Massachusetts General Laws - The Massachusetts Turnpike Authority and the Metropolitan Highway System - Chapter 81a, Section 2 - Massachusetts Attorney Resources

Massachusetts General Laws - The Massachusetts Turnpike Authority and the Metropolitan Highway System - Chapter 81a, Section 2

Members of authority; officers; quorum; salaries and benefits; indemnity.

[Text of section effective until July 1, 2007. For text effective July 1, 2007, see below.]

Section 2. 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. The governor shall designate one of the members as chairperson who shall serve as such during his term in office. The members of the authority in office on July 31, 2002 shall continue for the remainder of their respective terms. The successor of each member shall be appointed for a term of 8 years; provided, however, that any person appointed to fill a vacancy shall serve only for the unexpired term; provided further that, of the 2 members appointed after July 31, 2002, 1 shall serve for an initial term of 6 years and 1 shall serve for an initial term of 3 years but all successive terms for such members shall be for a term of 8 years; and provided, further, that 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. Prior to 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.

The authority shall elect 1 of the members as vice chairperson thereof. 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.

For the purposes of this chapter, the chairperson of the authority shall receive an annual salary from said authority, that is $205,000 subject to annual increases in the discretion of the board that are no greater than the percentage annual increase in the consumer price index for all urban consumers. The remaining members shall each receive an annual salary of $25,852. Each member shall be reimbursed for his actual expenses necessarily incurred in the performance of his duties. The members shall be eligible to participate in any benefit plan approved by the authority.

The chairperson of said authority shall report to the secretary of transportation and construction on a regular basis to assist the secretary in coordinating the transportation agenda of the commonwealth.

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.

Last modified: March 27, 2006