Section 25. Election; term; vacancies.

   a.   The council members shall be elected at the general election in the year nineteen hundred seventy-seven and every fourth year thereafter and the term of office of each council member shall commence on the first day of January after the elections and shall continue for four years thereafter; provided, however, that the council member elected at the general election in the year two thousand and one and at the general election in every twentieth year thereafter shall serve for a term of two years commencing on the first day of January after such election; and provided further that an additional election of Council Members shall be held at the general election in the year two thousand three and at the general election every twentieth year thereafter and that the members elected at each such additional election shall serve for a term of two years beginning on the first day of January after such election.

   Notwithstanding any other provision of this charter or other law, a full term of two years, as established by this subsection, shall not constitute a full term under section 1138 of this charter, except that two consecutive full terms of two years shall constitute one full term under section 1138. A member of the council who resigns or is removed from office prior to the completion of a full term shall be deemed to have held that office for a full term for purposes of section 1138 of the charter.

   b.   Any vacancy which may occur among the council members shall be filled by popular election in the following manner.

      1.   Within three days of the occurrence of a vacancy in the council, the mayor shall proclaim the date for the election or elections required by this subdivision, provide notice of such proclamation to the city clerk and the board of elections and publish notice thereof in the City Record. After the proclamation of the date for an election to be held pursuant to paragraphs four or five of this subdivision, the city clerk shall publish notice thereof not less than twice in each week preceding the date of such election in newspapers distributed within the city, and the board of elections shall mail notice of such election to all registered voters within the district in which the election is to be held.

      2.   If a vacancy occurs during the first three years of a four-year term or the first year of a two-year term, a general election to fill the vacancy for the remainder of the unexpired term shall be held in the year in which the vacancy occurs, unless the vacancy occurs after the last day on which an occurring vacancy may be filled at the general election in that same year with party nominations of candidates for such election being made at a primary election, as provided in section 6-116 of the election law. If such a vacancy occurs in any year after such last day, it shall be filled for the remainder of the unexpired term at the general election in the following year provided, however, that no general election to fill a vacancy shall be held in the last year of the term, except as provided in paragraph nine of this subdivision. Party nominations of candidates for a general election to fill a vacancy for the remainder of the unexpired term shall be made at a primary election, except as provided in paragraph five of this subdivision.

      3.   If a special or general election to fill the vacancy on an interim basis has not been previously held pursuant to paragraphs four, six, seven and eight of this subdivision, the person elected to fill the vacancy for the remainder of the unexpired term at a general election shall take office immediately upon qualification and shall serve until the term expires. If a special or general election to fill the vacancy on an interim basis has been previously held, the person elected to fill the vacancy for the remainder of the unexpired term at a general election shall take office on January first of the year following such general election and shall serve until the term expires.

      4.   If a vacancy occurs during the first three years of a four-year term or in the first year of a two-year term and on or before the last day in the third year of such a four-year term or the first year of such a two-year term on which an occurring vacancy may be filled for the remainder of the unexpired term at a general election with party nominations of candidates for such election being made at a primary election, as provided in section 6-116 of the election law, a special or general election to fill the vacancy on an interim basis shall be held, unless the vacancy occurs less than ninety days before the next primary election at which party nominations for a general election to fill the vacancy may be made and on or before the last day on which an occurring vacancy may be filled for the remainder of the unexpired term at the general election in the same year in which the vacancy occurs with party nominations of candidates for such election being made at a primary election, as provided in section 6-116 of the election law.

      5.   If a vacancy occurs after the last day in the third year of a four-year term or the first year of a two-year term on which an occurring vacancy may be filled for the remainder of the unexpired term at a general election in each year with party nominations of candidates for such election being made at a primary election, as provided in section 6-116 of the election law, but not less than ninety days before the date of the primary election in the fourth year of such a four-year term or the second year of such a two-year term, a special or general election to fill such vacancy for the remainder of the unexpired term shall be held.

