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(Free Petition; Initiative; Referendum; Recall,
Open Meeting)
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(a)
Commencement of Proceedings. Initiative procedures
shall be started by the filing of an initiative petition with the
town clerk. The petition shall be addressed to the town council or
the school committee, shall contain a request for passage of a particular
measure set forth in the petition and shall be signed by not less
than ten percent of the total number of voters.
Signatures to initiative petitions need not
be all on one paper. All such papers pertaining to any one measure
shall be fastened together and shall be filed in the office of the
town clerk as one instrument, with the endorsement thereon of the
names and addresses of the persons designated as filing the same.
With each signature to the petition, shall be stated the place of
residence of the signer, giving the street and number, if any.
Within ten days of the filing of said petition
the registrars of voters shall ascertain by what number of voters
the petition is signed, and shall attach thereto their certificate
showing the result of such examination.
The town clerk shall forthwith transmit the
said certificate with the said petition to the town council or to
the school committee, as appropriate, and at the same time shall send
a copy of said certificate to the persons designated on the petition
as filing the same.
When such certificate has been so transmitted,
said petition shall be deemed to be valid unless written objections
are made with regard to the signatures thereon by a voter within forty-eight
hours after such certification by filing such objections with the
town council or the school committee, and a copy thereof with the
registrars of voters. Any such objection shall be determined forthwith.
(b)
Referral to Town Attorney. If the town clerk determines
that a sufficient number of signers are voters, the town clerk shall
transmit a copy of the petition to the town attorney.
Within fifteen days after receipt by the town
attorney of the petition the town attorney shall advise the town clerk
in writing whether the measure may be proposed by initiative procedures
and whether it may lawfully be passed by the town council or the school
committee. If the opinion of the town attorney is that the measure
may not lawfully be passed, the town attorney shall state the reason
or reasons therefor in said reply. The town clerk shall forthwith
furnish a copy of the town attorney's opinion to the person designated
on the petition as filing the same.
(c)
Initiative Petition; Requirements For Passage and
Submission To Electorate. If any initiative petition is signed by
voters equal in number to at least ten percent of the total number
of voters, and in the opinion of the town attorney, such measure may
lawfully be passed by the town council or the school committee, the
town council or the school committee within twenty days after the
date of the certificate of the registrars to that effect: (1) may
pass said measure without alteration, subject to the referendum vote
provided by this charter; or, (2) the town council shall call a special
election to be held on a date fixed by it not less than thirty nor
more than forty-five days after the date of the certificate hereinbefore
mentioned, and shall submit the proposed measure without alteration
to a vote of the voters at that election; provided, that if any town
election is otherwise to occur within one hundred and twenty days
after the date of said certificate, the town council may, at its discretion,
omit the calling of a special election and submit the proposed measure
to the voters at such approaching election.
The ballots used when voting upon a proposed
measure under this section shall state the nature of the measure in
terms sufficient to show the substance thereof.
If within ten days after the final passage of any measure a petition signed by voters equal in number to at least five per cent of the total number of voters, and addressed to the town council or to the school committee, as the case may be, protesting against such measure or any part thereof taking effect, is filed with the town clerk, the same shall thereupon and thereby be suspended from taking effect; and the town council or the school committee, as the case may be, shall immediately reconsider such measure or part thereof; and if such measure or part thereof is not entirely rescinded the town council shall submit the same, by the method herein provided, to a vote of the voters either at the next regular town election, or at a special election which may, in its discretion, be called for the purpose and such measure or part thereof shall forthwith become null and void unless a majority of the voters voting on the same at such election vote in favor thereof. The petition described in this section shall be termed a referendum petition and section 8-1(a) shall apply to the procedure in respect thereto, except that the words "measure or part thereof protested against" shall for this purpose be understood to replace "measure" in said section whenever it may occur, and "referendum" shall be understood to replace the word "initiative" in said section.
For any measure to be effective under initiative
procedure and for any measure to be declared null and void under any
referendum procedure at least twenty percent of the voters shall vote
at an election upon which an initiative or referendum question is
submitted to the voters.
Measures which include the following subject
matter shall not be subject to initiative and referendum procedures:
(a) revenue loan orders; (b) appropriations for the payment of debt
or debt service; (c) internal operational procedures of the town council
and the school committee; (d) emergency measures; (e) the town budget
as a whole or the school committee budget as a whole; (f) appropriation
of funds to implement a collective bargaining agreement; (g) procedures
relating to election, appointment, removal, discharge or any other
personnel action; and (h) proceedings providing for the submission
or referral of a matter to the voters at an election.
The town council may, of its own motion, and
shall, upon request of the school committee if a measure originates
with that committee and pertains to the affairs under its administration,
submit to a vote of the voters for adoption or rejection at a general
or special town election any proposed measure, or a proposition for
the repeal or amendment of any measure, in the same manner and with
the same force and effect as are hereby provided for submission on
petition.
If two or more proposed measures passed at the
same election contain conflicting provisions, only the one receiving
the greater number of affirmative votes shall take effect.
