This charter may be replaced, revised or amended in accordance with the procedures made available by article LXXXIX of the amendments to the constitution and any legislation enacted to implement the said amendment.
The provisions of the charter are severable. If any provision of the 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 the charter and its provisions to other persons and circumstances shall not be affected thereby.
All references to the general laws contained in the charter refer to the general laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and are intended to include any amendments or revisions to such chapters and sections or to the corresponding chapters and sections of any rearrangement of the general laws enacted subsequent to the adoption of the charter.
In computing time under the charter, if seven days or less, only business days, not including Saturdays, Sundays or legal holidays shall be counted; if more than seven days, every day shall be counted.
Words importing the singular number may extend and be applied to several persons or things, words importing the plural number may include the singular, and words importing the masculine gender shall include the feminine gender.
Unless another meaning is clearly apparent from the manner in which the word is used, the following words as used in the charter shall have the following meanings:
(a)
Charter.
The word “charter” shall mean this charter and any amendments to it made through any of the methods provided under article LXXXIX of the amendments to the state constitution.
(b)
Precinct.
The word “precinct” shall mean the areas into which the town is divided for the purpose of electing town meeting members.
(c)
Library.
The word “library” shall mean the Winchester Public Library and any branch or branches that may be established thereof.
(d)
Local Newspaper.
The words “local newspaper” shall mean a newspaper of general circulation within the town.
(e)
Majority Vote.
The words “majority vote” shall mean a majority of those present and voting, provided that a quorum of the body is present.
(f)
Multiple-member Body.
The words “multiple-member body” shall mean any board, commission or committee consisting of two or more persons, whether elected or appointed.
(g)
Town.
The word “town” shall mean the Town of Winchester.
(h)
Town Agency.
The words “town agency” shall mean any board, commission, committee, department or office of the town government, whether elected, appointed or otherwise constituted.
(i)
Town Bulletin Boards.
The words “town bulletin boards” shall mean the bulletin boards on which official town notices are posted, one of which shall be located in the town hall, one of which shall be located outside the town hall, and those at other locations within the town as the select board may from time to time designate.
(j)
Town Meeting.
The words “town meeting” shall mean the representative town meeting of the town established by article 2.
(k)
Town Officer.
The words “town officer” shall mean an elected or appointed official of the town who in the performance of his duties of office exercises some portion of the sovereign power of the town, whether great or small; however, it shall not include a town meeting member. A person may be a town officer whether or not he receives any compensation for his services.
(l)
Voters.
The word “voters” shall mean registered voters of the town.
A copy of all rules and regulations adopted by any town agency shall be filed in the office of the town clerk and made available for review by any person who requests such information. Such rules and regulations shall not become effective until ten days following the date they are so filed.
At intervals of not more than ten years, proposed revisions or recodifications of the bylaws of the town shall be presented to the town meeting for re-enactment. Such revisions or recodifications shall be prepared by a committee selected or appointed for that purpose. The town counsel or, if the select board shall so direct, special counsel appointed for that purpose shall serve as legal counsel to the committee. The committee shall commence its review following the adjournment of the annual town meeting in the year preceding the year in which its report is to be filed.
Within eight months following its appointment, the committee shall cause to be published in a local newspaper (a) a report summarizing its recommendations and noting the times and places within the town where complete copies of the report shall be available for inspection by the public, and (b) the date, time and place not less than two weeks following such publication when a public hearing shall be held by the committee on the preliminary report.[1]
Copies of the revised bylaws shall be made available for public distribution. In each year between such re-enactments and publications an annual supplement shall be published containing all bylaws and amendments to bylaws that had been adopted in the previous year.
[1]
Art 2 1978 Fall Town Meeting corrected the spelling of the word “inspection” from “inspecition”.
(a)
Meetings.
All multiple member bodies of the town, whether elected, appointed or otherwise constituted, shall meet regularly at such times and places within the town as they may, by their own rules, prescribe. Special meetings of any multiple-member body shall be held on the call of the respective chairman, or by a majority of the members thereof by suitable written notice delivered to the residence or place of business of each member at least twenty-four hours in advance of the time set. A copy of said notice shall also be posted on the town bulletin boards. All meetings of all multiple-member bodies shall, at all times, be open to the public and to the press, except as may otherwise be authorized by law.
(b)
Rules and Journal.
Each multiple-member body shall determine its own rules and order of business unless otherwise provided by the charter or by bylaw, and shall provide for keeping a journal of its proceedings. These rules and journals shall be a public record kept available in a place convenient to the public at all reasonable times, and copies shall be kept available in the library.
