[Amended by L. 1966, c. 716; L.L. No. 3-1990; 1-20-2021 by L.L. No. 3-2021; 8-3-2022 by L.L. No. 12-2022]
No person shall be elected or appointed to any elective city
office unless at the time of his or her election or appointment he
or she be of full age and a citizen of the United States and a resident
of the city, nor elected or appointed to any elective ward office,
unless at the time of his or her election or appointment he or she
be a resident of the ward for which he or she is elected or appointed;
and whenever any such officer of said city shall cease to be a resident
of the city or of the ward for which he or she was elected or appointed,
such office shall thereupon become vacant.
No person shall at one time hold more than one elective office
under the City government, or two or more elective positions under
City, County, or State Government. Upon the acceptance by an elected
officer of a second elective office, the first elective office shall
become vacant.
[Amended by L. 1917, c. 680; L. 1920, c.
866; L.L. No. 1-1927; L.L. No. 1-1945;[1] L.L. No. 3-1990]
The elective officers of the city to be elected
by electors of the city at large shall be a Mayor, whose annual salary
shall be not less than $10,000 to be fixed and determined by the Common
Council; a City Clerk, whose annual salary shall be not less than
$18,000 to be fixed and determined by the Common Council, a City Treasurer,
whose annual salary shall be not less than $20,000, to be fixed and
determined by the Common Council; a President of the Common Council,
whose annual salary shall be not less than $1,500, to be fixed and
determined by the Common Council; a City Judge, whose annual salary
shall be fixed and determined by the New York State Office of Court
Administration.
The elective officers of the city to be elected
by the electors of each ward shall be one Alderman, whose annual salary
shall be not less than $800.
The annual election for officers of the city
shall be held annually, on the Tuesday next succeeding the first Monday
in November, at the time and place fixed for holding the general election
on that day. Such election shall be conducted in the same manner that
general elections in cities are by law required to be conducted, and
all the provisions of the Election Law shall be applicable to the
election for officers in such city. At every election, a successor
shall be elected to each elective city officer whose term of office
shall expire with the year in which such election is held. Public
notice of every election under this Act, except as herein expressly
provided, shall be given by the Mayor and Common Council, by notice
to be published in the official newspaper of said city at least once
in each week for two successive weeks immediately preceding the holding
of such election, which notice shall be signed by the Mayor and City
Clerk and shall designate the officers to be voted for at such election
and the location of each polling place.
Inspectors of election shall canvass all votes
cast for city officers, make and declare a tally sheet or statement
in the same manner as required by the general laws of this state and
file the same immediately with the City Clerk, except as otherwise
provided in this Act. The City Clerk shall, at least one week before
the date fixed by law for the first meeting of the Board of Registry
for said election, notify each inspector of election, in writing,
of his appointment as such inspector and of each day for which meetings
of the Board of Registry in said election district of the city and
of the date of such election. Every inhabitant of the city who shall,
at the time and place of offering his vote, be qualified to vote for
member of assembly shall be then and there entitled to vote for all
the officers elected by the city at large, and for all officers to
be elected in his ward; each ward of the city shall constitute an
election district until some further division shall be made pursuant
to the Election Law.
The inspectors of election and such other officers
as are authorized to be appointed by the Election Law shall be appointed
as provided therein and shall have such compensation as shall be allowed
by the Common Council. [Amended by L.L. No. 3-1990]
[Amended by L.L. No. 3-1990]
Except as herein otherwise provided, the Common
Council of said city shall meet as a board of city canvassers. The
City Clerk shall present to the Common Council a certified tally sheet
and statement as the result of such election in the several election
districts of the city, as delivered to him by the inspectors of election
of such districts. The Common Council shall canvass such tally sheets
and certified statements and determine and declare the whole number
of votes cast for all the candidates for each office to be elected
at such election, the number of votes cast for each said candidate
and which person was elected to each office. respectively. The persons
having the greatest number of votes for each respective office to
be filled for the whole city and those having the greatest number
of votes for the offices to be filled by the several wards shall be
duly elected to such offices. The City Clerk shall enter such determinations
and declarations in the minutes of the meeting. In the event of a
tie at any such annual city election, the Common Council shall, at
its first regular meeting thereafter, fill by appointment the office
for which the vote is tie for a full term.
