§ 2-361. Membership and organization; board attorney; special masters.

(a)

Appointment of members; composition. There is hereby established a code enforcement board consisting of seven members, each of which shall be an elector of the county. The county council shall appoint a board member upon the nomination of a council member. Each council member shall make one nomination. The county council may appoint additional code enforcement boards from time to time as it deems necessary. Appointments shall be made in accordance with law and ordinances on the basis of experience or interest in the subject matter and jurisdiction of the respective code enforcement board. The membership of the code enforcement board shall, whenever possible, include an architect, a business person, an engineer, a general contractor, a subcontractor and a realtor. A board vacancy shall be filled upon nomination by the council member who shall have made the nomination to the vacated position or the successor to that council member. Appointments to fill any vacancy shall be for the remainder of the unexpired term.

(b)

Term of office. The initial appointments to the code enforcement board shall be as follows:

(1)

Two members appointed for a term of one year.

(2)

Three members appointed for a term of two years.

(3)

Two members appointed for a term of three years.

Thereafter, all appointments shall be made for a term of three years. A member may be reappointed upon approval of the county council. No elected official, appointed state, county or municipal office holder, member of two or more other county boards or commissions, or employee of county government shall be appointed to serve on the code enforcement board. Appointments to fill any vacancy on the code enforcement board shall be for the remainder of the unexpired term of office. If any member fails to attend two of three successive meetings without cause and without prior approval of the chairman, the board shall declare the member's office vacant, and the county council shall promptly fill such vacancy. The failure of a member to attend three meetings, regardless of reason, in all or a portion of a year ending December 31, constitutes cause for removal and creates a vacancy immediately following the third absence.

(c)

Chairman; quorum; compensation of members. The members of the code enforcement board shall elect a chairman, who shall be a voting member from among the members of the board. The presence of four or more members shall constitute a quorum of the code enforcement board. Members shall serve without compensation but may be reimbursed for such travel, mileage and per diem expenses as may be authorized by the county council, or as otherwise provided by law.

(d)

Special masters. The county council may, from time to time, appoint one or more special masters to adjudicate any matter which could be brought before the code enforcement board. The special master shall have the same status as the code enforcement board, shall have all the same powers granted to the board, and shall be subject to all the provisions of this division unless specified in the order of appointment.

(e)

Board attorney. The board attorney shall serve as counsel to the code enforcement board.

(Ord. No. 89-45, § V, 10-26-89; Ord. No. 94-18, § II, 10-20-94; Ord. No. 00-10, § II, 3-23-00; Ord. No. 2007-15, § I, 5-3-07; Ord. No. 2009-20, § II, 8-20-09)

State law reference

Code enforcement board generally, F.S. § 162.05.