In a complaint and a counterclaim a declaratory judgment was sought, together with certain incidental relief, determining whether John Blake was lеgally appointed as clerk of the board of assessors of the city of Ansonia. Questions as to appointments to other offices, in part decided in the court below, have become moot as a result of subsequent events. This appeal by certain of the defendants is prosеcuted only as to that portion of the judgment declaring that Blake was the legally appointed clerk of the board of assessors.
The faеts are not in dispute. The defendant members of the board of aldermen were elected for a term of two years beginning December 1,1956. The defendant Doyle was elected as mayor for the same term. He had been the clerk of the board of assessors for several years. At a meeting of the board on *614 November 27, 1956, Ms resignation as clerk was accepted effective November 30, and Blake was appointed as clеrk in Ms stead. The appointment was filed with Paul E. Schumacher, town and city clerk of Ansorna, on December 8, 1956, more than forty-eight hours before the next mеeting of the board of aldermen of the city, to be held on December 10, 1956. TMs meeting was adjourned to December 17 without action having been taken on the Blake appointment. At the adjourned session, the Blake appointment was tabled. Pinal adjournment took place at the close of the meeting. At the next meeting of the board of aldermen, held on January 14, 1957, the Blake appointment was taken from the table and rejected.
The decision of the case turns on the proper interpretation of the language employed in §§ 73 1 and 9 2 of the Ansorna charter. 20 Spec. Laws 488, § 1; *615 14 id. 732, § 3. The board of aldermen failed tо confirm or reject the Blake appointment at either the meeting of December 10 or the adjourned session of that meeting on Decеmber 17. Even purported rejection did not take place until the next regular meeting, held on January 14. The sole question is the effect on Blake’s appointment of the failure of the board of aldermen either to confirm or reject it within the time prescribed by the charter.
In the first placе, § 73 of the charter provides that the board of assessors shall “appoint” a clerk and that this appointment “shall be subject to apprоval by the board of aldermen.” This portion of the charter does not provide for a nomination of a candidate for approval and appointment by the board of aldermen. Rather, it provides for an appointment to office by the board of assessors. While § 73 in effect provides that the board of aldermen shall either confirm or reject the appointment, it is obvious that the real power is the power of rejection. This is so because the action of the board of assessors is an appointment and not a nomination. The appointment can be defeated by a condition subsequent, that is, its rejection by the board of aider-men in accordance with the terms of the charter. The provision in § 9 with respect to nominations made by the mayor is entirely different. It is there provided that he shall nominate, not appoint, certain officers and boards, and that his nominations shall be confirmed or rejected by the board of aider-men. The distinction between “appoint” and “nomi
*616
nate” is significant, even though it was lost sight of by the draftsman in the sentence of § 73 last quoted in footnote 1. See
State ex rel. Barlow
v.
Kaminsky,
In the second place, the language of § 9 dirеcts that the board of aldermen “shall,” not “may,” confirm or reject “at its next meeting.” In other words, mandatory, as distinguished from permissive, language is used, and this applies not only to the duty to act but to the time within which that duty is to be performed.
State ex rel. Foote
v.
Bartholomew,
It follows that the appointmеnt of Blake became final and beyond the power of defeat by any action of the board of aldermen upon its failure to reject the appointment within the time provided in the charter. See
State ex rel. Morris
v.
Bulkeley,
There is nothing in two Connecticut cases relied upon by the defendants which militates against this result. In
State ex rel. Hendrick
v.
Keating,
There is no error.
In this opinion the other judges concurred.
Notes
“See. 73. ... The board of assessors . . . shall appoint a clerk of said board, who shall hold office during the term of his appointment, which . . . shall be for not less than two nor more than six yeаrs as shall be determined by said board. . . . The appointment of said elerk . . . shall be subject to approval by the board of aider-men in the same manner that appointments made by the mayor . . . are subject to approval by said board of aldermen.”
“See. 9. The mayor shall, within ten days after his quаlification, and at least forty-eight hours prior to a regular meeting of the board of aldermen, or a special meeting . . . called for that рurpose, file with the city elerk the nominations of . . . [certain designated] officers . . . and said nominations shall be confirmed or rejected separately and individually by said board of aldermen at its next meeting after they are made. In the event of any nominations being rejected by said board, the mаyor shall, at least forty-eight hours before the next regular meeting of said board, or a special meeting of said board duly called for that purpose, file with the city elerk nominations of other persons in the place of those rejected, unless otherwise provided for in this aet; and in the event of further rejections, shall continue to file nominations in the manner and form as aforesaid, and of other persons in place of thоse rejected, until all of . . . [such] offices . . . shall be confirmed [sic] and filled. In the event *615 of the neglect or refusal of the mayor to file said nominations as hereinbefore provided, the board of aldermen at its next regular meeting, or a special meeting duly called for that purpose, may fill the vacant offices . . . and confirm other persons in the place of those previously rejected . . . .”