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Trustee/Mayor Onboarding

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Working document2025-03-10
Original file not available online (local: data/sources/village_docs/doc_2643.pdf)View version history →Meeting on 2025-03-10 →

Trustee/Mayor Onboarding Village of Red Hook

Welcome to service as an elected official of the Village of Red Hook. Thank you for your dedication and commitment to your Village.

Oath of Office

  • You must submit an oath of office to the Village Clerk within 30-days of your election/appointment. If an oath of office is not given to or received by the Village Clerk within this timeframe, your election is nullified and the seat is considered vacant.

Board of Trustee Meetings

  • There are two regular meetings per month held in the Village Hall Courtroom – typically the second and fourth Monday at 6PM (voucher review begins at 6PM, general business at 6:30PM). The first meeting of the month is a more formal Board meeting that is recorded by PANDA (cable access channel), and the second is a less formal workshop meeting.

    • The annual meeting schedule is set at the reorganization meeting in April. Meeting dates may need to be altered due to holidays or other scheduling issues.

    • Special and emergency meetings may be called as needed. These meeting must follow open meetings law rules.

  • The Village Clerk and the Mayor should be notified if you will not be attending a meeting as soon as possible.

  • The Village Clerk should be notified of agenda topics in accordance with the “ Guidelines for ”

  • Village of Red Hook Board Meetings .

  • Monthly reports should be submitted to Village Clerk by the Wednesday prior to the Monday formal Board Meeting.

  • The Village Clerk will prepare a binder of meeting materials prior to each meeting and place it in each official ’ s physical mailbox (typically Friday mornings). Please empty your binder of meeting materials after each meeting. Any materials left in the binder will be recycled.

  • Elected Officials will use Village owned Chromebooks to participate in hybrid (Zoom) Board meetings (all first Monday board meeting of the month and some workshop meetings). You must have the camera turned on and your name shown.

  • Auditing and approving vouchers before approving payment is an important part of the Board ’ s responsibility to ensure tax dollars are spent efficiently and that all purchases are: (1) Authorized, (2) Adequately supported, (3) Mathematically correct, and (4) Valid & legal expenditures. A board ’ s claims audit should also verify the availability of budget appropriations prior to authorizing a purchase.

    • Trustees should approve claims by signing or initialing each individual voucher packet and/or an abstract of audited claims.

    • Village vouchers for pending bills will be available to Trustees prior to each meeting for review and audit. Trustees must review and approve all vouchers at the meeting (unless otherwise instructed by the Treasurer). Trustees should note any questions or concerns (via post-it) on each voucher/bill so that the Treasurer can respond or address.

    • Refer to “ Reviewing Vouchers ” document in your meeting binder for more information.

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  • Executive Session Rules: see below and in https://www.abo.ny.gov/policyguidance/0901ExecutiveSession.pdf

  • Meeting minutes are taken by the Clerk and accepted by the Board. Minutes must consist of a record of attendance, all motions, proposals, resolutions, and any other matter formally voted upon and the vote thereon. As recommended by NYCOM, meeting minutes are not verbatim.

Open Meetings Law (https://opengovernment.ny.gov/open-meetings-law)

  • A gathering of three or more elected officials where Village business is discussed is considered a public meeting and must follow NYS Open Meeting Law.

    • It ’ s ok to be at the same party, just not to huddle in the corner and talk Village business.

  • All Village Committees must follow open meetings law. All meetings dates must appear on the Village ’ s calendar. Contact the Village Clerk to reserve a Village meeting space and place dates ’

  • on the Village s web calendar.

  • Executive Session can only be entered for permissible reasons. Those reason(s) must be described to the public and noted in the meeting minutes.

    • matters which will imperil the public safety if disclosed;

    • any matter which may disclose the identity of a law enforcement agent or informer;

    • information relating to current or future investigation or prosecution of a criminal offense which would imperil effective law enforcement if disclosed;

    • discussions regarding proposed, pending or current litigation;

    • collective negotiations pursuant to article fourteen of the civil service law;

    • the medical, financial, credit or employment history of a particular person or corporation, or matters leading to the appointment, employment, promotion, demotion, discipline, suspension, dismissal or removal of a particular person or corporation;

    • the preparation, grading or administration of examinations; and

    • the proposed acquisition, sale or lease of real property or the proposed acquisition of securities, or sale or exchange of securities held by such public body, but only when publicity would substantially affect the value thereof.

Village Mailbox, Email, and General Communications

  • Each elected official is assigned a physical mailbox at Village Hall and an official Village email. Do not conduct Village business via your personal email. As a municipal official, all of your communications are subject to the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL); therefore, if you conduct official business on your personal email, all of the communications of that address are subject to FOIL. The same holds true for texts via your personal cell phone and posts via your social media pages.

  • All emails (of substance) with constituents and between board members shall be retained/archived for potential future FOIL requests. You do not need to retain all emails – feel free to delete “ junk ” mail and emails announcing events or other general information.

  • E-mail communications are permitted both between Trustees one-to-one and as an entire board but you must be mindful of the nature of the communication and how it is guided by Open Meetings Law. Communications about scheduling a meeting, asking for help, or sharing information and research on a topic is okay. However, deliberating a topic in order to build

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consensus for a future vote or expenditure is not. Voting or discussing how you will vote via ‘ ’ email is a hard no .

Village Hall Hours

  • Village Hall is unlocked 11AM - 4PM, Monday – Friday. The Village Clerk will provide a key FOB to use outside of those hours. Notify the Clerk immediately if you lose your key FOB.

  • When using Village spaces, please turn off all lights, return heat/air conditioning to the temperature you found it, return chairs and tables to their original positions, and clean up all litter and debris.

  • The Village Hall alarm system is active when Police Officers are off duty, typically 12AM - 8AM.

Annual Trainings

  • Every Village official, employee, professional service provider, and volunteer must complete five (5) NYS required trainings each calendar year. The trainings include: NYS Harassment & Discrimination, Workplace Violence Prevention, Hazard Communications the New GHS Standards (Right to Know), Bloodborne Pathogens, and Cyber Security.

  • If you take these trainings for another employer or volunteer organization, you do not need to take a training more than once per year. Email your certificate of completion to the Village ’ s Human Resources staff.

Payroll Information

  • Trustees are employees of the Village and paid a salary as set by the Village budget. Paychecks are biweekly, every other Wednesday, and employees may choose direct deposit or paper check.

Retirement Plans

  • New York State Local Retirement Systems (NYSLRS)

  • New York State Deferred Compensation Plan

    • A voluntary 457 plan similar to a 401k/403b

Resources:

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