(a)
Elective Offices – The offices to be filled by the voters shall be a Board of Selectmen, a Triton Regional School District
Committee, and a Town Moderator. In addition, members
of such other offices or representatives to regional authorities or
districts as may be established by statute or by inter-local agreement
may also be filled by ballot at Town elections.
(b)
Eligibility – Any voter shall be eligible to hold
any elective Town office; however, no person shall simultaneously
hold more than one elected Town office as defined in
this section.
(c)
Town Election –The annual election of Town
officers, and for the determination of all questions to be
referred to the voters, shall be held on such date as
may from time to time be provided by by-law.
(d)
Compensation – Elected Town officers may receive
such compensation for their services as may be appropriated from time
to time for such purpose.
(e)
Coordination – Notwithstanding their election by the voters, the Town officers named in this section
shall be subject to the call of the Board of Selectmen or of the Town Manager at all reasonable times for consultation, conference
and discussion on any matter relating to their respective offices.
(f)
Filling of Vacancies of Elected Offices
(1)
Multiple Member Body – If there is a vacancy in the Triton Regional School District Committee the
filling of that vacancy shall be accomplished in accordance
with the Triton Regional School District Agreement.
(2)
Board of Selectmen – if there is a failure to elect or
if a vacancy occurs in the office of Selectman and six
months or more will elapse before the next annual Town election, the remaining selectmen shall forthwith call a special
election to fill the vacancy. If a vacancy occurs in the office of Selectman, and more than three, but less
than six months, will elapse before the next annual Town election, the remaining selectmen may call a special election to
fill the vacancy and shall, in such circumstance, forthwith,
call such special election upon the request in writing of two hundred
or more registered voters of the Town.
(g)
Recall of Elected Officers
(1)
Application – Any person who holds an elected Town
office, with more than six months remaining of the term of
office at the time of the filing of the application, may be recalled
from the office by the voters in the manner provided
in this section.
(2)
Recall Petitions – A recall affidavit containing the name
of the officer whose recall is sought and a statement of the grounds
for recall, signed by at least fifty voters in each of
the precincts into which the Town is divided, shall be
filed with the Town Clerk. The Board of Registrars of Voters shall certify such affidavit with regard to the sufficiency
and validity of the signatures of voters and within five
working days following such filing the Town Clerk shall deliver to the ten persons first named on such affidavit
petition blanks demanding said recall, printed forms of which the Town Clerk shall keep available. The blanks may be completed
by printing or typewriting; they shall be addressed to the Board of
Selectmen; they shall contain the names of the ten persons to whom
they are issued and the grounds for recall as stated in the affidavit;
they shall demand the election of a successor to the office; they
shall be dated and signed by the Town Clerk. A copy of
the petition shall be entered into the record book to be kept in the
office of the Town Clerk.
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The recall petitions shall be returned to the office of the Town Clerk within fourteen days following the
date they are issued, signed by at least ten percent of the registered voters in each precinct as of the last regular election.
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The Town Clerk, within two days following
such filing, shall submit the petition to the Board of Registrars
of Voters, which shall within five days thereafter,
certify such petition with regard to the sufficiency and validity
of the signatures of voters.
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(3)
Recall Elections –If the petitions are certified by the
Board of Registrars of Voters, the Town Clerk
shall forthwith submit the same with a certificate to the Board of
Selectmen. Upon receipt of the certified petitions, the Board of Selectmen
shall forthwith give notice in writing of said petitions to the officer
whose recall is sought. If said officer does not resign from office
within five days following delivery of the said notice,
the Board of Selectmen shall order a special election to be held not
less than sixty-five days, nor more than seventy-five days, after the date of the certification of the Town Clerk that the petitions are sufficient; provided, however, that
if a regular annual Town election is to be held within
ninety days following the date of said certification
the recall election shall be held in conjunction therewith and not
at a special election. If a vacancy occurs in the office
after a recall election has been ordered, the election shall nevertheless
proceed as provided in this section, but only the ballots for candidates
need be counted.
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Within five days after receipt of the written notice,
the elected official may request a public hearing by filing a written
request for such hearing with the Board of Selectmen. This hearing
shall be held at a meeting of the Board of Selectmen not later than
twenty days nor earlier than ten days after
the request is filed. The elected official may file a written statement
responding to the reasons stated in the resolution of removal with
the Board of Selectmen provided the same is received by the Board
of Selectmen more than forty-eight hours in advance of the public
hearing.
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(4)
Nomination of Candidates – An officer sought to be recalled
may be a candidate to succeed to the same office and, unless the officer
requests otherwise in writing, the Town Clerk shall place
the name of the officer on the ballot without nomination. The nomination
of other candidates, the publication of the warrant for the recall
election, and the conduct of the same shall all be in conformity with
the provisions of law relating to Town election generally,
unless otherwise provided in this section.
