[Added 11-9-1999]
The legislative branch shall consist of the
members of the Township Council. All legislative power of the Township
shall be exercised by the Township Council except as where provided
otherwise by law.
[Amended 7-19-2006]
The Council shall:
A.
Have such powers as provided by the Charter and general
law.
B.
Have power to give advice and consent to the Mayor
as to appointments to offices as provided by the Charter and general
law. The Council shall have the power by a 2/3 majority to veto all
appointments, promotions, demotions and disciplinary actions approved
by the Mayor or approved by department directors serving under the
Mayor's direction.
C.
The Council shall have under their direction and shall
have the power to create, abolish and make appointments to, as the
Charter and general law permits, the following offices, agencies,
boards, councils and commissions:
[Amended 7-2-2008 by Ord. No. O-08-019[1]]
(1)
Tax Assessor's office.
(2)
Health, Vital Statistics and Board of Health.
(3)
The Zoning Board of Adjustment.
(4)
The Senior Citizen Advisory Council.
(5)
The Community Recreation Advisory Council.
(6)
The Swimming Pool Commission.
(7)
Any ad hoc committees as deemed appropriate and necessary
by the majority of the Council.
(8)
Hillside Alliance Against Substance Abuse.
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance was vetoed by
the Mayor 7-11-2008; the veto was overridden by the Township Council
7-21-2008 by Res. No. R-08-216.
D.
The council shall act and perform all duties of the
Alcoholic Beverage Control Board in accordance with N.J.S.A. 33:1-1
et seq.
A.
The Council shall organize on July 1 pursuant to statute
and thereupon select from its members a presiding officer, who shall
be known as "President of the Council" and who shall serve for a period
of one year beginning July 1. He shall conduct all meetings in accordance
with this article and the rules adopted thereunder and maintain order
at such meetings. He shall be entitled to vote on all questions, being
called last in any roll call. The President of the Council shall sign
all ordinances and resolutions adopted by the Council during his presence.
In the event of the absence of the President of the Council, such
ordinances and resolutions shall be signed by the presiding officer.
B.
The President of the Council or such other member
of the Council as may be presiding may move, second and debate from
the chair, subject only to such limitations of debate as are imposed
by these rules upon all members, and shall not be deprived of any
of the rights and privileges of a Councilman by reason of his being
the presiding Chairman. A majority vote of the members of the Council
present shall govern and conclusively determine all questions of order
not otherwise covered by this article.
C.
In the event of the temporary absence or the temporary
disability of the President of the Council, the Vice President of
the Council shall preside over the Council, and, during such absence
or disability of the President, the Vice President shall have the
duties and powers of the President of the Council. In the event that
the absence or disability of the President of the Council continues
or exceeds six months, the Council shall declare the office of the
President of the Council vacant, and the Vice President shall serve
as President of the Council for the unexpired term of the President.
D.
All special committees and the Chairmen thereof shall
be appointed by the presiding officer from time to time as the Council,
by a majority vote, shall require at a regular or special meeting.
All special committees shall be made up of Council members exclusively
and shall consist of no more than three members of the Council, including
the presiding officer, who shall be a member ex officio of all special
committees; provided, however, that the presiding officer may appoint
a special committee consisting of all the members of the Council.
A quorum of each special committee appointed shall consist of a majority
of the members thereof. Meetings of special committees shall be held
at such times as do not conflict with regular meetings of the Council.
E.
The only standing committee shall be the Committee
of the Whole, and the rules of proceedings of the Council shall also
be observed in the Committee of the Whole as far as applicable. The
Committee of the Whole shall make its report, in writing, which shall
be filed with the Township Clerk, returning at the same time all petitions,
resolutions or other papers submitted to it for consideration.
F.
No committee shall make public its report or determinations
prior to introduction of the report to the Council.
G.
On July 1 the Municipal Council shall appoint, by
resolution, for a term of one year, a Council member as a representative
of the Township of Hillside to the Joint Meeting of Essex and Union
Counties.
H.
The Municipal Council shall elect from its members
a Vice President of the Township Council who shall act as President
pro tempore during the absence or disability of the President as herein
provided. The Vice President of the Township Council shall be appointed
at the Council's reorganization meeting and shall serve for a term
of one year effective from the date of said meeting.
The Legislative Research Officer or such member
of his office as he may designate shall be available to the Council
at all regular and special meetings. He or his designee shall draw
ordinances for any member of the Council when and as requested. All
ordinances, resolutions, contract documents and all other legal documents
shall be reviewed by the Legislative Research Officer as to legality
and form on behalf of the Council.
The Township Clerk, as Clerk of the Council,
or his designee in his absence, shall act as parliamentarian and shall
advise and assist the presiding officer in matters of parliamentary
law.
A.
