City of Melrose, MA Article 8 CITIZEN PARTICIPATION MECHANISMS.

SECTION 8-1 FREE PETITION.

The city council or the school committee shall hold a public hearing and act on every petition addressed to the city council or the school committee that is signed by not less than 50 voters, along with their addresses, and that seeks the passage of a measure. The hearing shall be held by the city council or the school committee, or by a committee or subcommittee of the city council or the school committee, and the action by the city council or the school committee shall be taken not later than 6 weeks after the petition was filed with the city clerk or the school committee. Hearings on 2 or more petitions filed under this section may be held at the same time and place. The city clerk or the school committee shall mail notice of the hearing to the 10 persons whose names appear first on the petition not less than 7 days before the hearing. Notice by publication of all such hearings shall be at public expense.

SECTION 8-2 CITIZEN INITIATIVE MEASURES.

(a) Commencement. Initiative procedures shall be started by the filing of a proposed initiative petition with the city clerk or the executive secretary of the school committee. The petition shall: (i) be addressed to the city council or the school committee; (ii) contain a request for the passage of a particular measure, which shall be set forth in full in the petition; and (iii) be signed by not less than 500 voters and include their addresses. Not less than 50 signatures shall be certified from each ward. The petition shall be accompanied by an affidavit signed by 10 voters, containing their residential addresses, stating that they will constitute the petitioners' committee and be responsible for circulating the petition and filing it in proper form, as well as designating 1 member as its clerk.

(b) Referral to City Solicitor. The city clerk or the executive secretary of the school committee shall, immediately following receipt of a proposed petition, deliver a copy of the petition to the city solicitor. The city solicitor shall, not more than 15 days following receipt of a copy of the petition, advise the city council or the school committee in writing as to whether the measure as proposed may lawfully be proposed by the initiative process and whether, in its present form, it may be lawfully adopted by the city council or the school committee. If the opinion of the city solicitor is that the measure is not in proper form, the reply shall state the reasons for this opinion in full. A copy of the opinion of the city solicitor shall be mailed to the person designated as clerk of the petitioners' committee.

(c) Submission to City Clerk. If the opinion of the city solicitor is that the petition is in a proper form, the city clerk shall provide blank forms for the use of subsequent signers and shall print at the top of each blank form a fair, concise summary of the proposed measure, as determined by the city solicitor, together with the names and addresses of the first 10 voters who signed the originating petition. Not more than 30 days following the date the blank forms are issued by the city clerk, the petitions shall be returned and filed with the city clerk, signed by not less than 15 per cent of the total number of voters as of the date of the most recent city election. Signatures to an initiative petition may be on more than 1 sheet of paper but all papers pertaining to any 1 measure shall be fastened together and shall be filed as a single instrument with the endorsement on it of the name and residential address of the person designated as filing the same. With each signature on the petition, there shall also appear the street and number of the residence of each signer. Not more than 10 days following the filing of the petition, the board of registrars of voters shall ascertain by what number of voters the petition has been signed and what percentage that number is of the total number of voters as of the date of the most recent city election. The board of registrars of voters shall attach to the petition a certificate showing the results of its examination and shall return the petition to the city clerk or to the executive secretary of the school committee, depending on how the petition is addressed. A copy of the board of registrars of voters' certificate shall also be mailed to the person designated as clerk of the petitioners' committee.

(d) Action on Petitions. Not more than 30 days following the date a petition has been returned to the city clerk or the executive secretary of the school committee and after publication under subsection (f), the city council or the school committee shall act with respect to each initiative petition by: (i) passing it without change; (ii) passing a measure stated to be in lieu of the initiative measure; or (iii) rejecting it. The passage of a measure in lieu of an initiative measure shall be a rejection of the initiative measure. If the city council or the school committee does not act with respect to an initiative measure that is presented to it not more than 30 days following the date the measure is returned to it, the measure shall have been rejected on the thirtieth day. If an initiative measure is rejected, the city clerk or the executive secretary of the school committee shall promptly give notice of that fact to the person designated as the clerk of the petitioners' committee by certified mail.

