A body corporate and politic is hereby created
pursuant to and in conformity with N.J.S.A. 40:11A-4 et seq. to be
known as the "Parking Authority of the City of Passaic."
[Amended 2-8-2011 by Ord. No. 1860-11]
A. The Parking
Authority shall consist of seven persons as Commissioners of the Authority.
Five Commissioners shall be appointed by the governing body. The terms
of the first five Commissioners shall be staggered for one- , two-
, three- , four- and five-year terms, respectively, from the date
of their appointment. Thereafter, these Commissioners shall be appointed
for five-year terms, except that all vacancies shall be filled for
the unexpired term. The two additional Commissioners shall be appointed
by the Mayor for terms of five years, except that all vacancies shall
be filled for the unexpired term.
B. Any Parking
Authority Commissioner who shall, during a calendar year, be absent
for three consecutive regularly scheduled meetings of the Authority
to which he or she has been appointed shall be subject to removal
by the Mayor and/or City Council in accordance with the provisions
of this section. The Secretary to the Parking Authority of the City
of Passaic shall be required to report to the Mayor and Council three
consecutive absences in the calendar year by any Commissioner of the
Authority, and when requested to do by the Mayor and/or Council, the
Commissioner of the Authority who missed three consecutive regularly
scheduled meetings during the calendar year shall submit a written
explanation for each of his or her absences. Any Commissioner may
also be removed by the Mayor and/or Council for cause in accordance
with the provisions of this section.
C. In the event
that the Mayor and/or Council determines preliminarily that there
have been three consecutive absences from regularly scheduled meetings
by any appointed Commissioner, and that the absences are without "reasonable
justification" as defined herein, or that good cause otherwise exists
for the removal of such Commissioner, the Mayor and/or Council shall
have the right to introduce a resolution for the consideration of
the City Council to institute removal proceedings. No Commissioner
shall be removed based on his or her absence at a regularly scheduled
meeting where there was a reasonable justification for the absence.
"Reasonable justification" for absence shall mean illness of the Commissioner
or immediate family member of the Commissioner and/or exigent business
or personal responsibilities which render it impracticable for the
Commissioner to be in attendance. Where the Mayor and/or Council has
instituted such removal proceedings, the proceedings shall be as follows:
(1) A written
notice of intention to remove shall be mailed to the Commissioner
at his or her home address. The notice shall advise the Commissioner
as to a right to a hearing before the City Council; as to the right
to be represented by counsel; and as to the right to cross-examine
witnesses and present witnesses on his or her behalf. The notice shall
set forth a date for a proposed hearing and shall notify the Commissioner
that if he or she wishes to contest the removal, a written notice
of intention to contest must be submitted to the City Clerk at least
10 days prior to the scheduled hearing. The notice to the Commissioner
shall list the dates of the regularly scheduled meetings from which
the Commissioner is alleged to have been absent or shall otherwise
set forth the factual basis for such removal.
(2) The
hearing shall be conducted by the City Council in Council chambers.
The Commissioner shall have a right to participate in the proceedings,
either personally or by counsel, and shall have a right to examine
witnesses and present evidence. Upon conclusion of all the evidence,
the City Council shall make findings of fact and conclusions as to
whether the Commissioner shall be removed.
(3) The
Secretary for the Parking Authority of the City of Passaic shall forward
the minutes of all Parking Authority meetings to the City Council
once approved by the Parking Authority of the City of Passaic.
No Commissioner of this Authority shall be an
employee or officer of the City, except that the City may appoint
it's Traffic Engineer or Chief of Police to the Authority. Each Commissioner
shall hold office until the successor has been appointed and qualified.
The certificate of appointment or reappointment of any Commissioner
shall be filed with the City Clerk.
A majority shall constitute the quorum of the
Authority for the purpose of conducting its business, exercising its
power and for all other purposes. Action may be taken by the Authority
upon a vote of the majority of the Commissioners present, unless in
any case the bylaws of the Authority shall require a larger majority.
The Authority shall select the Chairperson and Vice Chairperson from
among the Commissioners.
The Commissioners of the Parking Authority shall
exercise all of the powers and authority granted and subject to all
the provisions of Chapter 11A of Title 40 of the Revised Statutes
of New Jersey and such other statutes now or hereafter enacted applicable
to parking authorities. The Parking Authority shall not have the power
to acquire property by eminent domain without the consent of the governing
body of the City of Passaic.