Article III
Town Meetings
1.1 The Annual Town Meeting for the election of the officers and boards designated in Article I, Sections 1.1 and 1.2 shall be held on the first Tuesday in April. No later than December 1st of the preceding year, the Board of Selectmen may upon the recommendation of the Town Clerk, change the date of the election by one week, either to the preceding or succeeding Tuesday.
1.2 The polls shall be opened at 7:00 a.m. and shall remain open until 8:00 p.m.
1.3 All business of the Annual Meeting other than the election of Town officers and the determination of such matters are by law placed on the ballot, shall be deferred to an adjournment to be held on the fourth Tuesday of April; adjourned sessions when required shall be on the next Wednesday night and Thursday night and on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights thereafter until final adjournment. At the first Tuesday session of the Annual Town Meeting, or at any subsequent adjourned session, Town Meeting may, by a two-thirrds majority of those present and voting, vote to adjourn to a future date certain. That future date certain must be a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday.
1.3.1 The Board of Selectmen shall call a Special Town Meeting no earlier than August 1 and no later than November 1 to consider any outstanding warrant articles that may have been lawfully submitted after the close of the warrant for the Annual Town Meeting. This does not preclude the Board of Selectmen from calling a Special Town Meeting at any time in accordance with state statutes.
1.4 Notice of every Town Meeting shall be given by publication of a copy of the warrant in one issue of a newspaper of general circulation in the Town. The warrant will be published at least seven days before the date of the meeting in the case of the Annual Town Meeting and at least fourteen days before the date of the meeting in the case of a Special Town Meeting; also by posting copies of the Warrant in ten or more public places in the Town eight days before the date of the Town Meeting.
1.5 Whenever a Town Meeting shall adjourn to a future date, the Town Clerk shall cause a notice of the time and place of adjournment to be published in one or more issues of a newspaper of general circulation in the Town.
1.6 Motions for reconsideration shall be in accordance with the following:
1.6.1 A motion to reconsider a vote on any question shall be in order if any one of the following four conditions is met:
1.6.1.1 If the motion is made during the session the original vote was made. Debate and a vote on the motion however, shall be tabled to the first order of business of the next session, unless by majority vote debate and a vote on the motion is tabled to the first order of business of a definite designated session.
1.6.1.2 If the motion is made with seventy-five percent consent of all Town Meeting Members present at any session after the session at which the original vote was taken. Debate and a vote on the motion, however, shall be tabled to the first order of business of the next session, unless by majority vote debate and a vote on the motion is tabled to the first order of business of a definite designated session.
1.6.1.3 If the motion is made at any session after the session the original vote was taken, provided written notice of such intention was given to the Town Clerk before 4:00 p.m. on the day preceding the session at which the motion is made. The Town Clerk shall give immediate notice of pending reconsideration by notifying the local daily newspaper and radio station. Debate and a vote on a motion made under this condition shall be taken on the motion when made, unless by majority vote debate and a vote on the motion is tabled to the first order of business of a definite designated session.
1.6.1.4 If in the case of a final session a motion is made for reconsideration of any matter previously voted during the same session or during a session on the immediately preceding day. However, a debate and a vote on this motion may be taken only after all other articles have been acted upon unless in the Moderator's discretion debate and a vote on the motion at any other point in the session would expedite the conduct of Town Meeting.
1.6.2 Debate for or against reconsideration will be limited by the Moderator to discussion as to why reconsideration should or should not prevail.
1.6.3 The duration of each speech shall not exceed three minutes; however, any registered voter not a Town Meeting Member may speak at least once for a maximum of three minutes but not more than once unless permitted by the Town Meeting Members. Any one speaking a second time shall not exceed one minute.
1.6.4 A motion to reconsider must be passed by a two-thirds vote.
1.6.5 Only one motion for reconsideration on any separately voted question shall be accepted by the Moderator whether such motion does or does not prevail.
1.7 All voting in Town Meeting shall be by a show of hands except for rollcall votes as described below. If the result is in doubt, the Moderator shall count or cause to be counted the uplifted hands. If still in doubt, or if the result is questioned by seven or more voters, the Moderator shall appoint tellers who shall verify the vote. If immediately after a vote is taken by a show of hands, a request is made for a rollcall vote on that question, the Moderator shall ask how many members support that request. If supported by 40 members, a rollcall vote shall immediately be taken by the Town Clerk or his designee, and the count from such recorded rollcall vote shall be the official count of the vote on that question.
