(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.