New York City Charter § 2800(d) sets forth twenty-one (21) categories of responsibilities for Community Boards. New York City Charter § 2800(d)(2), (3) and (7) provide in relevant part as follows:
d. Each community board shall:
(2) Cooperate with, consult, assist and advise any public officer, agency, local administrators of agencies, legislative body, or the borough president with respect to any matter relating to the welfare of the district and its residents;(3) At its discretion hold public or private hearings or investigations with respect to any matter relating to the welfare of the district and its residents, but the board shall take action only at a meeting open to the public;(7) . . . make available for reasonable public inspection, by-laws and statements of the duties assigned by the board to its district manager and other professional staff . . . and keep a public record of its activities and transactions, including minutes of its meetings, majority and minority reports, and all documents the board is required by law to review, which shall be made available, in accordance with law, to elected officials upon request and for reasonable public inspection.
(i) Board Composition and Membership
Membership: New York City Charter § 2800(a) authorizes the establishment of a Community Board for each “community district”. New York City Charter § 2701 sets forth the definition of “Community Districts”. Currently, there are 59 Community Boards.
Appointments: New York City Charter § 2800(a)(1) provides that the Borough President appoints “not more than fifty persons” as members of the Community Board for staggered terms of two years. Pursuant to New York City Charter § 2800(a)(1) and (2), at least one-half of the members of the Community Board must be selected from nominees of the district’s Council Members.
- Eligibility: No person shall be appointed to or remain as a member of the board who does not have a residence, business, professional or other significant interest in the district. New York City Charter § 2800(a)(2). Not more than twenty-five percent of the appointed members shall be city employees. Id.
- Removal: An appointed member may be removed from a Community Board for cause, which shall include substantial nonattendance at board or committee meetings over a period of six months, by the Borough President or by a majority vote of the Community Board. New York City Charter § 2800(b). It should be noted that “cause” is not precisely defined in the New York City Charter.
- Compensation: Members of community boards shall serve as such without compensation but shall be reimbursed for actual and necessary out-of-pocket expenses in connection with attendance at regularly scheduled meetings of the community board. New York City Charter § 2800(b).
(i) Frequency of Community Board Public HearingsNew York City Charter § 2800(h) provides that “[e]xcept during the months of July and August, each community board shall meet at least once each month within the community district and conduct at least one public hearing each month. . . . Each board shall give adequate public notice of its meetings and hearings and shall make such meetings and hearings available for broadcasting and cablecasting. At each public meeting, the board shall set aside time to hear from the public.”
(ii) Actions of Community BoardsNew York City Charter § 2801 provides as follows:
§ 2801. Actions of community boards.
a. A majority of the appointed members of any community board shall constitute a quorum of such board.b. Whenever any act is authorized to be done or any determination or decision made by any community board, the act, determination or decision of the majority of the members present entitled to vote during the presence of a quorum, shall be held to be the act, determination or decision of such board.
(iii) Community Board Meeting ProceduresCommunity Boards are defined as public bodies and governmental agencies under the New York State Open Meetings Law and Freedom of Information Law. Therefore, the actions and procedures of the Community Boards and Community Boards’ committees’ are governed by the following: (i) New York City Charter § 2800, (ii) New York State Open Meetings Law (OML, sections 100-111 of the New York State Public Officers Law) and (iii) Freedom of Information Law (FOIL, Section 84-90 of the Public Officers Law).
The following are the parliamentary procedure requirement related to Community Boards administration of Community Board public hearings:
- Quorum Requirement: A majority of the appointed members of any community board shall constitute a quorum of such board. New York City Charter § 2801(a).
- Tabulating Votes: Whenever any act is authorized to be done or any determination or decision made by any community board, the act, determination or decision of the majority of the members present entitled to vote during the presence of a quorum, shall be held to be the act, determination of such Community Board. New York City Charter § 2801(b).