      6.   Elections held pursuant to paragraph four or five of this subdivision shall be scheduled in the following manner: A special election to fill the vacancy shall be held on the first Tuesday at least eighty days after the occurrence of the vacancy, provided that the mayor, in the proclamation required by paragraph one of this subdivision, may schedule such election for another day no more than ten days after such Tuesday and not less than seventy-five days after such proclamation if the mayor determines that such rescheduling is necessary to facilitate maximum voter participation; except that

         (a)   if the vacancy occurs before August seventeenth in any year and the first Tuesday at least eighty days after the occurrence of the vacancy is less than ninety days before a regularly scheduled general election, the vacancy shall be filled at such general election;

         (b)   if the vacancy occurs before August seventeenth in any year and the first Tuesday at least eighty days after the occurrence of the vacancy is after a regularly scheduled general election, the vacancy shall be filled at such general election; and

         (c)   if the vacancy occurs on or after August seventeenth in any year and the first Tuesday at least eighty days after the occurrence of the vacancy is after, but less than thirty days after, a regularly scheduled general election, the vacancy shall be filled at a special election to be held on the first Tuesday in December in such year.

      7.   All nominations for elections to fill vacancies held pursuant to paragraphs four and five of this subdivision shall be by independent nominating petition. A signature on an independent nominating petition made earlier than the date of the proclamation required by paragraph one of this subdivision shall not be counted.

      8.   A person elected to fill a vacancy in the council at an election held pursuant to paragraph four of this subdivision shall take office immediately upon qualification and serve until December thirty-first of the year in which the vacancy is filled for the remainder of the unexpired term pursuant to paragraph two of this subdivision. A person elected to fill a vacancy in the council at an election held pursuant to paragraph five of this subdivision shall take office immediately upon qualification and serve until the term expires.

      9.   If a vacancy occurs less than ninety days before the date of the primary election in the last year of the term, the person elected at the general election in such year for the next succeeding term shall take office immediately upon qualification and fill the vacancy for the remainder of the unexpired term.

(Am. L.L. 2019/215, 12/11/2019, eff. 12/11/2019)

Editor's note: For related unconsolidated provisions, see Administrative Code Appendix A at L.L. 2002/027.

Section 26. Salaries and allowances.

   a.   The salary of the public advocate shall be one hundred eighty-four thousand eight hundred dollars a year.

   b.   The salary of each council member shall be one hundred forty-eight thousand five hundred dollars a year, except that the salary of the speaker shall be one hundred sixty-four thousand five hundred dollars a year. In addition any council member, while serving as a committee chairperson or other officer of the council, may also be paid, in addition to such salary, an allowance fixed by resolution, after a hearing, for the particular and additional services pertaining to the additional duties of such position. 

   c.   If prior to the enactment of a local law increasing the compensation of council members, the council establishes a commission to study and make recommendations for changes in the compensation levels of council members, or if it otherwise causes an analysis of such compensation levels to be made to assist it in its consideration of a local law, such study or analysis may include an analysis of the benefits, detriments, costs and impacts of placing restrictions on earned income derived by council members from sources other than their council salary.

(Am. L.L. 2016/019, 2/19/2016, retro. eff. 1/1/2016)

Editor's note: For related unconsolidated provisions, see Administrative Code Appendix A at L.L. 2006/051.

Section 27. Local laws and resolutions increasing or decreasing salaries or allowances.

No local law or resolution increasing or decreasing the salaries, or other allowances, in accordance with section twenty-six shall be adopted during the period between the general election day and the thirty-first day of December, both such days inclusive, in any year in which all of the council members are elected.

Section 28. Powers of council.

   a.   The council in addition to all enumerated powers shall have power to adopt local laws which it deems appropriate, which are not inconsistent with the provisions of this charter or with the constitution or laws of the United States or this state, for the good rule and government of the city; for the order, protection and government of persons and property; for the preservation of the public health, comfort, peace and prosperity of the city and its inhabitants; and to effectuate the purposes and provisions of this charter or of the other law relating to the city. The power of the council to act with respect to matters set forth in sections one hundred ninety-seven-c and two hundred shall be limited by the provisions of section one hundred ninety seven-d.

   b.   The council shall have power to provide for the enforcement of local laws by legal or equitable proceedings, to prescribe that violations thereof shall constitute misdemeanors, offenses or infractions and to provide for the punishment of violations thereof by civil penalty, fine, forfeiture or imprisonment, or by two or more of such punishments.

