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Opinion Affirms Board Chair’s

Right To Name Committee Chairs

COOPERSTOWN – County Attorney Ellen Coccoma today released her opinion sought by county representatives to settle a dispute on naming county Board of Representatives’ committees, and she affirms the status quo.

“The board chair has the authority to appoint committee chairs and …  a committee does not have the authority to choose its own chair,” the county attorney concluded.

Last week, two committees – Health & Education and Performance Review – voted on their chairs after county Rep. David Bliss, R-Cooperstown/Otsego, suggested that, since that board chair power is not specifically designated in the board’s bylaws,  it should be governed by Robert’s Rules of Order, which enables committees to elected the chairs.

“While neither board rules nor county law specifically state that the board chair has the authority to appoint committee chairs, the board has the power to interpret its own rules, including by custom and practice,” Coccoma wrote. “By virtue of the longstanding practice of and the representatives’ acquiescence to committee chair appointments by the chair, the board has effectively interpreted its rules to authorize the board chair.”

Because of separation of powers, courts “rarely intervene” in matters of legislative bodies, she said.

The board naming committee chairs became disputed, in part, because Kathy Clark, R-Otego, the current chair, removed county Rep. Len Carson, R-Oneonta, from chairmanship of the Public Safety & Legal Affairs Committee after he challenged her for the board chairmanship at the reorganizational meeting on Jan. 4.