Every representative Town meeting shall meet
at the time and place fixed in the warrant and shall be called to
order by the Moderator. In the absence of the Moderator, the meeting
shall be called to order by the Town Clerk, who shall preside until
a temporary moderator is chosen.
Immediately after the calling of the meeting
to order by the Moderator, the warrant for the Town meeting and the
return of the person who served the same shall first be read by the
Town Clerk, unless the meeting votes that the reading of the articles
in the warrant be dispensed with.
At all representative Town meetings held in
Cary Memorial Hall a space on the floor of the Main Hall shall be
reserved for Town meeting members and no person who is not a member
shall be admitted within the reserved area unless otherwise ordered
by the Moderator or by vote of the meeting. Checklists of members
shall be kept at convenient places adjacent to the entrances to said
reserved space during all meetings and for a reasonable time prior
to the opening of the meetings, and members shall be admitted to said
reserved area upon giving their names to checkers in charge of said
lists.
A.
The Moderator shall preserve order and decorum. He
may speak to points of order in preference to other members. Each
question of order, with the decision thereon, shall be entered by
the Clerk in the records of the meeting.
B.
To the extent that this bylaw is not inconsistent
with Chapter 215 of the Acts of 1929, as amended, the Moderator may,
at the first session of the Annual Town Meeting or the first town
meeting following the election of the Moderator, nominate a voter
as Deputy Moderator, subject to the election by the town meeting members,
to serve throughout the Moderator’s term of office as temporary
Moderator with all the powers and duties of the Moderator, in the
event of the Moderator’s absence, recusal, or disability, or
a midterm vacancy in the office of the Moderator, until such vacancy
is filled according to law.
[Amended 3-31-2008 ATM by Art. 35]
A.
Unless otherwise provided by law or by bylaw, all
motions shall require only a majority vote.
B.
All articles in the warrant shall be taken up in their
order upon the warrant unless otherwise ordered by a vote of the meeting,
and no motion or resolution, the subject matter of which is not set
forth in some article in the warrant, shall be entertained.
C.
Every motion shall be reduced to writing and signed
by the member presenting it when so requested by the Moderator, and
before receiving any motion the Moderator may require that it be seconded;
a motion may be withdrawn by the mover if no objection is made.
D.
No motion carrying an expenditure or appropriation
of money, except where such expenditure is required by law, shall
be acted upon at any Town meeting until some report thereon has been
made by the Appropriation Committee and, for capital-related motions
including any for funding under the Community Preservation Act, by
the Capital Expenditures Committee.
[Amended 4-9-2018 ATM
by Art. 32]
E.
After a vote has been taken finally disposing of any warrant article, or of any part thereof that had been divided out for separate consideration, such warrant article or part shall be deemed to be closed and no further action shall be taken thereon except by means of a motion to reconsider as provided in § 118-14 herein. For purposes of this subsection, a vote to lay upon the table or to commit shall not be considered a final disposition.
[Amended 3-23-2011 ATM by Art. 30]
F.
No motion, the effect of which would be to dissolve
the meeting, shall be in order until every article in the warrant
for such meeting has been finally disposed of, except by a vote of
at least 2/3 of those present and voting, but this shall not preclude
an adjournment of the meeting to some other date.
A.
No member shall address the meeting without first
being recognized by the Moderator, and all members shall at the request
of the Moderator be silent. When two or more members rise to speak
at the same time, the Moderator shall name the one entitled to speak.
B.
No member while speaking shall be interrupted by another,
except to call to order, or for a privileged motion, or to give notice
of a motion to reconsider.
C.
No member shall speak more than once on any question
to the prevention of those who have not spoken and desire to speak
thereon.
D.
Without first obtaining leave of the meeting, no member
shall speak more than twice on any question except to correct a mistake
or misstatement or to make an explanation, and no member shall speak
more than 10 minutes at any one time without being again recognized
by the Moderator.
E.
Any voter who is not a Town meeting member may speak
at any meeting, but in so speaking shall be subject to the same limitations
as members.
F.
A motion to waive the limitations set forth in Subsection D of this section, or to dissolve the meeting or that the vote upon the question under consideration be taken by ballot with the use of the checklist shall be in order at any time, except on an immediate repetition of the same motion or pending a verification of a vote, and none of these motions shall be open to debate.
[Amended 4-11-1990 ATM by Art. 40]
G.
When a motion is under debate no motion other than
those mentioned in the preceding subsection shall be entertained,
except the following subsidiary motions, which several motions shall
have precedence in the order in which they are arranged in this bylaw,
and all shall be open to debate, except the first two, namely:
[Amended 3-25-2019 ATM by Art. 35]
(1)
To lay upon the table, or take from the table.
(2)
For the previous question.
(3)
To close the debate at a specified time.
(4)
To postpone to a time certain.
(5)
To commit, or re-commit, or refer.
(6)
To amend.
(7)
To postpone indefinitely.
|
During the first 10 minutes of debate on any motion, subsidiary
motions shall be entertained only at the discretion of the Moderator.
|
H.
During debate on subsidiary motions listed in Subsection G, no person shall speak more than three minutes or more than once, and debate shall be limited to 10 minutes, except that the debate on the subsidiary motion to amend shall be 30 minutes unless changed by vote of the meeting.
[Amended 4-11-1990 ATM by Art. 40]
I.
When debate is closed by ordering the previous question
or by vote to close debate at a specified time, the maker of the main
motion or the amendment under consideration shall be allowed to speak
for three minutes and may grant to any other member a part or all
of his time, or give his time to the meeting.
