The Common Council shall be the elective governing body of the
City. It shall consist of one Councilperson from each ward in the
City. The Mayor shall be the presiding officer, but shall have no
vote except in cases of a tie.
All Councilpersons shall be electors of the City of Cortland.
All Councilpersons shall reside in their respective wards at the time
of their elections and shall remain residents of, and electors in,
such wards in the City of Cortland during the entire term of office
in order to retain their office.
The Councilpersons shall each serve a two-year term.
The boundaries of the wards of the City shall continue as now
established or as hereafter established in a manner provided by law.
They shall be described in the Administrative Code.[1]
Within six months after the official publication of every federal
census, or special census pursuant to the General Municipal Law, the
Common Council shall appoint a committee to review the existing ward
boundaries and propose changes, if any, to bring them into accord
with the principles of equity and representation in relation to population.
The committee shall report its findings and recommendations to the
Common Council within 90 days of its appointment.
Compensation for Councilpersons shall be established by local
law, except that changes may not be effective during the term of office
during which the change is approved.
The Common Council shall hold regular meetings on the first
and third Tuesday evenings of each month and special meetings at such
other times as it may designate. The Mayor or, in their absence, the
Acting Mayor or any three Councilpersons may call special meetings
by notice in writing served personally or delivered to the Councilpersons'
residences not less than 24 hours in advance of the special meeting.
A.
A quorum shall consist of a majority of the Councilpersons. A lesser
number may adjourn.
B.
The meetings of the Common Council shall be public, except the Council
may, by a majority vote of its total membership, decide to hold an
executive session from which the public shall be excluded.
C.
The Common Council may, as established in its rules and regulations
and the Administrative Code,[1] compel the attendance of a member and may punish a member
for disorderly conduct or for a violation of its rules. In a case
where expulsion for the duration of the term is the punishment, a
vacancy shall be deemed to exist.
D.
The Council shall establish rules and regulations for its business
by resolution of the Council.
The Council shall have, but not be limited to, the following
powers and duties:
A.
To enact, amend or rescind all local laws, ordinances and resolutions.
B.
Upon the recommendation of the Mayor, to establish administrative
offices, departments, boards, commissions and such other agencies
in addition to those created by this Charter and to prescribe the
functions of all such agencies subject to all applicable provisions
of this Charter and other laws.
C.
To confirm all mayoral appointments except as may be provided otherwise
in this Charter.
D.
To enact legislation over the disapproval of the Mayor as provided
by this Charter.
E.
To increase, decrease or reject any item in the annual proposed budget and to adopt such budget pursuant to the provisions of Article XXI of this Charter.
F.
To enact necessary appropriations ordinances.
G.
To levy all taxes.
H.
To provide for the performance of an annual independent audit and
such other audits as may be deemed necessary.
I.
To authorize the Mayor to enter into contracts and execute deeds.
J.
To investigate all departments, boards, bureaus, courts and officers,
and to have access to all records and papers kept in the custody of
any department, board, bureau, court, officer or other agency; to
compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of books, papers
or other evidence at any meeting of the Council or of any committee
thereof, and for that purpose to issue subpoenas signed by the Mayor.
The above does not pertain to papers, records and books, where the
production of same is otherwise prohibited by state or federal law.
K.
To establish the salaries, salary schedules and fringe benefits of
all officers and employees of the City.
L.
To compromise, by resolution, the collection of delinquent real property
taxes for good cause shown, and upon recommendation of the Director
of Administration and Finance.
[Added 5-20-2014 by L.L. No. 6-2014]
The Council shall act by local law, ordinance or resolution.
A.
Local laws shall be adopted pursuant to the Municipal Home Rule Law
of the State of New York.
B.
The adoption of an ordinance shall require the affirmative vote of
at least a majority of all the members of the Council except as otherwise
provided by the Local Finance Law. No ordinance, unless otherwise
provided in this Charter, and unless it is an ordinance fixing the
salary or salaries of certain City officers or employees, or adopting
the budget, levying the annual taxes or confirming the roll or rolls
of items to be added to the annual tax, shall be voted upon earlier
than the 13th day after its introduction into the Council, except
by the unanimous consent of all the members of the Council present,
being no less than 2/3 of all the members thereof. On the adoption
of every ordinance which is not adopted by unanimous vote, the ayes
and nays of the members voting thereon shall be entered in full upon
the journal. An ordinance amended after introduction does not become
a new ordinance unless the presiding officer of the Council, or the
Council upon appeal from the presiding officer's ruling, rules that
the amendment is so substantial as to constitute a new ordinance.[1]
C.
The adoption of a resolution requires the affirmative vote of at
least a majority of the members present.
A.
Every resolution or ordinance of the Common Council except for its
own government and resolutions for the appointment of officers, adoption
of the annual City budget, and for such additional purposes as may
be enumerated in the Administrative Code,[1] shall, before it takes effect and within three days of
passage by the Common Council, be certified by the Clerk and presented
to the Mayor for their approval or veto.
B.
If the Mayor approves it,theyshall sign it within 10 days after receipt
by them and return it so signed to the City Clerk.
C.
If the Mayor does not approve it,they shall return it to the City
Clerk within 10 days with their objections in writing, and the Clerk
shall present the same to the Common Council at its next regular meeting.
D.
The Common Council may reconsider same within 30 days. If upon reconsideration
it shall be repassed with a majority of 2/3, it shall be deemed adopted
notwithstanding the objections of the Mayor. Only one vote may be
had upon reconsideration, and the ayes and nays shall be entered in
the journal of proceedings.
E.
If such resolution or ordinance is not returned to the Clerk by the
Mayor within 10 days, it shall be deemed vetoed.
F.
If any resolution, ordinance or local law, other than the adoption
of the annual City budget, contains one or more items appropriating
money, the Mayor may sign it with a written statement attached thereto
that they object to one or more such items, and each item so objected
to shall have no force or effect unless such items are reconsidered
separately by the Council and passed by a vote of 2/3 of its total
membership.
G.
The procedure for the approval or veto of local laws shall be as
required by the Municipal Home Rule Law.
It shall be the duty of the City Clerk to maintain the journal
of proceedings. Such proceedings shall be made available to the members
of the Council, the Mayor, administrative officers and the public
in a timely fashion. At the end of the year the proceedings shall
be indexed.
[Amended 3-17-1983 by L.L. No. 1-1983]
Official notices and other legal notices which may be required
by law shall be published in such newspaper(s) as may be from time
to time designated by the Common Council as official newspaper(s)
of the City of Cortland.
