Hawaii public housing authority; establishment, staff.

(a) There is established the Hawaii public housing authority to be placed within the department of human services for administrative purposes only. The authority shall be a public body and a body corporate and politic.

(b) The authority shall employ, exempt from chapter 76 and section 26-35(a)(4), an executive director, an executive assistant, a chief financial management advisor, a property management branch chief, a chief planner, and a redevelopment officer, whose salaries shall be set by the board established under section 356D-3; provided that no salary shall exceed the governor's salary. The authority may employ, subject to chapter 76, technical experts and officers, agents, and employees, permanent or temporary, as required. The authority may also employ officers, agents, and employees; prescribe their duties and qualifications; and fix their salaries, not subject to chapter 76, when in the determination of the authority, the services to be performed are unique and essential to the execution of the functions of the authority; provided that if the authority hires an officer, agent, or employee in a capacity not subject to chapter 76, the authority shall include in an annual report to the legislature, to be submitted not later than twenty days prior to the convening of each regular session, the position descriptions and reasons for hiring the personnel in a civil service exempt capacity. The authority may call upon the attorney general for legal services as it may require. The authority may delegate to one or more of its agents or employees the powers and duties it deems proper. [L 2006, c 180, pt of §2; am L 2013, c 152, §1]