This section sets how the harbor district board is formed, how vacancies are filled, and limits board members to policy-making rather than day-to-day operations.
§202. Lake Charles Harbor and Terminal District; ratification; board of commissioners; members; officers; agents; and employees A.(1) The governing authority of the district shall be a board of commissioners which shall be known as the Board of Commissioners of the Lake Charles Harbor and Terminal District. The board shall consist of seven members who shall be citizens of the United States and qualified voters, and inhabitants of this district during their terms of office. (2) The governor shall appoint seven commissioners, subject to Senate confirmation. Effective August 1, 2015, commissioners shall serve staggered terms of four years, which begin on August first of the appointment year and expire on July thirty-first in the fourth year following the appointment year, and shall be appointed from nominations as follows: (a) One member, designated as Position A, shall be appointed from a list of three nominees submitted by the governing authority of the city of Westlake. (b) One member, designated as Position B, shall be appointed from a list of three nominees submitted by the governing authority of Cameron Parish. (c) One member, designated as Position C, shall be appointed from a list of three nominees submitted by the governing authority of the city of Lake Charles. (d) One member, designated as Position D, shall be appointed from a list of three nominees submitted by the governing authority of Calcasieu Parish. (e) Three members, designated as positions E, F, and G, shall be appointed from a list of nominees submitted jointly by the state legislators who represent any part of the district. (3) Effective August 1, 2014, any vacancy whether by reason of death, resignation, expiration of term, or any other cause in the membership of the board shall be filled for the remainder of any unexpired term, in the same manner as provided in Paragraph (2) of this Subsection. Not later than ten calendar days after the occurrence of a vacancy on the board for any cause, the president or other presiding officer of the board shall send notice of the vacancy by registered or certified United States mail to the appropriate nominating authority. The nominating authority shall submit its nominations to the governor no later than sixty calendar days after occurrence of the vacancy. If a nominating authority fails to submit nominations to the governor within one hundred twenty calendar days after occurrence of the vacancy, the governor shall forthwith make an appointment to fill the vacancy. (4) Nominations from the legislative delegation for positions E, F, and G and appointments by the governor from those nominations shall be made so that the composition of the board includes at least two members of a racial minority or one member of a racial minority and one woman. (5) No member shall serve more than two and one-half terms in three consecutive terms. After having served at least two and one-half terms in three consecutive terms, a commissioner shall not be eligible for appointment to the board for a period of twelve years after completion of that service on the board. (6) Members shall continue to serve until their successors have been appointed and take office. B. Any commissioner may be removed by the governor but only for cause, including but not limited to a violation of Subsection D of this Section, and on charges preferred against him in writing and after public hearing and proof of the sufficiency of such charges. Any commissioner so removed shall have the right to test in the courts the sufficiency of the charges and of the evidence tendered in support thereof. C. The commissioners shall serve without compensation. D. The commission shall be responsible for establishing broad, directional policies of the district and may take only such action which is in accordance with powers and authorities established in this Part or otherwise as authorized by state or federal law. Neither the board of commissioners nor any individual member thereof shall conduct day-to-day business and operational affairs of the district nor shall any individual member direct or attempt to direct the day-to-day operational decisions of the port director or any other employee of the district. Amended by Acts 1964, No. 401, §1; Acts 1975, No. 102, §1; Acts 1975, No. 789, §2; Acts 1980, No. 370, §1; Acts 1984, No. 798, §1, eff. July 13, 1984; Acts 1988, No. 351, §1, eff. Sept. 15, 1988; Acts 2003, No. 149, §1, eff. May 29, 2003; Acts 2014, No. 485, §1. NOTE: See Acts 2003, No. 149, §2 and Acts 2014, No. 485, §2, relative to appointment and terms of members.