The Council shall hold regular meetings on the first
and third Tuesdays of each month at 8:00 p.m., except that only one
regular meeting shall be held during each of the months of July and
August at 8:00 p.m. on a date to be fixed by the Council; provided,
however, that when the day fixed for any regular meeting of the Council
falls upon a day designated by law as a legal, national or religious
holiday or upon a day when three or more members of the Council are
attending a municipal, county, state or national conference, convention
or meeting, such regular meeting of the Council shall be held at the
same hour on either the business day prior to or the next business
day following such event, not a holiday, provided that the Clerk be
advised at least one month prior to the Council members' expected
absence. All regular meetings of the Council shall be held in the
Council chamber or such other place as the Council may designate.
B.
Upon motion or resolution duty adopted not less than
five calendar days before a scheduled meeting, the governing body
may reschedule any meeting.
C.
Attendance at Municipal Council meetings. Every department
head shall attend regular Municipal Council meetings at a time designated
by the Council upon notification to the Mayor. In the event that the
department head is unable to attend these meetings, he shall designate
someone from his department to attend in his absence, provided that
the representative must have knowledge of the workings of the department
he or she represents and have decision-making rank or authority within
that department. Each person addressing the Council members and/or
department heads or their designee during these meetings shall step
up to the microphone provided for this purpose, shall give his or
her name and address in an audible tone of voice for the record and,
unless further time is granted by the presiding officer, shall limit
his address to three minutes. All remarks shall be addressed to the
presiding officer. No person, other than Council members, department
heads and the person having the floor, shall be permitted to enter
into any discussion, either directly or through a Council member or
department head of his or her designee, without the permission of
the presiding officer. Council members and department heads shall
be limited in their responses to three minutes in aggregate per response.
A.
The President of the Council may, and upon written
request of a majority of the members of the Council shall, call a
special meeting of the Council. The request and call for a special
meeting shall specify the purpose of the meeting, and no business
shall be transacted at any special meeting other than that so specified.
The call for a special meeting shall be filed with the Township Clerk,
who shall serve notice upon each Councilman as hereinafter provided
at least 48 hours prior to the time for which the meeting is called,
provided that the Mayor or President of the Council may determine
that a emergency exists affecting the health or safety of the people
which requires consideration by the Council within a shorter time,
and upon such determination, which the President of the Council shall
set forth in the call, the call may be filed with the Township Clerk
at any time not less than three hours prior to the time set for the
meeting.
B.
Upon the filing of any call for a special meeting,
the Township Clerk shall forthwith give notice thereof by telephone
or telegraph to each Councilman, at such place as he shall have previously
designated for the purpose, and shall also serve or cause to be served
a written copy of the call upon each Councilman by delivery of a copy
to him personally or be the leaving of a copy at his usual place of
abode. The Police Department shall cooperate with the Township Clerk
in effectuating such service of notice.
C.
Upon written waiver of notice executed by all members
of the Council, a special meeting may be held without prior notice
notwithstanding the above provisions of this section.
A.
The Council shall hold caucus or working session meetings
at 7:00 p.m. on the business day preceding the regular meetings of
each month, except that only one premeeting conference shall be held
each month at 7:00 p.m. in the months of July and August on the day
preceding the day on which a regular meeting has been fixed; provided,
however, that when the day fixed for any premeeting conference of
the Council falls upon a day designated by law as a legal, national
or religious holiday or upon a day when three or more members of the
Council are attending a municipal, county, state or national conference,
convention or meeting, such premeeting conference shall be held on
a day to be scheduled by the Clerk of the Council, provided that the
Clerk be advised at least one month prior to the Council members'
expected absence. All premeeting conferences of the Council shall
be held in the Council conference room or such other place as the
Council may designate. A majority of the Council may request the Mayor
and/or any department head or officer of the Township to attend any
premeeting conference, and the department head or officer, when requested
to do so, shall attend the conference.
B.
Upon motion or resolution duly adopted not less than
five calendar days before the scheduled meeting, the governing body
may reschedule any meeting.
C.
The Mayor of the Township of Hillside, upon written
notice from the Township Council, shall be required to attend one
caucus or working session meeting per month. Upon receiving written
notice, the Mayor shall respond and advise the Council of what date
he/she will be in attendance at the Council' caucus or working session
meeting.
The rules of procedure set forth in this article
shall govern the conduct of the meetings of the Township Council.
A.
Robert's Rules of Procedure. Except as may be provided
in the Charter, questions of order, the methods of organization and
the conduct of business of the Township Council shall be governed
by Robert's Rules of Procedure in all cases to which they are applicable
and in which they are not inconsistent with the rules of the Council.
A.
