairperson have a veto power to exclude agenda items requested by the Director of Planning, Housing and Community Development.
(c)
The Chairperson shall have the authority to call special meetings of the CDAC at his or her discretion.
(d)
The Chairperson shall have the authority to modify meeting dates when regularly scheduled meeting dates conflict with national or religious holidays or other events which would prevent a quorum of members from attending such meeting.
(e)
The Chairperson will serve as the official spokesperson of the CDAC.
(2)
Term of office. The term of office shall be one year.
(3)
Qualifications. The person nominated to serve as Chairperson must have been a CDAC member for at least one year.
B.
Vice-Chairperson. The Vice-Chairperson shall preside in the absence of the Chairperson and shall have all the powers and duties of the Chairperson during his or her absence. Upon the arrival of the Chairperson the Vice-Chairperson shall vacate the chair. The Vice-Chairperson shall, however, have the power of the chair when the Chairperson wishes to enter into discussion.
C.
Secretary.
(1)
Duties.
(a)
The Secretary shall be the keeper of all minutes (not to be construed as the recorder of minutes).
(b)
The Secretary shall review the minutes as recorded by the Planning, Housing and Community Development staff and shall be the sole judge as to the accuracy of said minutes, prior to the approval by the CDAC.
(c)
The Secretary shall certify all minutes of each regular and special meeting of the CDAC, prior to their approval by the CDAC.
In order to encourage citizen participation, particularly from low- and moderate-income households, the following procedures will be adhered to:
A.
Provide citizens with at least 10 days' prior notice of public hearings to be held by the CDAC. All public hearings shall be advertised at a minimum in the Press and Sun-Bulletin. Notices of public hearings shall not be published in the “Legal Notice” section of the paper, but in a more conspicuous section of the paper such as the “Community” section. The staff of the CDAC shall keep a record of the notice(s) of publication. The City Clerk's office and the City Council shall also receive notices of all CDAC regular meetings and public hearings.
B.
The CDAC and staff will identify how the information needs of non-English-speaking residents or citizens with disabilities (such as deafness) will be accommodated at public hearings and meetings. If more than 5% of the citizens at a public hearing or meeting are anticipated to have such a language or disability barrier, the CDAC and staff shall determine before proceeding with the hearing or meeting how their needs will be addressed.
C.
Public hearings or meeting locations shall be accessible to the handicapped, have adequate audiovisual and seating arrangements and be in locations convenient for citizen access.
D.
Any documents relating to meetings or public hearings shall be made available to the general public by the staff of the CDAC at least 10 days prior to the meeting/hearing.
E.
The CDAC shall respond to written requests for information or complaints in writing within 15 days from receipt of the request. If a response cannot be given in 15 days, a written response indicating that the information request/complaint is being formulated shall be sent in to the affected party(ies).
F.
The CDAC shall provide technical assistance, through itself or staff, to groups or individuals requesting assistance that relate to the goals and objectives of the CDBG program. The specific type and level of assistance will moreover be dependent upon the resources of the CDAC and staff.
G.
The aforementioned procedures shall not supersede any other federal regulation governing the CDBG program.
The following shall be the responsibilities of the City to the CDAC:
A.
It is the responsibility of the City Council, the Mayor and the Director of Planning, Housing and Community Development to transmit to the CDAC proposals made by other public and private bodies regarding use of CDBG funds, and responses to CDAC's request for information.
B.
The Planning, Housing and Community Development Department of the City will be responsible for providing staff liaison with City Council and other necessary and appropriate support to the CDAC.
The following shall be the responsibilities of the CDAC:
A.
The CDAC is responsible for the coordination of all citizen input regarding the community development block grant program and for submitting recommendations to the Planning, Housing and Community Development Department and City Council.
B.
The CDAC will be responsible for achieving the following specific objectives:
(1)
To identify the needs and define the problems presented by the community.
(2)
To formulate a set of objectives addressing these needs and problems.
(3)
To assign priorities to the accomplishment of these objectives according to their degree of importance and potential benefits.
(4)
To develop strategies suggesting how these objectives may be achieved.
(5)
To evaluate program proposals and those solutions most appropriate for development.
The Act provides that no part of its citizen participation requirement shall be construed to restrict the responsibility and authority of the City for the development of its community development block grant application and the execution of its community development programs. Accordingly, the citizen participation requirements of the Act or this article do not include concurrence by any person or group involved in the citizen participation process in making final determinations concerning the findings and content of the City's application or program. The sole responsibility and authority to make such final determinations rests exclusively with the Mayor and City Council.
[Added 1-21-1997 by Ord. No. 2-97; amended 12-21-2011 by Ord. No. 11-52; 12-19-2012 by Ord. No. 12-79; 1-11-2023 by Ord. No. 23-02]
Each Board member of the CDAC shall be paid an annual stipend of $575. Payment of this amount shall be calculated in accordance with the percentage of meetings each member has attended throughout the year. Each member will need to satisfy an attendance record of at least 75% to receive the full stipend. An attendance record of 50% to 74% shall result in the receipt of 50% of the stipend. An attendance record of less than 50% will result in the denial of the stipend. Stipend payments shall be made no later than December 31 of each year.