reglab/housing_qa huggingface dataset:
MA Gen L ch 43 § 17c (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 43 - City Charters|Section 17c - Four-Year Term for Mayors in Certain Cities; Acceptance by Election; Application of Section

Section 17C. Upon the filing with the city clerk of a petition, which petition shall be subject to the provisions of section seven or section seven A of chapter fifty-three, signed by at least five per cent of the number of registered voters residing in the city at the last regular city election, the city clerk shall place upon the ballot for the next regular city election to be held not less than sixty days after the date of the filing of such petitions the following question:—   ''Shall the term of office of mayor of the city of ___ be four years?''  If a majority of the votes cast in answer to said question is in the affirmative, the term of office of the mayor of said city shall thereafter be for four years and until the election and qualification of his successor, beginning with the next regular city election following the acceptance of this question.  This section shall apply only in cities which have adopted Plan A, Plan B or Plan F under this chapter and in cities which have, under the provisions of any special act or any charter adopted under the provisions of Article LXXXIX of the Amendments to the Constitution, a mayor, as defined in subsection (a) of section ten of chapter forty-three B.  The provisions of this section shall be applicable notwithstanding the provisions of section eighteen of said chapter forty-three B. Nothing contained herein shall be construed to prevent the amendment of a city charter by any method available under said Article LXXXIX of the Amendments to the Constitution or under said chapter forty-three B.
MA Gen L ch 43 § 17d (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 43 - City Charters|Section 17d - Two-Year Term for Mayors in Cities Under Sec. 17c; Acceptance by Election

Section 17D. In any city in which the term of office of mayor is four years under the provisions of section seventeen C, upon the filing with the city clerk of a petition, which petition shall be subject to the provisions of section seven or section seven A of chapter fifty-three, signed by at least five per cent of the number of registered voters residing in said city at the last regular city election, the city clerk shall place upon the ballot for the next regular city election to be held not less than sixty days after the date of the filing of such petitions the following question:—   ''Shall the term of office of mayor of the city of ___ be two years?''  If a majority of the votes cast in answer to said question is in the affirmative, the term of office of the mayor of said city shall thereafter be for two years and until the election and qualification of his successor, beginning with the next regular city election following the acceptance of this question.
MA Gen L ch 43 § 18 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 43 - City Charters|Section 18 - City Council; Powers and Duties

Section 18. Except as otherwise provided in this section, the legislative powers of the city council may be exercised as provided by ordinance or rule adopted by it.  1. Every member of the council may vote on any question coming before it. A majority of the council shall constitute a quorum, and the affirmative vote of a majority of all the members of the council shall be necessary to adopt any motion, resolution or ordinance.  2. The city council shall, from time to time, establish rules for its proceedings. Regular and special meetings of the council shall be held at a time and place fixed by ordinance. Except as otherwise authorized by section twenty-three A of chapter thirty-nine, all sessions of the council shall be open to the public and to the press, and every matter coming before the council for action shall be put to a vote, the result of which shall be duly recorded. A full and accurate journal of the proceedings of the council shall be kept, and shall be open to the inspection of any registered voter of the city.  3. The council shall, by a majority vote, elect a city clerk to hold office for three years and until his successor is qualified. He shall have such powers and perform such duties as the council may prescribe, in addition to such duties as may be prescribed by law. He shall keep the records of the meetings of the council.  The person holding the office of city clerk at the time when any of the plans set forth in this chapter has been adopted by such city shall continue to hold office for the term for which he was elected and until his successor is qualified.  4. The council in any city adopting Plan D or E shall, by a majority vote, elect a city auditor to hold office for three years and until his successor is qualified. He shall keep and have charge of the accounts of the city and from time to time audit the books and accounts of all departments, commissions, boards and offices of the city, and shall have such other powers and perform such other duties as the council may prescribe, in addition to such duties as may be prescribed by law.
MA Gen L ch 43 § 19 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 43 - City Charters|Section 19 - Duties of Mayor or City Manager; Attendance at Council Meetings; Disclosure of Information

