(a)
Town officers and other officials. This chapter (Chapter 3) describes all current standing Town officers and other officials of the Town. The Weymouth Town Council may establish additional standing officers and other officials of the Town, upon the request of the Mayor, by the enactment of an ordinance amending this chapter and creating said offices or other positions. All ordinances establishing standing offices and other positions shall specify their authorities and responsibilities.
(b)
Standing multiple-member bodies. This chapter (Chapter 3) describes all current standing multiple-member bodies of the Town. The Weymouth Town Council may establish additional standing multiple-member bodies of the Town, upon the request of the Mayor, by the enactment of an ordinance amending this chapter and creating said standing multiple-member body. All ordinances establishing standing multiple-member bodies shall specify the following: membership, term of office, authorities and responsibilities.
The Town Council may from time to time, by vote, establish advisory
multiple-member bodies to assist it in carrying out its legislative
responsibilities. Whenever the Town Council establishes such a committee,
it shall advise the Mayor in writing that it has done so; included
in such notice shall be the names and residence addresses of the persons
appointed. The Mayor may from time to time establish advisory multiple-member
bodies to assist the Office of the Mayor in carrying out its executive
and administrative responsibilities. Whenever the Mayor establishes
such a committee, the Office of the Mayor shall advise the Town Council
in writing that it has done so; included in such notice shall be the
names and residence addresses of the persons appointed for such action
as the Town Council deems necessary or advisable in accordance with
Home Rule Charter Section 2-10.
(c)
Town residency required. Unless some other provision is made in a
particular case, all members of multiple-members bodies shall at all
times be residents of the Town of Weymouth; provided, however, nonresidents
who hold a Town office or Town employment may serve as a member of
a multiple-member body as a representative of the Town office or Town
employment held. Any person who, during the term of office as a member
of a multiple-member body, moves from the Town and becomes a resident
of another municipality shall be deemed to have resigned as a member
of the multiple-member body.
(d)
To have no power to direct agency. Unless some other provision is
made in a particular case, no multiple-member body shall have any
power or authority over any of the day-to-day activities of the agency
within which it serves but shall be advisory only.
(e)
Compensation. Unless some other provision is made in a particular
case, all members of multiple-member bodies shall serve without compensation.
(a)
Multiple-member bodies. The terms of office of multiple-member bodies
are arranged so that as nearly 1/3 of the terms as possible shall
expire each year. A vacancy shall be filled by the appointing authority
for the remainder of the unexpired term. The term for each office
is three years, except as noted. Appointments are effective on the
first day of July, and expire on the 30th day of June, or when a successor
has been appointed and qualified. The appointing authority shall annually
evaluate all persons subject to reappointment. Persons may be reappointed
to successive terms, but no member shall have a right to be reappointed.
Members of multiple-member bodies may be removed for cause, subject
to an investigation and hearing by the appointing authority, pursuant
to the Home Rule Charter Section 3-4. Whenever a new multiple-member
body is established, the initial appointments shall be to terms of
office of such varying lengths as will serve to create the overlapping
terms described in the first sentence of this subsection.
(b)
Town officers and officials. Except as may otherwise be required
by the Civil Service Law, G.L. c. 31 et seq., appointments made by
the Mayor shall be for indefinite terms. All persons categorized as
department heads shall, subject to the consent of the Mayor, appoint
all assistants, subordinates and other employees of the agency for
which such person is responsible.
[Amended 6-21-2021 by Order No. 21-090]
[Amended 6-21-2021 by Order No. 21-090]
The Mayor shall submit to the Town Council the name of each
person the Mayor desires to appoint to a Town office, as a department
head, or as a member of a multiple-member body, but not including
any position which is subject to the Civil Service Law, G.L. c. 31
et seq. The Town Council shall refer each such name as is submitted
to a standing committee of the Town Council, which shall investigate
each such candidate for appointment and may make a report, with recommendations,
to the full Town Council. Said report shall be made not less than
seven days nor more than 21 days following such referral. The committee
may require any person whose name has been referred to appear before
the committee, or before the Town Council, to give such information
relevant to such appointment as the committee, or the Town Council,
may require.
Appointments made by the Mayor shall become effective on the
30th day following the date on which notice of the proposed appointment
was filed with the Clerk of the Council, unless eight members of the
Town Council shall, within said 30 days, vote to reject such appointment,
or unless the Town Council has sooner voted to affirm the appointment.
Rejection by the Town Council shall require a two-thirds vote of the
full Council (eight members so voting). The question on rejection
of any appointment made by the Mayor shall not be subject to the procedure
of Charter objection provided in Home Rule Charter Section 2-9(b).
