Bill Text: NY S05224 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Amended
Bill Title: Provides for the election of members of the board of education of the Buffalo city school district in November rather than in May; creates a timetable for the electoral proceedings therefor; extends the terms of current members of such board to the last day of December rather than June; provides for future terms to run from January through December; and staggers terms.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Passed) 2019-11-25 - SIGNED CHAP.561 [S05224 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-S05224-Amended.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 5224--B 2019-2020 Regular Sessions IN SENATE April 17, 2019 ___________ Introduced by Sen. KENNEDY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Education -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to providing for the election of members of the board of education of the Buffalo city school district in November; and to repeal certain provisions of such law relating thereto The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subparagraph 3 of paragraph d of subdivision 10 of section 2 2553 of the education law is REPEALED. 3 § 2. Subparagraphs 1 and 2 of paragraph d and paragraphs g, j, m, o 4 and p of subdivision 10 of section 2553 of the education law, as added 5 by chapter 242 of the laws of 1974, paragraph g as amended by chapter 6 431 of the laws of 2012 and paragraph p as amended by chapter 95 of the 7 laws of 1979, are amended to read as follows: 8 (1) Such election for such office shall be governed by the provisions 9 of the election law in the same manner as candidates for office general- 10 ly to be elected by the voters of the city of Buffalo [except, as the11case may be, as to the date of the election; and, further provided,12however, that]. Notwithstanding section 6-142 of the election law, each 13 such candidate for election as a member of the board of education from a 14 city school subdistrict shall be required to file a petition containing 15 signatures of at least five hundred registered voters of such city 16 school subdistrict in which he is a candidate and each candidate for 17 election to the board of education by the voters at large shall be 18 required to file a petition containing the signatures of at least one 19 thousand registered voters of the city of Buffalo. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD04781-08-9S. 5224--B 2 1 (2) No petition shall contain any political party or independent body 2 name or label. Each petition shall contain the name of only one candi- 3 date and such petition shall be filed with [the clerk of] the board of 4 elections of the county of Erie not earlier than [the fifth Tuesday] 5 twenty-four weeks before, and not later than [the fourth Tuesday] twen- 6 ty-three weeks preceding the date on which an election shall be held. A 7 certificate of acceptance or declination of any individual so nominated 8 shall be filed not later than the third day after the [fourth] twenty- 9 third Tuesday preceding the election. 10 g. Each sheet of such a petition shall be signed in ink and shall be 11 substantially in the following form: 12 I, the undersigned, do hereby state that I am a duly qualified voter 13 of the city of Buffalo, that my place of residence is truly stated oppo- 14 site my signature hereto, and I do hereby nominate the following named 15 person as a candidate for nomination (for the public office of member of 16 the board of education of the city of Buffalo at large..............day 17 of...................., 20.....,) (for the city school subdis- 18 trict.............day of........, 20.....) 19 I do hereby appoint........................(here insert the names and 20 addresses of at least three persons, all of whom shall be registered 21 voters within the city of Buffalo), as a committee to fill vacancies in 22 accordance with the provisions of the election law. 23 In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand the day and year 24 placed opposite my signature. 25 Date Name of Signer Present Residence 26 .............. .................. .................... 27 .............. .................. .................... 28 .............. .................. .................... 29 The petition shall be authenticated by witnesses. Such statement shall 30 be accepted for all purposes as the equivalent of an affidavit, and if 31 false shall subject the witness to the same penalties as if he or she 32 had been duly sworn. The form of such statement shall be substantially 33 as follows: 34 STATEMENT OF WITNESS 35 I,...................., (name of witness), state: I am a duly quali- 36 fied voter of the state of New York, and now reside in the city, town or 37 village of..............., in such state, at 38 .......................(fill in street and house number and post office) 39 therein. I know each of the voters whose names are subscribed to this 40 petition sheet containing (fill in number).............signatures and 41 each of them subscribed the same in my presence and upon so subscribing 42 declared to me that the foregoing statement, made and subscribed by him, 43 was true. 44 ..................... 45 Signature of witness 46 Date........... 47 j. Objections to petitions for the nomination of members of such board 48 of education, procedures and remedies applicable to such objections 49 shall be [the same as those applicable to independent nominatingS. 5224--B 3 1petitions under the election law, except as it may be modified by the2provisions of paragraph (d) and paragraph (n) of this subdivision] made 3 pursuant to section 6-154 of the election law. 4 m. If a candidate, after a petition in his behalf shall have been duly 5 filed with [the clerk of] the board of elections, and prior to the date 6 of the election, shall decline to accept the nomination, die, remove 7 from the school district, accept [or be a candidate for] another [elec-8tive] office, or become otherwise disqualified for such city school 9 district office, [a further petition may be filed with such clerk, nomi-10nating another candidate in his place and stead. Such further petition11shall in all respects comply with the provisions of paragraphs d, f and12h of this subdivision, except that it may be filed at any time up to and13including the fifteenth day preceding the date of the election pursuant14to the provisions of this subdivision and the time within which to15accept or object to such further petition shall be computed from the16date of filing or said fifteenth day, whichever is earlier] such vacancy 17 shall be filled by the committee on vacancies pursuant to the election 18 law. 19 o. The members so elected to the board of education shall convene on 20 the first business day in [July] January of each year, at the time of 21 the commencement of their term of office and select from their members a 22 president who shall serve for a term of one year or such other term, not 23 exceeding the term of his office, as may be fixed by the rules and regu- 24 lations of the board. 25 p. The election of members of the board of education of the school 26 district of the city of Buffalo shall take place on [May seventh, nine-27teen hundred seventy-four and on] the first Tuesday after the first 28 Monday in [May thereafter] November in each year in which an incumbent's 29 term expires. Such election shall be conducted by the board of 30 elections of the county of Erie in the same manner as other elections 31 are conducted by it. [Polls shall be open for voting for the hours32prescribed by section 8-100 of the election law for primary elections.] 33 The results of such elections, after canvassing, shall be certified and 34 reported by the board of elections to the board of education of such 35 city. The clerk or other appropriate officer of the board of education 36 shall within twenty-four hours after receipt of such certification by 37 the board of elections serve a written notice either personally or by 38 mail upon each person declared to be elected as a member of the board of 39 education informing him of his election and the length of his term. 40 § 3. Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of law, the term of 41 every member of the board of education of the city school district of 42 Buffalo is hereby extended from June thirtieth of the year in which it 43 is scheduled to expire to December thirty-first of such year. Terms of 44 such members elected after this act becomes law shall begin on the first 45 day of January and end on the last day of December of the appropriate 46 year. 47 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