(a)
Individual Petitions, Action Discretionary. The town
council and the school committee shall receive all petitions which
are addressed to them and signed by a voter and may, in their discretion,
take such action with regard to such petitions as they deem necessary
and appropriate.
(b)
Group Petitions; Action Required. The town council
or the school committee, as the case may be, shall hold a public hearing
and act by taking a vote on the merits of every petition which is
addressed to it and which is signed by at least one-hundred fifty
voters. The hearing shall be held by the town council or the school
committee, or, in either case, by a committee or subcommittee thereof
and the action by the town council or school committee shall be taken
not later than three months after the petition is filed with the town
clerk. Hearings on two or more petitions filed under this section
may be held at the same time and place. The town clerk shall mail
notice of the hearing to ten petitioners whose names first appear
on each petition at least seven days before the hearing. Notice by
publication at least seven days prior to all such hearings shall also
be made, and shall be at public expense. No hearing shall be heard
upon any one subject more than once in any given twelve month period.
(a)
Application. Any holder of an elected office in the
town, with more than six months remaining in the term of office for
which the officer was elected, may be recalled therefrom by the voters
of the town in the manner provided in this section. No recall petition
shall be filed against an officer within six months after taking office.
(b)
Recall Petition. A recall petition may be initiated
by the filing of an affidavit containing the name of the officer sought
to be recalled and a statement of the grounds for recall, provided
that, the affidavit is signed by at least one hundred voters for any
officer elected at large and at least fifty voters for any officer
elected by precinct.
The town clerk shall thereupon deliver to said
voters making the affidavit, copies of petition blanks demanding such
recall, copies of which printed forms the town clerk shall keep available.
Such blanks shall be issued by the town clerk, with signature and
official seal attached thereto. They shall be dated, shall be addressed
to the town council and shall contain the names of all the persons
to whom they are issued, the number of blanks so issued, the name
of the person whose recall is sought, the office from which removal
is sought and the grounds of recall as stated in the affidavit. A
copy of the petition shall be entered in a record book to be kept
in the office of the town clerk. Said recall petition shall be returned
and filed with the town clerk within ten days after the filing of
the affidavit, and shall have been signed by at least ten per cent
of the registered voters of the town for any officer elected at large.
For any officer elected by precinct, said recall petition shall be
returned and filed with the town clerk within ten days after the filing
of the affidavit, and shall have been signed by at least ten per cent
of the voters from the precinct the officer to be recalled represents.
The town clerk shall forthwith submit the petition
to the registrars of voters in the town, and the registrars shall,
within five working days, certify thereon the number of signatures
which are names of registered voters of the town.
(c)
Recall Election. If the petition shall be found and
certified by the town clerk to be sufficient, the town clerk shall
submit the same with such certificate to the town council within five
working days, and the town council shall forthwith give written notice
of the receipt of the certificate to the officer sought to be recalled
and shall, if the officer does not resign within five days thereafter,
order an election to be held on a date fixed by them not less than
forty-five and not more than sixty days after the date of the town
clerk's certificate that a sufficient petition has been filed; provided,
however, that if any other town election is to occur within sixty
days after the date of the certificate the town council shall postpone
the holding of the recall election to the date of such other election.
The recall election for any officer elected
by precinct, shall only be held in the precinct that the officer represents.
If a vacancy occurs in said office after a recall
election has been ordered, the election shall not proceed as provided
in this section.
(e)
Office Holder. The incumbent shall
continue to perform the duties of the office until the recall election.
If said incumbent is not recalled, the incumbent shall continue in
office for the remainder of the unexpired term subject to recall as
before. If recalled the officer shall be deemed removed and the office
vacant. The vacancy created thereby shall be filled in accordance
with this charter. Any person appointed to fill the vacancy caused
by such recall shall hold office for the unexpired term of the officer
recalled.
(f)
Ballot Proposition. The form of the question to be
voted upon shall be substantially as follows:
"Shall [here insert the name and title of the
elective officer whose recall is sought] be recalled?"
If a majority of the votes cast upon the question
of recall is in the affirmative, such elected officer shall be recalled.
No recall election shall be effective unless
at least twenty percent of those entitled to vote shall have voted.
(g)
Repeat of Recall. In the case of an officer subjected
to a recall election and not recalled thereby, no recall petition
shall be filed against such officer until at least sixty days after
the election at which the officer's recall was submitted to the voters
of the town.
(h)
Office Holder Recalled. No person who has been recalled
from an office or who has resigned from office while recall proceedings
were pending against such person, shall be appointed to any town office
within one year after such recall or such resignation.
The town council may call meetings of the voters
of the town. Upon the request in writing of three hundred voters setting
forth the purpose (the specific purposes) thereof, the town council
shall call a meeting of the voters. The president of the town council
or other designee of the town council, shall preside and regulate
the proceedings of such meetings. The president of the council shall
cause the attendance of town officials and employees necessary to
respond to the issues and concerns raised by petitioners.