[Amended 4-11-1990 ATM by Art. 40]
J.
Debate may be closed at any time not less than 10
minutes from the adoption of a motion to that effect.
A.
No vote shall be reconsidered except in accordance
with one or more of the following provisions:
[Amended 3-23-2011 ATM by Art. 30]
(1)
Where
notice by any member has been given at the same session of the meeting
and within 30 minutes after the result of a vote under an article
has been declared, a motion to reconsider that vote may be made at
any subsequent session of the meeting and shall prevail if approved
by a majority of the members voting.
(2)
A
motion to reconsider may be made at any time by a member during Town
Meeting if (a) authorized to do so by a majority of either the Select
Board, or the Appropriation Committee, or the Capital Expenditures
Committee, and (b) for the sole purpose of balancing the budget and/or
making technical corrections. Such a motion shall prevail if approved
by a majority of the members voting.
[Amended 3-27-2019 ATM by Art. 34]
B.
The debate on a motion to reconsider shall be limited
to 30 minutes and no person shall speak more than five minutes at
one time nor more than once without the leave of the meeting.
C.
When a motion to reconsider is decided, such decision shall not be reconsidered. No question shall be twice reconsidered, except for questions reconsidered under Subsection A(2) and (3) herein, for which there shall be no limit to the number of times such questions may be reconsidered. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary herein, no vote shall be reconsidered upon the following motions, namely:
[Amended 3-23-2011 ATM by Art. 30]
A.
The previous question shall be put in the form: "Shall
the question on the amendment now be put?" for an amendment or, alternatively,
"Shall the main question now be put?" for a main motion and all debate
shall be suspended until the previous question is decided.
A.
An amended amendment cannot be amended and no motion
or proposition of a subject different from that under consideration
shall be entertained under color of an amendment.
B.
In filling blanks, or in cases of several amendments
of different amounts, or periods of time, the largest sum and the
longest time shall be put first and an affirmative vote thereon shall
be a negative vote of any smaller sum or shorter time.
[Amended 4-8-1974 ATM by Art. 72; 4-8-1998 ATM by Art. 49; 3-20-2013 ATM by Art. 32]
A.
Voting in Town Meeting shall be by:
B.
Vote taken by voices of the members:
(1)
Whenever only a majority vote is required, the Moderator shall first
announce the vote as it appears to him/her by the sound. If the Moderator
is unable to decide by the sound of the voices, or if the announcement
is thereupon doubted by 20 or more members rising in their places
for that purpose, the Moderator shall, without debate, order a counted
vote.
(2)
Whenever a two-thirds vote is required by statute, anything in the
Bylaws, or other authority, such vote may be declared as such by the
Moderator as it appears to him/her by the sound and be recorded as
such by the Town Clerk upon such declaration, provided, however, that
if the announcement is thereupon doubted by seven or more members
rising in their places for that purpose, a counted vote shall be taken.
C.
Electronic system:
(1)
After a public hearing, the Moderator, in consultation with the Select
Board, and the Town Clerk, is authorized to define operating rules
governing the use of the electronic system. Beyond addressing the
general procedures for operating the electronic system, these rules
shall include, but not be limited to, procedures for:
[Amended 3-27-2019 ATM by Art. 34]
(2)
Use of the electronic system and its corresponding operating rules
must be authorized by a two-thirds majority vote of Town Meeting.
(a)
Such authorization may occur at a session of any Town Meeting,
but must occur before the electronic system is used.
(b)
Such authorization shall remain in effect unless challenged
by 40 or more members rising in their places for that purpose or substantive
change(s) of the rules are defined by the Moderator following the
process of C(1). In either event, authorization for use of the electronic
system must again be put to a two-thirds majority vote of Town Meeting.
(3)
At the Moderator's discretion or at the request of 20 or more members
rising in their places for that purpose, the vote on any motion shall
be taken by use of the electronic system.
(4)
Votes taken using the electronic system shall be displayed to Town
Meeting members in their places and the public before the Moderator
announces the vote. The display shall minimally show:
(a)
A short form with the final tally of "yes," "no," "abstain,"
and missing votes when the electronic vote is accompanied by a voice
vote; or
(5)
Votes taken using the electronic system in conjunction with a voice
vote shall be determined by the results reported by the electronic
system.
D.
Standing vote:
(1)
At the Moderator's discretion or at the request of 40 or more members
rising in their places for that purpose, the vote on any motion shall
be taken by use of a standing vote.
(2)
The Moderator may at any time during Town Meeting before the first
standing vote appoint tellers to make and return the count of any
standing vote during that Town Meeting.
E.
Vote taken in writing or by poll. At the Moderator's discretion or
at the request of 50 or more members rising in their places for that
purpose, the vote on any motion shall be taken:
F.
G.
When a motion is readily divisible, it shall be divided and the vote
upon each part taken separately, provided the Moderator deems the
division beneficial or at the request of 25 or more members rising
in their places for that purpose.
The presence of 100 members at a Town meeting
for the transaction of business shall be required to constitute a
quorum, except for a motion to adjourn for which no quorum shall be
required; provided, however, that no vote carrying the expenditure
or appropriation of any sum of money shall be held to be invalid by
reason of lack of the required quorum, unless it appears from the
records of the Town Clerk of the meeting that before the result of
such vote was declared the question of the presence of a quorum was
duly raised and that such record shows that the required quorum was
lacking.
The procedure and conduct of the business meetings
of the Town not herein provided for shall be governed by "Roberts'
Rules of Parliamentary Practice" so far as they are applicable and
are not inconsistent with the bylaws of the Town.
