Board of commissioners; qualification of members; appointment; terms; vacancies; removal of members

A. The governing authority of the district shall be a board of commissioners which is hereby created and which is hereinafter referred to as "the board". The board shall be composed of nine voting members who shall be citizens of the United States residing within the limits of the district during their term of office. The members of the board shall serve without compensation. B. (1) The commissioners shall be appointed as follows: (a) Two members shall be appointed by the chief executive officers of the incorporated municipalities of Lafayette Parish other than the city of Lafayette. (b) One member shall be appointed by the chief executive officer of the city of Lafayette. (c) Three members, one of whom shall be a black citizen, shall be appointed by the governing authority of the city of Lafayette. (d) One member shall be appointed by the chief executive officer of Lafayette Parish. (e) Two members shall be appointed by the governing authority of Lafayette Parish. (2) The commissioners initially appointed shall serve terms as follows: (a) The members appointed by the chief executive officers of the incorporated municipalities of Lafayette Parish other than the city of Lafayette shall draw lots to determine their terms of office, which shall be two and three years respectively. (b) The member appointed by the chief executive officer of the city of Lafayette shall serve a term of four years. (c) The members appointed by the governing authority of the city of Lafayette shall draw lots to determine their terms of office, which shall be two, three, and four years respectively. (d) The member appointed by the chief executive officer of Lafayette Parish shall serve a term of four years. (e) The members appointed by the governing authority of Lafayette Parish shall draw lots to determine their terms of office, which shall be two and three years respectively. (3) The commissioners thereafter appointed at the expiration of the respective terms of the initial appointees shall be appointed in the manner of the original appointment and shall serve for terms of four years. No commissioner, however, may serve for more than two consecutive terms. C. Vacancies will be filled in accordance with the procedure set forth in Subsection B of this Section. Any commissioner may be removed by a two-thirds vote of the membership of the governing authority of Lafayette Parish but only for cause and on charges referred against him in writing and after public hearing and proof of the sufficiency of such charges. However any commissioner so removed shall have the right to test in the courts the sufficiency of the charges and of the evidence tendered in support thereof.