2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-THREE - Public Planning and Development (§§ 1 — 11273) › PART IX - Economic Development II (§§ 11001 — 11273) › Chapter 258 - Puerto Rico Integrated Transit Authority (§§ 11161 — 11181) › § 11163 - Exercise of the authorities, powers, and duties of the Authority; Board of Directors

(a) The powers and duties of the Authority shall be exercised and its general policy shall be established by a Board that shall be composed of nine (9) members, to wit, two members (2) shall be professionals with vast knowledge and recognized experience in the public transportation field, from the private sector, the academia, or retired public officials whom shall be selected and appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate, from a list of candidates recommended by incorporated bona fide professional societies or associations related to the engineering or transportation planning fields such as the College of Engineers and Surveyors of Puerto Rico, the Institute of Transportation Engineers or the Puerto Rican Planning Society. Two (2) members shall represent the entities belonging to the Metropolitan Planning Organization or MPO in Puerto Rico, who shall be elected by the voting members of the MPO Board. The remaining five (5) members of the Board shall be the Secretary, the Executive Director of the Highways and Transportation Authority, the Chair of the Puerto Rico Planning Board, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, and the President of the Government Development Bank for Puerto Rico or the public officials of said agencies designated by said officers, who shall be ex-officio members of the Board. Public officials designated to represent ex-officio members shall have, during the designation period, all powers, duties, and responsibilities of the members of the Board.
The payment of per diems or any other compensation or benefit to the members of the Board is hereby strictly prohibited.
The nine (9) Board members shall be appointed or elected for four (4) years or until their successors take office. Any vacancy in the office of the two (2) MPO’s representatives shall be filled by the vote of the voting members of the MPO Board within ninety (90) days after the date on which the vacancy occurred, for the unexpired term of the original appointment. Likewise, any vacancy in the office of the members appointed by the Governor shall be filled by appointment by the Governor, in accordance with the specifications applicable to the vacant position, for the unexpired term of the original appointment.
No person may be a member of the Board if he/she: (1) is an employee, retiree, or has any direct or indirect substantial economic interest in any private company with which the Authority has entered into contract or with which it engages in transactions of any kind; (2) within two (2) years before holding office, has had a business relationship with or any interest in any private company with which the Authority has entered into contract or with which it engages in transactions of any kind; (3) has been a member of a local or central directing body of a political party registered in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, during the year immediately preceding his/her appointment; (4) is an employee, member, advisor, or contractor of the Department of Transportation and Public Works labor unions or any entity attached thereto; or (5) has failed to provide a certification attesting to having filed income tax returns during the five (5) preceding taxable years, issued by the Department of the Treasury, a certification attesting to having no outstanding debts with the Authority, the Criminal Record issued by the Puerto Rico Police Department, as well as negative certifications of the Child Support Administration (ASUME, Spanish acronym), and the Municipal Revenues Collections Center (CRIM, Spanish acronym).
In the case of public employees, the time served in the Board’s meetings shall be deemed to be time worked in the agency, public corporation or instrumentality of which he/she is an employee.
(b) The Chair of the Board shall be the Secretary of Transportation and Public Works. Within thirty (30) days after its appointment, the Board shall meet, organize, and select its Vice-chair. Five (5) members of the Board (or a majority of Board members, if there are any vacancies) shall constitute a quorum to conduct its business. The majority vote of the Board members present at the meeting with quorum shall be sufficient to approve the decisions of the Board.
(c) Within thirty (30) days after its appointment, the Board shall meet, organize, and fix the compensation of an Executive Director, and shall also appoint a Secretary, neither of whom shall be a member of the Board. The works of the Board may be carried out in one or more working committees, whose composition and duties shall be determined by the Chair of the Board. The Board may delegate to the Executive Director or other officials, agents, or employees of the Authority such powers and duties as it may deem appropriate. The Executive Director shall be the executive officer of the Authority and shall be responsible for the enforcement of its policy and for the general supervision of the operational, administrative, fiscal, and planning phases of the Authority. Likewise, it shall be responsible for the general supervision of the officials, employees, and agents of the Authority. The Secretary of the Board shall keep a record of the minutes of all the Board meetings, to be kept solely for such purposes. The Board shall be empowered to contract, through the Executive Director, any independent advisors needed from time to time to carry out his/her duties under this chapter in the best manner possible. The Authority shall have a General Auditor with independent judgment, who shall be an employee of the Authority, but shall report his/her findings directly to the Board.
History —Aug. 3, 2014, No. 123, § 4.