§ 6–211(Perm). Board of Commissioners.

(a) The powers of the Authority shall be vested in the Board. The Board shall consist of 13 voting Commissioners, to be appointed as follows:

(1) Four public Commissioners, nominated by the Mayor, with the advice and consent of the Council by resolution;

(2) Three resident Commissioners who shall be elected in an election held in, and for certain residents of, the Authority’s Housing Properties;

(2A) One housing choice voucher program recipient Commissioner, nominated by the Mayor, with the advice and consent of the Council by resolution;

(3) One ex officio Commissioner, the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development;

(4) One Commissioner who shall be a labor representative named by the central labor council, except that the Commissioner shall not be an employee of the Authority;

(5) One Commissioner who shall be a housing advocacy representative named by the D.C. Consortium of Legal Services Providers, except that the Commissioner shall not be an employee of the Authority; and

(6) Two Commissioners, who shall not be employees of the Authority, one nominated by the Mayor, with the advice and consent of the Council by resolution, and one appointed by the Council, who shall be representatives with professional experience designing and developing public and private multi-family housing and who shall:

(A) Have demonstrated professional competence in at least one of the following areas:

(i) Public housing law and regulations;

(ii) Public or affordable housing development, operation, and management;

(iii) Subsidized or nonprofit housing production and development;

(iv) Community-based redevelopment;

(v) Legal or counseling services provided to public or affordable housing tenants for the purposes of obtaining or maintaining housing; or

(vi) Multifamily residential housing construction; and

(B) Not be an officer or employee of the federal government or the District government.

(b) Those persons nominated by the Mayor pursuant to subsection (a)(1) and (a)(6) of this section or appointed by the Council pursuant to subsection (a)(6) of this section shall meet the following requirements:

(1) Each Commissioner's appointment may be recommended by official action of the Executive Director; or

(2) Each Commissioner shall be selected from among District residents; provided, that each meets the other criteria indicated in subsections (c) and (d) of this section.

(c) In addition to the requirements of subsections (b) and (d) of this section, each person nominated by the Mayor or recommended by the Executive Director shall be an individual who:

(1) Has demonstrated knowledge of, and competence in, corporate governance; public housing law and regulations; real estate and construction; public housing development, operation, and management; subsidized or nonprofit housing production and development; multi-family housing development or management; business finance and investment; community-based redevelopment policies or activities; public management or administration; personnel or procurement administration; municipal finance or law; or philanthropy and social services; and

(2) Is not an officer or employee of the federal government or the District government.

(d) All Commissioners, at time of appointment, shall be residents of the District of Columbia and shall remain residents throughout the term of the appointment.

(e) The Mayor shall transmit resolutions for the appointments of the 4 public Commissioners to the Council within 90 days of May 9, 2000.

(f) The ex-officio Commissioner shall serve by virtue of his or her incumbency in a District government office.

(g) A vacancy on the Board shall be filled in the same manner in which the original appointment was made.

(h)(1) Within 60 days after a Commissioner's appointment and on an annual basis thereafter, each Commissioner shall complete training offered by or in connection with HUD covering the following topics:

(A) The role of a public housing agency board;

(B) Ethics for public housing agencies and board members or commissioners;

(C) Background on major housing authority programs, including but not limited to public housing, the Housing Choice Voucher Program, and the rental assistance demonstration;

(D) Fair housing and reasonable accommodations;

(E) Public housing authority budgets, financial oversight, and financial reporting; and

(F) Federal procurement requirements.

(2) Within 90 days after a Commissioner's appointment and on an annual basis thereafter, each Commissioner shall complete training offered by or in connection with HUD covering the following topics:

(A) Public housing authority performance monitoring and risk management;

(B) HUD reporting requirements;

(D) Objectives and requirements of HUD's Moving to Work program; and

(E) Resident opportunity, including HUD's Section 3 requirements for economic and employment opportunities.

(3) In addition to the training required in paragraphs (1) and (2) of this subsection, each Commissioner shall spend at least 4 hours per quarter in training or educational seminars on corporate governance, public housing law and regulations, federal or local language access guidelines, labor and personnel, real estate and construction, or other subjects related to public housing development, operation, and management, the maximum reimbursable cost of which shall be established by the Board and paid by the Authority.

(4) The Board shall monitor Commissioners' compliance with the training requirements of this subsection and provide a Commissioner a warning notice if the Commissioner is out of compliance with the requirements.

(5) If a Commissioner has not completed the training requirements within 15 days after the conclusion of the timeline specified in the applicable paragraph in this subsection, the Commissioner shall be automatically suspended until the Commissioner demonstrates compliance with this subsection or is removed by the Board for noncompliance.

(6) For purposes of this subsection, the term "Commissioner" means a member of the Board.

