New Orleans City Code § 2-291 Appointment and terms of members of the Public Belt Railroad Commission of the City of New Orleans.
Sec. 2-291. - Appointment and terms of members of the Public Belt Railroad Commission of the City of New Orleans.
(a) The Public Belt Railroad Commission of the City of New Orleans is and shall be composed of the Mayor of the City of New Orleans and nine citizens from within the New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner Metropolitan Statistical Area; three to be appointed by the Mayor of the City of New Orleans, by and with the approval of the Council of the City of New Orleans, and six as provided hereinbelow. There shall be six nominating entities:
(1) The New Orleans Board of Trade;
(2) The New Orleans Chamber of Commerce;
(3) The New Orleans Black Chamber of Commerce;
(4) The Business Council of New Orleans and the River Region;
(5) The board of the Port of New Orleans; and
(6) The presidents of Xavier, Dillard, Loyola, and Tulane Universities.
Each nominating entity shall prepare a list of three nominations and the mayor may select one member from each list submitted as follows: one member from the list submitted by the New Orleans Board of Trade; one member from the list submitted by the New Orleans Chamber of Commerce; one member from the list submitted by the New Orleans Regional Black Chamber of Commerce; one member from the list submitted by the Business Council of New Orleans and the River Region; one member from the list submitted by the board of the Port of New Orleans; and one member from the list submitted by the presidents of Xavier, Dillard, Loyola and Tulane Universities; should any of the foregoing nominating entities cease to exist or be without a legal successor, the members appointed therefrom shall serve out their allotted terms, and their successors shall thereafter be appointed by the mayor, by and with the consent of the city council, from nominations submitted by the presidents of Xavier, Dillard, Loyola and Tulane Universities.
(b) The tenure of office shall be staggered four-year terms. The Mayor of the City of New Orleans shall be the president of said commission and shall have a right to vote at all meetings and upon all questions.
(c) The president pro tem shall be chosen by the commission from those members appointed from the nominating entities described in subsection (a). The control, operation, management and development of the Public Belt Railroad system shall be exclusively vested in the commission, which shall always be separate and distinct from that of any railroad. No director, attorney, officer or employee of any railroad shall ever be a member of the commission, or an officer, attorney, or employee of the Public Belt Railroad Commission, and no rights or privileges shall be granted to any railroad company to control, use or operate the Public Belt Railroad system or any part thereof. The Public Belt Railroad system shall be and remain the sole property of the people of the city at all times, and shall in no way or manner ever be hypothecated or alienated.
(d) The city, by and through the commission, shall have the power to make contracts, acquire lands, leases and other forms of property necessary for the operation of a railroad system, either by purchase, expropriation, or otherwise, and shall have the right to operate within or without the parish.
(Code 1956, § 51-1; M.C.S., Ord. No. 24713, § 1, 12-15-11)