§ 15 — Executive officers; committees; meetings; rules and records; expenses

Section 15. The commission shall elect annually at its meeting held in the month of June by and from its members a chairman, a vice-chairman, a secretary and a treasurer, each of whom shall hold office until his successor is elected and qualified. The commission shall from time to time fill any vacancy in such an office for the unexpired term thereof.The immediate past chairman shall be an officer ex-officio.The commission may also elect an assistant treasurer who may exercise all the powers and duties of the treasurer in the absence of the treasurer.The commission shall meet during the months of February, April, June and October and at such other times as the commission shall determine.The commission shall establish rules of procedure for its activities and the activities of all committees, and shall keep a complete and accurate record of the substance of its meetings, transactions, resolutions, findings and determinations, all of which shall be a public record.The executive director, treasurer and assistant treasurer shall give the commission a bond, with a surety company authorized to transact business in the commonwealth as surety for the faithful performance of their duties in such sum and upon such conditions as the commission may require.There may be an executive committee, elected annually, consisting of (1) the officers of the commission, who shall serve as the officers of the executive committee, (2) four members of the commission who shall be elected by a majority vote of the commission and who shall be selectmen or designees of selectmen, (3) four members of the commission who shall be elected by a majority vote of the commission and who shall be representatives of the planning boards, and (4) the mayor or city manager or his designee of each city serving as a member of the commission; provided, however, that each redevelopment area within the district as designated by the Secretary of Commerce of the United States pursuant to the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965, shall be entitled to have at least one member on the executive committee among the members who are either mayors or their designees or the selectmen or their appointees.The commission may appoint from among its members such other special and standing committees as it shall deem necessary and all such committees shall exercise such powers, discharge such responsibilities, and perform such duties as the commission may delegate thereto by vote or by its by-laws. The commission, at its discretion, may appoint additional persons to any such committee from outside the membership of the commission; provided, that in no case shall the number of such additional persons exceed two thirds of the number of commission members on such standing and special committees, and if the application of the two-thirds percentage results in a fractional number, in order to facilitate such appointment the number of such additional persons on said committees may be the next highest digit.The members of the commission shall serve without compensation, but the officers shall receive payment for necessary expenses, including travel incurred in the performance of their duties.The commission shall establish such technical advisory committees as may be needed to assist the executive director in planning and developing the programs and projects of the commission. The commission, at its discretion, may appoint additional persons to any committee from outside the membership of the commission. The chairman, commissioner or head of any state, county or municipal agency, and any public authority operating within the district if permitted by its trust indentures to do so, shall delegate one or more well qualified representatives from the agency or authority to serve on any of the said technical advisory committees when so requested by the commission.