Section 19. The city council at any time may request from the mayor, or, under Plan D or E, from the city manager, specific information on any municipal matter within its jurisdiction, and may request him to be present to answer written questions relating thereto at a meeting to be held not earlier than one week from the date of the receipt by the mayor, or, under Plan D or E, by the city manager, of said questions. The mayor, or, under Plan D or E, the city manager, shall personally, or through the head of a department or a member of a board, attend such meeting and publicly answer all such questions. The person so attending shall not be obliged to answer questions relating to any other matter. The mayor, or, under Plan D or E, the city manager, may attend and address the city council in person or through the head of a department, or a member of a board, upon any subject.
MA Gen L ch 43 § 20 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 43 - City Charters|Section 20 - Passage of Ordinances

Section 20. No ordinance shall be passed finally on the date on which it is introduced, except in cases of special emergency involving the health or safety of the people or their property.  No ordinance shall be regarded as an emergency measure unless the emergency is defined and declared in a preamble thereto separately voted on and receiving the affirmative vote of two thirds of the members of the city council.  No ordinance making a grant, renewal or extension, whatever its kind or nature, of any franchise or special privilege shall be passed as an emergency measure, and except as provided in sections seventy and seventy-one of chapter one hundred and sixty-four and in chapter one hundred and sixty-six, no such grant, renewal or extension shall be made otherwise than by ordinance.
MA Gen L ch 43 § 21 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 43 - City Charters|Section 21 - Amendments and Repeals of Ordinances

Section 21. No ordinance shall be amended or repealed except by an ordinance adopted in accordance with this chapter.
MA Gen L ch 43 § 22 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 43 - City Charters|Section 22 - Ordinances, etc.; Passage at One Session

Section 22. Any ordinance, order or resolution may be passed through all its stages of legislation at one session, provided that no member of the council objects thereto; but if any member of the council objects, the measure shall be postponed for that meeting.
MA Gen L ch 43 § 23 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 43 - City Charters|Section 23 - Ordinances; Publication

Section 23. Every proposed ordinance or loan order, except emergency measures as hereinbefore defined and revenue loan orders, shall be published once in full in at least one newspaper of the city, and in any additional manner that may be provided by ordinance, at least ten days before its final passage, provided, that if any ordinance or proposed ordinance, or codification of ordinances or proposed ordinances, shall exceed in length eight octavo pages of ordinary book print, then, in lieu of the advertising required by this section, the same may be published by the city council in a municipal bulletin or printed pamphlet, and if so published in full at least ten days before its final passage, said publication shall be deemed sufficient without the newspaper publication as herein required.
MA Gen L ch 43 § 24 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 43 - City Charters|Section 24 - Adoption of Plan; Effect on Obligations, Taxes and Legal Acts

Section 24. All official bonds, recognizances, obligations, contracts and other instruments entered into or executed by or to the city before its adoption of a plan provided by this chapter, and all taxes, special assessments, fines, penalties, forfeitures incurred or imposed, due or owing to the city, shall be enforced and collected, and all writs, prosecutions, actions and causes of action, except as herein otherwise provided, shall continue without abatement and remain unaffected by this chapter; and no legal act done by or in favor of the city shall be rendered invalid by its adoption of a plan provided by this chapter.
MA Gen L ch 43 § 25 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 43 - City Charters|Section 25 - Employees in Mayor's Office Not Subject to Civil Service

Section 25. The civil service laws shall not apply to the appointment of the mayor's secretaries or of the stenographers, clerks, telephone operators and messengers connected with his office, and the mayor may remove such appointees without a hearing and without making a statement of the cause of their removal.
MA Gen L ch 43 § 26 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 43 - City Charters|Section 26 - Vacancies in Office of Mayor or City Council; Acting Mayor

