Sponsored by:
Senator BRIAN P. STACK
District 33 (Hudson)
Senator ROBERT W. SINGER
District 30 (Burlington, Mercer, Monmouth and Ocean)
SYNOPSIS
Allows appointment of certain municipal officers and employees to municipal library board of trustees.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning membership to a municipal library board of trustees and amending R.S.40:54-9.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. R.S.40:54-9 is amended to read as follows:
40:54-9. Immediately upon the establishment by any municipality of a free public library under this article, a board of trustees shall be formed to consist of from seven to nine members, one of whom shall be the mayor or other chief executive officer of the municipality, one of the local superintendents of schools, or in the event that there be no such official, the principal with power of supervision over the local school system, or in case such municipality shall have none of the school officials hereinbefore mentioned, then the president of the board of education, and from five to seven citizens to be appointed by the mayor or chief executive, at least four of [who] whom shall be residents of the municipality. The mayor or other chief executive officer may appoint one or more non-elected local government officers or local government employees of the municipality, as those terms are defined under the "Local Government Ethics Law," P.L.1991, c.29 (C.40A:9-22.1 et seq.), to serve on the library board of trustees. The mayor or other chief executive officer shall not appoint a local government employee hired by the library board of trustees to serve on the board of trustees. The appointments shall be for terms of one, two, three, four and five years, respectively, as they may be selected by the mayor or other chief executive officer, and, except in cities, shall be made with the consent of the governing body. Whenever a board is expanded to include a sixth or seventh citizen, the additional members shall serve terms of five years. The mayor or other chief executive officer and the superintendent of schools or the principal, as the case may be, serving as a member of the board, may, respectively, appoint an alternate to act in his place and stead with authority to attend all meetings of the board and, in his absence, to vote on all questions before the board.
(cf: P.L.1984, c.130, s.1)
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill provides that a mayor or other chief executive officer of a municipality may appoint certain municipal officers and employees to the municipality’s library board of trustees. Current statutory law does not address this issue. Although it is unlikely that a municipal officer or employee serving on a library board of trustees would be confronted by a conflict of interest, a mayor’s concern that an appointment might be considered improper under the common law doctrine of incompatibility of offices may deter the mayor from making an appointment that is in the municipality’s best interest.
Reportedly, municipalities sometimes find it difficult to locate qualified individuals to volunteer to serve on library boards of trustees. A mayor should not be precluded from appointing a non-elected municipal officer or employee who possesses knowledge and skills that would be valuable to the library board of trustees and who exhibits willingness to serve on the board. The bill would not authorize a mayor to appoint an elected officer of the municipality or an individual directly hired by the library board of trustees to serve on the board of trustees.