Adopted
Amended
Amended
Amended
Amended
Amended 10/1/03
BYLAWS
of the
I. Establishment of Board
A. The Manhattan Citizens'
Solid Waste Advisory Board (the "Board" or “MCSWAB”) has
been established pursuant to 16‑317 of Local Law No. 19 of the City of
New York for the year 1989 (the "Recycling Law").
B. The bylaws for the Board
shall be construed to conform to all New York City Charter provisions
pertaining thereto. Nothing in these bylaws shall be construed so as to change,
modify or amend the New York City Charter.
C. The
Board has assumed all responsibilities and functions of the former Manhattan
Citizens' Advisory Committee on Resource Recovery.
II. Membership
A. The membership of the
Board shall consist of no fewer than twenty members who for the first term
shall be comprised of the members of Manhattan's Citizens' Advisory Committee
on Resource Recovery and other persons appointed jointly by the Borough
President and the City Council members elected from the City Council districts
included in any part of the Borough of Manhattan.
B. For each subsequent term
all members shall be appointed jointly by the Borough President and the City
Council members elected from the City Council districts included in any part of
the Borough of Manhattan.
C. Members shall serve for a
term of two years without compensation, with the regular term commencing
January 15, and expiring January 14. New members may be appointed at any time,
but the term of such appointments shall expire at the end of each regular
two-year term. There is no limit to the number of terms a member may serve.
D. The membership of the
Board shall represent community boards, recycling industries, carting
industries, environmental organizations, government agencies, labor
organizations, business organizations, property owners, tenant organizations
and members of the general public.
E. Whenever a member other
than a public servant engages in any business dealings with the Department of
Sanitation, or engages in business dealings with any other agency which relate
to processing or disposal of solid waste or of waste described in Section 16‑303(m)(3)
of the Recycling Law or to recycling, or has an interest in a firm which is
engaged in such business dealings with the Department of Sanitation or such
other agency, such member shall, prior to appointment, disclose the nature of
such business dealings to the Commissioner of Sanitation and to the Borough President
and, after appointment, disclose the nature of such business dealings to the
Commissioner and to all other members of the Board, provided that such member
need not disclose the amount of such business dealings.
F. No member shall
represent the Board to the press or before any public forum
or any City or other governmental agency or authority unless
designated to do so by the Board Chair. Any member who cites his or
her affiliation with the MCSWAB in such situations (press, public forums, etc.) but is not
representing the official position of the Board should state that he or she is speaking
as an individual and not on behalf of the Board.
G. The Steering Committee may recommend
to the Borough President the removal of a Board member for cause, which shall
include, among other causes, absence from three consecutive Board meetings or
failure to comply with Paragraph II.E or II.F
of
these bylaws.
H. Any member may
resign from membership at any time by written notice to the Borough President.
I. Membership on
the Board shall be evidenced by acceptance of the invitation from the Borough
President to join the Board, and by inclusion of the member's name on the list
of members maintained by the Borough President for such purpose. Such list
shall include the member's name, address, telephone numbers, fax number and email
address if available, and affiliation and be distributed to all
members.
J. There shall be
no maximum limit to the number of members who may be appointed to serve on the
Board.
K. Every member
shall at all times during his or her membership on the Board actively serve on
at least one committee of the Board.
III. Officers
A. The officers of the Board
shall be the Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary and Assistant Secretary and such
other officers as are designated by the Board. Each officer shall perform such
duties as are incident to the office in accordance with generally accepted
rules of parliamentary procedure.
B. Each officer and at least
three At-Large Steering Committee Members shall be elected by the
members of the Board for a term of one year beginning May 15 and ending on May
14 of the following year.
1. A Nominating Committee of
three MCSWAB
members, two of whom shall have served at least one year, shall be appointed by
the full
Board every March. No one may serve on the
Nominating Committee for more than three consecutive years.
2. The Nominating Committee
shall
make a good faith effort to canvass all current members of
the MCSWAB and report nominees to the full Board in
April.
3. Other candidates
may be nominated by motions from the floor at the April and May meetings.
4. Any person running for
office,
including
for At-Large Steering Committee Member, should
submit a statement to the Nominating Committee at least ten days prior to the
April meeting for transmission to all
members. This transmission will include the names of
all those candidates running for office.
