NYCL AGO 95-F6.

• Case Date: August 14, 1995
• Court: New York

New York Attorney General Opinions 1995. AGO 95-F6. August 14, 1995Formal Opinion No. 95-F6James F. Gill, Esq. NYS Thoroughbred Breeding and Development Fund Corporation 1290 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10104AGRICULTURE AND MARKETS LAW § 17(a) and (c); RACING, PARI-MUTUEL WAGERING AND BREEDING LAW § 245.1.The Commissioner of Agriculture and Markets is authorized by statute to delegate his responsibilities on the board of directors of the New York State Thoroughbred Breeding and Development Fund Corporation to a deputy commissioner.Dear Mr. Gill: On behalf of the board of directors of the New York State Thoroughbred Breeding and Development Fund Corporation (Fund), you have requested an interpretation of section 17(a) and (c) of the Agriculture and Markets Law. Specifically, you ask whether those provisions authorize the Commissioner of Agriculture and Markets, who sits on the board of directors of the Fund by virtue of his office, to empower his deputy commissioner to act in his place on Fund matters. Events preceding this opinion request are relevant. At our suggestion, an initial inquiry was made with the State Committee on Open Government (Committee). Through letter dated March 9, 1995, Counsel to Douglas Koch, DVM, a member of the board of directors of the Fund, inquired of the Committee whether the Commissioner of Agriculture and Markets may authorize a proxy to participate in meetings of the Fund and to determine whether the fund is subject to the Open Meetings Law. The Committee responded (April 11, 1995 letter to counsel to Douglas Koch, DVM), first indicating that the Fund's board of directors is a "public body" under section 102(2) of the Open Meetings Law in that it consists of more than two members conducting public business and performs a governmental function for a public corporation. Second, while finding that there are no provisions in the Open Meetings Law or in the Fund's enabling legislation referring to the capacity of a board member to utilize a delegate or proxy, the Committee concluded that under the provisions of the Open Meetings Law a member of a public body can only cast a vote if the member is physically present at the meeting of the body. The Committee concluded its opinion, stating that absent specific statutory authority members of a board of directors, ex officio or otherwise...