Misplaced Pages

#490509

35-569: As of January 2018, it includes a non-numbered introductory chapter, plus chapters identified by a number (1 through 75) or a number plus a letter suffix. The charter is periodically revised, generally via a charter commission including revisions that took place in 1898, 1901, 1938, 1963, 1975, and 2020. The 1938 revision replaced the New York City Board of Aldermen with the New York City Council, and it also created

70-512: A "casting vote" in the way it is normally understood as a duty or option to vote to break a tie. Robert's Rule of Order Newly Revised (12th Edition, 2020) does not include the concept of a casting vote. In RONR the presiding officer may vote by ballot and vote to break a tie. Quite differently than a casting vote, however, the presiding officer can also vote to cause a tie, defeating the motion (RONR 4:56, 44:12). On small boards, however, those that are fewer than 12 persons, Robert's Rules empowers

105-455: A bill in 1872 abolishing bicameralism in the fallout of Boss Tweed 's corruption, which lavished on the assistant aldermen. At the time fifteen aldermen were elected at-large and one assistant alderman was elected from each Assembly district. The Senate had introduced an amendment to the new Charter that would have retained the Board of Assistant Aldermen but the amendment was dropped. Under

140-461: A check against the at-large Board of Aldermen. A body claiming to be the Board of Assistant Aldermen composed mainly of former members met in January 1875 and argued that the 1873 Act was unconstitutional, although only two new members were elected thereto. Mayor William H. Wickham prohibited them from meeting and refused to recognize them, but they nevertheless held a meeting on January 20, entering

175-464: A new city charter was passed that reintroduced a bicameral legislature, this time known as the "Municipal Assembly". This was not uncontroversial; The New York Times noted the corruption associated with the city's previous attempt at bicameralism. Under this system the council was elected from special districts that each elected three members except for the districts representing Queens and Staten Island , which elected two members. Each member of

210-672: Is necessary for a bill to pass, a tied vote defeats a bill. In the Congress of the Philippines , the openly-partisan presiding officers of the two chambers have different rules on a casting vote: The speaker of the United Kingdom House of Commons has a casting vote, which is conventionally cast in accordance with Speaker Denison's rule . The speaker of the United States House of Representatives has

245-705: The 1866 Helston by-election , Parliament allowed candidates who tied to both be elected. Ties in United Kingdom elections are now broken by drawing lots, using a method decided upon by the Returning Officer. In the Canadian provinces of Ontario and New Brunswick , the returning officer has a casting vote in the event of a tie. Ties in Nova Scotia , Prince Edward Island , and the territory of Yukon , are now broken by lots as they are in

280-657: The Chamber of Deputies and in the Senate , the presiding officer never casts a vote. In the event of a tie, the item put up to a vote is automatically deemed to have been defeated. The speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives formerly held a casting vote, similar to that of the speaker of the British House of Commons. Today, the speaker simply votes as an ordinary member; since an outright majority

315-622: The New York City Planning Commission . The 1963 revision of the New York City Charter extended the Borough of Manhattan's Community Planning Councils (est. 1951) to the outer boroughs as Community Planning Boards, which are now known as Community Boards . This revision also increased the size of the New York City Council from 25 members to 35. The 1975 revision of the New York City Charter set

350-617: The New York State Legislature made the Common Council bicameral by dividing it into a Board of Aldermen and a Board of Assistants. Under the Act the city was divided into wards which each elected one member to the Board of Aldermen and two to the Board of Assistants. Aldermen served two-year terms which were staggered such that half of the Board was elected every year while assistants were elected annually. This made

385-581: The United States , the concept of a casting vote is not used in Robert's Rules of Order . As a rule, it is only British-inspired parliamentary authorities that employ the concept of a "casting vote". Authors differ on whether the chair may vote in other capacities (like by ballot). The concept of a "casting vote" is found in the UK parliamentary authority Erskine May: "If the numbers in a division are equal,

