[HISTORY: Adopted by the Common Council of the City of Albany 10-2-2014 by L.L. No.
2-2014[1]. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[1]
Editor's Note: This local law also repealed former Ch. 34,
Daylight Saving Time, adopted 7-18-1983 by L.L. No. 2-1983 as Ch.
I, Art. IX, of the 1983 Code.
[Amended 2-4-2019 by L.L.
No. 1-2019]
A.
Meetings
of all public bodies subject to the New York State Public Officers
Law, Article 7 (commonly referred to as the "Open Meetings Law"),
shall be recorded, except those portions of meeting where the body
validly enters into executive session. The audio recording shall be
made available to the public and shall be digitally preserved for
a minimum of five years.
B.
Meetings
of all public bodies of the City of Albany, in accordance with Article
7, Section 106 of the New York State Public Officers Law, shall establish
procedures and protocol pertaining to the taking of meeting minutes
and the publishing thereof. Minutes must contain a record or summary
of all motions, proposals, resolutions and any other matter formally
voted upon and the vote by individual members of the public body thereon.
Meeting minutes for a meeting at which a public hearing or public
comment period is held shall include the name and jurisdiction within
which they reside of those individuals who have freely chosen to state
their name for the record and the nature of their testimony. Meeting
minutes of all public bodies of the City of Albany shall be posted
to the City of Albany’s website within two weeks of any public
meeting, except in the case of an executive session, in which instance
the minutes shall be made available to the public within one week
from the date of the executive session.
[Added 5-6-2019 by L.L.
No. 2-2019[1]]
A.
Public notice
of the time, place and the meeting agenda of a meeting scheduled shall
be given or electronically transmitted to the news media at least
one week prior thereto and shall be conspicuously posted in one or
more designated public locations at least seven days before such meeting.
B.
Public notice
of the time, place and the meeting agenda of every other meeting shall
be given or electronically transmitted, to the extent practicable,
to the news media and shall be conspicuously posted in one or more
designated public locations at a reasonable time thereto.
[Added 2-19-2015 by L.L.
No. 2-2015]
A.
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010, states that Americans
consume too much sodium, added sugars, refined grains, and solid fats
and not enough fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Studies show
a strong relationship between the physical and social environments
of the workplace and the health behaviors of employees, and nearly
half of many people's waking hours are spent at work, and many of
those hours are spent in meetings and conferences. The foods and beverages
available at meetings and conferences are often high in fat, added
sugars, and sodium and contain few fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.
In addition, meetings and conferences generally involve a lot of time
sitting and provide little opportunity for physical activity. The
City of Albany has the ability to model healthy eating and help to
change social norms around meeting practices, and it is consistent
with the goals of the City to support people's ability to eat well
while at work events.
B.
All activities and special events sponsored by or supported by the
City of Albany will include healthy food and beverage options when
food is served and will encourage physical activity, greener options,
and support of local products. The Mayor's Office will develop and
adopt a Healthy Meetings and Special Events Policy, which will include
healthy meeting guidelines.
C.
All City of Albany meetings, conferences, and events will adhere
to healthy meeting guidelines, including departmental meetings, and
the City of Albany hereby adheres to the National Alliance for Nutrition
and Activity Healthy Meeting Pledge. The City of Albany strongly encourages
other City-related agencies to adopt healthy meeting guidelines.
[Added 6-6-2022 by L.L. No. 5-2022 (E-2022)]
A.
All public
bodies of the City of Albany are authorized to use videoconferencing
technology to conduct their meetings in accordance with the provisions
of § 103-a of the Public Officers Law, subject to the following
conditions:
(1)
A minimum
number of members of the public body sufficient to fulfill the public
body's quorum requirement must be present in the same physical location
where the public can attend.
(2)
All
members of the public body shall be physically present at any meeting
of the public body unless a member is unable to be physically present
due to extraordinary circumstances, including, but not limited to:
disability; illness; quarantine order; the death of an immediate family
member where such term is defined to include a spouse, parent, sibling,
child, domestic partner, or individual for whom the member is the
designated guardian; caregiving responsibilities for an immediate
family member; or any other significant or unexpected factor that
may preclude physical attendance.
(3)
A member
who wishes to participate in a meeting by videoconference must provide
advance notice and justification for their absence to the extent possible
to the appointed leadership of the public body. For purposes of the
Common Council, such notice shall be provide to the President Pro
Tempore or, in the President Pro Tempore's absence, to the President
of the Common Council.
(4)
The
leadership of a public body may require any member requesting to participate
in a meeting by teleconference to provide documentation, to the extent
possible, supporting such request and may publicly confirm that such
documentation was received without publicly stating the contents of
such documentation.
(5)
Except
in the case of executive sessions, the public body shall ensure that
members who are participating remotely can be heard, seen, and identified
at all times when the meeting is being conducted.
(6)
The
minutes of meetings involving videoconferencing shall state which
members, if any, participated by videoconference, and shall be available
to the public.
(7)
If videoconferencing
is being used to conduct a meeting, the public notice for the meeting
shall inform the public that videoconferencing will be used, where
the public can view and/or participate in such meeting, where required
documents and records will be posted or available, and identify the
physical location for the meeting where the public can attend.
(8)
If videoconferencing
is used to conduct a meeting, the public body shall provide the opportunity
for members of the public to view such meeting via video, and to participate
in proceedings via videoconference in real time where public comment
or participation is authorized and shall ensure that videoconferencing
authorizes the same public participation as in-person participation.
(10)
Nothing
herein shall prohibit a City of Albany public body from holding meetings
entirely by videoconference, with no in-person requirement, during
a state of emergency declared by the Governor of New York pursuant
to Executive Law § 28 or by the Albany County Executive
or Mayor of Albany pursuant to Executive Law § 24 if such
public body determines that the circumstances necessitating the emergency
declaration would affect or impair the ability of the public body
to hold an in-person meeting.
B.
These written
procedures governing member attendance by videoconference at meetings
of public bodies, together with any supplemental, but not contrary,
written procedures that public bodies may adopt on the subject of
videoconferencing, shall be conspicuously posted on the City of Albany's
website.