5. The elections will take
place at the May meeting.
C. To provide the greatest
opportunity of service for each member of the Board, no Chair or Vice Chair
shall serve for more than two consecutive years in the same position,
except by unanimous consent of the Board when a
quorum is present.
D. The
Chair shall:
1. Recommend to the Board
the establishment of standing committees of the Board.
2. Represent and stand for
the Board and perform all necessary functions according to decisions duly made
by the Board, including communicating with governmental agencies and the press.
Such communications shall be through the Borough President's office or sent
directly to the appropriate governmental agency, with a copy of the same
simultaneously forwarded to the Borough President's office.
3. Be authorized to approve
payments to consultants and other disbursements by the Board, provided that the
Board must approve the retention of any consultant to the Board or to any of
its committees, subcommittees or work groups, and provided further that such
payments and disbursements are in accord with the approved Board budget and any
related contract.
E. The
Vice Chair shall:
1. Preside at the meetings
of the Board in the place of the Chair when the Chair is absent;
2. Assist the Chair when
necessary and required.
F. The
Secretary shall:
1. Be the recording officer
of the Board, record or cause to be recorded the minutes of meetings, and be
assisted in the compilation of such minutes by the staff provided by the office
of the Borough President. The Secretary shall
prepare minutes of the full Board
meeting for distribution by the office of the Borough President
in time for the mailing for the next Board meeting. The members
shall approve or if necessary modify the minutes at the next regular meeting.
The final version of the minutes as approved by the Board shall be furnished to
the Borough President's office where a file shall be maintained.
2. If both Chair and Vice
Chair are absent from a meeting, assume the duties of Chair for that meeting
only.
3. The Secretary shall serve
as a repository
for the minutes and attendance records for all such committees, including the
Board, the Steering Committee, and all other committees, as shall the Borough
President’s liaison. The Secretary shall cause an updated list of
the full Board, Steering Committee, and each other committee to be available to Board members every
six months.
4. The Borough President's
office shall keep a copy of all minutes and attendance records for the full
Board, the Steering Committee, and each other committee. Further, the Borough
President’s office shall maintain a readily available copy of the By-Laws in an editable
electronic format.
G. The
Assistant Secretary shall act as Secretary and record the minutes if the
Secretary is not present at the regular monthly meeting. The Assistant
Secretary shall assist the Secretary in the carrying out of the above duties.
H. Should any officer leave
office before the expiration of his or her term, an election shall be held at
the next meeting of the Board, or within 60 days of the time of the vacancy,
to designate a replacement to serve the unexpired portion of the term. The
Nominating Committee from the previous election shall make a good
faith effort to canvass the full membership of the MCSWAB and nominate
candidates.
IV. Committees of the
Board
A. The
Board shall have a Steering Committee, which shall include the Chair, Vice
Chair, Secretary, Assistant Secretary and at least three at-large members as well as
the Chair,
or in his or her absence the Vice Chair, of any committees. The membership
of the Steering Committee shall be representative of the interests set forth in
Paragraph II.D to the extent practicable. The Chair of
the Board shall also be Chair of the Steering Committee. The Chair shall
designate the time and place of the meetings of the Steering Committee.
B. The
Board may establish one or more other standing committees, and disband such
committees. Each such
committee shall have a Chair and, if desired, one or more Vice Chairs elected by the committee. A
majority of the members of any such committee may recommend positions and action plans
to the Board.
C. Any standing
committee may appoint subcommittees and work groups to review particular issues
and recommend policy positions to the Board or appropriate committees.
D. It is the responsibility
of the Chair of each committee to ensure that either he or she, or the Vice
Chair, attend every Steering Committee meeting. In the event of their absence,
a designee may be permitted to attend. It is also
the responsibility of the Chair or Vice Chair of each standing committee to
report on committee activities to the Steering Committee periodically or at least
every six months.
V. Steering Committee
A. During those times when
the Board does not meet, the Steering Committee may transact such business as
is necessary on behalf of the Board. An agenda for the next Board meeting shall
be drafted by the Steering Committee. This agenda, plus the notice of time and
place of the full Board meeting, together with the minutes of the last meeting,
shall be forwarded by staff to reach each Board member at least seven days
before each meeting.