1.7.1 Upon a motion supported by not less than 20 members made prior to a vote on any question (whether required by law to be a counted vote or not) the vote shall be taken by ballot in such form as will in the opinion of the Town Clerk indicate how individual town meeting members have voted on a question. Town Meeting members must be present and shall cast only his/her ballot. All ballots must be signed to be valid.
The results of such vote shall be announced following the vote in terms of the numbers of aye, nay or abstain votes cast. The Town Clerk shall post within a reasonable time after the session in which the vote was taken on the question a list which shall disclose how each member voted. Said list together with the original ballots, shall be open to public inspection so that the public shall be able to determine the way in which each town meeting member voted on the question and shall be preserved for at least 3 years.
1.8 Any committee, board or officer of the Town of Framingham rendering an official report in writing at a Town Meeting may prepare not less than 210 copies of said report to be delivered to the Town Clerk not later than nine days before the date of the meeting. The Town Clerk shall mail a package of literature to each Town Meeting Member not less than seven days before the commencement of the Town Meeting.
1.8.1 The Moderator shall announce, prior to the debate on each article, what written literature was included in the mailing by the Town Clerk to Town Meeting Members.
1.8.2 Any committee, board, officer or resident of the Town of Framingham may distribute literature pertinent to an article in the Warrant within the Town Meeting room provided:
1.8.2.1 that the manner of distribution does not disrupt the orderly proceedings of the meeting, and
1.8.2.2 that the literature bears the name of a person whose opinions are set forth therein, and
1.8.2.3 that the number of the article to which it refers be clearly indicated at the top of each page, and
1.8.2.4 that any personal, professional or financial interest on the part of the resident(s) is so stated on the literature.
1.8.3 The Moderator shall prohibit the distribution within the Town Meeting Room of any material which the Moderator shall determine does not meet the requirements of this Bylaw.
1.9 The Moderator may decline to put obviously frivolous motions. Motions shall be presented in writing upon request of the Moderator.
1.9.1 Except with the consent of two-thirds of the Town Meeting Members present and voting, no person addressing the Town Meeting for the first time on any article shall speak for more than ten minutes, and subsequent speeches by the same person shall not exceed three minutes each nor exceed three in number. A speaker's concise response to a question directed to him by the Moderator shall not be considered a speech for the purpose of the Bylaw.
1.10 No motion, the effect of which would be to dissolve the Town Meeting, shall be in order until every article in the warrant has been duly considered and acted on, but this shall not preclude the postponement of consideration of any article to an adjournment of the Town Meeting at a stated time.
1.11 No person shall address the meeting unless recognized by the Moderator, nor speak more than once on the same subject to the exclusion of any other who may desire to speak.
1.12 Any person who is employed as an attorney by another interested in any matter under discussion at a Town Meeting shall disclose such employment before speaking thereon.
1.13 All committees shall report as directed by the Town Meeting. If no report is made within a year after the appointment, the committee shall be discharged unless, in the meantime, the Town Meeting grants an extension of time.
1.14 No appropriation shall be made under the report of any committee of the Town unless the report has been previously submitted to the Finance Committee.
1.15 A record available for public inspection shall be kept by the Town Clerk of the attendance of Town Meeting Members at each Town Meeting or adjourned Town Meeting thereafter, and the Town Clerk is hereby directed to publish in a newspaper of general distribution in the Town of Framingham in at least 7 point bold face type, on the last Thursday prior to the election of Town Meeting Members, the attendance record for the previous three years of each Town Meeting Member who is running for re-election, and that furthermore this attendance record be published in a format arranged by precincts.
1.16 The record of Town Meeting attendance by the Town Meeting Members shall be made a part of the Annual Town Report.
Section 2. Standing Committees
2.1 There shall be the following seven Standing Committees of the Town Meeting: Public Works, Planning and Zoning, Community Services, Public Safety, Ways and Means, Education and Rules.
