(a)      The membership of the Council consists of:

            (1)      Five county commissioners of Somerset County as voting members;

            (2)      Five county commissioners of Worcester County as voting members;

            (3)      Five county council members of Wicomico County as voting members;

            (4)      (i)      Three municipal elected officials, one from each county, appointed by their respective municipal corporations as voting members; or

                  (ii)      If the municipal corporations located within a county are unable to choose a municipal elected official within a reasonable period of time, the Eastern Shore Municipal Association shall appoint an elected municipal official to represent the municipal corporations of that county;

            (5)      Members of the General Assembly representing the region who have a majority of their legislative district in the region as voting ex officio members;

            (6)      Other members of the General Assembly representing the region but who do not have a majority of their legislative district in the region as nonvoting ex officio members; and

            (7)      The other commissioners as ex officio nonvoting members.

      (b)      (1)      A voting commissioner listed under subsection (a)(1) through (3) of this section may designate another commissioner or county administrator representing the same county to vote by proxy on behalf of the voting commissioner when the voting commissioner is absent from a meeting.

            (2)      A voting commissioner listed under subsection (a)(1) through (3) of this section shall inform the council director in advance of which other council member the voting commissioner designates to cast a proxy vote on behalf of the voting commissioner.

      (c)      The bylaws of the Council may provide for additional private citizen membership on the Council.