Sections of the New York State Public Officers Law and the New
York State Town Law require that persons appointed to certain Town
positions must be residents or electors of the Town of Bethlehem at
the time of their appointment and during their tenure in office. However,
state law is unclear about which positions this residency requirement
covers. This chapter is enacted to clearly establish the policy and
law governing certain Town positions, to establish a general policy
in favor of hiring Bethlehem residents for leadership positions, and
to provide greater certainty to Town residents, employees and prospective
employees concerning the application of a residency requirement. This
chapter also allows for the Town Board to waive the residency requirement
in cases where it may be necessary to hire an applicant with specific
technical experience and knowledge or where otherwise appropriate.
Persons serving in the following positions shall be required
to be electors of the Town of Bethlehem at the time of their appointment
and during their tenure in office:
A. Members of the Planning Board;
B. The Zoning Board of Appeals and the Board of Assessment Review;
C. The Town Attorney and any Assistant Town Attorneys;
E. Any Deputy Chief of Police;
I. The Director of Emergency Management;
J. The Director of Human Resources;
K. Any Building Inspector or Assistant Building Inspector;
L. The Commissioner of Public Works;
M. The Parks and Recreation Administrator;
N. The Director of Senior Services;
O. The Director of Management Information Services;
P. The Director of Economic Development and Planning;
Q. The Director of Planning;
R. The head of any other Town department now existing or created in
the future; and
S. A member of any board of the Town.
Employees of the Town not expressly subject to the residency requirement set forth in §
29-2 of this chapter shall not be required to be a resident of the Town at the time of their appointment or employment, except that nothing in this chapter is intended to alter residency requirements for elected officials.
The Town Board may waive the residency requirement for any person
or office either temporarily or for the tenure of the person in such
Town position.
The Clerk of the Town Justice Court and the Deputy Court Clerks
shall be electors of the Town of Bethlehem at the time of their appointment
and during their tenure in office, except that the Justices of the
Town Court may by their concurrence waive the residency requirement
either temporarily or for the tenure of the person appointed to such
position.
This chapter shall supersede in its application to the Town
of Bethlehem § 3 of the Public Officers Law and § 23
of the Town Law, providing that certain Town employees must be electors
or residents of the Town, and any other provision of New York Law
that may be inconsistent with this chapter. Nothing in this chapter
is intended to supersede or alter § 310 of the New York
State Real Property Tax Law, which provides in part that any resident
of the state, otherwise eligible for appointment as Assessor, may
be appointed Assessor, or any provision of law requiring elected officials
to be electors or residents of the Town. Additionally, nothing in
this chapter is intended to supersede any residency requirement contained
in a collective bargaining agreement executed by the Town or any other
local law of the Town.
This chapter shall become effective upon filing in the office
of the Secretary of State and shall apply to appointments made on
or after January 31, 2014.