(i) The elected Commissioners shall be public housing residents, one of whom shall be a resident of, and elected by, the residents of General Population Housing and one of whom shall be a resident of, and elected by, the residents of Mixed Population Housing. No candidate shall be eligible to run for the position of Commissioner unless then in full compliance with his or her lease with the Authority. The Authority shall hold the first election for these 3 seats no later than 180 days after May 9, 2000, in accordance with the provisions hereinafter set forth, and shall provide the names of the elected candidates to the Mayor as soon as practicable thereafter. Each elected Commissioner shall remain on the Board only if he or she continues to reside in public housing in the District.

(j)(1) The Commissioners shall serve 3-year terms, which shall be staggered.

(2) On the initial Board, the 3 elected Commissioners shall each serve a term of 3 years, the Chairperson shall serve a term of 3 years, 2 of the appointed Commissioners shall each serve initial terms of 2 years, and the remaining Commissioners shall each serve a term of one year.

(3) The 2 Commissioners appointed by the Council shall serve 3-year terms: except, that their initial terms may be less than 3 years and shall end in 2024.

(k)(1) The initial elections for the 3 elected Commissioners shall be conducted in accordance with rules and procedures established by the Receiver. Thereafter, elections shall be conducted in accordance with rules and procedures established by the Board, and shall be held no sooner than 5 months and no later than 2 months prior to the expiration of the then current 3-year term. All elections shall be held under the supervision of an independent expert in election monitoring, to be selected by the Receiver for the initial election and thereafter by the Board.

(2) The results of each election shall be retained until the elected Commissioners begin their term pursuant to the next scheduled election. If one of the elected Commissioners becomes unable to serve or is removed from the Board as hereinafter provided, that Commissioner’s seat for the remaining term shall be filled as follows:

(A) If the remaining term is less than 180 days, a new Commissioner shall be appointed by the City-Wide Resident Council Advisory Board; or

(B) If the remaining term is 180 days or more, a special election shall be held in accordance with the procedures established under paragraph (1) of this subsection.

(l) Each vacancy in an unexpired term of an appointed Commissioner shall be filled by appointment within no more than 90 days of the vacancy in the same manner as the appointment was made, and shall be for the duration of the unexpired term.

(m) The Mayor shall designate one of his or her 4 nominees nominated pursuant to subsection (a)(1) of this section as Chairperson. The ex officio Commissioner shall not be appointed as Chairperson. The Chairperson shall conduct the meetings of the Board in accordance with procedures established by the Board.

(n) The Commissioners may select a Vice Chairperson from among themselves, with a term and functions to be determined by them.

(o) Resident Commissioners shall not be in violation or default of their lease obligations to the Authority. Any such violation or default, and failure to cure the same, if available, within the applicable period of time after notice, shall be cause for a resident Commissioner’s removal from the Board. In addition, subject to a final determination through the applicable grievance or other procedure, (which shall include notice of the charges against the resident Commissioner and an opportunity to be heard in person or by counsel in his defense), a resident Commissioner’s eviction or voluntary departure from the Authority’s Housing Properties, shall be cause for removal from the Board. During the pendency of any action against a resident Commissioner, the Commissioner may be suspended.

(p) No Commissioner shall have any past due taxes, special assessments, or other charges owing to the District. Failure to timely pay any such amounts due, or to pay overdue taxes, assessments, or other District charges after demand therefor and after a final determination pursuant to the applicable grievance or other procedure, (which shall include notice of the charges against the elected Commissioner and an opportunity to be heard in person or by counsel in his defense), shall be cause for a Commissioner’s removal from the Board.

(q) Other than the ex officio Commissioner and the labor representative who is a Commissioner, no person shall serve as a Commissioner who is an employee of the Authority or of the District government; a member of any District board or commission (including those that are purely advisory, except for Advisory Neighborhood Commissions); a spouse or domestic partner of the head of a District department or agency; a spouse or domestic partner of an Authority employee; a spouse or domestic partner of an elected official; or a parent or child of any of the above persons.

(r) No Commissioner may be held personally liable for any action taken in accordance with, and in furtherance of, his or her official duties and responsibilities as set forth in this chapter.

(s) Commissioners shall be entitled to compensation as provided in § 1-611.08.

(t) The Board may, by majority vote, remove any Commissioner for official misconduct, conflict of interest violations, neglect of duty, incompetence, or personal misconduct, but only after the Commissioner shall have been given a copy of the charges and an opportunity to answer those charges in accordance with a procedure established in the by-laws or other rules of the Board. The Chairperson shall suspend a Commissioner pending the Board’s consideration of the charges. If the Chairperson is the Commissioner against whom charges have been made, the Mayor shall suspend the Chairperson pending such consideration.

(u) The Board may, by majority vote, require that any Commissioner or Executive Director resolve conflict of interest violations by public disclosure of the conflict of interest and recusal from the decision-making process involving the conflict, divestiture, or any other manner that does not violate local or federal law.