Section 26. Except as otherwise provided in sections fifty A, fifty-nine A, eighty-six, one hundred and two and one hundred and twenty-one, if a vacancy occurs in the office of the mayor or city council before the last six months of the term of office, the city council shall order an election for a mayor or a member of the council to serve for the unexpired term; and if such vacancy occurs in the office of mayor in the last six months of the term, the president of the city council shall succeed to said office for the unexpired term. If the mayor is absent or unable from any cause temporarily to perform his duties they shall be performed by the president of the city council. The person upon whom such duties shall devolve shall be called ''acting mayor'', and he shall possess the powers of mayor only in matters not admitting of delay, but shall have no power to make permanent appointments.  Whenever, under Plan C, any councillor shall be temporarily unable for any cause to perform the duties of his office, the council may appoint one of its members to exercise his powers and perform his duties during such disability. Should an appointive officer of the city be temporarily unable for any cause to perform his duties, the council or the mayor, having the power of original appointment, may make a temporary appointment of some person to act until such official resumes his duties.
MA Gen L ch 43 § 27 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 43 - City Charters|Section 27 - Interest in Public Contracts by Public Employees Prohibited; Penalty

Section 27. No mayor or member of the city council or school committee and no officer or employee of the city shall directly or indirectly make a contract with the city, or receive any commission, discount, bonus, gift, contribution, or reward from or any share in the profits of any person making or performing such contract, unless the mayor, such member, officer or employee, immediately upon learning of the existence of such contract, or that such contract is proposed, shall notify in writing the mayor, city council or school committee of the nature of his interest in such contract, and shall abstain from doing any official act on behalf of the city in reference thereto. In case of such interest on the part of an officer whose duty it is to sign such contract on behalf of the city, the contract may be signed by any other officer of the city duly authorized thereto by the mayor, or if the mayor has such interest, by the city clerk; provided, that when a contractor with the city is a corporation or a voluntary stock association, the ownership of less than five per cent of the stock or shares actually issued shall not be considered as involving an interest in the contract within the meaning of this section, and such ownership shall not affect the validity of the contract unless the owner of such stock or shares is also an officer or agent of the corporation or association, or solicits or takes part in the making of the contract.  A violation of any provision of this section shall render the contract in respect to which such violation occurs voidable at the option of the city. Any person violating the provisions of this section shall be punished by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars, or by imprisonment for not more than one year, or both.
MA Gen L ch 43 § 29 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 43 - City Charters|Section 29 - Public Contracts; Form; Required Approvals; Bond, Etc.

Section 29. All contracts made by any department, board or commission where the amount involved is five thousand dollars or more shall be in writing, and no such contract shall be deemed to have been made or executed until the approval of the mayor under Plan A, B, C or F, or of the city manager under Plan D or E, and also of the officer or the head of the department or of the chairman of the board, as the case may be, making the contract is affixed thereto. Any contract made as aforesaid may be required to be accompanied by a bond with sureties satisfactory to the board or official having the matter in charge, or by a deposit of money, certified check or other security for the faithful performance thereof, and such bonds or other securities shall be deposited with the city treasurer until the contract has been carried out in all respects; and no such contract shall be altered except by a written agreement of the contractor, the sureties on his bond, if any, and the officer, department or board, as the case may be, making the contract, with the approval of the mayor under Plan A, B, C, D or F, or of the city manager under Plan E, affixed thereto. Any cash deposit or check payable to a city received as security for performance under this section may be deposited by said treasurer in any bank or trust company under a separate account to be known as a performance deposit account.  The provisions of this section shall be deemed to have been complied with on all purchases made under the provisions of sections twenty-two A and twenty-two B of chapter seven when one municipality acting on behalf of other municipalities complies with the provisions of this section, or when purchases are made from a vendor holding a contract with the commonwealth for the item or items being purchased.
MA Gen L ch 43 § 30 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 43 - City Charters|Section 30 - Purchase or Taking of Land

Section 30. At the request of any department, and with the approval of the mayor and city council under Plan A, B, C or F, or with the approval of the city manager and the city council under Plan D or E, the city council may, in the name of the city, purchase, or take by eminent domain, under chapter seventy-nine, any land within its limits for any municipal purpose, and, without the request of any department, but with like approval, the city council may, in the name of the city, purchase or take by eminent domain, under chapter seventy-nine, any land within its limits for the purpose of conveying the same, with or without consideration, to the commonwealth for the use of a regional community college. Whenever the price proposed to be paid for land for any municipal purpose is more than twenty-five per cent higher than its average assessed valuation during the previous three years the land shall not be purchased, but shall be taken as aforesaid. No land shall be taken or purchased until an appropriation by loan or otherwise for the general purpose for which land is needed has been made by the city council, by a two thirds vote of all its members; nor shall a price be paid in excess of the appropriation, unless a larger sum is awarded by a court of competent jurisdiction. All proceedings in the taking of land shall be under the advice of the law department, and a record thereof shall be kept by said department.
MA Gen L ch 43 § 31 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 43 - City Charters|Section 31 - School Committee; Membership; Tenure

