Section 2 Members of authority; officers; quorum; salaries and benefits; indemnity
Section 2. (a) The authority shall consist of 5 members to be appointed by the governor who shall be residents of the commonwealth, not more than 3 of whom shall be of the same political party, and at least 1 member at all times shall be a resident of a town which abuts the Massachusetts turnpike and is wholly or partially located between the Weston toll plaza and the interstate route 495 interchange. Beginning July 1, 2007, 1 of the members shall be the secretary of transportation, who shall serve as chairperson of the authority. All members shall have senior management level experience in 1 or more of the following areas: engineering, construction, business, public or private finance, and transportation. A member of the authority shall be eligible for reappointment. Before entering upon the duties of his office, each member of the authority shall take an oath before the governor to administer the duties of his office faithfully and impartially and a record of such oath shall be filed in the office of the state secretary.
(b) Except for the chairperson, the members of the authority who began in office before July 31, 2002 shall continue for the remainder of their respective terms, and the members of the authority appointed after July 31, 2002 and before July 1, 2004 shall continue for the remainder of an initial term which shall be for 6 years, but all successive terms for members shall be for terms of 5 years. Except for the secretary of transportation, members of the authority appointed after July 1, 2004 shall be appointed for terms of 5 years. Any person appointed to fill a vacancy shall serve only for the unexpired term. The chairman of the authority whose term of office began before July 31, 2002 shall continue in office until July 1, 2007.
(c) The authority shall elect 1 of the members as vice chairperson. Three members of the authority, including the chairperson, shall constitute a quorum and the affirmative vote of 3 members shall be necessary for any action taken by the authority. No vacancy in the membership of the authority shall impair the right of a quorum to exercise all the rights and perform all the duties of the authority. The members shall serve without pay. Each member shall be reimbursed for his actual expenses necessarily incurred in the performance of his duties.
(d) The authority shall have the power to appoint and employ officers, including an executive director, and to fix their compensation and conditions of employment. The authority may bind itself by contract to employ not more than 5 senior officers and no such contract shall be for a period of more than 5 years. The salary of the executive director shall not be less than $160,000 and shall not exceed $190,000, exclusive of benefits. The authority shall annually, on or before January 1, submit to the secretary of administration and finance and the house and senate committees on ways and means a schedule of salaries of all its employees and any proposed increases therein. The secretary may make recommendations to the authority on the salary structure and shall advise the authority of the prevailing rates that the commonwealth pays for similar services.
(e) The executive director of the authority shall report to the secretary of transportation on a regular basis to assist the secretary in coordinating the transportation agenda of the commonwealth.
(f) The authority may indemnify any member, officer or employee from personal expenses or damages incurred, arising out of any claim, suit, demand or judgment which arose out of any act or omission of such member, officer or employee, including the violation of the civil rights of any person under any federal law if, at the time of such act or omission such member, officer or employee was acting within the scope of his official duties or employment.