(v) In addition to those powers conferred elsewhere in this chapter, the Board is charged with the duty to govern all the affairs of the Authority and shall have all powers necessary or appropriate to carry out the purposes of this chapter, including the following:

(1) To review and approve all contracts for goods or services having a value of more than $250,000;

(2) To make and implement rules, by-laws, and policies and regulations necessary or appropriate for the effective administration of the Authority and the fulfillment of the purposes of this chapter;

(3) To promulgate rules and procedures for the election of the elected Commissioners, and to conduct such elections;

(4) To evaluate the Executive Director’s job performance from time to time; and

(5) To perform such other functions as are needed to ensure the provision of quality services to the residents of the Housing Properties.

(w) The Board shall meet regularly at least 10 times each calendar year. All meetings of the Board shall be conducted in public after publication of notice of the date, time, and location of the meeting, at least one week prior thereto, in the District of Columbia Register. Each meeting shall provide for a period for public comments, which shall not be limited in time, except that the time allowed each individual speaker may be reasonably limited. To allow the Board to meet and entertain any proposed action, there must be a quorum present, which shall consist of 5 Commissioners. The public notice requirement of this subsection shall not preclude the holding of an emergency meeting of the Board if the meeting is deemed by the Chairperson to be necessary. If a proposed action concerns a personnel matter, a claim or contract in negotiation, or some other matter of a sensitive nature, the Board may adjourn its public session to discuss the matter in an executive session, but must return to its public session to vote on the matter.

(May 9, 2000, D.C. Law 13-105, § 12, 47 DCR 1325; Apr. 12, 2005, D.C. Law 15-337, § 2(c), 52 DCR 2278; Sept. 12, 2008, D.C. Law 17-231, § 15(b), 55 DCR 6758; Mar. 23, 2010, D.C. Law 18-131, § 2, 57 DCR 1193; Mar. 31, 2011, D.C. Law 18-334, § 2, 58 DCR 30; May 2, 2015, D.C. Law 20-271, § 254(b), 62 DCR 1884; Nov. 13, 2021, D.C. Law 24-45, § 2162, 68 DCR 10163; Sept. 6, 2023, D.C. Law 25-50, § 2132(b), 70 DCR 10366.)

Section References

This section is referenced in § 1-523.01.

Effect of Amendments

D.C. Law 15-337, in subsec. (q), substituted “(including those that are purely advisory, except for Advisory Neighborhood Commissions)” for “(including those that are purely advisory)”; rewrote subsec. (s); and rewrote the first three sentences of subsec. (w) which had read: “The Board shall meet at least once each month. All meetings of the Board shall be conducted in public after publication of notice of the date, time, and location of the meeting, at least one week prior thereto, in the District of Columbia Register. Each meeting shall commence with a period for public comments, which shall not be limited in time, except that the time allowed each individual speaker may be reasonably limited.” Prior to amendment, subsec. (s) read as follows: “(s) Each Commissioner shall be entitled to compensation at the hourly rate of $25 per meeting, not to exceed $3,000 for each board member per year; provided, that each Commissioner shall be entitled to reimbursement of actual travel and other expenses reasonably related to the Commissioner’s attendance at Board meetings and fulfillment of official duties.”

D.C. Law 17-231, in subsec. (q), substituted “spouse or domestic partner” for “spouse”.

D.C. Law 18-131, in subsec. (a), substituted “11” for “9” in the lead in language, added pars. (2A) and (5), deleted “; and” from the end of par. (3), and substituted “; and” for a period at the end of par. (4); in subsec. (b), inserted “pursuant to subsection (a)(1) of this section”; in subsec. (m), inserted “nominated pursuant to subsection (a)(1) of this section”; and, in subsec. (l), substituted “Elected” for “Resident”, “a resident” for “an elected”, and “the resident” for “the elected”.

D.C. Law 18-334, in subsec. (a)(2A), substituted “housing choice voucher program recipient” for “recipient”.

The 2015 amendment by D.C. Law 20-271 substituted “Executive Director” for “Advisory Committee” in (b)(1) and (c); and rewrote (s).

Emergency Legislation

For temporary (90-day) addition of section, see notes following § 6-201.

For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 254(b) of the New Columbia Statehood Initiative, Omnibus Boards and Commissions, and Election Transition Reform Congressional Review Emergency Amendment Act of 2015 (D.C. Act 21-7, Feb. 26, 2015, 62 DCR 2646, 21 STAT 807).

For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 254(b) of the New Columbia Statehood Initiative, Omnibus Boards and Commissions, and Election Transition Reform Emergency Amendment Act of 2014 (D.C. Act 20-481, Nov. 18, 2014, 61 DCR 12133, 20 STAT 4405).