B. Where the Board is
required to act on short notice, the Steering Committee may act on behalf of
the Board, providing any such action shall be ratified by the Board membership
at the next meeting. If not so ratified, there shall be no further
implementation of the action after such meeting, and steps must be taken to
withdraw the action.
C. Meetings of the Steering
Committee shall be open to all members of the Board. A quorum of the Steering
Committee necessary to transact business shall be 50% of that committee's
membership.
D.
The Steering Committee shall
recommend to the full Board an annual budget for payments to consultants and
other disbursements by the Board.
VI. Board Meetings
A. There must be at least
one regular meeting of the Board every three months, at such time and place as
shall be designated by the Chair in the notice of the meeting sent to the Board
members.
1. The Board may only vote
when a quorum is present. The quorum of the Board necessary to transact
business shall be a majority of the full membership of the Board.
2. Except as otherwise
specifically required by the bylaws herein, all actions shall be decided by a
majority vote of those members present and voting. An abstaining member shall .not
be counted for purposes of determining a majority vote.
B. The
Board shall meet upon the request of the Borough President at any time and for
any purpose, including holding public hearings on the recycling plans
prepared pursuant to Section 16‑316 of the Recycling Law or other matters
within its jurisdiction on which it may advise the Borough President.
C. There may be special
meetings
as follows:
1. A special meeting shall
be a meeting other than the regular meeting and shall be called by the Board
Chair, or after 10% or ten of the Board members, whichever is less, have
submitted a petition to the chair. Such petition shall specify the proposed
agenda of the special meeting.
2. A special meeting shall
be called upon at least seven days advance notice, in writing, with a
specification of the purpose of the meeting and the agenda.
D. All meetings of the Board
are open to members of the public.
VII. Committee Meetings
A. There shall be as many
committee meetings as the Chair of the Board and/or Chairs of the Committees
deem necessary and appropriate, however, standing committees shall meet at
least four times a year. The Steering Committee shall
have oversight of the standing committees.
B. Committee meetings shall
be conducted under the same procedures as Board meetings. The Chair of each
committee shall assure that minutes of meetings are recorded. Minutes shall
include all resolutions adopted with the voting tally and attendance. Meeting
announcements and agendas are to be provided to the Borough
President's staff for distribution to the full membership of the Board, and
timely transmittal to the Secretary.
C. All committee meetings
shall be open to all members of the Board and the public.
D. Members of the public may
be recommended by the Board Chair to serve on committees in an advisory but non‑voting
capacity. The appointment of such non‑voting members shall be subject to
a majority vote of the committee.
E. Committees are
not empowered to formulate the official position of the Board. All resolutions
that have been adopted by a committee constitute a recommendation to the
general membership and must be approved by the full Board
before becoming official policy.
VIII. Agenda and Notices
of Meetings
A. The agenda shall
be drafted by the Steering Committee of the Board. The agenda, plus
the notice of time and place of the meeting, together with the minutes of the
last meeting, shall be forwarded by the Borough President's staff to reach each
Board member at least seven days before each meeting.
B. All meetings of
the Board, Steering Committee and other standing committees shall be subject to
the provisions of the New York State Open Meetings Law.
IX. Voting
A. Voting shall be either
through a show of hands, or a voice vote, or upon the request of any five or
more members of the Board, by a show of hands or a roll call vote with total
votes for and against being publicly announced and recorded.
B. If a matter before the
Board requires further information or deliberation, that matter may be referred
to the appropriate Board committee for its review and a
report of recommendations.
C. Each member
shall have one vote.
X. Budget
A. When funds
are or become available the Board shall adopt, and may from
time to time amend, an annual budget for each
B. All projects proposed for Board funds,
including but not limited to agreements with consultants, require a
contract that describes what is to be purchased, any tasks to be
accomplished, the timeframe for accomplishment and the payment
schedule.
XI. Amendments
These bylaws may be amended
by two‑thirds vote of Board members present and voting provided a quorum
of the Board membership is present and provided that the amendment language is
forwarded to each member at least ten days in advance of the meeting.