§ 6-A — Power to suspend local authority board members and executive staff

§ 6-a. Power to suspend local authority board members and executive\nstaff. 1. The authorities budget office shall have the authority,\nsubject to subdivision two of this section, to suspend one or more\nmembers of a local authority board of directors, or the chief executive\nofficer or equivalent position of a local authority for a period not to\nexceed ninety days when such individual or individuals knowingly fails\nor neglects to submit any report required by section twenty-eight\nhundred of this chapter within thirty-six months of its due date. The\nauthorities budget office is authorized to terminate such a suspension\nif the board member or chief executive officer demonstrates that he or\nshe has remedied their non-compliance. For the purposes of this section,\nthe "suspension" of an individual shall mean the temporary removal of\nthe rights, responsibilities, powers and duties of a person who is an\nappointed board member of a local authority or the individual who serves\nas chief executive officer through appointment or contract. Should the\nauthorities budget office suspend the full board of directors or a\nmajority of current board members the term "suspension" shall mean the\nboard of directors is prohibited from taking actions, votes, or adopting\nresolutions, that bind the board to future agreements, contracts,\nfinancial commitments, indebtedness, or other actions, other than\nactions necessary to resolve the noncompliance or satisfy existing legal\nor administrative obligations.\n 2. (a) Pursuant to policies and procedures developed by the\nauthorities budget office and made available on its website, when the\nauthorities budget office has reason to believe that one or more board\nmembers of a local authority has knowingly failed or neglected to submit\nany report required by section twenty-eight hundred of this chapter\nwithin thirty-six months of its due date, the authorities budget office\nshall provide at least thirty days' notice of its intent to initiate\nsuspension proceedings to the chairperson of the local authority, to the\nindividual or individuals responsible for appointing such board members,\nand to each such board member. If the authorities budget office has\nreason to believe that the chief executive officer of a local authority\nhas knowingly failed or neglected to submit any report required by\nsection twenty-eight hundred of this chapter within thirty-six months of\nits due date, the authorities budget office shall provide at least\nthirty days' notice of its intent to initiate suspension proceedings to\nthe chairperson of the local authority and to the chief executive\nofficer. Such notice shall include, but shall not be limited to (i) the\ndate and a brief description of the facts and nature of each\nnon-compliance for which such suspension is proposed; (ii) the number of\ndays that the authorities budget office proposes to suspend such board\nmember or chief executive officer; (iii) the option to submit a formal\nresponse to the authorities budget office which demonstrates why such\nboard member or chief executive officer should not be suspended; and\n(iv) if applicable, a period of time in which such local authority or\nboard member or chief executive officer may remedy the non-compliance.\n (b) If, after the expiration of the deadline set forth in the notice\nof intent pursuant to subparagraph (iv) of paragraph (a) of this\nsubdivision, the board member or members or chief executive officer,\nwhichever is applicable, has not responded to the notice or has not\nremedied the non-compliance to the satisfaction of the authorities\nbudget office, the authorities budget office shall issue to the\nnon-compliant board member or members or chief executive officer a\nnotice of suspension which shall include: (i) the number of days of\nsuspension; and (ii) the date that such suspension shall commence, which\ndate shall be at least one hundred eighty days from the date of the\nissuance of the notice of suspension.\n 3. (a) Whenever the authorities budget office has suspended one or\nmore board members of a local authority, the individual or individuals\nwho appointed those board members may act to reinstate a suspended board\nmember. If the appointing authority is a legislative body or a member of\nthe legislative body, any action to reinstate a suspended board member\nshall occur in a public meeting of such body and following an\nopportunity for the public to comment. Such action shall be deemed valid\nupon passage of a written resolution of reinstatement by a majority and\nrecorded vote of the legislative body. Such resolution shall describe\nthe facts and circumstances by which the legislative body has reached\nthis determination. If the appointing authority is the chief executive\nofficial of the municipality for whose benefit the local authority was\ncreated, any action to reinstate a suspended board member shall be\nthrough an official act of the chief executive official. Such act shall\nbe recorded in writing and shall describe the facts and circumstances by\nwhich the chief executive official reached this determination.\n (b) Whenever the authorities budget office has suspended the chief\nexecutive officer of a local authority, the chairperson of such local\nauthority may initiate action to reinstate the suspended chief executive\nofficer. Any action to reinstate a suspended chief executive officer\nshall occur in a public meeting of the board of directors and following\nan opportunity for the public to comment. Such action shall be deemed\nvalid upon passage of a written resolution of reinstatement by a\nmajority and recorded vote of the current board of directors. Such\nresolution shall describe the facts and circumstances by which the board\nof directors reached this determination.\n (c) For the purposes of this section, "reinstatement" shall mean the\nrestoration of the rights, responsibilities, powers and duties of a\nboard member or chief executive officer of a local authority.\n