5. a. There is established in, but not of, the Department of Community Affairs a Council on Affordable Housing to consist of 12 members appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate, of whom four shall be elected officials representing the interests of local government, at least one of whom shall be representative of an urban municipality having a population in excess of 40,000 persons and a population density in excess of 3,000 persons per square mile, at least one of whom shall be representative of a municipality having a population of 40,000 persons or less and a population density of 3,000 persons per square mile or less, and no more than one of whom may be a representative of the interests of county government; four shall represent the interests of households in need of low and moderate housing, one of whom shall represent the interests of the nonprofit builders of low and moderate income housing, and shall have an expertise in land use practices and housing issues, one of whom shall be the Commissioner of Community Affairs, ex officio, or his or her designee, who shall serve as chairperson, one of whom shall be the executive director of the agency, serving ex officio; and one of whom shall represent the interests of disabled persons and have expertise in construction accessible to disabled persons; one shall represent the interests of the for-profit builders of market rate homes, and shall have an expertise in land use practices and housing issues; and three shall represent the public interest. Not more than six of the 12 shall be members of the same political party. The membership shall be balanced to the greatest extent practicable among the various housing regions of the State.

b. The members shall serve for terms of six years, except that of the members first appointed, two shall serve for terms of four years, three for terms of five years, and three for terms of six years. All members shall serve until their respective successors are appointed and shall have qualified. Notwithstanding the above, a member appointed to represent the interests of local government shall serve only such length of the term for which appointed as the member continues to hold elected local office, except that the term of a member so appointed shall not become vacant until 60 days after the member ceases to hold that elected office. Vacancies shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointments, but for the remainders of the unexpired terms only.

c. The members, excluding the executive director of the agency and the Commissioner of Community Affairs, shall be compensated at the rate of $150.00 for each six-hour day, or prorated portion thereof for more or less than six hours, spent in attendance at meetings and consultations and all members shall be eligible for reimbursement for necessary expenses incurred in connection with the discharge of their duties.

d. The Governor shall nominate the members within 30 days of the effective date of this act and shall designate a member to serve as chairman throughout the member’s term of office and until his successor shall have been appointed and qualified. The member added by P.L.2005, c.350 (C. 52:27D-311a et al.) shall be nominated within 30 days of the effective date of that act.

e. Any member may be removed from office for misconduct in office, willful neglect of duty, or other conduct evidencing unfitness for the office, or for incompetence. A proceeding for removal may be instituted by the Attorney General in the Superior Court. A member or employee of the council shall automatically forfeit his office or employment upon conviction of any crime. Any member or employee of the council shall be subject to the duty to appear and testify and to removal from his office or employment in accordance with the provisions of P.L.1970, c.72 (C. 2A:81-17.2a et seq.).

L.1985,c.222,s.5; amended 1989, c.199; 1995, c.83; 2005, c.350, s.3.