[Adopted as §§ 2-56 through 2-64 of the 1965 Code]
[Amended 6-3-2014 by Ord. No. 100-2014]
The City Clerk shall have charge of the City Clerk Department. He or she shall be elected by a majority vote of the Council for a term of three years and until his or her or her successor is chosen and qualified.
The City Clerk shall attend all meetings of the Council and shall act as Clerk and keep all the records of such meetings.
[Amended 6-3-2014 by Ord. No. 100-2014]
The City Clerk shall, within 10 days after his or her qualification and thereafter at intervals of not more than one year, give to the City a bond for the faithful performance of his or her duties as is required by MGL c. 41, § 13, which bond shall be in such form and amount as the Mayor shall approve. He or she shall also within 10 days after his or her qualification give to the City the bond required by MGL c. 41, § 13A, which bond, as to form and amount, shall be approved by the Council.
[Amended 12-5-1989 by Ord. No. 483-89; 3-7-1995 by Ord. No. 65-95; 6-3-2014 by Ord. No. 100-2014]
The City Clerk shall perform the following duties:
A. 
He or she shall record all votes passed at meetings of the Council.
B. 
He or she shall serve as Clerk of such committees as may be designated by vote or rule of the Council.
C. 
He or she shall administer oaths of office to all City officers who apply to him or her to be sworn and make a record thereof and of the oaths of office taken by City officers before Justices of the Peace of which certificates are filed with him.
D. 
He or she shall make and keep an index of all instruments entered with him or her as required by law to be recorded.
E. 
He or she shall keep a book in which shall be filed all written opinions rendered by the City Solicitor to the Mayor, to any department head or to Council, copies of which have been filed with his or her office.
F. 
He or she shall cause to be kept all contracts of the City which are filed with him, in a book used for that purpose, which book shall be kept and arranged in accordance with the provisions of MGL c. 41, § 17.
G. 
He or she shall notify the Auditor and Treasurer of all orders passed by the Council authorizing appropriations, assessments, apportionments or abatements, and also all boards and officers of all orders appropriating money to be expended by them or directing them to do or not to do or authorizing the doing of any matter or thing, and of any other matter in any way affecting their powers, immediately after such orders are approved by the Mayor or are otherwise in force.
H. 
He or she shall keep a book, alphabetically arranged, showing the names of all streets which have been or may be laid out and accepted, with the date of the laying out and acceptance and alterations made from time to time.
I. 
He or she shall be, ex officio, keeper of the City Seal, but shall permit the Mayor or any other officer to affix the same to any document on which the City Seal is required to be affixed.
J. 
He or she shall notify all City officers of their election or appointment immediately after they have been chosen, by written notices mailed to their respective places of residence, and he or she shall notify the Mayor upon the failure of any person so chosen to qualify within 30 days after the receipt of such notice.
K. 
He or she shall promptly, upon adoption by the Council, present to the Mayor all orders, ordinances or resolutions of the Council which require the signature or approval of the Mayor.
L. 
He or she shall cause to be published or sent out all notices of hearings, meetings, etc., of the Council or of the committees of which he or she is Clerk.
M. 
He or she shall cause to be copied, in a book specially kept for that purpose, all ordinances adopted by the Council and approved by the Mayor, in the order in which they are passed.
N. 
He or she shall keep a record, in a book kept exclusively for that purpose, of all orders of the Mayor and Council, granting locations for the construction of poles for the purpose of transmitting electric current.
O. 
The City Clerk shall present to the City Council in the year of the regular municipal election, at the time that the Mayor's budget is presented to the Council, a petition to review the Mayor's salary and the City Councilors salary.
The City Clerk shall have the custody and control of all the books, reports, laws and records of the City except as otherwise expressly provided.
The City Clerk shall cause to be recorded and indexed all mortgages of personal property, mechanic's liens, assignments of wages, births, marriages and deaths, married women's certificates, certificates of doing business under an assumed name and all other papers required by law to be filed or recorded in the office of the City Clerk.
[Amended 6-3-2014 by Ord. No. 100-2014]
The City Clerk shall certify or attest copies of all documents filed or recorded with his or her office, upon the request of any person legally entitled thereto.
The City Clerk shall attest and issue all licenses granted by the Council or any board or department of the City and shall affix the City Seal thereto and shall collect the fee therefor, if any, unless the manner of issuing such licenses is otherwise provided by law. The City Clerk shall record all licenses in a book kept for that purpose.
[Amended 6-3-2014 by Ord. No. 100-2014]
The position of Assistant City Clerk is created. The Assistant City Clerk shall be elected by the City Council, which at the time of such election shall designate the term for which the Assistant City Clerk shall be elected. The duties of the position shall be to assist the City Clerk and to assume the duties of the City Clerk during his or her absence. The salary for this position (on a weekly basis) shall be established by the City Council.