This charter may be replaced, revised or amended in accordance
with the procedures made available by Article LXXXIX of the Amendments
to the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and General
Laws chapter 43B.
The provisions of the Charter are severable. If any provision
of the Charter is held invalid, the other provisions of the Charter
shall not be affected thereby. If the application of the Charter or
any of its provisions to any person or circumstance is held invalid,
the application of the Charter and its provisions to other persons
and circumstances shall not be affected thereby.
To the extent that any specific provision of the charter shall
conflict with any provision expressed in general terms, the specific
provision shall prevail.
All references to the General Laws contained in the Charter
refer to the General Laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and
are intended to include any amendments or revisions to such chapters
and sections or to the corresponding chapters and sections of any
rearrangement of the General Laws enacted subsequent to the adoption
of the Charter.
In computing time under the Charter, if seven (7) days or less,
"days" shall refer to secular days and shall not include Saturdays,
Sundays or legal holidays. If more than seven (7) days, every day
shall be computed.
Words importing the singular number may extend and be applied
to several persons or things, Words importing the plural number may
include the singular, and words importing the masculine gender shall
include the feminine gender.
A copy of all rules and regulations adopted by any Town agency
shall be filed in the office of the Town Clerk and made available
for review by any person who requests such information. Such rules
and regulations shall not become effective until ten days following
the date they are so filed.
|
7-8-1. Charter Review.
|
|
At least once in every ten (10) years, in each year ending in
a four (4) beginning in the year 2014, a special Charter Review Committee
shall be established for the purpose of reviewing this Charter and
to make a report, with recommendations, to the Town Meeting concerning
any proposed amendments which said committee may determine to be necessary
or desirable. The committee shall consist of five (5) members who
shall be chosen by the Town Moderator. The committee shall meet to
organize forthwith following the final adjournment of the Annual Town
Meeting and shall report to the Annual Town Meeting the following
year with any recommendations.
|
|
7-8-2. By-Law Review.
|
|
At intervals of not more than five (5) years from the date of
adoption of this Charter, proposed revisions or recodifications of
the by-laws of the Town shall be presented to the Town Meeting for
re-enactment. Such revisions or recodifications shall be prepared
by a special By-law Review Committee appointed by the Board of Selectmen
for that purpose, which shall conduct its review under the supervision
of the Town Counsel or, if the Board of Selectmen shall so direct,
by special counsel appointed for that purpose. Such committee shall
be appointed immediately following the adjournment of the Annual Town
Meeting in the year preceding the year in which their report is to
be filed.
|
|
Within eight (8) months following their appointment, the committee
shall cause to be published on the Town's website (1) a report
summarizing their recommendations and noting the times and places
within the Town where complete copies of their report are available
for inspection by the public and (2) the date, time and place not
less than two (2) weeks following such publication when a public hearing
will be held by the committee on the report.
|
|
Subsequent to their enactment by the Town Meeting, copies of
all bylaws shall be forwarded to the Attorney General of the Commonwealth
of Massachusetts for his/her review and approval, and they shall be
otherwise published all as required by the General Laws of the Commonwealth
of Massachusetts. Copies of the revised bylaws shall be made available
for public distribution. In each year between such re-enactments and
publications there shall be published an annual supplement which contains
all by-laws and amendments to by-laws which have been adopted in the
previous year.
|
|
7-9-1. Meetings.
|
|
All multiple member bodies of the Town, whether elected or appointed
or otherwise constituted, shall meet regularly at such times and places
within the Town as they may prescribe. Special meetings of any multiple
member body shall be held on the call of the respective chairman,
or by one-third (1/3) of the members thereof by suitably written notice
delivered to the residence or place of business of each member at
least forty eight hours in advance of the time set. A copy of the
said notice shall also be posted on the Town Bulletin Board. Special
meetings of any multiple member body shall also be called within one
week following the date of the filing with the Town Clerk of a petition
signed by at least fifty (50) voters and which states the purpose
or purposes for which the meeting is to be called. Except as otherwise
authorized by law, all meetings of all multiple member bodies shall
be open and public. However, the multiple member body may recess,
for the purpose of meeting in executive session in accordance with
the General Laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
|
|
7-9-2. Open Meeting Law.
|
|
Multiple member bodies shall be subject to applicable provisions
of the Open Meeting Law as it may be amended from time to time.
|
|
7-9-3. Rules and Journal.
|
|
Each multiple member body shall determine its own rules and
order of business unless otherwise provided by the charter or by-law,
and shall provide for keeping minutes of its proceedings. Such minutes
shall be voted on and approved within sixty (60) days following the
date of such proceedings. These rules and minutes shall be a public
record kept available in a place convenient to the public at all reasonable
times, and copies shall be kept available in the Town library.
