§ 2825 — Membership on authorities and commissions; independence; and financial disclosure

§ 2825. Membership on authorities and commissions; independence; and\nfinancial disclosure. Notwithstanding the provisions of any general,\nspecial or local law, municipal charter or ordinance: 1. No public\nofficer or employee shall be ineligible for appointment as a trustee or\nmember of the governing body of a state or local authority, as defined\nin section two of this chapter, and any public officer or employee may\naccept such appointment and serve as such trustee or member without\nforfeiture of any other public office or position of public employment\nby reason thereof.\n 2. Except for members who serve as members by virtue of holding a\ncivil office of the state, the majority of the remaining members of the\ngoverning body of every state or local authority shall be independent\nmembers; provided, however, that this provision shall apply to\nappointments made on or after the effective date of chapter seven\nhundred sixty-six of the laws of two thousand five which added this\nsubdivision. The official or officials having the authority to appoint\nor remove such remaining members shall take such actions as may be\nnecessary to satisfy this requirement and further, shall consider the\nprospective diversity of the members of a state authority when making\ntheir determinations to appoint any member. For the purposes of this\nsection, an independent member is one who:\n (a) is not, and in the past two years has not been, employed by the\npublic authority or an affiliate in an executive capacity;\n (b) is not, and in the past two years has not been, employed by an\nentity that received remuneration valued at more than fifteen thousand\ndollars for goods and services provided to the public authority or\nreceived any other form of financial assistance valued at more than\nfifteen thousand dollars from the public authority;\n (c) is not a relative of an executive officer or employee in an\nexecutive position of the public authority or an affiliate; and\n (d) is not, and in the past two years has not been, a lobbyist\nregistered under a state or local law and paid by a client to influence\nthe management decisions, contract awards, rate determinations or any\nother similar actions of the public authority or an affiliate.\n 3. Notwithstanding any other provision of any general, special or\nlocal law, municipal charter or ordinance to the contrary, board\nmembers, officers, and employees of a state authority shall file annual\nfinancial disclosure statements as required by section seventy-three-a\nof the public officers law. Board members, officers, and employees of a\nlocal public authority shall file annual financial disclosure statements\nwith the county board of ethics for the county in which the local public\nauthority has its primary office pursuant to article eighteen of the\ngeneral municipal law.\n