Bill Text: NJ A4145 | 2018-2019 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Permits appointment of nonresident municipal emergency management coordinators in municipalities with populations under 5,000 persons in certain circumstances.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2020-01-06 - Received in the Senate, Referred to Senate Law and Public Safety Committee [A4145 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2018-A4145-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman MILA M. JASEY
District 27 (Essex and Morris)
Assemblyman JOHN F. MCKEON
District 27 (Essex and Morris)
SYNOPSIS
Permits appointment of nonresident municipal emergency management coordinators in municipalities with populations under 5,000 persons in certain circumstances.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning the appointment of municipal emergency management coordinators in certain municipalities and amending P.L.1953, c.438.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 8 of P.L.1953, c.438 (C.App.A:9-40.1) is amended to read as follows:
8. a. In every municipality of this State, the mayor or, in the case of a municipality which has adopted the commission form of government pursuant to the provisions of the "commission form of government law" (R.S.40:70-1 et seq.), the commissioner serving as director of the department to which the responsibility for emergency management has been assigned, shall appoint a municipal emergency management coordinator and, except as otherwise provided in this section, such appointment shall be made from among the residents of the municipality. The municipal emergency management coordinator, subject to fulfilling the requirements of this section, shall serve for a term of three years. As a condition of his appointment and his right to continue for the full term of his appointment, each municipal emergency management coordinator shall have successfully completed at the time of his appointment or within one year immediately following his appointment or the effective date of this act, whichever is later, the current approved Home Study Course and the basic Emergency Management workshop. The failure of any municipal emergency management coordinator to fulfill such requirement within the period prescribed shall disqualify the coordinator from continuing in the office of coordinator and thereupon a vacancy in said office shall be deemed to have been created.
b. The provisions of this section shall not bar a municipality from entering into an agreement pursuant to the "Uniform Shared Services and Consolidation Act," sections 1 through 35 of P.L.2007, c.63 (C.40A:65-1 through C.40A:65-35) to designate (1) a municipal emergency management coordinator to serve two or more municipalities jointly, or (2) the county emergency management coordinator appointed pursuant to section 12 of P.L.1953, c.438 (C.App.A:9-42.1) for the county in which that municipality is located as the municipal emergency management coordinator, subject to approval of the governing body of the county. A municipality entering into such an agreement shall notify the State Emergency Management Coordinator.
c. In a municipality with a population of less than 5,000 persons according to the most recent federal decennial census, the mayor or commissioner, as applicable, may appoint a nonresident, who is a resident of the county in which the municipality is located, as the municipal emergency management coordinator if a qualified resident of the municipality cannot be recruited.
(cf: P.L.2013, c.57, s.1)
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill would allow a municipality with a population under 5,000 persons to appoint a nonresident as its municipal emergency management coordinator if a qualified resident cannot be recruited. The appointee would have to be a resident of the applicable county. Current law requires these coordinators to be municipal residents unless the municipality participates in a shared service agreement. In a municipality with a smaller population, however, it may be difficult to recruit a person who is sufficiently qualified to serve effectively in this critical role and entering into a shared service arrangement with another municipality or the applicable county may not present the optimal solution. This bill would provide these municipalities with the flexibility to appoint nonresidents to serve in this capacity if a qualified resident cannot be recruited.
