_______________________________________________
SENATE
BILL 5156
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Passed
Legislature - 1999 Regular Session
State of Washington 56th
Legislature 1999 Regular Session
By
Read first time 01/14/1999.
Referred to Committee on Commerce, Trade, Housing & Financial Institutions.
Amending
housing authority law.
AN
ACT Relating to voluntary expansion of local housing authority boards of
commissioners to comply with federal law; and amending RCW 35.82.040.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE
LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec.
1. RCW
35.82.040 and 1998 c 140 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
Except
as provided in RCW 35.82.045, when the governing body of a city adopts a
resolution declaring that there is a need for a housing authority, it shall
promptly notify the mayor of such adoption. Upon receiving such notice, the
mayor shall appoint five persons as commissioners of the authority created for
the city. When the governing body of a county adopts a resolution declaring
that there is a need for a housing authority, it shall appoint five persons as
commissioners of the authority created for the county. The commissioners who
are first appointed shall be designated to serve for terms of one, two, three,
four and five years, respectively, from the date of their appointment, but
thereafter commissioners shall be appointed for a term of office of five years
except that all vacancies shall be filled for the unexpired term. No
commissioner of an authority may be an officer or employee of the city or
county for which the authority is created, unless the commissioner is an
employee of a separately elected county official other than the county
governing body in a county with a population of less than one hundred
seventy-five thousand as of the 1990 federal census, and the total government
employment in that county exceeds forty percent of total employment. A
commissioner shall hold office until a successor has been appointed and has
qualified, unless sooner removed according to this chapter. A certificate of
the appointment or reappointment of any commissioner shall be filed with the
clerk and such certificate shall be conclusive evidence of the due and proper
appointment of such commissioner. A commissioner shall receive no compensation
for his or her services for the authority, in any capacity, but he or she shall
be entitled to the necessary expenses, including traveling expenses, incurred
in the discharge of his or her duties.
The
powers of each authority shall be vested in the commissioners thereof in office
from time to time. Except as provided in RCW 35.82.045, three commissioners
shall constitute a quorum of the authority for the purpose of conducting its
business and exercising its powers and for all other purposes. Action may be
taken by the authority upon a vote of a majority of the commissioners present,
unless in any case the bylaws of the authority shall require a larger number.
The mayor (or in the case of an authority for a county, the governing body of
the county) shall designate which of the commissioners appointed shall be the
first chair of the commission and he or she shall serve in the capacity of
chair until the expiration of his or her term of office as commissioner. When
the office of the chair of the authority becomes vacant, the authority shall select
a chair from among its commissioners. An authority shall select from among its
commissioners a vice-chair, and it may employ a secretary (who shall be
executive director), technical experts and such other officers, agents and
employees, permanent and temporary, as it may require, and shall determine
their qualifications, duties and compensation. For such legal services as it
may require, an authority may call upon the chief law officer of the city or
the county or may employ its own counsel and legal staff. An authority may
delegate to one or more of its agents or employees such powers or duties as it
may deem proper.
If federal law requires that the membership of the board of
commissioners of a local authority contains one member who is directly assisted
by the authority, the board may by resolution temporarily or permanently
increase its size to six members. The board may determine the length of the
term of the position filled by a directly assisted member. A person appointed
to such a position may serve in that position only as long as he or she is
directly assisted by the authority.