Persons who are appointed to serve as members of a multiple-member
body by virtue of a Town office or Town employment, which they have
otherwise acquired or attained, shall not be subject to Council review
as provided in this section.
Each multiple-member body shall, at a minimum, annually elect
from its membership, a Chair, Vice Chair and Clerk. Multiple-member
bodies may further elect a Treasurer and such other officer or officers
as are deemed necessary or as may be required by statute. The annual
organization and election shall occur in July of each year, or immediately
following the annual appointment of members by the appointing authority.
Each multiple-member body shall, forthwith following its annual organization
and election of officers, file a report in the office of the Town
Clerk on a form approved by the Town Clerk.
The Chair shall preside over all meetings of the multiple-member
body and shall be its official representative in all proceedings before
the Town Council, with the Mayor, with other officials of the Town
and with the public. The Vice Chair shall perform the Chair's functions,
in the absence of the Chair.
The Clerk shall be responsible for the certification of the
minutes of the meetings of the multiple-member body, observance of
the public records law, and maintenance of other records of the multiple-member
body. In addition to the records required to be kept by MGL c. 66, § 5A,
the Clerk shall, quarterly, prepare a statistical summary of the attendance
record of each member of the multiple-member body, a copy of which
shall be filed with the Town Clerk and a copy of which shall be filed
with the Mayor.
[Amended 6-20-2016 by Ord. No. 16-095]
The Clerk of each multiple-member body shall be responsible
for notifying the Town Clerk and the Mayor of the regularly scheduled
meetings and all special meetings for the ensuing fiscal year. The
notification shall also include the location where each meeting will
be held. The Town Clerk shall ensure posting of all meeting schedules,
consistent with the Open Meeting Law – MGL c. 30A, §§ 18
through 25.
[Amended 6-21-2021 by Order No. 21-090]
Each multiple-member body may, by a majority vote of its membership,
establish subcommittees for the purpose of addressing a particular
issue or issues. A report of the activities of any such subcommittee
shall regularly be made to the full multiple-member body. Each subcommittee
so established shall observe laws relevant to the keeping of public
records, the Open Meeting Law, G L. c. 30A, §§ 18-25,
and any other laws as prescribed by the Weymouth Town Charter, by
ordinance or by state law.
The delivery of services to the public requires coordination
and cooperation amongst the various departments, divisions and programs
within the Town. At the administrative and operational branch level,
managers shall seek to identify those areas of concern where it is
believed that the various departments and divisions can assist each
other in the accomplishment of their mission.
The Mayor shall strive to meet, as necessary, with each of the
officers and employees listed in this chapter to discuss their activities,
seeking coordination of activities to mitigate duplication of services
where possible. The Mayor, in meetings with the officers and employees,
shall develop action programs, evaluate program completion, review
management, financial, personnel and legal issues.
The chair of each multiple-member body shall annually, upon
election, meet with the Mayor for the purpose of defining an appropriate
reporting relationship during the ensuing fiscal year. The meeting
should review the following minimum areas: frequency and method of
reporting, official or officials responsible for reporting, transmittal
of monthly and quarterly summaries of actions taken by the multiple-member
body and the role of the Mayor in development of policies of interest
to the multiple-member body.
Certified copies of the minutes of all meetings of all multiple-member
bodies shall be filed with the Town Clerk within five days following
the meeting at which said minutes shall have been approved. The minutes
of all executive sessions of multiple-member bodies shall be filed
with the Town Clerk within five days following the date the minutes
of those meetings have been made public. This filing of minutes of
meetings with the Town Clerk is for the convenience of the public.
Such filing shall not be construed to be the official records of the
multiple-member body. The official records shall continue to be maintained
in the custody of the person designated pursuant to MGL c. 66, § 6.
The references to state statutes which are contained in the
sections of this chapter which follow (describing the powers, duties
and responsibilities of the Town agencies) are provided for the purpose
of describing the broad scope of the authority and responsibility
which may be exercised by the Town of Weymouth with respect to each
particular matter.
The references to statutes and the enumeration is not to be construed in any way as intended to impose a limitation on the ability of the Town, pursuant to Article 5 of the Home Rule Charter and MGL c. 43B, § 20, to reassign powers, duties and responsibilities among and between Town agencies generally. The actual operating entities for the performance of functions and the delivery of services by the Town shall be as defined and enumerated in Chapter 4 of these ordinances; in the event of any conflict between the provisions of this chapter and the provisions of Chapter 4, the provisions of Chapter 4 shall control.