The agenda of Township Council. All reports, communications,
ordinances, resolutions, claims, license reports, contract documents
or other matters to be submitted to the Council by its members or
by the administration shall, at least 32 business hours prior to each
Council meeting, be delivered to the Township Clerk, whereupon the
Township Clerk shall immediately prepare a calendar of such matters,
together with such additional matters that he may have to present,
in conformity with the prescribed order of business as provided by
this article, and shall furnish a copy thereof to each member of the
Council. He shall furnish the Mayor, the Business Administrator, the
Legislative Research Officer, directors of the departments and all
other officers with a copy of the same prior to the Council meeting
and as far in advance of the meeting as time for preparation will
permit. None of the foregoing matters shall be presented to the Council
by the administrative heads of the several departments of the Township
government except those of an urgent nature, and the same when so
presented shall have the written approval of the Mayor before presentation
to the Council; provided, however, that the Council may bring before
it any matters that it determines necessary.
B.
Legal bills.
(1)
Any legal bills submitted for Council approval for
payment shall be accompanied by the following:
(a)
A copy of the contract for legal services previously
approved by the administration and Municipal Council.
(b)
A resolution indicating the name of the case
or cases that such bills or invoices apply to and acknowledgment that
the Law Department for the Township of Hillside has reviewed the invoice
for the scope of services performed and acknowledges that such has
been performed.
(c)
Attached to the resolution an itemized invoice
from the attorney or law firm requesting to have the bill approved
for payment by the Township Council.
(2)
This does not apply to matters settled, adjusted or
disposed of by counsel representing the Township's insurance carrier.
(3)
The above shall be submitted at least 32 business
hours prior to each Council meeting.
A.
Procedure.
(1)
All proposed ordinances shall be submitted to the
Township Clerk as provided in the Code, at which time the Township
Clerk shall place said ordinance or ordinances on the agenda of the
next Council conference meeting under the category of "pending business"
for discussion. After this procedure has been accomplished, the Township
Clerk shall then place said ordinance or ordinances on the agenda
of the next following Council conference meeting under the category
of "ordinances on first reading" for consideration and introduction
as provided in the Code.
(2)
Unless tabled, postponed or amended, the ordinance
shall then be placed on the Council's agenda for final consideration
and vote on second and final reading as provided in the statutes and
the Township of Hillside Code.
B.
The foregoing procedures may be waived and early consideration
and adoption procedures adopted if approved by a majority of the members
of the Council present at the meeting or if permitted by statute as
an emergency matter or otherwise.
The President of the Council shall take the
chair at the hour appointed for the meeting and shall immediately
call the Council to order. In the absence of the President of the
Council, the Clerk of the Council or his designee shall call the Council
to order. The Clerk of the Council shall then determine whether a
quorum is present and, in that event, shall call for the election
of a temporary President. Upon the arrival of the President of the
Council, the temporary President shall forthwith relinquish the chair
upon the conclusion of the business immediately before the Council.
Before proceeding with the business of the council,
the Clerk of the Council or his designee shall call the roll of the
members in alphabetical order, and the names of those present shall
be entered in the minutes.
A.
A majority of the whole number of members of the Council
shall constitute a quorum. No ordinance, resolution or motion shall
be adopted by the Council without the affirmative vote of the majority
of all the members of the Council.
B.
Should no quorum attend within 30 minutes after the
hour appointed for the meeting of the Council, the President of the
Council, or in his absence the Clerk of the Council, or his designee,
may thereupon adjourn the meeting until the next day unless, by unanimous
agreement, those members present select another hour or day. The names
of the members present and their action at such meeting shall be recorded
in the minutes by the Clerk.
All regular and special meetings of the Council
shall be open to the public. Promptly at the hour set for each meeting,
the members of the Council and the Clerk thereof shall take their
regular stations, in the Council chamber, and the business of the
Council shall be taken up for consideration and disposition in the
following order:
A.
Pledge of allegiance to the flag.
B.
Moment of silence.
C.
Roll call.
D.
Reading of the statement of proper notice.
E.
Reports and recommendations of Township officers,
boards and commissions.
F.
Reports of committees.
G.
Ordinances, bills and claims.
H.
Resolutions and motions.
I.
Communications and petitions.
J.
Pending business on the calendar.
K.
New business on the calendar.
L.
Miscellaneous.
M.
Hearing of citizens.
N.
Hearing of Council members.
O.
Adjournment.
Unless a reading of the minutes of a prior Council
meeting is requested by a majority of the members of the Council,
such minutes, when signed by the President of the Council and the
Clerk of the Council, shall be considered approved without reading,
provided that the Clerk of the Council, at least two full working
days preceding the meeting, shall deliver a copy thereof to each member
of the Council.
A.
Question under consideration. When a question is presented
and seconded, it is under consideration, and no motion shall be received
thereafter, except to adjourn, to lay on the table, to postpone or
to amend, until the question is decided. These motions shall have
preference in the order in which they are mentioned, and the first
two shall be decided without debate.
