The inhabitants of the Town of Townsend within the corporate
limits as established by law shall continue to be a body corporate
and politic with perpetual succession under the name "Town of Townsend."
This instrument shall be known and may be cited as the Townsend
Home Rule Charter.
Subject only to express limitations on the exercise of any power
or function by a municipality in the constitution or laws of the Commonwealth,
it is the intent and the purpose of the voters of Townsend to secure
through the adoption of this charter all of the powers it is possible
to secure for a municipal government under the constitution and laws
of the Commonwealth.
The administration of all the fiscal, prudential and municipal
affairs of the town shall be vested in an executive branch headed
by a Board of Selectmen. The legislative powers of the town shall
be vested in a town meeting open to all voters.
The powers of the Town of Townsend under this charter to be construed liberally in its favor and the specific mention of any particular power is not intended to limit in any way the general powers of the Town of Townsend stated in section 1-3.
Subject to the applicable requirements of any provision of the
constitution or statutes of the Commonwealth, the Town to Townsend
may exercise any of its powers or perform any of its functions and
may participate in the financing thereof, jointly or in cooperation
by contract or otherwise, with any one or more states or civil divisions
or agencies thereof or the United States government or any one or
more agencies thereof.
