ZBA 7 to 5 –
The Final Chapter
The almost endless saga of the Preble Town Board's effort to get
rid of Carl and Barb.
Frank Hogg 4/5/1
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Public Officers Law - Article 2
Sec. 5. Holding over after expiration of term.
Every
officer except a judicial officer, a notary public,
a commissioner of deeds and an officer whose term
is fixed by the constitution, having duly entered
on the duties of his office, shall, unless the
office shall terminate or be abolished, hold
over and continue to discharge the duties
of his office, after the expiration of the term
for which he shall have been chosen, until his
successor shall be chosen and qualified; but after
the expiration of such term, the office shall
be deemed vacant for the purpose of choosing his
successor. An officer so holding over for one
or more entire terms, shall, for the purpose of
choosing his successor, be regarded as having
been newly chosen for such terms. An appointment
for a term shortened by reason of a predecessor
holding over, shall be for the residue of the
term only.
http://tenant.net/Other_Laws/Pubofc/pubofc02.txt
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Last December
the Preble Town Board 'thought' they had voted in a
new law that changed the ZBA from 7 to 5 members. The
Town's lawyer, Don Armstrong made a mistake and did
not follow proper procedure and the December 2000 law
was void. In January 2001 the Town Board again voted
in a law with the changes that would make it legal this
time and also added two new things to it. Changing the
quorum from 4 to 3 and some other minor details. We
thought at the time that it required a new public hearing
and we were prepared to fight it in court. Or thinking
was we could delay it and keep it a 7-member board till
the end of the year. But then the Paul and Maureen Knapp's
rezoning came up and we had to concentrate on that,
so we let the ZBA fight go.
However it still
leaves one very interesting dilemma for the town board.
As of January 1st, 2001 the ZBA was legally
a 7-member board and the two members, Barb Frier and
Carl Grillo, whose terms had expired... rolled over
as per the Public Officers Law. (see above) The problem
is that now we have 7 members for a 5 member ZBA!
Wait... it gets
worse. (for the town board) Last year, you may recall,
the town board claimed that the only reason they were
doing it then was because two members terms were expiring
at the end of 2000 and that was the only reason they
were letting Barb and Carl go. By sheer coincidence
and to the chagrin of the town board, in 2001 we have
the exact same condition with 2 different ZBA members. Cathy Kinne and Bob Lieber's terms expire in 2001. Carl
and Barb have rolled over to new 5-year terms but Cathy
and Bob expire this year.
If the claim made
by the town board is true then they will have Cathy
and Bob leave the board. BUT if as I have claimed all
along that they really want to get rid of Carl and Barb
they will let them go. Either way the town board has
to remove 2 members. Which 2 they choose will tell a
lot about them.
