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Chapter Two
TOWN MEETING
Section 1. The existing precinct boundaries of the Town shall be reviewed and, if
need be, wholly or partly revised by the Selectmen in October 1969, and once in every five years thereafter, or in October of any year when so directed by a vote of a representative Town Meeting held not later than September twentieth of that year, so that there shall be precincts, of compact and contiguous territory, bounded as far as possible by the center line of known streets and ways or by other well defined limits and containing approximately an equal number of persons.
The selectmen shall, within ten days after any revision of the precincts, file a report of their doings with the Town Clerk, the Board of Election Commissioners and the Assessors, with a description of the precincts and the names and residences of the voters therein, and shall post in the Town Hall such description, names and residences. Any revision of such precincts shall take effect upon the date of the filing of the report therefor with the Election Commission or Board of Registrar of Voters. Whenever the precincts are revised, the Election Commission or Board of Registrar Voters shall give written notice thereof to the Secretary of State of the Commonwealth. Meetings of the voters of the several precincts for elections, for primaries and for voting upon any
question to be submitted to all the voters of the Town shall be held on the day and at the hour and at such place or places within the Town as the Selectmen shall in the warrant for such meeting direct.
Section 2. If the precinct boundaries are wholly or partly revised by the Selectmen in October 1969, the voters in each precinct shall, at the annual Town election in 1970 and at the first Town election following any further precinct revisions, conformably to the laws relative to elections, elect by ballot fifty-four voters in the precinct to be Town Meeting Members. The first eighteen in the order of votes received shall serve three years, the second eighteen shall serve two years and the remaining eighteen shall serve one year, from the date of the annual Town Meeting. In case of a tie vote affecting the division into thirds, the members from the precinct shall by ballot determine the same. If the precinct boundaries are not revised in October 1969, at the
annual Town election in 1970 and thereafter, except as otherwise provided herein, at each annual Town election the voters of each precinct shall elect eighteen Town Meeting Members for a term of three years and shall at such election fill each vacancy for the unexpired term then existing. Upon every revision of the precincts the terms of office of all Town Meeting Members shall cease upon the qualification of their successors, who shall be elected at the annual Town election held after such revision. The Election Commissioners shall, after every election of Town Meeting Members, forthwith notify each member by mail of his election. Each Town Meeting Member shall be sworn to the faithful and impartial performance of his duties as Town Meeting Member, but failure to comply with this requirement shall not affect the validity of any action taken at any Town Meeting. The Town Meeting members shall be the judges of the election and
qualification of their members.
Section 3. The articles for the warrant for each Town Meeting, so far as they relate to
the election of the Moderator, Town Officers and Town Meeting Members, and, as herein provided, to referenda, and all matters to be acted upon and determined by ballot, shall be so acted upon and determined by the voters of the Town in their respective precincts. All other articles in the warrant for each Town Meeting shall be acted upon and determined exclusively by Town Meeting Members at such time and place as shall be set forth by the Selectmen in the warrant for the meeting, subject to the referendum provided for by Section Eight. The Town Clerk shall notify the Town Meeting Members of the time and place at which representative Town Meetings are to be held, the notices to be sent by mail at least seven days before the meeting. A majority of the Town Meeting Members shall constitute
a quorum for doing business, but a lesser number may organize temporarily and adjourn from time to time. All Town Meetings shall be public. The Town Meeting Members as such shall receive no compensation. Subject to such conditions as may be determined from time to time by the Town Meeting Members, any voter of the Town who is not a Town Meeting Member may speak at any Town Meeting, but shall not vote.
Section 4. A Moderator shall be elected by ballot at each annual Town Meeting and
shall serve as Moderator of all Town Meetings, except as otherwise provided by law, until a successor is elected and qualified. Nominations for the election of a Moderator shall be as in the case of other elective Town officers and any vacancy in the office may be filled by the Town Meeting Members at a meeting held for that purpose. If a Moderator is absent, a Moderator pro tempore may be elected by the Town Meeting Members.
Section 5. A Town Meeting Member may resign by filing a written resignation with
the Town Clerk, and such resignation shall take effect on the date of such filing. A Town Meeting Member who removes from the Town shall cease to be a Town Meeting Member and a Town Meeting Member who removes to another precinct may serve only until the next annual Town Meeting. Any vacancy in Town Meeting members caused by the resignation of a Town Meeting member shall be filled by offering the position to the person getting the highest number of votes at the last election. If there is a tie in highest vote getting person, then a lottery shall beheld. If the highest vote getting person declines appointment, then the vacancy shall be offered to next highest vote getting person, or if a tie or lottery shall be held, and if that person declines or if there is no
list of next highest vote getting persons, then the vacancy shall be filled by the precinct caucus, by ballot, by a majority of those present and voting, for the unexpired term. (4/99). Upon written acceptance by a member so chosen, he shall be deemed elected, subject to the right of all Town Meeting members to judge the election and qualifications of the members as set forth in Section Two of this Chapter.
Section 5A. The Town Meeting Member who has missed three (3) consecutive
sessions of Town Meeting may be removed by a 2/3 vote of the Town Meeting Members of that precinct, convened for that purpose.
Section 6. No vote, except a vote to adjourn or authorize the borrowing of money in
anticipation of receipt of taxes for the current year, passed at any representative Town Meeting, shall be operative until after the expiration of five days from the date on which the possibility of reconsideration of such vote has expired or become exhausted. If, within such five days of a petition, signed by not less than five percent of the voters of the Town, containing their names and addresses as they appear on the list of voters, is filed with the Selectmen, asking that the question or questions involved in such vote be submitted t the voters of the Town, the Selectmen shall forthwith call a special election for the purpose of presenting such question to the voters. The hours of voting shall be the same as at the previous annual Town election. The vote upon any question so submitted
shall be taken by ballot and the checklist shall be used in the several precinct meetings in the same manner as in the election of Town officers. The question shall be determined by a majority of the voters voting thereon. (11/99).
The question shall be stated upon the ballot in substantially the same language and form in which it was stated to the representative Town Meeting by the Moderator as appears from the records of the meeting.
Section 7. The Moderator shall appoint a Finance Committee consisting of one voter
from each precinct and two additional voters at large, who shall serve for three year terms. To this committee shall be referred all questions pertaining to the appropriation of expenditure of money, the creation of debt, the disposition of Town property and all other questions affecting the Town, for the purpose of making recommendations, but this shall not be construed to prohibit the appointment of special committees to investigate matters pertaining to the Town or to execute work authorized by it. The Finance Committee shall have the power to consult with all departments, officers, employees, agents or committees of the Town, and it shall be the duty of all such departments, officers, employees, agents and committees to furnish such information as they possess that may be required by the Finance
Committee. The Finance Committee shall also have the power to examine all books, vouchers, papers and other instruments in the custody or possession of any officer, employee, agent or committee of the Town.
Section 8. The Town shall have the capacity to act through and be bound by its Town
Meeting Members, who shall, when convened from time to time as herein provided, constitute representative Town Meetings; and such representative Town Meetings shall exercise exclusively all powers vested in the Town. Action in conformity with all provisions of law now or hereafter applicable to the transaction of Town affairs in Town Meetings shall, when taken by any representative Town Meeting in accordance with the provisions of this Charter, have the same force and effect as if such action had been taken in a Town Meeting open to all the voters of the Town.
Section 9. To the extent that it is inconsistent herewith, Chapter 300 of the Acts of
1927, as amended, is hereby further amended to conform hereto.
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