Board of Directors. (a) All powers vested in the MVA shall be vested in the Board of Directors, composed of the following nine members. (1) Five members appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate including one member from the Hotel Association of the Northern Mariana Islands (HANMI); provided that the HANMI member shall be selected from a list of two candidates submitted by HANMI for the Governor’s consideration. (2) Four members chosen by the members of the MVA pursuant to 4 CMC § 2123(c) and the bylaws. (b) Appointments to the board shall comply with the provisions of 1 CMC § 2901 except that: (1) For members appointed under 4 CMC § 2111(a)(1), one member may be a person who is a CNMI resident but not a citizen or national of the United States; and (2) For members chosen under 4 CMC § 2111(a)(2), no more than two may be persons who are CNMI residents but not citizens or nationals of the United States. (3) For purposes of this subsection (b), a CNMI resident is a person who has paid CNMI taxes. (c) Board members shall serve for a term of four years provided that the initial members appointed under 4 CMC § 2111(a)(1) shall serve for three years and the initial members chosen under 4 CMC § 2111(a)(2) shall serve for two years. (d) Board members shall not be compensated for meetings attended provided that a board member shall be compensated for actual expenses incurred pursuant to 1 CMC § 8247. (e) Board members may be removed for cause by the Governor or by a vote of two-thirds of the full membership of the board. (f) Five members of the board shall constitute a quorum. (g) The board shall select a chairman, vice chairman, secretary, treasurer. (h) The board may adopt rules and regulations governing the conduct of its affairs. (i) No government employee shall serve as a board member. Source: PL 11-15, § 6; (b) amended by PL 17-54 § 2 (Sept. 26, 2011), modified; subsection (a) amended by PL 19-25 § 2 (Dec. 7, 2015), modified. Commission Comment: See the comment to 4 CMC § 2101. In addition to Severability, and Savings Clauses PL 19-25 (Dec. 7, 2015) included the following findings and purposes and transition sections: Section 1. Findings and Purposes. The Legislature finds that the tourism industry provides most of the employment and business opportunities in the Commonwealth. The hotels are the largest employers and are a vital component of the tourism industry. Therefore, the
Legislature finds that the Hotel Association of the Northern Mariana Islands (HANMI) should be given a stronger voice and the opportunity to directly contribute to the policies and decisions pertaining to hotel accommodations, the enhancement of hotel operations, and tourism in general. The purpose of this legislation is to include one member of HANMI on the Board of Directors of the Marianas Visitors Authority who shall be appointed by the governor. Section 3. Transition. to comply with the provisions of this Act, the Governor shall appoint a HANMI member to the MVA Board of Directors upon the expiration of the term of a member of the Board of Directors that does not conflict with the requirements of 1 CMC § 2901. The Commission capitalized “governor’s” in subsection (a)(1) pursuant to 1 CMC § 3806(f).