(a)
Mayor, Qualifications. The chief executive officer of the city shall
be a mayor who shall be elected by the voters of the city at large.
Any voter shall be eligible to hold the office of mayor. The mayor
shall devote full time to the office and shall not hold any other
elective public office.
(b)
Term of Office. The term of office of the mayor shall be 4 years
beginning on the first Monday after the first Tuesday in January following
the biennial city election where the mayor is chosen and shall continue
until a successor is qualified.
(c)
Compensation. The city council shall by ordinance establish an annual
salary for the mayor. No ordinance altering the salary of the mayor
shall be effective unless it shall have been adopted before the expiration
of 18 months following the beginning of the term for which councilors
are elected and it provides that the salary is to become effective
in January of the year following the next biennial city election.
(d)
Prohibitions. The mayor shall hold no other city office or city employment
for which a salary or other emolument is payable from the city treasury.
No former mayor shall hold any compensated appointed city office or
city employment until 1 year following the date on which the former
mayor's city service has terminated. Nothing in this subsection
shall prevent a city officer or employee who has vacated a position
in order to serve as mayor from returning to the same office or position
of city employment held at the time the position was vacated; provided,
however, that no such person shall be eligible for any other municipal
position until at least 1 year after the termination of service as
mayor. Nothing in this subsection shall apply to persons covered under
the leave of absence provisions of section 37 of chapter 31 of the
General Laws.
The executive powers of the city shall be vested solely in the
mayor and may be exercised by the mayor personally or through the
several city agencies under the general supervision and control of
the office of the mayor. The mayor shall cause this charter, the laws,
ordinances and other orders for the government of the city to be enforced
and shall cause a record of all official acts of the executive branch
of the city government to be kept. The mayor shall exercise general
supervision and direction over all city agencies unless otherwise
provided by law or by this charter. Each city agency shall furnish
to the mayor, immediately upon request, any information, materials
or otherwise as the mayor may request and as the needs of the office
of mayor and the interest of the city may require. The mayor shall
supervise, direct and be responsible for the efficient administration
of all city activities and functions placed under the control of the
mayor by law or by this charter. The mayor shall be responsible for
the efficient and effective coordination of the activities of all
agencies of the city and for this purpose may, consistent with law,
call together for consultation, conference and discussion at reasonable
times all persons serving the city, whether elected directly by the
voters, chosen by persons elected directly by the voters or otherwise.
The mayor shall be a member of every appointed multiple-member body
of the city by virtue of the office. As an ex officio member, the
mayor may attend any meeting of an appointed multiple-member body
of the city at any time, including executive sessions, to participate
in the discussions, make motions and exercise every other right of
a regular member of such body except for the right to vote.
The mayor shall appoint, subject to the review of such appointments by the city council under section 2-10, all city officers and department heads and the members of multiple-member bodies for whom no other method of appointment or selection is provided by this charter. All appointments to multiple-member bodies shall be in accordance with section 5-2. Upon the expiration of the term of a member of a multiple-member body, a successor shall be appointed in like manner. The mayor shall fill a vacancy for the remainder of the unexpired term of a member of a multiple-member body. All persons classified as department heads shall, subject to the consent of the mayor, appoint, promote and discipline all assistants, subordinates and other employees of the agency for which that person is responsible. All appointments and promotions made by the mayor shall be made on the basis of merit and fitness demonstrated by examination, past performance or by other evidence of competence and suitability. Each person appointed to fill an office or position shall be a person especially fitted by education, training and previous work experience to perform the duties of the office or position for which the person is chosen.
(a)
City Officers and Department Heads. The mayor may, in writing, remove
or suspend any city officer or the head of any city department appointed
by the mayor. In addition, the mayor may file a written statement
with the city clerk setting forth in precise detail the specific reasons
for the removal or suspension. A copy of the written statement shall
be delivered in hand or mailed by certified mail, postage prepaid,
to the last known address of the city officer or department head.
The city officer or department head may make a written reply by filing
such a reply statement with the city clerk not more than 10 days after
the date the statement of the mayor has been filed; provided, however,
that this reply shall have no effect upon the removal or suspension
unless the mayor shall so determine. The decision of the mayor in
suspending or removing a city officer or a department head shall be
final and all authority and responsibility for such suspension or
removal shall be vested solely in the mayor.
(b)
Other City Employees. Unless some other procedure is specified in
a collective bargaining agreement or by civil service law, a department
head may suspend or remove any assistant, subordinate or other employee
of the agency for which the department head is responsible. The decision
of the department head to suspend or remove any assistant, subordinate
or other employee shall be subject to review by the mayor. A person
for whom a department head has determined a suspension or removal
is appropriate may seek review of such a determination by filing a
petition for review, in writing, with the office of the mayor not
more than 10 days following receipt of notice of the determination.
The decision of the mayor shall be final and all authority and responsibility
for suspension or removal shall be vested solely in the mayor. Nothing
in this subsection shall be construed to prevent any other review
as may be provided by law.