Each Standing Committee shall be responsible for informing itself of the related activities of those governmental units listed below and for other activities indicated by the names of the respective Committee. Each Standing Committee shall report to the Town Meeting on those activities and upon the merits of Warrant Articles relating to those activities.
a) Public Works Standing Committee will be responsible for the Public Works Division and for the Town owned Buildings Department.
b) Planing and Zoning Standing Committee will be responsible for the Planning and Economic Development Division, the Zoning Board of Appeals, the Planning Board, the Conservation Commission, the Historical Commission, the Metrowest Growth Management Commission, the Economic Development and Industrial Corporation and the Historical District Commission.
c) Community Services Standing Committee will be responsible for the Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs Division, the Edgell Grove Cemetery, the Community Development Block Grant Committee, Council on Aging, Human Relations, Veterans Service, and Fair Housing.
d) Public Safety Standing Committee will be responsible for the Police Division (with the exception of Council on Aging, Human Relations and Veterans Service), the Fire Division, and the Inspection Services Division excluding the Town Owned Buildings Department.
e) Ways and Means Standing Committee will be responsible for the Finance Committee, the Finance Division, the Human Resources Division, the Information Services Division, the Selectmen, the Town Clerk, Town Elections, the Legal Department, the Retirement Board, Capital Budget Committee, Permanent Building Committee, and Government Study Committee.
f) Education Standing Committee will be responsible for the Library, the Framingham School Department and the Keefe Vocational School.
g) Rules Standing Committee will be responsible for the procedures of conduction Town Meeting.
2.2 Each Standing Committee shall consist of Town Meeting Members, one from each precinct, who shall be elected during the Annual Town Meeting by a majority vote of the representatives from the respective precincts. Within thirty (30) days following the election of Standing Committee Members, an organization meeting of each newly elected Standing Committee shall be called by the Town Clerk at which time the Committee Members shall elect a Chairman, Vice Chairman and Clerk. The term of Committee members shall begin at the final adjournment of the Annual Town Meeting at which they are elected and expire at the final adjournment of the following Annual Town Meeting.
2.3 Vacancies on the Standing Committees shall be filled by a Town Meeting Member from the appropriate precinct appointed by the Precinct Chairman before the next Town Meeting following the occurrence of such vacancy.
2.4 A Standing Committee shall meet at the call of the Chairman or of any three (3) members thereof and at such other times as are specified in this Bylaw. The quorum for such meetings shall be five (5) in number.
2.5 The Standing Committee shall meet following the receipt of the Warrant Articles from the Board of Selectmen, but prior to the start of a Town Meeting. They shall consider all Articles within the scope of the Committees' authority and shall prepare recommendations to the Town Meeting as to the action to be taken thereon.
2.6 The Board of Selectmen shall, as soon as practicable after Warrant Articles for a Town Meeting have been filed, refer each article to an appropriate committee by transmitting a copy to the chairman thereof.
2.7 The initial organization of any additional Standing Committees created by amendment of this Bylaw shall be accomplished in the following manner:
The Town Clerk shall, within seven (7) days after the effective date of any amendment to this Bylaw creating a new Standing Committee, notify the Chairman of each precinct of the creation of such new committee. Within seven (7) days of receipt of such notice, each Chairman shall call a meeting of the Town Meeting Members of his precinct to be held as soon as is reasonably possible thereafter. At such meeting the precinct representatives shall elect a member of such Standing Committee and within seven (7) days thereafter each Chairman shall notify the Town Clerk of the name of the person so elected. The initial meeting of such Standing Committee shall be called by the Town Clerk by written notice mailed to each Committee Member and shall be held within fourteen (14) days after receipt by the Town Clerk of the names of the Committee Members. At the initial meeting of such Standing Committee there shall be elected a Chairman, Vice-Chairman and Clerk. Thereafter the Committee shall meet at the call of the Chairman or of any three (3) members thereof, and at such other times as are specified in the Bylaw.
2.8 A meeting of the Town Meeting Members from each precinct shall be held during the Annual Town Meeting for the purpose of electing a Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Clerk and one member to each Standing Committee. Within seven (7) days after this meeting, the Chairman elected thereat shall notify the Town Clerk of the names of all persons so elected.
Section 3: Government Study Committee
3.1 Purpose: The Committee shall review all proposed bylaw changes with the exceptions of Zoning Bylaw changes, and make recommendations to Town Meeting. The Committee may also initiate a study of Town government and propose changes that the Committee deems appropriate to improve the functioning of Town Government.
3.2 Membership: The Government Study Committee shall consist of twelve members appointed by the Moderator. Vacancies will be filled by the Moderator for the balance of the unexpired term.
3.3 (Deleted: April 27, 1999 Annual Town Meeting)
3.4 (Deleted: April 27, 1999 Annual Town Meeting)
