The Judge Report - July 6th, 2009

For the first few days of this week, I attended the NYCOM (New York State Conference of Mayors) Annual Meeting in Saratoga. Three-hundred-fifty experienced and brilliant mayors from north, south, east and west attended. We were treated to various workshops and forums about finance, operations, legislative action, ethics, and economic development. It was enlightening and inspiring. I came away with this:

1. integrity and faith above all else;
2. do the right thing (not the political thing);
3. don’t let people get you down; and
4. our reputation in this State is in dire need of protecting. 

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I attended several of these events myself in recent years. I came away with this:

1. How to properly conduct a meeting of your municipal legislature;

2. Requirements of the Open Meetings Law and Freedom of Information Law;

3. Powers and duties of Zoning Board of Appeals and Planning Commissions and recent developments in Land Use law;

4. Requirements for adoption of Local Laws;

5. Helpful hints on employee relations and disciplinary proceedings;

6. How to protect your city against sexual harassment and discrimination proceedings;

7. Method and process of dissolving a municipal unit;

8. Proper and improper uses of fund balance and how to set up accounts for the use of same.

And a few other things. I guess they must have dumbed down the curriculum since then.