|
|
7-9-4. Voting.
|
|
Except on procedural matters, all votes of all multiple member
bodies shall be taken by voice or roll call vote, the result of which
shall be recorded in the minutes; provided, however, that if the vote
is unanimous, only that fact need be recorded.
|
|
7-9-5. Quorum.
|
|
A majority of the members of the multiple member body shall
constitute a quorum, but a smaller number may adjourn from time to
time. No other action of the multiple member body shall be valid or
binding unless ratified by the affirmative vote of the majority of
the full multiple member body.
|
Whenever, whether under the provisions of a Town Meeting vote
or by by-law, a multiple member body is established, the primary purpose
of which is to perform an administrative or executive function, notwithstanding
the provisions of any such vote to the contrary, the members of such
committee shall be appointed by the Board of Selectmen. Whenever,
whether under the provisions of a Town Meeting vote or a by-law, a
multiple member body is to be established, the primary purpose of
which is to perform a legislative function, notwithstanding any provision
in such vote to the contrary, the member of such multiple member body
shall be appointed by the Moderator. Nothing in this section shall
be construed to prevent the Town Meeting by vote or by by-law, to
provide that a multiple member body shall include, as a portion of
its membership, certain persons to serve ex-officio, provided that
such authority is not used to defeat the clear purpose of this provision.
Whenever a vacancy occurs in any Town office or Town employment,
or as a member of any multiple member body, except for positions covered
under the civil service law of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,
whether by reason of death, resignation, expiration of a fixed term
for which a person has been appointed, or otherwise, the Board of
Selectmen or other appointing authority shall cause public notice
of the vacancy to be posted on the Town Bulletin Board. No permanent
appointment to fill such a position shall be effective until at least
fourteen days have elapsed following such posting. Any person who
desires to be considered for appointment to the position may, within
ten days following the date the notice is posted, file with the Board
of Selectmen or other appointing authority a statement which sets
forth in clear and specific terms the qualifications which he/she
holds for the position.
Except as otherwise provided in this charter, the Town Manager shall appoint, subject to the provisions of Article IV, Section 4-2 of this Charter all persons categorized as head of departments. Except as may otherwise be required by the civil service law, appointments made by the Town Manager shall be for periods not to exceed five years. The Town Manager may suspend or remove any person appointed by the Town Manager in accordance with the procedure established in Section 7-13. The decision of the Town Manager in suspending or removing a department head shall be final.
|
All persons categorized as department heads shall, subject to the consent of the Town Manager, appoint all assistants, subordinates and other employees of the department for which such person is responsible. The department head may suspend or remove any assistant, subordinate or other employee of the department for which such person is responsible in accordance with the procedures established in Section 7-13. The decision of the department head to suspend or remove any assistant, subordinate or other employee shall be subject to review by the Town Manager. A person for whom a department head has determined that suspension or removal is appropriate may seek review of such determination by the Town Manager by filing a petition for review in the office of the Town Manager, in writing, within ten (10) days following receipt of notice of such determination. The review by the Town Manager shall follow the procedures established in Section 7-13. The decision of the Town Manager shall be final.
|
|
Any appointed Town officer, member of a multiple member body
or employee of the Town, not subject to the provisions of the state
civil service law or covered by the terms of a collective bargaining
agreement which provides a different method, and whether appointed
for a fixed or an indefinite term, may be suspended or, after notice
and the opportunity for a hearing, removed from office, without compensation,
by the appointing authority for good cause. The term "good cause"
shall include, but not be limited to incapacity other than temporary
illness, inefficiency, insubordination and conduct unbecoming the
office.
|
|
Any appointed officer, member of a multiple member body or employee of the Town may be suspended from office by the appointing authority if such action is deemed, by said appointing authority, to be necessary to protect the interests of the Town. However, other than the Town Manager as provided in Section 4-7, no suspension shall be for more than fifteen (15) days. Suspension may be coterminous with removal.
|
|
Nothing in this section shall be construed as granting a right
to such a hearing when a person who has been appointed for a fixed
term is not reappointed when the original term expires.
|
If any person appointed as a member of a multiple member body
shall fail to attend four or more consecutive meetings, or one-half
of all of the meetings of such committee held in one (1) calendar
year, the remaining members of the multiple member committee may,
by a majority vote of the remaining members of such committee, notify
the appointing authority for said position for such action as such
appointing authority deems appropriate. Prior to taking such vote,
the multiple member body shall, not less than ten (10) days prior
to the date said vote is scheduled to be taken, mail notice of such
proposed or pending vote to the last known address of such person.