[Amended by L.L. No. 3-1990]
The Governor of the state may remove the Mayor
from office at any time upon presentation of charges against him for
disability, for serious neglect or dereliction of official duty or
in competency or incapacity to perform his official duties or some
delinquency materially affecting his general character or fitness
for office, after offering him an opportunity to be heard as provided
by the Public Officers Law for the removal of a county treasurer.
The City Judge may be removed by the New York State Judicial Conduct
Commission. Except as otherwise provided, any other elective officer
shall be removed by a 2/3 vote of the Common Council on any of the
grounds for which the Mayor may be removed, upon written charges being
preferred by or to the Mayor after reasonable notice thereof and reasonable
opportunity to be heard thereon having been given by the Common Council.
[Amended by L. 1920, c. 866; L.L. No. 2-1934; L 1953,
c. 878, § 256; L.L. No.
3-1956; L.L. No.
2-1960; L.L. No. 3-1990]
There may be appointed by the Mayor a Corporation
Counsel; Commissioner of Assessment and Taxation; Commissioner of
Public Works; Commissioner of Water; three Civil Service Commissioners;
City Health Officer; and a Sealer of Weights and Measures. The Common
Council may appoint not exceeding four City Marshals and as many Commissioners
of Deeds as it may deem necessary. Other officers may be appointed
as provided by this Act or as otherwise provided by the law, not inconsistent
herewith. All appointments to any city office shall be evidenced by
a certificate, in writing, signed by the appointing officer and filed
forthwith in the office of the City Clerk. If an appointment be made
by the Common Council, Board or Commission, such certificate shall
be signed by the officer presiding at the time of appointment so made,
attested by the Clerk and filed forthwith in the office of the City
Clerk.
Immediately after the filing of such certificate,
the City Clerk shall give notice, in writing, to each person of his
appointment to office.
[Amended by L. 1953, c. 878, § 257]
Where the term of office of the appointive officer
is not specified or fixed by statute, it shall be deemed to continue
only during the pleasure of the Common Council, officers, board or
commission authorized to make the appointment. No appointive officer
shall hold office beyond the term of the officer appointing him, except
as herein otherwise provided. The term of office of each appointive
officer shall commence on the day succeeding his appointment, unless
a different time is specified in the certificate of appointment. The
elective officers required by law and all other officers required
by the general laws to be appointed, except as herein otherwise provided,
shall be chosen for each term and shall possess and perform the powers
and duties prescribed by the provisions of the general laws relating
thereto.
The Mayor may, in writing. suspend for up to
30 days at any one time any officer of the city appointed by him or
by the Common Council, but he shall not suspend the same person more
than twice in one year. In case of the suspension of any officer,
the Mayor shall forthwith report to the Common Council the reason
of such suspension.
Except as otherwise provided, any appointive
officer appointed by the Mayor or Common Council may be removed by
a 2/3 vote of the Common Council on any of the grounds for which a
Mayor may be removed, upon written charges being preferred to or by
the Mayor, after reasonable notice thereof and after a reasonable
opportunity to be heard thereon has been given by the Common Council.
Upon such investigation, the Common Council may suspend such officer
for up to 30 days. [Amended by L.L. No. 3-1990]
[Amended by L. 1920, c. 866; L.L. No. 2-1934; L.L. No. 3-1990]
The following appointive officers shall receive
a salary to be fixed by the Common Council: Corporation Counsel; Commissioner
of Assessment and Taxation; Commissioner of Public Works; Commissioner
of Water; three Civil Service Commissioners; City Health Officer;
Sealer of Weights and Measures; City Marshals; and Commissioners of
Deeds.
Every city officer shall continue to hold office
until his successor shall be chosen and shall qualify, and no longer.
