Town of Wakefield, MA Article VIII Governance of Multiple Member Bodies

[Adopted 5-10-2018 ATM by Art. 23]

§ 9-19 Scope.

Any multiple member body of the Town of Wakefield, however constituted and named, shall be covered by this article. This includes, but is not limited to, boards, committees, commissions, subcommittees, councils and advisory boards, whether elected, appointed, or otherwise has members and serves a public purpose. A public body appointed by a Town officer solely for the purpose of advising the same officer shall be exempt from this article. Town Meeting is exempt from this article.

§ 9-20 Rules of Order.

For all multiple member bodies, unless required by a General Law, Charter, other Bylaws or otherwise, meetings shall be conducted using the most recent revision of Robert's Rules of Order.

§ 9-21 Assignment of Chair.

Except where designated by General Law, Charter, or other Bylaws, each multiple member body shall elect from its membership a Chair at the first meeting after it is created. For standing multiple member bodies or those that exist for more than one calendar year, a Chair shall be elected at the first meeting following the regular elections for Town officers according to the Wakefield Home Rule Charter, Section 3-1(c). At the request of any two members of a multiple member body, an election for chair may also be taken at any meeting provided the intention to request the vote is announced at a duly called meeting at least 14 calendar days in advance of such meeting. Whenever a Chair is newly elected, the Town Administrator and Town Clerk shall be notified in writing within seven (7) days by the newly elected Chair.

§ 9-22 Quorum.

Except where designated by General Law, Charter, or other Bylaws, all multiple member bodies shall have a quorum using the following formula:

A. For elected multiple member bodies: Greater than one-half of the total number of elected positions.

B. For appointed multiple member bodies: Greater than one-half of the total number of appointed members who have been appointed and taken the oath to serve.

§ 9-23 Location and Posting of Meetings.

All meetings shall be posted in accordance with MGL, c. 30A, §§ 18 through 25 (the Open Meeting Law) and all meetings shall take place at a location accessible by all members of the public. For buildings that have secured entryways requiring specific access, clear written instructions must be posted on the door and any member of the public shall be given entrance to the meeting without delay of more than one (1) minute. For meetings at buildings with more than one public entrance or known by more than one name, the entrance to be used by the public shall be clearly listed on the meeting posting. The Chair is responsible for directly notifying all members of the date and time of each meeting.

§ 9-24 Minutes of Meetings.

All meetings shall have minutes recorded in accordance with the Open Meeting Law. A copy of the minutes shall be sent to the Town Clerk by the Chair of the multiple member body not later than seven (7) days after approval of the minutes by the multiple member body, provided that in the absence of any approval, a draft copy will be sent sixty (60) days after the meeting to which the draft minutes relate. If a draft copy is sent to the Town Clerk and is later approved and/or amended, a copy of the approved and/or amended minutes will be sent to the Town Clerk by the Chair within seven (7) days of approval and/or amendment. The executive session minutes shall be sent to the Town Clerk when the authorized executive session purpose expires. At least once per calendar year, every multiple member body with executive session minutes that have not been fully released shall review all executive session minutes not sent to the Town Clerk to determine if the executive session purpose has expired. If a multiple member body has a website, all minutes and draft minutes required to be sent to the Town Clerk shall at the same time be posted to that website, provided that nothing herein shall require any multiple member body to create a website.

§ 9-25 Attendance Requirement and Abandonment.

[Amended 11-5-2018 RTM by Art. 17]

Members need to attend meetings to be an integral part of the deliberation toward decision-making in the best interests of the Town. Members of appointed multiple member bodies who are absent from 5 consecutive, properly posted, duly called meetings with a quorum of members otherwise present shall be considered to have willingly abandoned their position and the position will be vacant until filled by the appointing authority. Members who participate in a meeting remotely, such as by telephone and/or internet, pursuant to MGL c. 30A, § 20(d) or (e), will not be considered absent for the purpose of this Section. If remote participation is not legally available for any reason, a member who nonetheless uses a telephone, the internet or other means to hear and be heard at a meeting shall not be considered absent for the purpose of this Section. Members of the Zoning Board of Appeals and Conservation Commission, as they are adjudicative bodies, who are absent for 5 or more meetings over the course of any 12 consecutive months may be removed by the Town Councilors for cause.

§ 9-26 Creation of Appointed Public Bodies.

With respect to each multiple member body, there shall be a list of designated powers and duties. For appointed multiple member bodies, this shall be created by the appointing authority(ies) and include: a) the intended purpose, powers, and duties of the body, b) the term of membership for each member, and c) how successor members shall be appointed. A copy of the purpose, powers, duties, and membership list shall be provided to each member upon his or her appointment. Appointing authorities will have one year from the date of adoption of this Section to create a document specifying the intended purpose, powers, and duties, term of membership for each member, and how successor members shall be appointed for any multiple member body where no such document currently exists. For multiple member bodies created explicitly by Town Charter, Town Meeting, or bylaw, the multiple member body shall create a document specifying its intended purpose, powers, duties, term of membership, and how members are appointed to the body. A copy of this document shall be provided to the Town Administrator and Town Clerk within sixty (60) days of the first posted meeting of the members.

§ 9-27 Public Hearings.

In public hearings, any member of the public wishing to address a multiple member body shall be permitted to do so only with permission of the Chair. The Chair shall permit any resident to address a multiple member body for at least five (5) minutes on the topic of the public hearing. If multiple hearings are held simultaneously on substantively different topics, a speaker shall be permitted to address the public body for at least five (5) minutes on each substantively different topic. The Chair may require speakers to provide their names and addresses. Attendees at a public hearing shall not interrupt any speaker or otherwise intentionally be disruptive to the multiple member body. After clear warning, the Chair has the right to have disruptive attendees removed and further barred from the public hearing. No public hearing shall be opened and closed on any single recognized religious holiday that causes a conflict for a member of the multiple member body or where the public body is notified a conflict exists, due to the religious holiday, for any member of the public who wishes to attend or address the public body.