Adopted 4/2/90

Amended 10/2/90

Amended 2/27/91

Amended 1/5/94

Amended 2/7/2001

Amended 10/1/03  

 

BYLAWS of the

MANHATTAN CITIZENS' SOLID WASTE ADVISORY BOARD

 

 

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 New York City fiscal year covering payments to consultants and all other disbursements by the Board for such year.

 

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.