A.
The
Town Board finds and declares that the traditional structure of Town
government designed primarily for rural areas many years ago is no
longer suitable for the Town of Amherst. This has been caused by rapid
population growth, urban expansion and the attendant increase in the
demand for urban services, plus the complexity and scale of both administrative
and fiscal burdens on the Town government.
B.
Executive
and administrative responsibilities are presently allocated among
and in many cases shared by a variety of elective and appointive officials.
C.
There
is a need for the formulation of new legislative policies which would
help the Town to adjust to the phenomena of urban growth. This produces
heavy demands on the time and energies of the members of the Town
Board. As a result, an ever-growing volume of details concerning day-to-day
government operations compete for their attention.
D.
The
existing system by which committees of the Town Board and the Supervisor
assume responsibilities for and at times undertake the performance
of routine administrative tasks has resulted in a diffusion of command
and on occasions conflicting directives to subordinate officers and
employees, causing diffusion of accountability, diminution of morale
of the Town's work force, impairment of management and operational
efficiency and a waste of the Town's resources.
E.
The
desired effect of this chapter is to improve the efficiency of the
Town government by separating the executive and legislative responsibilities
of the Town Board and the Supervisor and to develop a coherent departmental
structure which will properly interrelate and organize the functions
of the various administrative agencies and officers of the Town. A
concomitant objective of this chapter is to enhance the capacity of
the Town Board to perform its legislative functions, principally by
relieving its committees of administrative burdens so as to enable
them to devote their resources to the demanding tasks of formulating
legislative policies, while at the same time retaining and facilitating
the Town Board's function of legislative oversight of the activities
of the executive branch.
F.
The
principal purpose of this chapter is to provide the foundation for
the development of an executive branch, separate from the legislative
body.
G.
Initially
this chapter establishes central management departments of the executive
branch but anticipates that, based on studies and recommendations
by the Supervisor and Town Board, additional departments may be established
within that branch and perhaps the other branches of the Town government.
This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Amherst
Government Organization Law."
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
following meanings, unless otherwise indicated by the context:
One of the departments so designated in § 4-13.
A separate unit of Town government so designated by this
chapter or any other local law.
The offices or positions described in § 4-5.
Includes powers and duties.
The Legislature of the State of New York.
A board, commission, committee, council, bureau, officer or other agency described or listed in § 4-4D.
The Supervisor of the Town.
The Town of Amherst, Erie County.
Includes the Town Councilmen and Supervisor, constituting
the Town Board of the Town.
