Appointment, qualifications, and tenure of commissioners; hiring of employees.

(1) When the governing body of a city adopts a resolution as aforesaid, the mayor, with the approval of the governing body, shall promptly appoint no fewer than five persons, and no more than seven persons, as commissioners of the authority created for such city. Three of the commissioners who are first appointed shall be designated to serve for terms of 1, 2, and 3 years respectively; the remaining commissioners shall be designated to serve for terms of 4 years each, from the date of their appointment. Thereafter, each commissioner shall be appointed as aforesaid for a term of office of 4 years, except that a vacancy shall be filled for the unexpired term by an appointment by the mayor with the approval of the governing body within 60 days after such vacancy occurs. Each housing authority created pursuant to this chapter shall have at least one commissioner who shall be a resident who is current in rent in a housing project or a person of low or very low income who resides within the housing authority’s jurisdiction and is receiving rent subsidy through a program administered by the authority or public housing agency that has jurisdiction for the same locality served by the housing authority, which commissioner shall be appointed at the time a vacancy exists. In the case of an authority which has no completed project, no tenant-commissioner shall be appointed until 10 percent of the units in the first project of the authority have been occupied. The cessation of a tenant-commissioner’s tenancy in a housing project or the cessation of rent subsidy shall remove such tenant-commissioner from office, and another person meeting the qualifications required for the office shall be appointed for the unexpired portion of the term. After all reasonable efforts have been made and documented, if the commissioners find that no housing project resident or rent subsidy recipient is available to serve as a tenant-commissioner, the existing vacancy shall then be filled through the normal appointment procedures set forth in this subsection. However, such normal appointment shall not preclude the requirement to exercise diligence in all succeeding vacancies to attempt to first appoint a tenant-commissioner until at least one tenant-commissioner has been appointed. No commissioner of an authority may be an officer or employee of the city for which the authority is created. A commissioner shall hold office until a successor has been appointed and has qualified. 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 but shall be entitled to the necessary expenses, including travel expenses, incurred in the discharge of his or her duties. The requirements of this subsection with respect to the number of commissioners of a housing authority apply without regard to the date on which the housing authority was created.

(2) The powers of each authority shall be vested in the commissioners thereof in office from time to time. A majority of the 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 require a larger number. The mayor with the concurrence of the governing body shall designate the first chair from among the appointed commissioners, but when the office of the chair of the authority thereafter becomes vacant, the authority shall select a chair from among the commissioners. An authority shall also select from among the commissioners a vice chair, and it may employ a secretary, who shall be the 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. Accordingly, authorities are exempt from s. 215.425. An authority may call upon the chief law officer of the city or may employ its own counsel and legal staff for legal services. An authority may delegate to one or more of its agents or employees such powers or duties as it may deem proper.

(3) Notwithstanding the limitation contained in subsection (1) on the number of commissioners of a housing authority, any housing authority that has more than seven commissioners on March 28, 1991, may maintain the same number of commissioners it had on March 28, 1991.