§ 381 — Director

§ 381. Director. a. The head of the bureau shall be the director who\nshall be the chief administrative law judge of the bureau and shall have\nall the powers of an administrative law judge pursuant to this section.\nThe director shall be appointed by the chief executive officer of the\nmunicipality, for a term of five years with the advice and consent of\nthe legislative body of such municipality. The director shall be\nremovable only for neglect of duty or misfeasance in office after notice\nand an opportunity for a hearing. Once appointed and confirmed, the\ndirector shall serve until his or her term expires and until his or her\nsuccessor has been appointed and confirmed. The director shall devote\nhis or her entire work time to the duties of the office.\n b. The director shall be an attorney admitted to practice for at least\nfive years in the state of New York and shall be knowledgeable on the\nsubject of administrative law and procedures.\n c. The director shall have the power to promulgate rules consistent\nwith this article for the practice and procedure of the bureau, the\nconduct of adjudications and the dismissal or settlement of proceedings.\n d. The director shall develop and implement a program of evaluation to\naid in the performance of his or her duties, and to assist in the making\nof promotions, demotions or removals. This program of evaluation shall\nfocus on three areas of performance: competence, productivity and\ndemeanor. It shall include consideration of: industry and promptness in\nadhering to schedules, making rulings and rendering decisions;\ntolerance, courtesy, patience, attentiveness, and self control in\ndealing with litigants, witnesses and representatives, and in presiding\nover adjudicatory proceedings; skills and knowledge of the subject of\nadministrative law and procedures and new developments therein;\nanalytical talents and writing abilities; settlement skills; quantity,\nnature and quality of case load disposition; impartiality and\nconscientiousness. The director shall develop standards and procedures\nfor this program, which shall include taking comments from selected\nlitigants and representatives who have appeared before an administrative\njudge. The methods used by an administrative judge but not the results\narrived at by the administrative law judge in any case may be used in\nevaluating an administrative judge. Before implementing any action based\nupon the finding of the evaluation program, the director shall discuss\nthe findings and proposed action with the administrative law judge;\nprovided however that the director's authority pursuant to this\nsubdivision is subject to the provisions of the civil service law and\nany applicable collective bargaining agreement.\n e. To the extent permitted by law, the director shall publish and make\navailable to the public all significant decisions rendered by\nadministrative law judges and all decisions rendered by the\nadministrative appeals panels. The director may charge a reasonable fee\nfor a copy of such determination or decision. Whenever any law of\nconfidentiality prevents the publication of the identity of any of the\nparties, an edited version of the decision shall be prepared which shall\nnot disclose the identities of the protected parties.\n f. The director shall collect, compile, and publish statistics and\nother data with respect to the operations and duties of the bureau and\nsubmit annually to the the chief executive officer of the municipality,\nthe legislative body of such municipality, and the public a report on\nsuch operations including but not limited to, the number of hearings\ninitiated, the number of decisions rendered, the number of partial or\ntotal reversals by the appeals panel, the number of proceedings pending,\nand on any recommendations of the bureau of statutory or regulatory\namendments.\n g. The director shall study the subject of administrative adjudication\nin all its aspects, and develop programs including alternate dispute\nresolution and including preliminary or prehearing conferences or\nmediation which would promote the goals of fairness, uniformity and\ncost-effectiveness.\n h. The director shall adopt, promulgate, amend and rescind rules and\nregulations to carry out the provisions of this article and the policies\nof the bureau in connection therewith. Such rules and regulations shall\nsubstantially comply with article three of the state administrative\nprocedure act, shall supersede any inconsistent agency rules, and shall\ninclude, but not be limited to, uniform standards and procedures, rules\nof practice, standards for determining when an expedited hearing will be\nconducted, standards for uncontested proceedings, standards for the\nassignment of administrative law judges and their removal from cases,\nand for the maintenance of records.\n i. The director shall secure, compile and maintain all reports of\nadministrative law judges issued pursuant to this article, and such\nreference materials and supporting information as may be appropriate and\nto establish appropriate management information systems.\n j. The director shall develop and maintain a program for the\ncontinuing training and education of administrative law judges and\nancillary personnel.\n