SECTION 10

#1732772483491

420-463: The Westminster system ) is expected by convention to follow Speaker Denison's rule (i.e., to vote to allow further discussion, if this is possible, and otherwise to vote in favour of the status quo ). This in effect means "Yes/Yea/Aye" on the first and second reading of a bill , "No/Nay" on the third, "Yes/Yea/Aye" on the government's budget , and "No/Nay" on a motion of no confidence . In

455-701: The speaker of the House of Commons in the United Kingdom and the president of the United States Senate (an ex-officio role of the vice president of the United States ). In some legislatures , a casting vote may be exercised however the presiding officer wishes. For example, the vice president of the United States may exercise their casting vote when the Senate is evenly divided according to their own personal beliefs; by virtue of

490-484: The vice president has a casting vote in the Senate . At one time, in United Kingdom parliamentary elections, the returning officer (if an elector in the constituency) was allowed to give an additional casting vote to decide the election if there was a tie between two or more candidates. An example of this power being used was in the Bandon by-election of 22 July 1831 . This type of casting vote does not now exist; after

525-422: The 1930s to introduce a new city charter that would replace the Board of Aldermen with a smaller City Council that would be elected from each borough via proportional representation. This was in large part due to the large Democratic majorities in the Board of Aldermen. The Board convened for the last time on December 21, 1937. Proportional representation was abolished in 1947 due in large part to its opening up

560-523: The Board of Aldermen was elected from an Assembly district except for those representing Queens , where one member was elected from the former Long Island City and Newtown and one member from the remainder. The President of the council was directly elected by citizens of the City while the President of the Board of Aldermen was selected from among its membership. This bicameralism invited comparisons to

595-543: The Board of Assistant Aldermen from 1824 to 1875, while the upper house was known as the Council from 1898 to 1901. In 1938 a new charter came into effect that replaced the Board of Aldermen with the New York City Council . Municipal legislators had been known as "aldermen" since at least April 1686, and had historically sat in the "Common Council" alongside so-called "assistant aldermen". In 1824 an Act of

630-513: The Common Council bicameral as both Boards were separate bodies who possessed veto power over each other's proceedings. The Mayor was made the presiding officer of the Board of Aldermen, and in his absence the City Recorder, either person possessing only a casting vote in the Board. In an 1897 retrospective the Board of Assistant Aldermen would be known as the "lower branch" of the Common Council. The New York State Legislature passed

665-444: The President of the Board of Aldermen, who was elected citywide, and the Borough presidents . There were initially 73 districts, although in later years this was reduced to 65. The term of the President was four years while aldermen served two-year terms. Heads of administrative departments had seats in the Board and could be compelled to answer questions of it and participate in debate, but were not entitled to vote. Plans were made in

700-489: The Speaker (or, in committee, to the chair) in the event of a tie. The speaker or chair may vote only in order to avoid a deadlock, and traditionally votes so as to maintain the status quo." In this latter example it is interesting to note that the speaker or chair may only vote to break an equality of votes. Under some rules of parliamentary procedure , notably Robert's Rules of Order , the presiding officer does not have

735-486: The Speaker must give the casting vote." Canadian parliamentary authorities reflect the tradition of the casting vote e.g., Bourinot's Rules of Order (1995) "Casting Vote - A single vote (usually the prerogative of the chair) that determines an issue when a vote on the motion has resulted in a tie." (page 14), and the Canadian House of Commons glossery describing the casting vote as "[t]he deciding vote accorded to

SECTION 20

#1732772483491

770-407: The United Kingdom currently. In the remaining provinces and territories, as well as in federal elections , a tie vote results in a by-election held to elect a new member (who need not have been a candidate in the first election). Under UK company legislation , a company whose articles of association before 1 October 2007 included suitable provision, the chair of an annual general meeting of

805-408: The bill the Board of Aldermen would have comprised 45 members with 9 elected from each Senate district via cumulative voting . The Board would have elected its president from its own membership. The Mayor would have had veto power over each ordinance, which the Board could override with a two-thirds vote. Governor John T. Hoffman vetoed the bill, claiming that New York City was too important for