(5)
Propositions on the Ballot – Ballots used at the recall
election shall state the proposition as indicated:
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Shall (name of officer), (name of office), be recalled ___ Yes
___ No
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Adjacent to each proposition shall be a place to vote for said
proposition. After the said proposition shall appear the word "candidates"
and the names of candidates arranged by a lottery drawn by the Town Clerk. If a majority of the votes cast is in favor of
the recall, and provided at least twenty-five percent of the total
number of voters as of the date of the most recent Town election have participated at such recall election, the
officer shall be deemed to be recalled and the ballots for candidates
shall then be counted, and the candidate receiving the highest number
of votes shall be declared elected.
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(6)
Officeholder – The incumbent shall continue to hold office
and perform the duties until the recall election. If not then recalled,
the officer shall continue in office for the remainder of the unexpired
term, subject to recall as provided in paragraph (7) below.
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If the officer is recalled, the office shall be deemed vacant
upon the certification of the election results. The candidate who
receives the highest number of votes shall serve for the balance of
the unexpired term.
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(7)
Repeat of Recall Petition – No repeat recall shall be
filed in the case of an officer subjected to a recall election and
not recalled thereby, until at least six months after the election
at which the recall was submitted to the voters.
(8)
Appointment of Person Recalled – No person who has been
recalled from an office, or who has resigned from office while recall
proceedings were pending against them, shall be appointed to any Town office within two (2) years after such recall or such
resignation.
(a)
Composition, Term of Office – There shall be a Board of Selectmen
consisting of five members elected for terms of three years each,
so arranged that the terms of as nearly an equal number of members
as is possible shall expire each year.
(b)
Powers and Duties — The executive powers of the Town shall be vested in the Board of Selectmen, which shall be deemed
to be the Chief Executive Office in the Town. The Board
of Selectmen shall serve as the chief policy-making agency of the Town. It shall be responsible for the issuance of policy directives
and guidelines to be followed by all Town agencies serving
under it and, in conjunction with other Town officers, to develop and to promulgate policy guidelines designed to bring
all agencies of the Town into harmony; provided, however,
that nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize any member
of the Board of Selectmen, nor a majority of them, to become involved
in the day-to-day administration of any Town department. It is the intent of this provision that the Board of Selectmen
shall act only through the adoption of broad policy guidelines, which
are to be implemented by officers and employees appointed by or under
its authority.
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The Board of Selectmen shall cause a record of all its official
acts to be kept. To aid in the performance of its duties, the Board
of Selectmen shall appoint a Town Manager as provided in Article 4.
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(c)
Appointment Powers — The Board of Selectmen shall appoint a Town Manager, library trustees, historical commission, registrars
of voters (but not the Town Clerk), local
cultural council, four members of a housing authority, a planning
board, a harbor commission, a rent control board, the council on aging,
an affordable housing trust, a Ring's Island Neighborhood Preservation
District Committee, and Town Counsel. The Board of Selectmen
shall appoint such other Town officers and members of multiple member bodies, the primary responsibilities of which
are policy making and not administrative, as may be provided by By-law.[1]
(d)
Licensing Authority — The Board of Selectmen shall be the licensing
board for the Town and shall have a power to issue licenses
as otherwise authorized by law; to make all necessary rules and regulations
regarding the issuance of such licenses and to attach conditions and
impose restrictions, as deemed to be in the public interest, and to
enforce all laws relating to all businesses for which it issues any
licenses.
(a)
Term of Office – There shall be a Town Moderator
elected for a term of three years.
(b)
Powers and Duties – The Town Moderator shall be
the presiding officer of the Town Meeting, as provided in Section 2-2, regulate its proceedings, and perform such other duties as may be provided by general law, by Charter, by by-law,
or by other Town Meeting vote.
(c)
Appointment Powers – The Moderator shall appoint the Warrant
Advisory Committee, the Charter Review Committee, the
Parks and Recreation Commission, and all other standing committees
of the Town Meeting and all committees authorized by
the Town Meeting for a primarily legislative purpose.
(a)
Composition, Term of Office – There shall be a Triton Regional
School District Committee which shall be elected in accordance with
the Triton Regional School District Agreement.
(b)
Powers and Duties – The Triton Regional School District Committee
shall have all of the powers and duties given to school committees
by the laws of the Commonwealth. The Triton Regional
School District Committee shall have general charge of the public
schools in the Town, and shall have such additional powers
and duties as may be authorized by the Charter, by by-law,
by Town Meeting vote, or the provisions of the Triton
Regional School District Agreement.
(c)
There shall be a representative to the Whittier Regional Vocational
Technical School Committee who shall be appointed in accordance with
the Whittier Regional Vocational Technical District Regional Agreement.
