By: Harris S.B. No. 1615
97S0639/3
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to the composition of the governing board of certain
1-2 airport authorities.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Section 7, Chapter 6, Acts of the 60th
1-5 Legislature, Regular Session, 1967, North Central Texas Airport
1-6 Authority Act of 1967, is amended to read as follows:
1-7 Sec. 7. It is determined and found that the Cities of Dallas
1-8 and Fort Worth are Airport Cities as defined herein. The governing
1-9 bodies of said cities shall, prior to the selection of the initial
1-10 Board, have the option to determine whether the members occupying
1-11 places represented by their respective counties on [of] the initial
1-12 and all subsequent Boards [from their respective counties] shall be
1-13 appointed or elected. Exercise of such option shall be evidenced
1-14 by an appropriate resolution of the governing body of each of said
1-15 cities, directed to the Commissioners Court of the county in which
1-16 the city is situated.
1-17 A. In the event that the governing body of either city
1-18 directs that the members of the Board from the county in which such
1-19 city is situated shall be appointed, the Commissioners Court of
1-20 that county shall thereafter appoint such directors, but no
1-21 appointment by the Commissioners Court shall be effective without
1-22 consultation and the express consent of the governing body of such
1-23 city, evidenced by an appropriate resolution. In the event of the
2-1 appointment of members of the Board of Directors to represent the
2-2 county due regard shall be given to the respective populations of
2-3 the airport city and those residing outside the airport city within
2-4 the county.
2-5 B. In the event that the governing body of either city
2-6 directs that the members of the Board from the county in which such
2-7 city is situated shall be elected, the Commissioners Court, upon
2-8 receipt of the resolution of the airport city exercising its option
2-9 to elect members of the Board, shall, within sixty (60) days, order
2-10 a special election within the county for the purpose of electing
2-11 the members of the Board from that county. The procedure set out
2-12 for special elections in Articles 4.09 and 4.10 of the Election
2-13 Code of the Revised Civil Statutes of Texas shall apply, provided
2-14 that, any individual desiring his or her name to appear on the
2-15 ballot, shall, in addition to the information required by Article
2-16 4.10, present a petition signed by at least two hundred (200)
2-17 qualified voters endorsing his or her candidacy and requesting his
2-18 or her name to be placed on the ballot. All other procedures shall
2-19 be followed as provided for county elections under state statute.
2-20 All subsequent elections shall be held on the first Saturday
2-21 in November in the year in which the incumbents' terms expire.
2-22 Those candidates elected for the said positions voted on at that
2-23 election shall enter upon the discharge of their duties on the
2-24 first day of December next following. Any individual desiring
2-25 election for a position on the Board shall, not less than twenty
3-1 (20) days prior to the date of said election, file with the Board
3-2 written notice announcing his or her candidacy, designating in such
3-3 written notice and request to have his or her name placed on the
3-4 official ballot, the number of the position on such Board for which
3-5 he or she, as the case may be, desires to become a candidate, and
3-6 all candidates so requesting shall have their names printed on the
3-7 official ballot beneath the number of the positions so designated.
3-8 No person, who does not so file said notice and request within the
3-9 time aforesaid and whose notice is not accompanied by a petition
3-10 signed by at least two hundred (200) qualified voters endorsing his
3-11 or her candidacy and requesting his or her name to be placed on the
3-12 ballot, shall be entitled to have his or her name printed upon said
3-13 official ballot to be used at any such election. No candidate
3-14 shall be eligible to have his or her name placed on the official
3-15 ballot under more than one position to be filled at any such
3-16 election.
3-17 The Board shall publish at least ninety (90) days prior to a
3-18 regular election date set by this Act, in a newspaper printed in
3-19 the county in which the election is to be held, notice of the
3-20 election and of the terms for which the directors are to be elected
3-21 and the positions to be filled. The candidate receiving the
3-22 largest number of votes for each position shall be entitled to
3-23 serve as a representative on the Board for that position.
3-24 The Board at the time of ordering such election shall appoint
3-25 four (4) persons to hold the election at each polling place. No
4-1 less than three (3) polling places shall be designated for use in
4-2 the election within the county from which the position is to be
4-3 filled. The returns of such election shall be made by the Board in
4-4 accordance with the general election laws. The Board shall canvass
4-5 such returns, declare the result of such election, and issue
4-6 certificates of election to the persons shown by such returns to be
4-7 elected.
