NYCL AGO 96-18.

• Case Date: June 17, 1996
• Court: New York

New York Attorney General Opinions 1996. AGO 96-18. June 17, 1996Informal Opinion No. 96-18Mariette Geldenhuys, Esq. City Attorney City of Ithaca 108 East Green Street Ithaca, NY 14850NY CONST, ART IX, § 2(c); GENERAL CITY LAW §§ 27, 81; MUNICIPAL HOME RULE LAW §§ 2(5), 10, 23(2)(f); STATUTE OF LOCAL GOVERNMENTS § 10(6); L 1993, CH 208, § 1; L 1993 CH 211, § 1.A local law curtailing the power of appointment of the mayor is subject to a mandatory referendum.Dear Ms. Geldenhuys: You have advised the mayor and city council that referenda were required to approve amendments to the city's code making appointments by the mayor of members of the planning board, board of zoning appeals and community police board subject to the consent of the city council. Based on this advice by the city attorney, the mayor has made appointments to the planning board without consent by the city council. You have asked for our opinion as to whether the advice given by your office is correct under State law. If referenda were required, you plan to take the necessary procedural steps to adopt properly the amendments. Under section 23(1) of the Municipal Home Rule Law, a local law subject to mandatory referendum becomes operative only if approved by a majority of the qualified electors voting on the proposition. A local law dated April 6, 1994 amended a section of the Ithaca Municipal Code relating to the creation, organization, appointment of members and powers of the city's planning board. Under the former provision, appointments to the planning board were made exclusively by the mayor. The local law amended this provision to make the mayor's power to appoint members of the planning board subject to the consent of the common council. A local law dated March 2, 1994 amended a section of the Ithaca Municipal Code relating to the creation, organization, appointment of members and powers of the city's board of zoning appeals. Under the former Code provision, appointments to the board of zoning appeals were to be made in accordance with the provisions of section 81 of the General City Law. At the time, section 81 provided that appointments to a city board of zoning appeals were to be made by the mayor or in a city having a city manager, in some cases by the manager. Therefore, under the former Code provision, Ithaca's mayor had exclusive power to...