Section 31. The school committee shall consist of the mayor, who shall be the chairman, and six members elected at large. At the first regular municipal election held in any city after its adoption of one of the plans provided in this chapter, there shall be elected, except as provided in this section, two members to serve for one year, two for two years and two for three years, and annually thereafter there shall be elected two members to serve for three years. If the plan adopted provides for elections to be held biennially, there shall, except under Plan E or F, be elected at the first regular municipal election held under the provisions of such plan, three members to serve for two years and three members to serve for four years, and biennially thereafter three members to serve for four years. After the adoption of Plan E by a city, the six members other than the mayor shall be elected at large for terms of two years each by proportional representation as hereinafter provided.
MA Gen L ch 43 § 32 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 43 - City Charters|Section 32 - Superintendent of Schools; Election; Appointment of Other School Employees.

Section 32. The school committee shall elect a superintendent of schools annually, except as provided in section forty-one of chapter seventy-one, and may, under chapter thirty-one, appoint, suspend or remove at pleasure such subordinate officers or assistants, including janitors of school buildings, as it may deem necessary for the proper discharge of its duties and the conduct of its business; it shall define their terms of service and their duties, and shall fix their compensation. No member of the school committee shall, while a member thereof, hold any other office or position in the school department the salary or compensation for which is payable out of the city treasury. The committee shall organize annually on the first Monday in January, and shall elect one of its members as vice chairman, who shall preside at all meetings of the committee at which the mayor is not present.
MA Gen L ch 43 § 33 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 43 - City Charters|Section 33 - School Committee; Powers and Duties

Section 33. Except as otherwise provided in this chapter and subject to any laws which limit the amount of money that may be appropriated in any city for school purposes, the school committee, in addition to the powers and duties conferred and imposed by law on school committees, may provide, when necessary, temporary accommodations for school purposes, may make all repairs, the expenditures for which are made from the regular appropriation for the school department, shall have control of all school buildings and grounds connected therewith and shall make all reasonable rules and regulations, consistent with law, for the management of the public schools of the city and for conducting the business of the committee.
MA Gen L ch 43 § 34 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 43 - City Charters|Section 34 - Location and Erection of Schools; Approvals Required

Section 34. No site for a school building shall be acquired by the city unless the approval of the site by the school committee is first obtained. No plans for the construction of or alterations in a school building shall be accepted, and no work shall be begun on the construction or alteration of a school building, unless with the approval of the school committee and the mayor under Plan A, B, C or F or with the approval of the school committee and the city manager under Plan D or E. The mayor or, in a city under Plan D or E, the city manager shall notify the school committee in writing prior to or at the time of each change in plans after work is begun. This section shall not require such approval for the making of ordinary repairs.
MA Gen L ch 43 § 35 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 43 - City Charters|Section 35 - Open and Public Meetings; Yea and Nay Vote

Section 35. All meetings of the school committee shall be open to the press and to the public, except as otherwise authorized by section twenty-three A of chapter thirty-nine. The vote on any particular measure shall be by yeas and nays, when requested by two members.
MA Gen L ch 43 § 36 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 43 - City Charters|Section 36 - School Committee; Filling Vacancies

Section 36. Except as provided in this section, if a vacancy occurs in the school committee by failure to elect, or otherwise, the city council and the remaining members of the school committee shall meet in joint convention and elect a suitable person to fill the vacancy until the first Monday in January following the next regular municipal election; and, if there would be a vacancy on said first Monday, it shall be filled at such regular municipal election for the balance of the unexpired term. The mayor, if present, shall preside at the convention.  Whenever under Plan E a vacancy occurs in the school committee by failure to elect, or otherwise, such vacancy shall be filled as provided in section one hundred and two.