B.
President of presiding officer may debate, etc. The
President of the Council or such other member of the Council as may
be presiding may move, second and debate from the chair, subject only
to such limitations of debate as are by these rules imposed upon all
members, and shall not be deprived of any of the rights and privileges
of a Councilman by reason of his being the presiding Chairman.
C.
Scope and duration of debate. Every member desiring
to speak for any purpose whatsoever shall address the presiding officer
and, upon recognition, shall confine himself to the question under
consideration and avoid all personalities and indecorous language
(in which event a member may be silenced). When said debate occurs
at the regular or special open business meetings (not a caucus or
working session meeting), a member's remarks shall be limited to five
minutes unless further time is granted by the Council. A member may
only speak once on the subject but may speak to clear up a matter
of fact or explain a material part of his speech. A member introducing
a motion, ordinance or resolution may once again speak on the subject
as the last speaker closing the debate.
D.
Interruptions. A member, once recognized, shall not
be interrupted when speaking unless it is to call him to order or
as herein otherwise provided. If a member, while speaking, is called
to order, he shall cease speaking until the question of order is determined
by the presiding officer and, if in order, he shall be permitted to
proceed. Any member may appeal to the Council from the decision of
the presiding officer upon a question of order when, without debate,
the presiding officer upon a question of order when, without debate,
the presiding officer shall submit to the Council the question "Shall
the decision of the chair be sustained"?, and the Council shall decide
by a majority vote.
E.
Privilege of closing debate. The Councilman moving
the adoption of an ordinance or resolution shall have the privilege
of closing the debate, although he may have already spoken thereon
at its moving.
F.
Roll call. Upon any roll call there shall be no discussion
or explanation given by any member voting, and he shall vote "yes"
or "no" unless he shall first receive special permission from the
Council to explain his vote. A member of the Council may abstain from
voting on any matter.
The vote upon every motion, resolution or ordinance
shall be taken by roll call in alphabetical order, except that the
President of the Council shall be the last member called, and the
vote by "yes" or "no" shall be entered upon the minutes. Resolutions
and ordinances shall be signed by the presiding officer at such meetings
and by the Clerk of the Council before they are entered upon the minutes.
A.
Subject to the applicable provisions of the Code,
any person may petition the presiding officer for leave to address
the Council, which permission shall be granted only after a showing
to the satisfaction of the presiding officer that the subject matter
of the address deserves the time and attention of the Council, by
oral communication, on any matter over which the Council has control;
provided, however, that notice is given to the Clerk of the Council
32 business hours in advance of the Council meeting in order that
the same may appear on the calendar of the Council.
B.
Any person may orally petition the Council, at any
Council meeting, for leave to orally address the Council at that meeting,
which leave shall be granted only after showing to the satisfaction
of a majority of the members of the Council present that the subject
matter of the address deserves the time and attention of the Council.
A.
Each person addressing the Council shall step up to
the microphone provided for this purpose, shall give their name and
address in an audible tone of voice for the record and, unless further
time is granted by the Council, shall limit their address to three
minutes, for a total not to exceed 15 minutes. For the purposes of
this section, no time balance from any one citizen or any one Council
member may be relinquished to another citizen or Council member without
the affirmative majority vote of the full membership of the Council.
All remarks shall be addressed to the Council President. The Council
President may defer citizen comments to other members of the Municipal
Council. All remarks for the purposes of this section must pertain
directly to matters which appear on the Council's agenda for that
particular meeting. Dialogue between the person addressing the Council
and the President of the Council shall be allowed unless the presiding
officer or the majority of the full membership of the Council, by
affirmative roll call vote, shall determine that the interests of
decorum and/or the expeditious conduct of municipal business are being
adversely affected by said dialogue.
B.
Citizens seeking to address the Council about community
concerns may do so at the end of the meeting sessions. Citizen's remarks
are also limited to three minutes. All other procedures for addressing
the Council as previously stated will apply during this period.
A.
Council members. While the Council is in session,
the members thereof shall preserve order and decorum, and a member
shall neither, by conversation or otherwise, except as otherwise provided
by this article, delay or interrupt the proceedings or the peace of
the Council nor disturb any member while speaking or refuse to obey
the orders of the Council or its presiding officer.
B.
Other persons. Any person making impertinent or slanderous
remarks or who shall become boisterous, immoderate or disorderly shall
forthwith be barred from the Council chamber by the presiding officer,
unless permission to remain or address the Council is granted by the
majority vote of the Council.
The Chief of Police or such member of the Police
Department as he may designate shall be the Sergeant-at-Arms of the
Council meetings. He shall carry out all orders and instructions given
by the presiding officer for the purpose of maintaining order and
decorum at the Council meetings.