(e) Supplementary Petitions. Not more than 60 days following the date an initiative petition has been rejected, a supplemental initiative petition may be filed with the city clerk or the executive secretary of the school committee, but only by persons constituting the original petitioners' committee. The supplemental initiative petition shall be signed by a number of additional voters that is not less than 5 per cent of the total number of voters as of the date of the most recent city election. The signatures on the initial petition filed under subsection (c) and the signatures on the supplemental petition filed under this subsection, taken together, shall contain the signatures of not less than 20 per cent of the total number of voters in the city. If the number of signatures to this supplemental petition is found to be sufficient by the city clerk, the city council shall call a special election to be held on a date fixed by it not less than 35 days nor more than 90 days following the date of the certificate of the city clerk that a sufficient number of voters have signed the supplemental initiative petition and shall submit the proposed measure, without alteration, to the voters for determination; provided, however, that if another city election is to be held not more than 120 days following the date of the certificate of the city clerk that a sufficient number of voters have signed the supplemental initiative petition, the city council may omit the calling of such special election and cause the question to appear on the election ballot at the approaching election for determination by the voters.

(f) Publication. The full text of an initiative measure that is submitted to the voters shall be published in at least 1 local news publication not less than 7 days but not more than 14 days before the date of the election at which the question is to be voted upon. Additional copies of the full text shall be available for distribution to the public in the office of the city clerk.

(g) Form of Question. The ballots used when voting on a measure proposed by the voters under this section shall contain a question in substantially the following form:

Shall the following measure that was proposed by an initiative petition take effect?

(Here insert a fair, concise summary prepared by the petitioners and approved by the city solicitor.)

YES

NO

(h) Time of Taking Effect. If a majority of the votes cast on the question is in the affirmative, the measure shall be effective immediately unless a later date is specified in the measure.

SECTION 8-3 CITIZEN REFERENDUM PROCEDURES.

(a) Petition, Effect on Final Vote. If, not more than 21 days following the date on which the city council or the school committee has voted finally to approve of a measure, a petition signed by a number of voters amounting to not less than 12 per cent of the total number of voters as of the date of the most recent general city election and addressed to the city council or to the school committee, as the case may be, protesting against the measure or any part of it is filed with the executive secretary of the school committee or city clerk, the effective date of the measure shall be temporarily suspended. The school committee or the city council shall immediately reconsider its vote on the measure or part of it and, if the measure is not rescinded, the city council shall provide for the submission of the question for a determination by the voters at a special election, which the city council may call at its convenience, or within such time as may be requested by the school committee or at the next regular city election; provided, however, that pending this submission and determination the effect of the measure shall continue to be suspended.

(b) Certain Initiative Provisions to Apply. The petition under this section shall be a referendum petition and the applicable provisions of section 8-2 that relate to the filing and certification of signatures shall apply to such referendum petitions, except that the words "measure or part thereof protested against" shall replace the word "measure" and the word "referendum" shall replace the word "initiative". The measure or part protested against shall be null and void unless a majority of those voting on the question shall vote in favor of the measure or part protested against at the election.

SECTION 8-4 INELIGIBLE MEASURES.

The following shall not be subject to the initiative or referendum procedures: (i) a proceeding relating to the internal organization or operation of the city council or the school committee; (ii) an emergency measure adopted under this charter; (iii) the city budget or the school committee budget as a whole; (iv) an appropriation for the payment of the city's debt or debt service; (v) an appropriation of funds to implement a collective bargaining agreement; (vi) a proceeding relating to the appointment, removal, discharge, employment, promotion, transfer, demotion or other personnel action; (vii) a proceeding repealing or rescinding a measure or part of it that is protested by referendum procedures; (viii) a proceeding providing for the submission or referral to the voters at an election; (ix) a memorial resolution and other votes constituting ordinary, routine matters not suitable as the subject of an initiative or referendum petition; (x) setting of a property tax rate; and (xi) setting of water and sewer rates.

SECTION 8-5 SUBMISSION OF OTHER MATTERS TO VOTERS.

The city council may by its own motion, and shall at the request of the school committee if a measure originates with the school committee and pertains to affairs under its jurisdiction, submit to the voters at any regular city election for adoption or rejection any measure in the same manner and with the same force and effect as are hereby provided for submission by petitions of voters.

SECTION 8-6 CONFLICTING PROVISIONS.

If 2 or more measures passed at the same election contain conflicting provisions, only the measure receiving the greatest number of affirmative votes shall take effect.