Swampscott, MA - TOWN MEETING

year. (5/98) For the election of officers at said annual town meeting unless otherwise provided by law, polls shall be open at seven o’clock in the forenoon and shall remain open until eight o’clock at night. After the counting and declaration of votes for officers at an annual town meeting, said meeting shall be adjourned to the first Monday next thereafter at 7:15 p.m. at the Town Hall or such other place as may be designated by the Selectmen, and at which time and at any further adjournment thereof, the remaining articles of the warrant shall be taken up. Each further adjournment thereof shall be made to the next succeeding and successive nights at 7:45 p.m., unless the meeting determines otherwise by the vote of two-thirds (2/3) of the members present and voting, as is necessary to conclude the annual town meeting.

Section 2. The warrant for all town meetings shall contain a statement of all subjects to be acted upon at the meeting. When an article is petitioned for by the legal number of voters, there shall be appended thereto the name of the first person signing said petition and the words “et al.” All petitions for insertions of articles in the warrant for the Annual Town Meeting shall be filed with the Board of Selectmen on or before the first Thursday of February prior to the Annual Meeting. All petitions for the laying out and acceptance of public ways shall be filed with the Board of Selectmen on or before the first Thursday of November preceding the Annual Town Meeting.

Notice of every town meeting shall be given by posting attested copies of the warrant for the same in at least two public places in each precinct, and by mailing such warrant to each town meeting member as soon as said warrant is drawn and printed and not less than seven days before the day appointed for said meeting. Notice of any adjournment of any town meeting other than to the next succeeding night as provided in Section One shall be advertised by the town clerk at least once in a newspaper or newspapers published in Swampscott, and in case such adjournment is for a period of more than five days, notice shall be mailed to each town meeting member at least one day prior to the date set for the adjourned meeting. The validity of any proceedings taken at an adjourned town meeting shall not be affected by any defect in the notice of the adjournment.

The Town Clerk shall prepare and furnish to each town meeting member an identification card. No person shall be admitted to the floor of the meeting at any time except upon presentation of his identification card or a pass signed by the Moderator or by the Chairman of the Board of Selectmen.

Section 4. If the Moderator's declaration of a vote has been immediately questioned by seven voters, in polling the members, the Moderator shall appoint tellers and members in the affirmative and in the negative respectively shall be requested to rise and stand until they are counted by the tellers, and the tellers shall make report of said count to the Moderator, who shall then announce the vote. Upon the request of thirty or more Town Meeting members, a roll call vote shall be taken in connection with final action upon any article in the warrant.

shall be taken and the voter shall be recorded in the records by the Clerk; but if the vote is unanimous, a count need not be taken and the Clerk shall record the vote as unanimous. Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, on matters requiring a two-thirds vote by statute, a count need not be taken unless the vote so declared is immediately questioned by seven or more voters as provided in General Laws Chapter 39 Section 15. (5/99)

may decide to vote by ballot upon any motion properly before it, and upon the request of two-third or more of the town meeting members present and voting, the meeting shall vote by ballot upon any motion properly before it to amend the recommendation of the Finance Committee. In any such case, the Moderator shall state the question, and the Town Clerk shall prepare and distribute the ballots to enable the town meeting members to vote “Yes” or “No” upon such question. Said ballots shall be collected and counted by the Moderator of such persons as he may then and there delegate, and the Moderator shall then announce the vote. When a vote is taken by such ballot, the meeting shall not then be polled under Section Four.

Section 7. When a question is under debate, no motion shall be received except a motion to adjourn the meeting, to vote by ballot, or by roll call, to lay on the table, to commit or refer, to amend, to postpone to a day certain, to limit or extend the limits of debate, or to postpone indefinitely, or a motion for the previous question, or a motion for leave to withdraw or modify a motion. No town meeting member shall speak upon the same question more than twice, nor more than ten minutes at one time without first obtaining permission of the meeting.

Section 8. Articles in the warrant shall be acted upon in their order unless two or more articles relate to the same subject matter, when they may be considered jointly.

Section 10. All motions submitted for the consideration of the meeting involving the expenditure of money, the creation of a debt, or the disposal of town property shall be in writing, except motions to adopt recommendations for the above-mentioned purposes which are contained in a written report. All other motions shall be in writing if required by the Moderator.

Section 13. Motions to adjourn, to lay on the table, to take from the table, to vote by ballot or by roll call for the previous question shall be decided without debate.

Section 14. A motion to reconsider any vote must be made before the final adjournment of the meeting at which the vote was passed; provided, however, that such motion to reconsider shall not be made at an adjourned session of the meeting unless the same member has given notice of intention to make such a motion either at the session of the meeting at which the vote was passed or by written notice to the Town Clerk not more than forty-eight hours after the hour of adjournment of such session and not less than three hours before the hour to which adjournment has been voted. A vote shall be reconsidered a second time or after a motion to reconsider it has failed to pass.

Section 15. The Town Clerk shall keep a record of the attendance of Town Meeting members at each session of Town Meeting. Such record shall consist of lists by precinct designation of the names of Town Meeting members present and of those absent, shall be posted on the bulletin board at the Town Administration Building within twenty-four (24) hours from the time of adjournment or dissolution of a Town Meeting for a period of thirty (30) days thereafter and shall be kept available for public inspection until publication of the next Annual Town Report.

Section 16. The Annual Town Report shall include a record of Town Meeting attendance by the Town Meeting members, including therein, by precinct designation, the names of the members present and the names of the members absent from any session of Town Meeting.

Section 17. Any person who is employed as an attorney or who represents another in any matter under discussion at a Town Meeting shall disclose the fact of his employment before speaking thereon.

Section 17a. Any person who is employed as an attorney or who represents another in any matter under discussion by any board or agency of the town shall disclose the fact of his or her employment before speaking thereon.

Section 18. No person shall file a Petition for Reconsideration of any vote of the Town Meeting pursuant to Section 6 of the Town Charter without simultaneously filing with the Selectmen a signed statement of financial expenditures incurred in connection therewith. The statement shall enumerate all payments or promises of payment of money or other things of value to any person or persons in consideration for procurement by the latter of signatures for each Petition. Such statement shall be available for examination by any resident of the Town from the time filed until thirty (30) days after the final adjournment of the Town Meeting. No person shall make or promise to make any such payment for an amount based upon the number of signatures obtained.