On the first Sunday in January following a regular municipal
election, at one o'clock post meridian in the afternoon, the
mayor-elect, the councillors-elect, and school committee memberselect,
shall meet and be sworn to the faithful discharge of their duties.
The oath may be administered by the city clerk or by a justice of
the peace, and a certificate thereof shall be entered in the journal
of the city council. At any regular council meeting thereafter the
oath may be administered in the presence of the city council to the
mayor, or to any councillor or school committee member absent from
the meeting on the first Sunday in January.
No primary or caucus for municipal officers shall be held. Candidates
for mayor, city council, school committee, shall be nominated in accordance
with section six of chapter fifty-three of the General Laws.
No mayor or member of the city council or school committee and
no officer or employee of the city shall directly or indirectly make
a contract with the city, or receive any commission, discount, bonus,
gift, contribution or reward from or any share in the profits of any
person making or performing such contract, unless the mayor, such
member, officer, or employee, immediately upon learning of the existence
of such contract, or that such contract is proposed, shall notify
in writing the mayor, city council or school committee of the nature
of his interest in such contract and shall abstain from doing any
official act on behalf of the city in reference thereto. In case of
such interest on the part of an officer whose duty it is to sign such
contract on behalf of the city, the contract may be signed by any
other officer of the city duly authorized thereto by the mayor or
if the mayor has such interest by the city clerk; provided, that when
a contractor with the city is a corporation or a voluntary stock association,
the ownership of less than five (5) per cent of the stock or shares
actually issued shall not be considered as involving an interest in
the contract within the meaning of this section, and such ownership
shall not affect the validity of the contract unless the owner of
such stock or shares is also an officer or agent of the corporation
or association, or solicits or takes part in the making of the contract.
A violation of any provision of this section shall render the
contract in respect to which such violation occurs voidable at the
option of the city. Any person violating the provisions of this section
shall be punished by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars
($1,000.00) or by imprisonment for not more than one (1) year, or
both.
The mayor, with the approval of the city council, may, in the
name of the city, purchase or take by eminent domain, under chapter
seventy-nine of the General Laws, any land within its limits for any
municipal purpose. Whenever the price proposed to be paid for land
for any municipal purpose is more than twenty-five (25) per cent higher
than its average assessed valuation during the previous three (3)
years the land shall not be purchased, but shall be taken as aforesaid.
No land shall be taken or purchased until an appropriation by loan
or otherwise for the general purpose for which land is needed has
been made by the city council, by a two-thirds vote of all its members;
nor shall a price be paid in excess of the appropriation, unless a
larger sum is awarded by a court of competent jurisdiction. All proceedings
in the taking of land shall be under the advice of the law department,
and a record thereof shall be kept by said department.
When a vacancy occurs, for whatever reason, on a municipal multiple-member
board whose members are subject to city council approval, the mayor
shall submit to the city council the name of a person to fill such
vacancy as soon as possible. If the mayor does not submit a name within
ninety (90) days after such a vacancy occurs, the city council shall
submit names forthwith to the mayor who shall select one (1) of the
names submitted or a person of his own choosing for the vacancy within
fifteen (15) days.
A.
Submission. The mayor shall prepare and submit to the city council
a five-year capital improvement program at least six (6) months prior
to the last day of each fiscal year.
B.
Contents. The capital improvement program shall include: (1) a clear,
concise summary of its contents; (2) a list of all capital improvements
proposed to be undertaken during the next five (5) fiscal years with
supporting data; (3) cost estimates, method of financing, and recommended
time schedules; (4) the estimated annual cost of operating and maintaining
the facilities included; (5) a listing of all sources and amounts
of revenue. The above information shall be revised and extended each
year.
Adoption or change of the zoning ordinance of the city may be
initiated by the submission to the city of a proposed zoning ordinance
by the city council, by the board of appeals, by an individual owning
land to be affected by change or adoption, by ten (10) registered
voters in the city, by the board of survey and planning, by a regional
planning agency or by one (1) or more individual city councillors.
Section 2. The state secretary shall cause to be placed on the
official ballot to be used in the city of Waltham at the biennial
state election in the year nineteen hundred and eighty-six the following
question:
"Shall an act passed by the General Court in the year nineteen
hundred and eighty-six, entitled 'An Act providing for a charter
for the City of Waltham' be accepted?" If a majority of the votes
cast in answer to said question is in the affirmative, this act shall
take effect, but not otherwise.
Passed to be enacted, House of Representatives, June 12, 1986.
Passed to be enacted, in Senate, June 13, 1986.
Approved, Michael S. Dukakis, Governor, June 24, 1986.