Except as otherwise provided in this Act, if
a vacancy shall occur otherwise than by expiration of term in any
elective office of the city, the Common Council shall appoint a person
to fill such vacancy until the end of the official year in which said
vacancy occurs. If the term of the officer vacating his office continues
beyond the official year in which said vacancy occurs, a person shall
be elected at the next annual city election after the occurring of
such vacancy to fill such vacancy for the remainder of the unexpired
term. A vacancy occurring in any appointive office of the city, otherwise
than by expiration of term, shall be filled for the balance of the
unexpired term in the same manner as an appointment for a full term.
Resignation of elective officers shall be made
in writing and presented to the Mayor and, of all other officers,
to the appointing board or officer. and the board or officer to whom
such resignation is presented shall thereupon file the same in the
office of the City Clerk. The resignation of the Mayor must be made
and presented to and filed with the City Clerk.
[Amended by L. 1920, c. 866; L.L. No. 3-1990]
No officer or employee of the city, except the
Corporation Counsel, Health Officer, City Marshal, Commissioner of
Deeds and city officers acting as Commissioner of Deeds, shall have
or receive any perquisites, compensation or fees for service pertaining
directly or indirectly to the duties of his office in addition to
his salary, and all perquisites, compensation and fees paid and received
by any such officer, except as hereinabove provided, for services
pertaining directly or indirectly to the duties of his office, other
than his salary received from the city, shall be the property of the
city and shall be paid by the officer receiving the same into the
city treasury.
[Amended L.L. No. 3-1990]
Except as otherwise provided in this Act, any
board, commission or officer may remove or suspend with notice any
employee of their or his board, commission or office, unless such
removal constitutes a violation of any collective bargaining agreement
of the city. Nothing herein contained shall be construed to limit
or amend the Civil Service Laws of the state.
No elective officer who has been removed from
office under any provision of this Act shall be eligible for election
or appointment to fill the vacancy caused by his removal.
In case of a vacancy from any cause in any elective
office, the person appointed to fill such vacancy shall be a member
of the same political party as the last incumbent of the office.
The officers, boards and commissions elected
or appointed pursuant to this Act shall, in addition to the powers
and duties specified herein, possess and exercise such powers and
perform such duties as may from time to time be prescribed by law,
ordinance or resolution of the Common Council not inconsistent with
the provisions of this Act and, so far as applicable, shall have all
the powers and perform all the duties conferred by general law upon
corresponding officers, commissions, boards or departments of the
cities and towns of this state.
Any person elected or appointed to any office
under this Act shall, before assuming the same, take the oath of office
prescribed by the Constitution of this state and shall file the same
in the office of the City Clerk, and every person who shall omit to
take and file his oath within the time prescribed by law shall be
deemed to decline the office, and such office shall thereupon become
vacant. Each Commissioner of Deeds and each city officer who, by the
provisions of this Act, is given the same powers as Commissioner of
Deeds shall forthwith, upon his election or appointment, file a certificate
of his election or appointment, to be issued by the City Clerk, in
the Rensselaer County Clerk's office and also take the prescribed
constitutional oath of office before said County Clerk.
[Amended by L.L. No. 3-1990]
The City Treasurer, City Clerk, Commissioner of Public Works, City Marshal and all officers required by this Act, by general law or by the Common Council to give a bond shall severally, before they enter upon the duties of their office, make, execute and deliver a bond to the City of Rensselaer for such penal sum as this Act or general law or which the Common Council directs and with such surety or sureties as the Mayor or Common Council approve, conditioned that they shall faithfully discharge the duties of the respective offices and account for and pay over all moneys or property received by them respectively as such officers in accordance with the law; all such bonds, except as otherwise provided, shall be approved by the Mayor. The official bonds, except as otherwise herein provided, shall be filed with the City Clerk. Any officer failing to comply with the foregoing provisions shall be subject to the penalties and liabilities prescribed by law. If the surety on the official undertaking is a fidelity or a surety corporation, the premium therefor shall be paid as provided by § 11 of the Public Officers' Law.
