You asked (1) how are commissioners of the Metropolitan District Commission (MDC) board appointed, (2) how is the MDC chairman selected, and (3) what is the procedure for removing a member of the board.

Under the MDC charter, the 29 commissioners are appointed by the legislative bodies of the member municipalities, the governor, and leaders of the General Assembly. The board consists of 17 commissioners appointed by the member municipalities, eight appointed by the governor, and one each by the Speaker of the House, House minority leader, president pro tempore of the Senate, and Senate minority leader. For the commissioners appointed by the member municipalities and the governor, membership of the district board is apportioned among the member municipalities as follows: nine commissioners from Hartford, four from East Hartford, one from Rocky Hill, two from Wethersfield, two from Newington, one from Bloomfield, two from Windsor, and four from West Hartford. The minority representation law (CGS § 9-167a) applies to the municipalities with three or more representatives. All of the commissioners must be electors of the district, and the commissioners appointed by the municipalities must be electors of their respective municipalities. The members serve overlapping terms.

Under MDC's by-laws, the board elects its chairman and vice-chairman at its January meeting each year.

Neither the charter or the by-laws address the removal of a member, and there are no procedures in this area according to Matt Nozzolio, MDC's manager of public information. However, under the charter, as amended by PA 93-380, any vacancy from among the board members appointed by member municipalities must be filled by the legislative body of the municipality from which the member was appointed, any vacancy among the members appointed by the governor must be filled by the governor and any vacancy among the members appointed by a legislative leader must be filled by that leader. Vacancies must be filled for the unexpired portion of the term.

Further information about the governance of the MDC is available at http://www.themdc.com/admin.htm.

KM:ts