The regular elections to any Town office shall be by official
ballot for the annual Town election. Except as may be provided generally
for town governments by the General Laws of the Commonwealth or as
provided for recalls in Section 5.4, nothing in this Charter shall
grant any power to remove or dismiss any elected Town official.
[Amended 4-11-2007 ATM
by Art. 44, approved 5-21-2007; Acts of 2019, Ch. 110, approved 11-13-2019]
No select board member shall individually or collectively seek to influence the Town Administration to dismiss any person from or to appoint or to promote any person to any position in the Town Administration. However, the select board may, pursuant to Section 3.4(a)(4), adopt a resolution of disapproval as to appointments which the Town Manager is empowered to make in accordance with Section 3.4(b) or 4.3 of this Charter.
The Town shall indemnify and hold harmless all Town officers
pursuant to Chapter 258, Section 13 of the General Laws.
(a)
Any holder of elective Town office may be recalled by the voters
of the Town. Any two-hundred registered voters may file with the Town
Clerk an affidavit identifying the name of the officer sought to be
recalled and stating in full the specific grounds for the recall.
The affidavit shall be signed by each voter under pains and penalty
of perjury and shall include the street address of each voter.
(b)
Within ten days, the Town Clerk shall certify the signatures
and, if sufficient, shall deliver upon request to any of the certified
voters a blank recall petition form naming such voter. Each such petition
form shall carry the Clerk's signature and seal and date of the certification,
shall be addressed to the select board, shall identify the officer's
name and the stated grounds for recall, and shall demand election
of a successor to the office.
[Amended by Acts of 2019, Ch. 110, approved 11-13-2019]
(c)
If, within 21 days after the certification date, such recall
petition forms signed by at least 20% of registered voters with Town
residence address shown are returned to the Town Clerk, the Clerk
shall, within 14 days, certify the signatures of registered voters,
to determine sufficiency of the petition.
(d)
If sufficient the Town Clerk shall thereupon submit the petition
with date of its certification to the select board which shall forthwith
give written notice thereof to the officer sought to be recalled.
If the officer does not resign within 7 days, the select board shall
order a recall election to be held concurrently with the next annual
election for Town officers not less than 75 days after such certification
date. The recall election, once ordered, shall proceed, even if the
office becomes vacant, in the same manner as for an annual Town election.
[Amended by Acts of 2019, Ch. 110, approved 11-13-2019]
(e)
The officer sought to be removed may seek renomination, may
serve until expiration of the current term of office unless and until
a successor is sooner elected, and may not be put twice to the recall
process in the same term.
(f)
Recall election ballots shall first submit the question:
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For the recall of (name of officer)
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Against the recall of (name of officer)
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and then the heading "Candidates" followed by a listing of the
names of candidates nominated for the office. Only if the majority
of votes counted upon the question of recall is in the affirmative
shall the votes upon the candidates be effective to elect the one
receiving the highest number.
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