No person, except Township officers or their
representatives, shall be permitted upon the dais of the council or
be permitted to disturb any Councilman while on the dais, during any
meeting, without the express permission of the Council.
A.
Preparation of ordinances. The Legislative Research
Officer, the Township Attorney or their designee, when requested,
shall prepare ordinances, which shall be delivered to the Township
Clerk in conformity with the Code. A copy of the same shall be forthwith
furnished to each member of the Council by the Township Clerk.
B.
Prior examination by Mayor, administrative heads of
departments, etc. All ordinances, resolutions and contract documents,
before presentation to the Council by the Mayor or the Business Administrator,
shall have been reduced to writing and shall have been approved as
to form and legality by the Legislative Research Officer or his designee.
Prior to presentation, all such documents shall have first been referred
to the head of the department under whose jurisdiction the administration
of the subject matter of the ordinance, resolution or contract document
would devolve. When examined, the Mayor or Business Administrator
or his designee shall affix his signature on the document certifying
to the factual contents.
C.
Introducing for passage or approval. Ordinances, resolutions
and other matters and subjects requiring action by the Council shall
be introduced and sponsored by a member of the Council except that
the Mayor may present ordinances, resolutions and other matters or
subjects to the Council, and any Councilman may assume sponsorship
thereof by moving that such ordinance, resolution, matter or subject
be adopted in accordance with law; otherwise, they shall not be considered.
When a Councilman assumes sponsorship of an ordinance or resolution,
he shall countersign the same in the space provided thereon.
D.
When ordinances effective. All ordinances shall take
effect 20 days after final passage and approval by the Mayor. Two-thirds
of the Council may, however, declare an emergency, by written resolution,
to reduce this twenty-day period, except that the period for bond
ordinances shall not be reduced.
E.
Adoption of ordinances.
F.
Passage of ordinance over veto. The Council will reconsider
any ordinance returned by the Mayor within the time permitted by the
Charter, together with a statement setting forth his objections thereto
or to any item or part thereof. Such reconsideration of the ordinance
or any item or part thereof from which the Mayor is constrained to
withhold his approval shall be at the next meeting of Council which
occurs not less than three days following the return of the ordinance
by the Mayor. Whenever an ordinance has been reconsidered by the Council
following a veto by the Mayor, the Township Clerk shall append to
such ordinance a certification of the action of the Council upon such
reconsideration in substantially the following form:
|
"I hereby certify that the above ordinance adopted
by the Council of the Township of Hillside on the _____ day of ___________,
19___, was delivered to me on the _____ day of ___________, 19___,
together with the Mayor's statement of the reasons for which he was
constrained to withhold his approval of such ordinance, item or part
thereof. On reconsideration thereof, on the _____ day of ___________,
19___, (the Council duly resolved by the affirmative vote of two-thirds
of its members to enact such ordinance, item or part thereof notwithstanding
the Mayor's veto) or (the Mayor's veto was sustained).
| |
|
Dated:
| |
|
Township Clerk"
|
G.
Ordinances not returned by Mayor. Whenever an ordinance
shall take effect without the Mayor's signature by reason of his failure
to return it to the Council by filing it with the Township Clerk within
10 days after it has been presented to him, the Township Clerk shall
append to such ordinance as engrossed a certificate in substantially
the following form:
|
"I hereby certify that the above ordinance was
adopted by the Township Council on the _____ day of ___________, 19___,
and was presented to the Mayor duly certified on the _____ day of
___________, 19___, and upon his failure to sign it or to return and
file it with the Township Clerk within ten days thereafter, the said
ordinance took effect in like manner as if the Mayor had signed it.
| |
|
Dated:
| |
|
Township Clerk"
|
H.
Emergency resolutions. Resolutions creating emergency
appropriations shall require five affirmative votes for adoption.
[1]
Editor's Note: Former § 4-3.25, Nominations by Mayor,
was repealed 10-6-2009 by Ord. No. O-09-026.
The members of the Municipal Council shall not
submit names to the Township Clerk to be placed on the agenda for
consideration for reappointment or replacement of one or more members
of any board, committee, commission or authority more than one month
prior to the expiration of the citizen member's term of office.
All reports and resolutions shall be filed with
the Township Clerk and entered in the minutes.
A motion to adjourn shall always be in order
and decided without debate.
All ordinances and resolutions adopted before
the effective date of this article not inconsistent herewith shall
remain in full force and effect until repealed or amended in accordance
with this article; provided, however, that any ordinance or resolution
adopted before the effective date of this section which is found to
be inconsistent with the Charter, this article or law shall be considered
repealed or amended to comply with the Charter, this article or existing
law to the extent of any such inconsistency.
[Added 4-8-2008]
A.
Appointing authority: the official or body that by
virtue of statute, ordinance or resolution is given the authority
to appoint a person to a particular appointed municipal position,
as defined herein.