[Amended by L.L. No. 4956; L.L. No. 3-1990; L.L. No. 3-1995; 6-16-2021 by L.L. No. 3-2022]
No member of the Common Council or officer or
employee of the city or person receiving a salary or compensation
from funds appropriated by the city shall be interested directly or
indirectly in any contract to which the city is a party, either as
principal, surety or otherwise, nor shall any such member of the Common
Council, city officers or employee or person of the firm of which
he is a partner purchase from or sell to the city or any officer thereof
any real or personal property for the use of the city or any commission
or officer thereon, nor shall be be interested directly or indirectly
in any work to be performed for or service rendered to or for it or
anything sold to or from said city or to any officer, board, commission
or person in its behalf. Any contract made in violation of any of
these provisions shall be void. A person shall not be deemed interested
in a contract, purchase or sale made by a corporation with, from or
to the city solely by reason of the fact that he is a stockholder,
director and/or trustee of such corporation. The term "city officer,"
as used herein, however, shall not be deemed to include a Commissioner
of Deeds or City Marshal. Notwithstanding anything contained herein
to the contrary, it shall not be the intent of this legislation to
prohibit members of the Common Council or officers or employees of
the city or persons receiving a salary or compensation from funds
appropriated by the city (hereafter sometimes referred to as "borrower")
to apply for a loan from the city, in accordance with one of the city's
established loan programs, and for said persons to enter into such
agreements as are customarily entered into by the borrower in said
loan programs. Under no circumstances shall a loan agreement, promissory
note, mortgage or other agreement entered into between the borrower
and the city be considered void as a result of this provision. The
provisions in this section shall not apply to sales of vacant land
to abutting landowners.
The Common Council and several members thereof
and all officers and employees of the city are hereby declared trustees
of the property, funds and effects of said city, respectively, so
far as such property, funds and effects are to be committed to their
management or control, and every taxpayer residing in said city is
hereby declared to be a cestui que trust in respect to said property,
funds and effects, respectively, and any cotrustee and any cestui
que trust shall be entitled as against said trustee in regard to said
property, funds and effects, to the benefit of all the rules, remedies
and privileges provided by law for any cotrustee or cestui que trust,
and to prosecute and maintain an action to prevent waste and injury
to any property, funds and effects held in trust, and such trustees
are hereby held subject to all the duties and responsibilities imposed
by law upon trustees and such duties and responsibilities may be enforced
by the city or by any cotrustee or cestui que trust aforesaid. The
remedies herein provided shall be in addition to those now provided
by law.
[Amended L.L. No. 3-1990]
Unless otherwise provided by law, the offices
of the City Clerk and the City Treasurer shall be kept open for the
transaction of business each day in the year, Sundays, legal holidays
and Saturdays excepted, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
The Mayor, President of the Common Council,
City Treasurer, Commissioner of Public Works and the City Clerk shall
each have, within the City of Rensselaer, the power of Commissioner
of Deeds of the City of Rensselaer.
[1]
Editor's Note: Former § 36, Searches
and files in public offices, was repealed by L.L. No. 3-1990.
The several heads of departments shall present
to the Mayor annually, on or before the 10th day of January, a report
of their proceedings during the preceding year. The Mayor shall transmit
the same to the Common Council with any recommendation he may deem
proper to make, but nothing in this Act contained shall be construed
to relieve such heads of departments from furnishing each other information
as may be required by the Mayor at any time.
Any board, commission or officer authorized
by law or ordinances of the city to grant any license shall have discretionary
power to grant or refuse the same, and the Common Council may provide
that any license, right or permission granted under or by virtue of
any ordinance thereof may be revoked by the officer, board or commission
issuing the same, either summarily in his or its discretion or after
a hearing, upon the violation of the laws of the state or ordinances
of the Common Council by the person or corporation to whom the same
was granted or who is working under or using the same, or his or its
agents, servants or employees.
[1]
Editor's Note: Former § 39, Official
misconduct; acts prohibited, was repealed by L.L. No. 3-1990.
