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A Local Law to amend the New York city charter and the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to meetings of the veterans' advisory board.

Established in the New York City Charter is a Veterans Advisory Board (the “Board”), which is tasked with advising the director of the Mayor’s Office of Veterans Affairs (MOVA) on all matters concerning veterans, as well as to meet quarterly and report on its activities on or before December 31 of each year. Currently, the Board consists of nine members, all of whom must be veterans. Five of the members are appointed by the Mayor, and four are appointed by the Speaker of the City Council. Members serve for three year terms. The Mayor and the Speaker are required to considered service in conflicts when making their appointments. This bill would require the Board to meet a minimum of five times per year and to hold at least one meeting in each borough. The Board would be required to provide public notice of the meeting in compliance with New York State’s Public Officers Law. MOVA would be required to: 1) make all meetings of the Board open to the public; 2) post a notice on the office’s website of the date, time, and location of each meeting at least one week prior to the meeting; 3) maintain and update contact information for veterans organizations located within the city, and notify all of these organizations by regular or electronic mail of each Board meeting; and 4) record and broadcast all meetings on the internet.

  • Enacted

History

Mar 18, 2015
City Council
Recved from Mayor by Council
Mar 18, 2015
Mayor
Signed Into Law by Mayor
Mar 18, 2015
Mayor
Hearing Held by Mayor
Feb 26, 2015
City Council
Sent to Mayor by Council
Feb 26, 2015
City Council
Pass
Approved by Council

Affirmative

Absent

Feb 25, 2015
Committee on Veterans
Hearing Held by Committee
Feb 25, 2015
Committee on Veterans
Amendment Proposed by Comm
Feb 25, 2015
Committee on Veterans
Amended by Committee
Feb 25, 2015
Committee on Veterans
Pass
Approved by Committee

Affirmative

Absent

Feb 10, 2015
Committee on Veterans
Hearing Held by Committee
Feb 10, 2015
Committee on Veterans
Laid Over by Committee
Jan 7, 2015
City Council
Referred to Comm by Council
Jan 7, 2015
City Council
Introduced by Council
Int. No. 619-A
 
By Council Members Ulrich, Chin, Constantinides, Deutsch, Gentile, Johnson, Koo, Lancman, Maisel, Rose, Wills, Reynoso, Cohen, Eugene, Arroyo, Van Bramer, Dromm, Gibson, Greenfield, Kallos and Williams
 
 
A Local Law to amend the New York city charter and the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to meetings of the veterans' advisory board.
 
 
Be it enacted by the Council as follows:
 
      Section 1.  Subdivision d of section 14 of the New York city charter, as amended by local law number 10 for the year 2006, is amended to read as follows:
      d. [Veterans] Veterans' advisory board. There shall be a veterans' advisory board consisting of nine members, all of whom shall be veterans, five of whom shall be appointed by the mayor and four of whom shall be appointed by the speaker of the council of the city of New York.  Of these nine appointees, there shall be one representative from each of the five boroughs of the city of New York. The mayor and the speaker shall each consider service in conflicts involving members of the United States armed forces when making such appointments.  All members shall serve for a term of three (3) years and may be removed by the appointing official for cause. Members of the advisory board shall elect by majority vote one such member to serve as chairperson and one such member to serve as vice-chairperson, each to serve in that capacity for one-year terms.  In the event of a vacancy on the advisory board during the term of office of a member by reason of removal, death, resignation, or otherwise, a successor shall be chosen in the same manner as the original appointment. A member appointed to fill a vacancy shall serve for the balance of the unexpired term.  The advisory board shall (i) advise the director on all matters concerning veterans; (ii) [meet at least quarterly] hold at least one meeting open to the public in each borough on an annual basis, with notice of each public meeting provided in accordance with the public notice requirements of article 7 of the public officers law, and with each public meeting recorded and broadcast in accordance with subdivision d of section 1063 of the New York city charter; (iii) keep a record of its deliberations; (iv) determine its own rules of procedure; and (v) submit an annual report of its activities to the mayor and the council on or before December 31st of each year. Such annual report shall, if appropriate, include policy and legislative recommendations for the office of veterans' affairs and the council.
      §2.  Subchapter 3 of chapter one of title 3 of the administrative code of the city of New York is amended by adding a new section 3-133 to read as follows:
           § 3-133 Additional notice of public meetings of the veterans' advisory board. The office of veterans' affairs shall ensure that notice of any public meeting of the veterans' advisory board held pursuant to subdivision d of section 14 of the New York city charter is posted on such office's website with the date, time and location of each public meeting, and that such notice is posted not less than one week prior to each public meeting. The office of veterans' affairs shall also maintain and periodically update the contact information of veterans organizations located within the city and shall notify such organizations by regular or electronic mail of the date, time and location of each public meeting of the veterans' advisory board not less than one week prior to each public meeting.
      §3.      This local law shall take effect immediately.
 
 
 
 
 
ENB
2/18/15 6:48 PM
LS#3259