B.
Appointed municipal position: any appointed position
open to citizens of the Township, which is created either by statute,
ordinance or resolution, to any Township authority, board, commission,
agency, committee or instrumentalities of the Township, including
multimember or subcommittees of same.
C.
Registry of appointed municipal positions. The Township
Clerk shall cause a register of appointed municipal positions to be
prepared and maintained. The register shall be made available for
viewing and copying at the Clerk's office and shall set forth at least
the following:
(1)
Title of each appointed municipal position.
(2)
Brief description of each position's powers and responsibilities.
(3)
Credentials or qualifications required to hold the
position.
(4)
Term length for each position.
(5)
Name of person holding position, expiration date of
term, number of current vacancies on the applicable board or commission.
(6)
Dates/times/frequencies of meetings, as provided by
the board or commission, that the position holder must attend.
(7)
Name of appointing authority for each board or commission
position.
D.
Vacancies. The Township Clerk shall maintain a current
list of vacancies for each appointed municipal position, which shall
be available without cost and shall be posted in the location within
the municipal building dedicated for public announcements.
E.
Filling vacancies. Unless essential for the proper
functioning and/or carrying on of Township business and affairs, or
that of the affected entity, a vacancy shall not be filled for a period
of 20 days from its posting, in order to allow interested persons
sufficient time to submit applications for such vacancies as provided
for herein.
F.
Applications. Any person interested in serving in
an appointed municipal position may file an application with the Township
Clerk at any time. A person may withdraw such application at any time.
The Township Clerk shall maintain an application form, as provided
by the pertinent board, commission or entity, to be completed by any
eligible person interested in serving in appointed municipal position.
Such application shall contain the following information:
G.
Maintaining applications. The Township Clerk shall
maintain all filed applications in his or her office segregated based
upon the position sought. All such applications shall be considered
void after six months.
H.
Filling appointed municipal positions. Prior to filling
any appointed municipal position, the appointing authority shall review
each application filed for that position. The appointing authority
shall conduct such review, investigation and/or interviews, as deemed
necessary, in its discretion. After a decision is reached to fill
a vacancy, notice of the appointments shall be posted on the Township
bulletin board and made available for review and copying in the office
of the Township Clerk.
I.
This section shall take effect on the 60th day after
final passage and shall be published as required by law.
[Added 9-8-2008 by Ord. No. O-08-025]
A.
Findings.
(1)
The people of the Township of Hillside find that good
government depends on knowledgeable citizens who have broad access
to government meetings and who have ready and inexpensive access to
a wide range of government information. Such access enables them to
participate fully in public affairs, to help determine governmental
priorities and to hold their public officials accountable. Inadequate
or delayed public access to meetings and information allows corruption
to flourish undetected and unpunished. Government secrecy allows backroom
deals to set public policy in the interest of the few rather than
the many.
(2)
It is therefore the policy of Hillside Township to
a) promptly make agendas, minutes, resolutions, ordinances, and certain
other records promptly available to the public on the Internet and
on cable television, b) have meaningful electronic versions of other
government records available at an affordable cost, c) make photocopies
and other records available at an affordable cost, d) open more meetings
of government officials to the public, e) increase the opportunities
for public participation at all government meetings and to make such
participation more meaningful, and f) otherwise endeavor to make the
Township of Hillside government a model of openness and transparency.
It is understood, accepted and intended by the people of the Township
of Hillside that this section will impose responsibilities upon the
Township's officials and employees greater than what is required by
the Open Public Meetings Act[1] and the Open Public Records Act.[2]
B.
Scope. This section shall apply to the Township Council
and to all authorities, boards, commissions, committees or other instrumentalities
created by or within the Township, any multimember committees or subcommittees
within them, and all duly constituted advisory boards and bodies.
Such shall be referred to as "bodies."
C.
Meetings. All meetings of bodies shall be open to
the public and subject to the adequate notice and other provisions
of the Open Public Meetings Act and this section, and the public may
be excluded from meetings only when permitted by N.J.S.A. 10:4-12(b).
All meetings of all bodies shall be conducted in accordance with the
most recent edition of Robert's Rules of Order, except when special
rules of procedure, which were previously adopted and filed with the
Clerk, hold otherwise.
D.
Notice. Advance public notice of all bodies' regular,
special or rescheduled meetings, but not emergency meetings called
in accordance with N.J.S.A. 10:4-9, shall be given at least three
business days prior to the meeting and shall include the time, date,
location and, to the extent known, the agenda of the meeting and shall
accurately state whether formal action may or may not be taken.
E.
