The mayor shall be the chief executive officer of the city and
shall maintain peace and good order and enforce the laws therein and
shall supervise and direct all department heads and see to it that
the duties of all other city officers, departments, boards, commissions
and other city agencies are faithfully performed and shall have authority
at all times to examine their books, papers, records and accounts
and the moneys, securities and property of the city in their possession
and may in his or her discretion exercise such authority through the
director of the budget or otherwise. The mayor shall have the right
to appear before and address the council at any meeting. He or she
shall have the custody of the seal of the city and shall, except as
herein otherwise provided, authenticate all accounts of the council
and all instruments and papers authorized to be so authenticated.
The mayor shall also exercise such powers and perform such duties
as are imposed by this act and by any local law or ordinance and by
any provision of general law.
The mayor in office when this act takes effect shall continue
to be mayor until the expiration of the term for which the mayor was
elected at the general election held in 1997 and shall have all of
the powers and duties and no other of a mayor elected under this act,
except as otherwise expressly provided in this act.
Any mayor heretofore or hereafter elected as such under this
act shall be eligible for re-election.
The mayor shall designate an officer whose appointment has been
confirmed by the common council, other than the police or fire commissioner,
as the acting mayor to perform the mayor's duties in the event the
mayor is temporarily disabled or absent from the state. The designation
shall be made in a writing filed with the city clerk at the commencement
of the mayor's term of office and at such other time as the mayor
desires to change the designation. If no such designation is made,
the president of the common council shall perform the mayor's duties
in the event of the mayor's temporary disability or absence from the
state.
In the case of a vacancy in the office of mayor caused by the
mayor's resignation, removal, death or permanent inability to discharge
the powers and duties of the office of mayor, such powers and duties
shall devolve upon the president of the common council who shall fill
the vacancy in the office of the mayor until the first day of January
following the next general election at which a mayor may, pursuant
to law, be elected for the balance of the term. Upon commencement
of the term of office of the mayor so elected, the president of the
common council then acting as mayor, shall complete the term of his
or her office, if any remains.
[Amended 12-26-2001 by L.L. No. 1-2002, effective 1-8-2002]
At the general election in the year 2001 and each fourth year
thereafter a mayor shall be elected by the electors of the city for
a term of four years.
No person shall be eligible for election or appointment as successor
to the office of the mayor who has not been a resident as defined
in section 24-4 of this charter of the city for a period of at least
one year immediately preceding the date of his or her election or
appointment.
The mayor may appoint and at pleasure remove an executive assistant
and such other subordinates as may be authorized by law or ordinance.
No local law shall be approved by the mayor until a public hearing
has been had thereon before the mayor after the publishing of a notice
of such hearing once in one or more daily newspapers published in
the city designated by the mayor. The mayor shall fix the time and
place of the hearing, and the notice shall specify such time and place
and shall contain a copy of such local law and shall be prepared and
published by the city clerk at least five days before the hearing.
The mayor is hereby granted all the powers of investigation conferred on the council by section
3-7 of this act, and all the provisions of said section shall apply to such investigations by the mayor.