(d)
Quorum.
A majority of the members of the multiple-member body shall constitute a quorum, but a smaller number may adjourn from time to time.
(a)
Annual Town Elections.
The election of town officers and town meeting members, and referenda questions shall be acted upon and determined by voters on official ballots without party or other designation on the date fixed in the bylaws of the town.
(b)
Ballot Position.
The order in which names of candidates, including that of town meeting member, appear on the official ballot in any town election shall be determined by a drawing by lot conducted by the town clerk. Each candidate shall have an opportunity to be present in person or to be represented by a designee at the drawing. Each candidate for re-election shall have printed on the official ballot the words “candidate for re-election” in addition to his name and residence address.
Whenever a vacancy occurs and is to be filled in any town office or town employment or in any multiple-member body, except for positions covered under the civil service law of the Commonwealth, whether by reason of death, resignation, expiration of a fixed term for which a person has been appointed, or otherwise, the select board or other appointing authority shall forthwith cause public notice of the vacancy to be posted on the town bulletin boards for fifteen days. Any person who desires to be considered for appointment to the position may, within fifteen days following the date notice is posted, file with the appointing authority, a statement setting forth in clear and specific terms his qualifications for the position. No permanent appointment to fill such a position shall be effective until at least twenty-eight days have elapsed following such posting, and until all persons filing such statements shall have been considered.[1]
[1]
Art 2 1978 Fall Town Meeting added “, and is to be filled,” after “occurs”; substituted fifteen days for ten days in the first and second sentences; substituted twenty-eight days for fourteen days in the third sentence; and corrected the spelling of the word “effective”.
(a)
Application.
Any holder of an elective office, as defined in Section 3-1(a), with more than six months remaining in the term for which he was elected, may be recalled therefrom by the voters in the manner provided in this section.
(b)
Recall Petition.
Two hundred or more voters may file with the town clerk an affidavit containing the name of the officer whose recall is sought and a statement of the grounds upon which the petition is based. At least twenty-five names of voters shall be from each of the eight precincts into which the town is divided. The town clerk shall thereupon deliver to said voters 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 select board; shall contain the names of all persons to whom they are issued, the name of the person whose recall is sought, the grounds for recall as stated in the affidavit; and shall demand the election of a successor to the said office. A copy of the affidavit shall be entered in a recordbook to be kept in the office of the town clerk. The recall petitions shall be returned and filed with the town clerk within twenty days following the date of the filing of the affidavit, signed by at least fifteen percent of the voters and containing their names and addresses; provided, however, that not more than twenty-five percent of the total number shall be from any one precinct.
The town clerk shall, within twenty-four hours of receipt, submit the petitions to the registrars of voters who shall forthwith certify thereon the number of signatures that are names of voters.
(c)
Recall Election.
If the petition shall be certified by the town clerk to be sufficient, he shall forthwith submit the same with his certificate to the select board. Upon its receipt of the certificate, the select board shall forthwith give written notice of such petition and certificate to the officer whose recall is sought. If said officer does not resign his office within five days after delivery of such notice, the select board shall order an election to be held not less than thirty-five nor more than forty days after the date of the town clerk’s certificate of the sufficient petition. If, however, any other town election is to occur within sixty days after the date of the certificate, the select board shall hold the recall election on 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, and the ballots for candidates shall, notwithstanding a recall provision to the contrary, be counted.
(d)
Nomination of Candidates.
Any officer whose recall is sought may not be a candidate to succeed himself in the recall election. The nomination of candidates, the publication of the warrant for the recall election, and the conduct of same shall all be in accordance with the provisions of law relating to elections, unless otherwise provided in this section.
(e)
Propositions on Ballot.
Ballots used in a recall election shall state the following propositions in the order indicated:
For the recall of (name of officer) |
Against the recall of (name of officer) |
Adjacent to each proposition, there shall be a place to vote for either of the said propositions. |
After the proposition shall appear the word “candidates” and the names of candidates nominated as required in section 42 of chapter 54 of the General Laws. 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, except as provided in (c) above. |
(f)
Officeholder.
The incumbent shall continue to perform the duties of his office until the recall election. If he is not recalled in the election he shall continue in office for the remainder of his unexpired term, subject to recall as before, except as provided in this section.
If he is recalled in the 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.
(g)
Repeat of Recall Petition.
No recall petition shall be filed against an officer within three months after he takes office, or in the case of an officer subjected to a recall election and not recalled thereby, until at least six months after the election at which his recall was submitted to the voters.[1]
[1]
Art 7 1978 Fall Town Meeting corrected a misprint in the order of lines in this section.