The regular elections for all town offices to be filled by ballot of the whole town shall be taken on official ballots without party or political designations on the date fixed in the bylaws of the town.
This charter may be replaced, revised or amended in accordance with the procedures made available by article LXXXIX of the amendments to the state constitution and any legislation enacted to implement the said amendment.
No person shall (a) have his appointment to town office or employment discriminated against because of sex, race, national origin, political or religious opinions or affiliations; (b) offer, pay, accept or solicit money or money’s worth to obtain a promotion or appointment; or (c) if a compensated full time appointed town officer or employee, make or solicit a political contribution for use in a local campaign for the election of a candidate to any town office or a campaign in favor of or in opposition to any other local issue which is to go before the voters of the town or the town meeting, beyond exercising his rights as a citizen to express his opinion and cast his vote; provided, however, that such persons may make contributions not to exceed $25 in the aggregate for any one candidate or issue, and personal participation may be made during nonworking hours in a full and complete statement detailing the sums contributed and the extent of personal participation is filed in the office of the town clerk not less than seven days before the day on which the election is to be held or the vote taken and a final statement including all contributions and the full extent of all participation after the filing of the advance statement is filed within seven days following the town election.
Violations of these provisions shall be subject to prosecution as a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not to exceed $50. Any person convicted under these provisions, if an officer or employee of the town, shall immediately forfeit his office or position.
Any elected official may receive the actual and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of his duties, provided such sums are within the limits of an amount appropriated for that purpose by the town meeting. Standards for such expenditures shall be set by bylaw.
If any provision of this charter is held invalid, the other provisions of the charter shall not be affected thereby. If the application of the charter or any of its provisions to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the application of this charter and its provisions to other persons and circumstances shall not be affected thereby.
A copy of all rules and regulations adopted by any officer, board, commission, department or agency of the town shall be filed in the office of the town clerk and made available for review by any person who requests such information.
The board of selectmen shall, not later than January 15, 1971 and at five-year intervals thereafter, cause to be prepared by a special committee appointed for that purpose a proposed revision or recodification of all bylaws of the town which shall be presented to the town meeting for reenactment.
Such revisions or recodifications shall be prepared under the supervision of the town counsel or, if the board of selectmen so direct, by special counsel retained for that purpose, who are experienced in the revision and codification of bylaws, ordinances of bylaws, ordinances and statutes. Subsequent to ratification by the town meeting, copies of revised bylaws shall be forwarded to the attorney general of the commonwealth for his approval and they shall be otherwise published all as required by section 32 of chapter 41 of the general laws. Additional copies of the revised bylaws shall be made available for distribution, provided, however, that a charge not to exceed the actual cost per copy of reproduction may be charged.
(a) 
Who Can be Recalled - Any holder of an elective town office as defined in section 3-1 may be recalled therefrom by the registered voters of the town as herein provided.
(b) 
Recall Petition - Any 25 registered voters of the town may file with the town clerk an affidavit containing the name of the officer sought to be recalled and a statement of the grounds for recall. The town clerk shall thereupon deliver to said voters making the affidavit copies of petition blanks demanding such recall, printed forms of which he shall keep available. The blanks shall be issued by the town clerk with his signature and official seal attached thereto. They shall be dated, shall be addressed to the selectmen and shall contain the names of all the persons to whom they are issued, the name of the person whose recall is sought, the grounds or recall as stated in the affidavit, and shall demand the election of a successor in the said office. A copy of the petition shall be entered in a record book to be kept in the office of the town clerk. The recall petition shall be returned and filed with the town clerk within 20 days after the filing of the affidavit, and shall have been signed by at least 20% of the registered voters of the town, who shall add to their signatures the street and number, if any, of their residences.
The town clerk shall submit the petition to the registrars of voters in the town, and the registrars shall forthwith certify thereon the number of signatures which are names of registered voters of the town.
(c) 
Selectmen’s Action on Receiving Petition - If the petition shall be found and certified by the town clerk to be sufficient he shall submit the same with his certificate to the selectmen without delay, and the selectmen shall forthwith give written notice of the receipt of the certificate to the officer sought to be recalled and shall, if the officer does not resign within five days thereafter, order an election to be held on a date fixed by them not less than 25 nor more than 35 days after the date of the town clerk’s certificate that a sufficient petition be filed; provided, however, that if any other town elections occur within 60 days after the date of the certificate, the selectmen shall postpone the holding of the recall election to the date of such other election. If a vacancy occurs in said office after a recall election has been ordered, the election shall nevertheless proceed as provided in this section.
(d) 
Nomination of Candidates - Any officer sought to be removed may be a candidate to succeed himself, and, unless he requests otherwise in writing, the town clerk shall place his name on the ballot without nomination. The nomination of other candidates, the publication of the warrant for the removal election and the conduct of the same shall all be in accordance with the provisions of law relating to elections, unless otherwise provided in this section.
(e) 
Incumbent Holds Office Until Election - The incumbent shall continue to perform the duties of his office until the recall election. If then reelected, he shall continue in office for the remainder of his unexpired term, subject to recall as before, except as provided in this section. If not reelected in the recall election, he shall be deemed removed upon the qualification of his successor, who shall hold office during the unexpired term. If the successor fails to qualify within five days after receiving notification of his election, the incumbent shall thereupon be deemed removed and the office vacant.
