§ 42-63.1-11. Greater Providence-Warwick Convention and Visitors' Bureau - Creation - Composition - Governance - Powers. (a) There is created the Greater Providence-Warwick Convention and Visitors' Bureau, having a distinct legal existence from the state and not constituting a department or agency of the state government, for the purpose of administering the Greater Providence-Warwick regional tourism district established in § 42-63.1-5(a)(2).

(b) The members of the bureau shall consist of persons, firms, corporations, partnerships, associations and organizations who are interested in promoting the purposes of the Greater Providence-Warwick Convention and Visitors' Bureau.

(c) The Greater Providence-Warwick Convention and Visitors' Bureau shall adopt by-laws to provide for its governance.

(d) The business and affairs of the Greater Providence-Warwick Convention and Visitors' Bureau shall be managed by a board of directors comprised of fifteen (15) members appointed as follows:

(1) By the mayor of the city of Providence: three (3) members who shall be hoteliers directly involved in the marketing of hotels having more than one hundred (100) rooms located in the city of Providence, appointed for terms ending respectively on June 30, 1996, June 30, 1997, and June 30, 1998; and one member who shall be appointed for a term ending on June 30, 1996;

(2) By the mayor of the city of Warwick; one member who shall be a hotelier directly involved in the marketing of a hotel having more than one hundred (100) rooms located in the city of Warwick, appointed for a term ending on June 30, 1997; and one member who shall be appointed for a term ending on June 30, 1998;

(3) By the governor: one member who shall be a hotelier directly involved in the marketing of a hotel having more than one hundred (100) rooms which is not located in either the city of Providence or the city of Warwick, appointed for a term ending on June 30, 1996; one member who shall be a representative of the hospitality industry who is not associated with a hotel and who is not employed by a business or attraction which is located in either the city of Providence or the city of Warwick, appointed from a list of at least three (3) names submitted by the Rhode Island Hospitality Association for a term ending on June 30, 1997; and two (2) members who shall be appointed for terms ending respectively on June 30, 1996, and June 30, 1998;

(4) By the board of commissioners of the Rhode Island Convention Center Authority; two (2) members who shall be appointed for terms ending respectively on June 30, 1997, and June 30, 1998; and one member who shall be a hotelier directly involved in the marketing of a hotel having more than one hundred (100) rooms located in the city of Warwick, appointed for a term ending on June 30, 1996; and

(5) By the members of the Greater Providence-Warwick Convention and Visitors' Bureau; two (2) members who shall be members of the Greater Providence-Warwick Convention and Visitors' Bureau, appointed for terms ending respectively on June 30, 1997 and June 30, 1998.

(6) Thereafter, and upon the expiration of the terms of the initial directors, the directors shall be appointed by the appointing authorities or elected by the members of the Greater Providence-Warwick Convention and Visitors' Bureau, as the case may be, to succeed the directors whose terms are then ending and to serve for terms of three (3) years, so as to have the terms of one-third (1/3) of the directors expire each year.

(7) Any director may be reappointed or reelected for successive terms. Any vacancy resulting from the death, disability or other failure of a director to continue to serve shall be filled, for the remainder of the director's term, by the person or body given the power to make the original appointment.

(e) The directors shall elect one of the directors to act as the chairperson of the Greater Providence-Warwick Convention and Visitors' Bureau. The directors may elect from among the directors, a vice chairperson and any other officers that they may determine, including a secretary and a treasurer.

(f) The directors shall receive no compensation for the performance of their duties.

(g) The directors may employ an executive director to administer, manage and direct the affairs and business of the Greater Providence-Warwick Convention and Visitors' Bureau, subject to the policies, control and direction of the directors. The directors may employ technical experts and any other agents and employees, permanent and temporary, as they deem necessary. The directors may delegate to one or more of the Greater Providence-Warwick Convention and Visitors' Bureau's agents or employees any administrative duties that they may deem proper.

(h) The Greater Providence-Warwick Convention and Visitors' Bureau shall have and exercise all powers necessary or convenient to effect the purposes of this chapter as set forth in § 42-63.1-1.

History of Section. (P.L. 1995, ch. 371, § 2.)