Public participation. A general public comment session
shall be provided near the beginning of each public meeting of each
body. Each person wishing to speak shall be provided with 10 minutes,
and the length of the public comment session shall be one hour, provided
that there are sufficient speakers to fill this time. The length of
the public comment session may be extended beyond one hour in the
body's discretion. Separate public comment sessions shall be provided
prior to final action being taken on any matter, and each person wishing
to speak shall be provided with 10 minutes and shall limit his or
her comments to the matter at hand.
F.
Closed meetings. Any resolution authorizing any meeting
from which the public is excluded, in addition to the provisions of
N.J.S.A. 10:4-13, shall:
G.
Recording meetings.
(1)
The Clerk or his or her designee shall sound-record
all meetings of all bodies, including emergency meetings and meetings
to which the public is excluded, and shall retain the recordings for
a period of six years. Any member of the public may also make his
or her own audio or video recordings of any public meeting unless
the body holding the meeting can demonstrate that the recording is
unduly disruptive. Within 18 months after the effective date of this
section, the Clerk shall have established a system under which the
audio recordings of all meetings occurring after implementation of
the system shall be maintained as electronic files that can be listened
to using generally available computer hardware and software. All sound
recordings maintained by the Clerk shall be public records, except
that recordings of nonpublic meetings may be redacted to the same
extent as the minutes of those meetings.
(2)
The Township Clerk or his or her designee shall cablecast
"live" each caucus, regular and special meeting of the Township Council
via the municipal cable television channel.
H.
Minutes. Meeting minutes shall be comprehensive and
shall report the identity of every member of the public who spoke
and a synopsis of what was said. Minutes of public meetings shall
be publicly available in draft form, and marked as such, within five
business days after the meeting. Minutes of nonpublic meetings shall
be publicly available in draft form, and marked as such, within 10
business days after the meeting, except that text may be excised or
redacted from the minutes only to the extent necessary to prevent
the purposes of the nonpublic meeting from being undermined. Every
redaction shall be accompanied by a written, detailed explanation
sufficient to enable the public to assess the applicability of the
privilege or protection asserted. Minutes shall be approved at the
following meeting.
I.
Periodic review of nonpublic meeting minutes. Each
body shall, in April and October, review its nonpublic meeting minutes
and determine whether the passage of time or the occurrence of events
permits public disclosure of matter previously redacted or excised
from the body's nonpublic meeting minutes and sound recordings. The
results of each review shall be announced at a public meeting immediately
after the review takes place and shall be recorded in the minutes
of that meeting.
J.
Records to be made available on the Internet. The Township shall cause an Internet site to be created. The Internet site shall contain the material specified in this section and shall be laid out in a logical, intuitive manner. No password or user name shall be required and no other restriction imposed that would prevent a user from accessing the information on the site anonymously and at no cost. No record on the Internet site shall be removed prior to the time, if any, when the corresponding non-Internet version. All that record is permitted by law to be destroyed. Items in Subsection J(1) through (5) below shall be made available in Microsoft Word, HTML and text-searchable PDF versions. Listings and rosters shall be made available in HTML and Microsoft Excel versions. All other documents, unless otherwise indicated, shall be scans of the paper versions converted into PDF format. The following records, created or maintained by any body, shall be made available to the public on the Internet site as follows:
(1)
All official advertisements, as that term is defined
by N.J.S.A. 35:1-1 et seq., shall be made available on the Internet
site at the same time they are distributed to the newspapers designated
to receive such advertisements.
(2)
All meeting notices, as provided for in Subsection D above, shall be made available on the Internet site at least three business days prior to the meeting.
(3)
All proposed resolutions and proposed ordinances and
revisions thereto shall be made available on the Internet site in
draft form, and designated as such, within five business days after
they are approved as to form by the Township Attorney, but not less
than 24 hours before the public meeting at which they will be first
considered or discussed. Resolutions and ordinances passed or enacted
shall be designated as such and made available on the Internet site
within 48 hours after being passed or enacted, with their titles arranged
in chronological order with hyperlinks to each resolution or ordinance.
(4)
All meeting minutes shall be prepared and shall be made available on the Internet site within the time periods set forth in Subsection H above. If the minutes as approved are identical to the draft version, the draft designation on the Internet site shall be replaced with a designation indicating that the minutes are approved within three business days after approval. Otherwise, the draft version of the minutes shall remain, and the approved version, designated as such, shall be made available on the Internet within three business days after approval. Revised versions of nonpublic meeting minutes shall be made available on the Internet site within three business days after the decision to disclose previously redacted matter.
(5)
An up-to-date compilation of the Township's ordinances.
Hyperlinks shall also be provided to text-searchable PDF versions
of any nonproprietary documents that are adopted by reference in any
ordinance.
(6)
A list of nonpublic meetings for which minutes have
not yet been entirely disclosed to the public shall be made available
on the Internet site. Each such nonpublic meeting listed on the Internet
site shall be linked to the resolution required by the Open Public
Meetings Act[3] authorizing the executive or closed session.
