ENGROSSED
Senate Bill No. 188
(By Senators Helmick, Plymale, Kessler, Ross, Bowman, Chafin,
Fanning, Sharpe, Unger and Minear)
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[Introduced January 22, 1999; referred to the Committee on
Government Organization.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section six, article twenty-five,
chapter eight of the code of West Virginia, one htoudans nin
ehundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to the inclusion
of members of the banking industry as regional council
members.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section six, article twenty-five, chapter eight of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 25. INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS -- REGIONAL PLANNING AND
DEVELOPMENT.
§8-25-6. Membership, organization, etc., of regional council; executive committee; officers and personnel.
(a) All municipalities and all counties within the region
shall be represented on the regional council. The county
representative shall be the president of the county
court
commission or a member of the county
court commission designated
by him
or her. The municipal representative shall be the mayor
or a member of the governing body designated by him
or her. The
number of members of the regional council by virtue of this
subsection shall comprise not less than fifty-one percent of the
total number of members.
(b) Regional council members serving by virtue of subsection
(a) of this section shall select additional members to serve on
the council to represent principal community or regional
interests, including, but not limited to, commerce,
banking,
industry, labor, agriculture, education, health and any such
interests as may be required by federal law or regulations. The
selection of such members shall also provide for reasonable
representation of geographic, economic and ethnic groups without
exclusion of significant minority groups. Subsequent changes in the designation of representatives shall be determined by the
regional council. The number of members serving by virtue of
this subsection shall not exceed forty-nine percent of the total
number of members.
(c) Each regional council shall select from its membership
a chairman, who shall preside at each council meeting, and an
executive committee which shall be comprised of one
representative from each county
court commission and one
representative from the largest municipality within each county
in the region and such other members as the aforesaid
representatives may select, but such other members so selected
shall not constitute more than forty-nine percent of the total
membership of the executive committee. The executive committee
shall perform such administrative duties as are prescribed by the
regional council in its bylaws and shall exercise the review
function provided for in section nine of this article. Each
regional council may further provide for such other officers as
it shall deem necessary and may establish other committees which
may include citizens who are not regional council members.
(d) Each regional council shall establish personnel rules
and shall appoint a director who shall be qualified by reason of training and experience. The director shall be empowered to
appoint and remove other employees in accordance with the
regional council's personnel rules. He
or she may, with the
approval of the executive committee, enter into agreements with
governmental agencies within the region for the use of personnel,
equipment and facilities.
(e)
Whenever a person associated with a public utility or
bank has a conflict of interest between the council and that
public utility or bank, or any other member of the council has a
direct pecuniary interest in a question before the council, then
he or she must recuse himself or herself from any vote,
discussion, or other activity associated with the council or its
members that creates the conflict of interest.