   c.   In the event that there exists no other provision of law for the filling of a vacancy in any elective office, resulting from removal or suspension from such office, or the death, resignation or inability of the incumbent to exercise the powers or to discharge the duties of the office, the council by a majority vote of all the council members shall elect a successor to fill the vacancy in such office.

   d.   All local laws shall be general, applying either throughout the whole city or throughout specified portions thereof.

   e.   The council shall not pass any local law authorizing the placing or continuing of any encroachment or obstruction upon any street or sidewalk excepting temporary occupation thereof by commercial refuse containers or during and for the purpose of the erection, repairing or demolition of a building on a lot abutting thereon under revocable licenses therefor, and excepting the erection of booths, stands or displays or the maintenance of sidewalk cafes under licenses to be granted only with the consent of the owner of the premises if the same shall be located in whole or in part within stoop lines; any such commercial refuse containers thus placed or continued upon any street or sidewalk pursuant to such a revocable license shall be painted with a phosphorescent substance so that the dimensions thereof shall be clearly discernible at night.

   f.   All local laws in relation to licenses shall fix the license fees to be paid, if any, and shall provide that all licenses shall be according to an established form and shall be regularly numbered and duly registered.

   g.   The council shall hold a public hearing prior to the consideration of any resolution requesting the state legislature, in accordance with the provisions of section two of article nine of the Constitution of the state of New York, to pass any bill, the substance of which, if adopted by the council as a local law, would require its approval by the electorate voting thereon at a referendum. Notice of such public hearing shall be published in the City Record for at least five days immediately preceding the commencement of such a hearing.

Section 29. Power of investigation and oversight.

   a.   The council, acting as a committee of the whole, and each standing or special committee of the council, through hearings or otherwise:

      1.   may investigate any matters within its jurisdiction relating to the property, affairs, or government of the city or of any county within the city, or to any other powers of the council, or to the effectuation of the purposes or provisions of this charter or any laws relating to the city or to any county within the city.

      2.   shall review on a regular and continuous basis the activities of the agencies of the city, including their service goals and performance and management efficiency. Each unit of appropriation in the adopted budget of the city shall be assigned to a standing committee. Each standing committee of the council shall hold at least one hearing each year relating to the activities of each of the agencies under its jurisdiction.

   b.   Any standing or special committee shall have power to require the attendance and examine and take testimony under oath of such persons as it may deem necessary and to require the production of books, accounts, papers and other evidence relative to the inquiry. Copies of all reports or studies received by the council pursuant to section eleven hundred thirty-four and subdivision c of section ninety-three shall be assigned to the appropriate standing committees for review and action, as necessary.

Section 30. Council review of city procurement policies and procedures.

The council shall periodically review all city procurement policies and procedures, including:

   1.   the rules and procedures adopted by the procurement policy board, all rules relating to the participation of minority and women owned business enterprises in the city's procurement process and the implementation of those rules and procedures by city agencies;

   2.   patterns of contractual spending by city agencies, including determinations of the need to contract made by agencies in accordance with rules of the procurement policy board;

   3.   access to and fairness in city procurement opportunities, the fair distribution of contract awards, and the fair employment practices of city contractors;

   4.   procedures for evaluating contractor performance; and

   5.   procedures for declaring bidders not responsible and for debarring contractors.

Section 31. Power of advice and consent.

Appointment by the mayor of the commissioner of investigation and the corporation counsel, and of the members of the art commission, board of health (other than the chair), board of standards and appeals, city planning commission (other than the chair), civil service commission, landmarks preservation commission, tax commission, taxi and limousine commission and the public members of the environmental control board shall be made with the advice and consent of the council after a public hearing. Within 30 days after the first stated meeting of the council after receipt of a nomination, the council shall hold a hearing and act upon such nomination and in the event it does not act within such period, the nomination shall be deemed to be confirmed.

(Am. L.L. 2016/096, 8/31/2016, eff. 12/29/2016; Am. L.L. 2019/215, 12/11/2019, eff. 12/11/2019)

Editor's note: For related unconsolidated provisions, see Administrative Code Appendix A at L.L. 2016/096.