[3]
Editor's Note: See N.J.S.A. 10:4-6 et seq.
(7)
All financial disclosure statements filed with the
Township pursuant to the Local Government Ethics Law, N.J.S.A. 40A:9-22.1
et seq.
(8)
A current roster of all local government officers
of the Township, as that term is defined by Local Government Ethics
Law, 40A:9-22.1 et seq. The roster shall list each officer's full
name, position, office telephone number and email address, term expiration
date, annual remuneration as reported to Internal Revenue Service
for the most recent calendar year and a recent photograph. Email addresses,
while visible to website visitors, shall be masked to attempt to defeat
automated processes used by spammers to harvest email addresses listed
on the Internet.
(9)
A current roster, updated at least monthly, of the
members of each body providing the full name of the member and term
expiration date.
(10)
A current roster of the names and addresses,
updated at least quarterly, of the officers and members of the Township's
municipal committees of political parties, as that term is defined
by Title 19 of the New Jersey Statutes.
(11)
A listing of each tort claim made against the
Township or any of its officers, employees or bodies. Each listing
shall be made available to the public on the Internet within three
business days after filing. Each listing shall include:
(a)
The name and address of the claimant;
(b)
The names and titles of any employees or officials
who are alleged to have caused the injury or loss;
(c)
The date and place of the event or transaction
giving rise to the claim;
(d)
The general description of the injury, damage
or loss, as specified by N.J.S.A. 59:8-4(d), or a summary if the description
contained in the claim exceeds 250 words.
(12)
Exports of all data files containing full, unencrypted
and password-unprotected data from the Township's financial/accounting
software program or suite of programs, as well as descriptions of
each field of data within each data table so that members of the public
experienced in relational databases can access, query and produce
reports on the exported data files with generally available database
software, such as Microsoft Access. The exported data files shall
suppress fields containing sensitive data, such as social security
numbers. However, a detailed description of the suppressed data shall
be provided for each suppressed field. Updated data files, including
activity through the end of the current month, shall be made available
on the Internet site monthly, in the same format, by no later than
the 10th day of the following month. Also available on the Internet
site shall be a listing of URL links to third-party websites whose
owners have notified the Clerk that their websites offer programming
that permits members of the public to search, query or generate financial
reports derived from the data files.
K.
Information to be available in electronic format.
The Administrator, Clerk, and other public officers shall arrange
the electronic (i.e., computerized) government records under his or
her control so that electronic copies of the records' data can be
promptly and inexpensively provided to the public on widely used media
and in meaningful formats that can be accessed through widely used
and publicly available computer hardware and software. For any electronic
records that contain data that may be lawfully disseminated to the
public as well as data that may be lawfully restricted from public
view, methods shall be developed to allow the public data to be easily
separated from the confidential data. Within 90 days after the effective
date of this section and annually thereafter, each person subject
to this section shall file a report with the Clerk setting forth an
inventory of the classes of records under his or her control and his
or her progress in complying with this section, and such reports will
be public records.
L.
Fee for photocopies and other records. The fee for
providing photocopies of records, including police reports and computer
printouts, shall be $0.05 per copy. The fee for audiotapes, videotapes
and CD-ROMs shall be $1, $2 and $1 apiece, respectively. Copies of
maps shall be available at $1 per square foot or part thereof. If
any record is requested to be sent through the mail, cost of postage
shall be added to the fee. If any record is requested to be faxed
to any recipient within the United States, a cost of $0.05 per page
shall be added to the fee. Any other records shall be made available
at the cost of production, not including time and overhead expenses.
All fees shall be prepaid before the record is issued. Nothing herein
is intended to prevent the Clerk from assessing a higher charge where:
(1)
The actual cost of production (i.e., the materials
and supplies used to make a copy of the record, not including the
cost of labor or other overhead expenses associated with making the
copy) exceeds the fees provided for by this subsection; or
(2)
A special service charge is authorized by the Open
Public Records Act, N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq.
M.
Enforcement. Any person who prevails in a civil action
to enforce any provision of this section, or whose complaint is instrumental
in obtaining relief, shall be entitled to costs and a reasonable attorneys,
fee, as determined by the Court, to be paid by the Township of Hillside.
N.
Effective date and scope. This section shall take
effect on the 365th day after enactment and shall be published as
required by law. Minutes, agendas, resolutions and enacted ordinances
created on or taking effect after January 1, 2000, but before the
effective date of this section shall be made available to the public
on the Internet within 180 days after the effective date.
[4]
Editor's Note: This ordinance was vetoed by
the Mayor 12-17-2008, which veto was overriden 12-29-2008 by Res.
No. 08-378.
O.
Construction. This section is remedial and shall be
liberally construed to effectuate its findings and purposes.