(f) 
Propositions on Ballot - Ballots used in a recall election shall submit the following propositions in the order indicated:
For the recall of (the name of officer)
Against the recall of (the name of officer)
Immediately at the right of each proposition there shall be a square in which the voter, by making a cross mark (X) may vote for either of the said propositions. Under the proposition shall appear the word "Candidate", the directions to voters required by section 42 of chapter 54 of the general laws, and beneath this the names of candidates nominated as herein before provided.
If a majority of the votes cast upon the question of recall is in the affirmative, the candidate receiving the highest number of votes shall be declared elected. If a majority of votes on the question is in the negative, the ballots for candidates need not be counted.
(g) 
Repeat of Recall Petition - No recall petition shall be filed against an officer within three months after he takes office, nor, in the case of an officer subjected to a recall election and not recalled hereby, until at least three months after the election at which his recall was submitted to the voters of the town.
(h) 
Reappointment of Person Recalled - No person who has been recalled from an office, or who has resigned from office while recall proceedings were pending against him, shall be appointed to any town office within two years after such recall or resignation.
Any appointed officer or full time salaried employee of the town not subject to the provisions of the state civil service law, whether appointed for a fixed or an indefinite term, may be suspended or removed from office by the appointing authority for good cause. The term "cause" shall include, but not be limited to the following: incapacity other than temporary illness, inefficiency, insubordination and conduct unbecoming the office. Any appointed officer or full time salaried employee of the town not subject to the provisions of the state civil service law may be suspended from office by the appointing authority if such action is deemed by them to be necessary to protect the interests of the town. However, no suspension shall be for more than 15 days. Suspension may be coterminous with removal and shall not interfere with the rights of the officer or employee under the removal procedure given below. The appointing authority, when removing any such officer or employee, shall act in accordance with the following procedure:
(a) 
A written notice of the intent to remove and a statement of the cause or causes therefor shall be delivered by registered mail to the last known address of the person sought to be removed.
(b) 
Within five days of delivery of such notice the officer or employee may request a public hearing at which he may be represented by counsel, shall be entitled to present evidence, call witnesses and to question any witness appearing at the hearing.
(c) 
Between one and 10 days after the public hearing is adjourned, or if the officer or employee fails to request a public hearing between six and 15 days after delivery of the notice of the intent to remove, the appointing authority shall take final action, either removing the officer or employee or notifying him that the notice is rescinded.
Nothing in this section shall be construed as granting a right to such a hearing when a person who has been appointed for a fixed term is not reappointed when his original term expires.
(a) 
Meetings - All multiple member boards, commissions or committees of the town, whether elected or appointed or otherwise constituted, shall meet regularly at such times and places within the town as they may prescribe. Special meetings of any board, commission or committee shall be held on the call of the respective chairman or by one-third of the members thereof by written notice delivered to the residence or place of business of each member at least 24 hours in advance of the time set. A copy of the said notice shall also be posted on the town bulletin board(s). Special meetings of any board, commission or committee shall also be called within one week after the date of the filing with the town clerk of a petition signed by at least 50 registered voters and which states the purpose or purposes for which the meeting is to be called. All meetings of all boards, commissions and committees shall be open and public; however, the committee, commission or board may recess for the purpose of discussing in a closed or executive session limited to its own membership, but including the administrative officer or the superintendent of schools as appropriate, except when his conduct of office is to be discussed, any matter which would tend to defame or prejudice the character or reputation of any person, which would affect the public security, or which might have a direct fiscal effect on the town, provided that the general subject matter for consideration is expressed in the motion calling for such session and that final action on the matter is not taken until the board, commission or committee has come back into formal session; provided, however, that if the taking of such votes would defeat the lawful purpose of such executive session, they may be taken in the said executive session and may remain secret so long as their publication would defeat the lawful purpose of such executive session, but no longer.
(b) 
Agendas - At least 24 hours before any meeting of a board, commission or committee is to be held, an agenda containing all items which are scheduled to come before the board, commission or committee is to be held, an agenda containing all items which are scheduled to come before the board, commission or committee at the meeting shall be posted. No action taken on a matter not included in the posted agenda shall be effective unless the board, commission or committee first adopts by special vote a resolution declaring that an emergency exists and that the particular matter must be acted upon at that meeting for the immediate preservation of peace, health, safety or convenience of the town.
(c) 
Rules and Journals - Each board, commission or committee shall determine their own rules and order of business unless otherwise provided by this charter or by law and shall provide for keeping a journal of their proceedings. These rules and journals shall be a public record kept available in a place convenient to the public at all times and certified copies shall be kept available in the Northborough Free Library.
(d) 
Voting - All votes of all boards, commissions and committees shall be taken by a call of the roll and the ayes and nays shall be recorded in the journal, provided, however, that if the vote is unanimous only that fact need be recorded.
(e) 
Quorum - A majority of the members of the board, commission or committee shall constitute a quorum, but a smaller number may adjourn from time to time and may compel the attendance of absent members in the manner and subject to the penalties prescribed by the rules of the board or committee or commission. No other action of the board, commission or committee shall be valid or binding unless ratified by the affirmative vote of the majority of the full board, commission or committee.