_______________________________________________
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.
Passed the Senate March 3, 1999.
Passed the House April 8, 1999.
Approved by the Governor
April 22, 1999.
Filed
in Office of Secretary of State April 22, 1999.