840-616: The chair of a small board withholds that vote until the mind of the house is known, the chair may vote to break or to cause a tie. Some legislatures have abandoned the concept of a casting vote. Some legislatures have a dual approach; for example, in the Australian Parliament : The same arrangements as in Australia exist with respect to the speakers of the Canadian House and Senate . By convention, in both

875-529: The chair to use their rights as members. If a member, not only may the chair debate all questions, but the chair can also vote on all questions: "If the Chairman is a member, he may, without leaving the chair, speak in informal discussions and in debate, and vote on all questions." (RONR 49:21, 7). Informal discussions and motions may even be initiated by the chair (see footnote 4, 49:21). The chair of either small or large boards may only vote once (44:12), but if

910-533: The chamber clandestinely to avoid arrest. The Board of Aldermen under the 1873 act comprised 27 members elected annually, 6 elected at-large and 21 elected from State Senate districts with three from each district. Cumulative voting was limited, with a voter being entitled to vote for up to two aldermen in the district races and up to four aldermen in the at-large race. The Board elected its president from among its membership. When New York City annexed much of its surroundings and assumed its modern form in 1898,

945-432: The experimental nature of the bill's provisions. An act was definitively passed in 1873, abolishing the Board of Assistant Aldermen as of the first Monday of January 1875 (January 4), and thereby making the Common Council unicameral and coterminous with the Board of Aldermen. This was not uncontroversial, supporters of bicameralism arguing that the Board of Assistant Aldermen better represented local interests and served as

980-621: The general election on November 5, 2019. These revisions included the implementation of ranked choice voting beginning in 2021 for New York City municipal elections, the expansion of the powers and size of the New York City Civilian Complaint Review Board , an update to ethics rules for former city officials and members of the New York City Conflicts of Interest Board , changes to the city's annual budget process, and an extension in

1015-500: The number of Community Districts/Boards to 59, established the position of the district manager for the community districts, and created the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) which gave the community boards the authority to review land use proposals such as zoning actions, and special permits. The 2020 revision included 19 ballot proposals, combined into 5 questions, all of which were approved in

1050-400: The possibility of Communist council members being elected. Casting vote A casting vote is a vote that someone may exercise to resolve a tied vote in a deliberative body. A casting vote is typically by the presiding officer of a council, legislative body, committee, etc., and may only be exercised to break a deadlock. Examples of presiding officers who hold casting votes are

1085-546: The same right to vote as any other member of the House if they are a member of the House of Representatives (which they always have been in practice but need not be per the constitution), but to maintain the appearance of impartiality, typically does not do so unless it would make a difference, which is a de facto casting vote. Pursuant to Article I, Section 3, Clause 4 of the United States Constitution ,

New York City Charter - Misplaced Pages Continue

1120-600: The state legislature, with The Brooklyn Eagle comparing the council to "the State Senate ... [as] a superior body." The return to bicameralism proved to be short-lived, however, when a new charter passed in 1901 entailed removing the council and making the President of the Board of Aldermen directly elected by City citizens. This charter entered into effect in January 1902, making the municipal legislature once again unicameral. The new unicameral Board comprised aldermen elected from special districts at one per district,

1155-497: The time allocated to Community Boards and Borough Presidents to review proposed land use changes as part of the ULURP. This article relating to law in the United States or its constituent jurisdictions is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This New York City –related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . New York City Board of Aldermen The New York City Board of Aldermen

1190-564: The vice president's political leanings and affiliations, the vice president's political party is able to serve as the majority party in the Senate and elect one of their own to serve as Majority Leader . In some other legislatures, by contrast, a casting vote can only be exercised according to strict rules or constitutional conventions . For example, the speaker of the British House of Commons (a position whose functions and conventions of operation inspire similar roles in several other nations using

1225-468: Was a body that was the upper house of New York City 's Common Council from 1824 to 1875, the lower house of its Municipal Assembly upon consolidation in 1898 until the charter was amended in 1901 to abolish the Municipal Assembly and its upper house, and its unicameral legislature from 1875 to 1897 and 1902 to 1937. The corresponding lower house was known as the Board of Assistants or

#490509