Chief executive authority within the city government is hereby vested in the mayor elected as provided in chapter 2. The mayor shall actively supervise, direct and control, in accordance with the provisions of this Charter, the ordinances of the city and the laws of the state so far as applicable, the activities of all administrative departments and agencies of the city. The mayor shall be responsible for their efficient and economical operation, for the enforcement of the laws of the state and ordinances of the city and the preservation of the peace, health and safety of its inhabitants.
(Approved at referendum 11/3/1998)
The mayor, with the advice and consent of the city council, shall have power to appoint the heads of all departments except the department of records. The mayor shall also appoint five members of the city plan commission, the advisory committee on parks and recreation, the industrial development commission, the head of such additional departments as may be created by ordinance, the employees of the mayor's own office and all officers and employees of the city for whom no other method of appointment is provided. The heads of the departments of police, fire and personnel shall be members of the classified service and shall be appointed and removed subject to the provisions of Chapter 14, as shall all employees of the mayor's office except one confidential secretary or assistant. All other heads of departments shall be appointed to serve at the pleasure of the mayor, subject only to the appointee's possession of qualifications prescribed by this Charter.
Any member of an unpaid board, committee or commission, appointed by the mayor, may be removed by the mayor for any reason, provided such member shall first have been served with a written notice of the intention of the mayor to remove the member, containing a clear statement of the reasons for the member's removal and suspending the member from the performance of any duty or function for the city. If within five days after the receipt of such notice the member proposed to be removed shall request in writing a hearing the mayor shall fix a place and time not earlier than the fifth nor later than the tenth day following the receipt of such request, at which such hearing shall be held. The hearing shall be held before the mayor. It shall be public at the option of the member proposed to be removed and the member may be represented by counsel. The provisions of section 5.03 relating to the administering of oaths and the enforcement of the attendance of witnesses and the production of books and papers shall apply to hearings held under this section and the mayor shall summon such witnesses on behalf of the member proposed to be removed as that member may request. Upon the conclusion of the hearing the decision of the mayor reinstating or removing the member shall be final.
(Res. No. 73-122, 6/25/1973, § 12, approved at referendum 8/7/1973; approved at referendum 11/3/1998; Res. No. 2008-29, 11/4/2008)
The mayor may without prior notice and either personally or through a person or persons appointed by the mayor investigate the official conduct of any department, board, commission, office or agency or officer or employee of the city except the school committee and its employees. Every such investigation shall be based upon a written order signed by the mayor which shall define clearly the purpose and scope of the investigation. The mayor and any person or persons appointed by the mayor to conduct an investigation shall have the same powers with regard to the administering of oaths and enforcement of the attendance of witnesses and the production of books and papers as are conferred on the council and council committees by section 3.17.
(Approved at referendum 11/3/1998)
It shall further be the duty of the mayor to prepare and submit to the council annually the operating budget, appropriation ordinance, capital budget and capital improvement program; to set up and enforce an allotment system as provided in section 6.15, for the regulation of expenditures; to keep the council informed as to the financial condition of the city and as to other conditions requiring council action; and to file with the council annually complete reports of the administrative activities and financial transactions of the city. Said reports shall be known as the "state of the city" message and shall be filed with the city council in April of every year. No municipal funds shall be used to distribute said report or publish it in any manner unless specifically authorized and appropriated by the city council.
(Res. No. 77-51, 4/25/1977, § 1, approved at referendum 6/28/1977)
It shall be the duty of the mayor to carry on continuing studies of the operation of the city government as organized under this Charter and to recommend to the council for its action under section 3.16 measures assigning and reassigning functions and activities not specifically assigned by this Charter as between departments, divisions or other administrative units; creating, abolishing or recreating divisions and other units below the departmental level; and creating, abolishing or recreating departments for the administration of functions and activities not definitely assigned to departments by this Charter.
The compensation of the mayor shall be fixed by the council by ordinance but until action by the council shall be fixed at twelve thousand five hundred dollars per annum, payable in equal monthly installments. It shall not be reduced below this figure, and shall be neither increased nor diminished during the term for which a mayor has been elected.
If the mayor is temporarily unable to perform the duties of the mayor's office because of illness, accident or absence from the city the mayor's duties may be performed for a period of not more than ten days by the director of a department designated in writing by the mayor within such limitation as the mayor may include in such designation. If in the case of such temporary absence or disability on the part of the mayor no such designation has been made, or if the period of absence or disability exceeds ten days, the duties of the mayor shall be performed by the president of the council or in the event of the president's absence or disability by the vice-president. If the office of the mayor becomes vacant for any cause, the duties of the office shall be assumed immediately by the president of the city council. If the vacancy occurs within thirty months after taking office, the president of the council shall act as mayor only until the declaration of the result of the election is called to fill the vacancy. The president shall be entitled to a pro rata portion of the mayor's salary for such period in lieu of the president's salary as president of the council but the president shall remain president and member of the council. If during this period the president of the council shall be unable to perform the duties of the mayor they shall be performed by the vice-president. If the office of the mayor becomes vacant later than thirty months after taking office the president of the council shall become mayor for the balance of the term and shall cease to be a member of the council, creating thereby a vacancy in the council to be filled by the council as provided in chapter 2.
(Approved at referendum 11/3/1998)