(a)
If a temporary or permanent vacancy occurs in a city office and the
needs of the city require that the office be filled, the mayor may
designate the head of another city agency, a city officer, a city
employee or some other person to perform the duties of the office
on a temporary basis until the position can be filled as otherwise
provided by law or by this charter. If a person is designated under
this section, the mayor shall file a certificate with the city clerk
in substantially the following form:
I designate (name of person) to perform the duties of the office
of (designate office in which vacancy exists) on a temporary basis
until the office can be filled by (here set out the regular procedure
for filling the vacancy or when the regular officer shall return).
I certify that said person is qualified to perform the duties that
will be required and that I make this designation solely in the interests
of the city of Melrose.
(signed)
Mayor
(b)
A person serving as a temporary officer under this section shall
have only those powers of the office essential to the performance
of the duties of the office during the period of the temporary appointment.
Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, no temporary
appointment shall be for more than 120 days; provided, however, that
1 extension of not more than 60 days of a temporary appointment may
be made when a permanent vacancy exists in the office.
(a)
Communications to the City Council. The mayor shall from time to
time, by written communication, recommend to the city council for
its consideration such measures as, in the judgment of the mayor,
the needs of the city require. The mayor shall from time to time,
by written communication, keep the city council fully informed of
the financial and administrative condition of the city and shall specifically
indicate in such reports any fiscal, financial or administrative problems
of the city.
(b)
Special Meetings of the City Council. The mayor may call a special
meeting of the city council at any time and for any purpose by causing
a notice of the meeting to be delivered in hand, via electronic mail
or by first class mail to each member of the city council. This notice
shall, except in an emergency as determined by the mayor, be delivered
not less than 48 hours before the time scheduled for the special meeting
to be held, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays, and shall
specify any purpose for which the meeting is to be held. A copy of
each notice shall be immediately posted on the city bulletin board.
Every order, ordinance, resolution or vote adopted or passed
by the city council relative to the affairs of the city, except memorial
resolutions, the selection of city officers by the city council and
any matters relating to the internal affairs of the city council,
shall be presented to the mayor for approval. If the mayor approves
of a measure, the mayor shall sign it. If the mayor disapproves of
a measure, the mayor shall return the measure with the specific reasons
for the disapproval attached to it, in writing, to the city council.
The city council shall enter the objections of the mayor on its records
and shall reconsider the measure not less than 10 but not more than
30 days from the date of the measure's return. If the city council
shall again pass the order, ordinance, resolution or vote by a 2/3
vote of the full council, it shall then take effect notwithstanding
the objections of the mayor. If the mayor has neither signed a measure
nor returned it to the city council within 10 days following the date
it was presented to the mayor, the measure shall take effect.
(a)
Acting Mayor. If by reason of sickness, absence from the city or
other cause the mayor shall be unable to perform the duties of the
office, the president of the city council shall be the acting mayor.
(b)
Powers of Acting Mayor. The acting mayor shall have only those powers
of the mayor that are essential to the conduct of the business of
the city in an orderly and efficient manner and on which action may
not be delayed. The acting mayor shall not make any permanent appointment
or removal from city service unless the disability of the mayor shall
continue for more than 60 days nor shall an acting mayor approve or
disapprove of any measure adopted by the city council unless the time
within which the mayor must act would expire before the return of
the mayor. During any period in which a councilor is serving as acting
mayor, the councilor shall not vote as a member of the city council.
The mayor may authorize any subordinate officer or employee
of the city to exercise any power or perform any function or duty
that is assigned by this charter or otherwise to the mayor and the
mayor may rescind or revoke any such authorization previously made;
provided, however, that an act performed under any such delegation
of authority during a period of authorization shall be and remain
the act of the mayor. Nothing in this section shall authorize a mayor
to delegate the mayor's powers and duties as a school committee
member, the power of appointment to city office or employment or to
sign or return measures approved by the city council.
(a)
Special Election. If a vacancy occurs in the office of mayor during the first 2 years of the term for which the mayor was elected, whether by reason of death, resignation, removal from office, incapacity or otherwise, the city council shall immediately, in the manner provided in section 7-1, order a special election to be held not more than 120 days following the date on which the vacancy was created to fill the vacancy for the balance of the then unexpired term. If a regular city election is to be held not more than 180 days following the date on which the vacancy was created, a special election shall not be held and the position shall be filled by vote at such regular election.
(b)
President of City Council to Serve As Mayor. If a vacancy in the office of mayor occurs in the third or fourth year of the term for which the mayor is elected, whether by reason of death, resignation, removal from office or otherwise, the president of the city council shall become the mayor. Upon the qualification of the president of the city council as the mayor under this section, a vacancy shall exist in that seat on the city council that shall be filled in the manner provided in section 2-11. A president serving as mayor under this subsection shall not be entitled to have the words "candidate for re-election" printed against their name on the election ballot if they are seeking the office of mayor.
(c)
Powers, Term of Office. A person who assumes the office of mayor under this section shall have all of the powers of the mayor. A person elected under subsection (a) shall serve for the balance of the unexpired term at the time of election to the office. A person chosen under subsection (b) shall serve until the time of the next regular election at which time the person elected to fill the office for the ensuing term of office shall, in addition, serve for the balance of the then unexpired term.