4-8 C. Each member of the Board of Directors, in order to be
4-9 eligible for appointment or election to or to be or remain a member
4-10 of the Board, must be a freeholder of and have resided within the
4-11 county from which he is selected or, in the case of members
4-12 appointed to Places 12 and 13, must have resided within a
4-13 represented municipality for at least one (1) year and have been a
4-14 qualified taxpaying voter within the State of Texas for a period of
4-15 at least three (3) years, and shall not have a substantial
4-16 financial interest in any organization doing business with the
4-17 Authority or any personal business arrangement with the Authority
4-18 nor be an elected officer of any political organization. The term
4-19 "substantial financial interest in any organization" includes
4-20 having a financial interest in any organization through serving as
4-21 an officer, director, trustee, partner, or executive of such
4-22 organization, or through negotiating with or having any arrangement
4-23 concerning prospective employment with such organization or through
4-24 holding legal title to or any beneficial interest in or control
4-25 over more than five per cent (5%) of the total of issued and
5-1 subscribed share capital of such organization.
5-2 D. The Board of Directors of the Authority shall consist of
5-3 thirteen (13) [eleven (11)] members. Each county shall be
5-4 represented by a group of eleven (11) members proportionate to its
5-5 population at the last preceding federal census, the initial Board
5-6 to be composed of seven (7) members from Dallas County and four (4)
5-7 members from Tarrant County. At the election and/or appointment of
5-8 members of the Board next following the taking and certification of
5-9 a federal census the number representing any county shall be
5-10 adjusted to maintain the proportionate representation. Of the two
5-11 (2) remaining members, one (1) member shall represent
5-12 municipalities each of whose territory lies wholly outside of, but
5-13 partly within twenty (20) miles of, the boundaries of the Authority
5-14 and each of whose population is at least twenty thousand (20,000)
5-15 but less than four hundred thousand (400,000), and one (1) member
5-16 shall represent municipalities each of whose territory lies partly
5-17 within the boundaries of the Authority and each of whose population
5-18 is less than four hundred thousand (400,000). The eleven (11)
5-19 members representing counties as provided by this subsection occupy
5-20 Places 1 through 11, and the two (2) members representing
5-21 municipalities as provided by this subsection occupy Places 12 and
5-22 13. The members occupying Places 12 and 13 shall be appointed by
5-23 the governing bodies of the municipalities they represent after a
5-24 selection process in which each municipality has one (1) vote. In
5-25 the case of a tie vote, the municipality with the largest
6-1 population shall make the deciding vote for Place 12 or 13, as
6-2 appropriate.
6-3 E. Each director shall be appointed or elected to occupy a
6-4 designated place. Those occupying Places 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13 or
6-5 any other odd-numbered place, shall be originally selected for a
6-6 term to expire on November 30th of the second year following their
6-7 appointment or election, or until their successors are qualified;
6-8 those holding Places 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 or any other even-numbered
6-9 place, shall be originally selected for a term to expire November
6-10 30th of the fourth year following their appointment or election;
6-11 provided, however, that no person shall serve for more than two (2)
6-12 consecutive four (4) year terms. Initially, Places 2, 3, 7 and 8
6-13 shall be filled by Directors from Tarrant County, and Places 1, 4,
6-14 5, 6, 9, 10 and 11 shall be filled by Directors from Dallas County.
6-15 SECTION 2. (a) The appointments for Places 12 and 13 on the
6-16 board of directors of the North Central Texas Airport Authority
6-17 shall be made not later than 90 days following the effective date
6-18 of this Act.
6-19 (b) Members occupying Places 12 and 13 shall have the same
6-20 powers, duties, and voting rights and shall meet the same
6-21 qualifications for membership as the other members of the board.
6-22 (c) The member occupying Place 12 shall represent
6-23 municipalities each of whose territory lies wholly outside of, but
6-24 partly within twenty miles of, the boundaries of the Authority and
6-25 each of whose population is at least 20,000 but less than 400,000.
7-1 The member occupying Place 13 shall represent municipalities each
7-2 of whose territory lies partly within the boundaries of the
7-3 Authority and each of whose population is less than 400,000.
7-4 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
7-5 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
7-6 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
7-7 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
7-8 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
7-9 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
7-10 passage, and it is so enacted.