reglab/statecodes huggingface dataset:
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts › Chapter 43 - City Charters › Section 8 - Adoption of Plan; Form of Petition

Section 8. The petition shall be substantially in the following form:
To the city council of the city of
We the undersigned, qualified voters of the city, respectfully petition your honorable body to cause to be submitted to a vote of the voters the following question:—''Shall the city of adopt the form of government defined as Plan (A, B, C, D, E or F, as it is desired by petitioners), and consisting of (describe plan briefly, as government by a mayor and nine councillors elected at large; or government by a mayor and councillors elected partly at large and partly from wards or districts; or government by five commissioners, one of whom shall be the mayor; or government by a city council, one member of which shall be the mayor, and having a city manager; or government by a city council to be elected at large by proportional representation, one member of which shall be the mayor, and having a city manager; or government by a mayor and councillors elected partly at large and partly from wards or districts with the mayor and city councillors to be nominated in party primaries and elected in party elections, as the case may be), with elections to be held (in the case of Plan A, B, or C, annually, or biennially in every odd numbered year, as it is desired by petitioners, or, in the case of Plan D, E or F, biennially in every odd numbered year) (and in the case of Plan F) and the mayor and the members of the city council to receive for their services such salary, not exceeding (in the case of a city having a population of less than fifty thousand, $15,000 annually, or, in the case of a city having a population of fifty thousand or more, $20,000 annually) for the mayor and (in the case of a city having a population of less than fifty thousand, $2,000 annually, or, in the case of a city having a population of fifty thousand or more, $3,000 annually) for a member of the city council, as the city council may by ordinance determine, according to chapter forty-three of the General Laws relating to city charters?''
The petition may be in the form of separate sheets, each sheet containing at the top thereof the heading above set forth, and when attached together and offered for filing the several papers shall be deemed to constitute one petition, and there shall be endorsed thereon the name and address of the person presenting the same for filing.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts › Chapter 43 - City Charters › Section 9 - Plan A, B, C, D or E; Proceeding After Filing of Petition; Submission to Electorate

Section 9. In the case of a petition for the adoption of Plan A, B, C, D or E, within seventy days after the petition has been filed with him by the petitioners the city clerk shall, except as provided in section ten, transmit a certified copy thereof to the city council, except that the signatures upon the petition need not be copied but in place thereof the city clerk shall state the number of signatures of registered voters thereon, certified as such by the registrars of voters. If any question arises as to the validity or sufficiency of the petition or of the signatures thereon, any registered voter of the city may appeal for a determination of said question to the applicable board referred to in section twelve of chapter fifty-three, by filing a notice of such appeal with the city council and with the clerk of the board of registrars of voters within eighty days after the date the petition was filed with the city clerk by the petitioners, and the board so appealed to shall within thirty days render a decision thereon. The board shall submit notice of its decision forthwith to the city council.
Any person aggrieved by the decision of the board under this section may appeal to the superior court sitting in equity, for the county in which the city is located; provided, that such appeal is filed in said court within ten days after such decision is rendered. It shall hear all pertinent evidence and determine the facts and, upon the facts as so determined, annul such decision if found to be erroneous in law or not warranted by the evidence, or make such other decree as justice and equity may require. The foregoing remedy shall be exclusive, but the parties shall have all rights of appeal and exception as in other equity cases.
No costs shall be allowed against the board unless the court finds that it acted with gross negligence or in bad faith.
Within ten days after the expiration of said period of eighty days, if no appeal has been taken, or after receipt of a decision on any appeal in favor of the validity or sufficiency of such petition or signatures, as the case may be, the city council shall, unless the number of valid signatures certified to it is found to be less than the number required by section seven, transmit such certified copy to the city clerk. If said certified copy is so transmitted to the city clerk at least thirty days before the regular city election, the question proposed by the petition shall be submitted upon the official ballot to a vote of the registered voters of the city at said regular city election, otherwise it shall be submitted at the regular city election next following the aforesaid election.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts › Chapter 43 - City Charters › Section 10 - Number of Plans Considered at Election; Procedure on Subsequent Petitions

Section 10. The question of the adoption of not more than one plan may be submitted at an election. If, pending the determination of the question proposed by petition already filed, another petition presenting the question of the adoption of a different plan shall be presented for filing with the city clerk, no action shall be taken upon the later petition, except to file it, until after the submission to a vote of the question proposed by the earlier petition. Should the result of such vote be adverse thereto, proceedings shall then be had upon the later petition as though it had been filed upon the day when such vote on the earlier petition was cast.
If, pending the determination of the question proposed by a petition already filed under chapter fifty-four A, a petition presenting the question of the adoption of one of the plans provided for in this chapter shall be presented for filing with the city clerk, no action shall be taken upon the later petition, except to file it, until after the submission to a vote of the question proposed by the petition under said chapter fifty-four A. Should the result of such vote be adverse thereto, proceedings shall then be had upon the later petition as though it had been filed upon the day when such vote on the petition under said chapter fifty-four A was cast.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts › Chapter 43 - City Charters › Section 11 - Majority Vote Required for Adoption of Plan; Effect of Adoption; Election of Officers

Section 11. If a majority of the total number of votes cast at a regular city election for and against the adoption of one of the plans of government provided for in this chapter shall be in favor of its adoption, this chapter, so far as applicable to the form of government under the plan adopted by the city, shall supersede the provisions of its charter and of the general and special laws relating thereto and inconsistent herewith, but not, however, until officers provided for under such plan shall have been duly elected and their terms of office shall have begun. The officers provided for under the plan so adopted shall be elected in accordance with the provisions of this chapter relating to such plan and in accordance with section fifteen, and their terms of office shall begin at ten o'clock in the forenoon of the first Monday of January following their election.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts › Chapter 43 - City Charters › Section 12 - Petition for Other Plans After Unfavorable Election

Section 12. Should a majority of the votes cast be against the adoption of the plan proposed, no petition proposing the same plan shall be filed within four years thereafter; but a petition proposing the adoption of one of the other plans provided for in this chapter may be filed at any time thereafter, and, subject to section ten, proceedings thereon shall be had as though no prior petition under this chapter had been filed.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts › Chapter 43 - City Charters › Section 13 - Duration of Plan Adopted

Section 13. Should any plan provided for in this chapter be adopted, it shall continue in force for at least four years from the beginning of the terms of office of the officials elected thereunder; and no petition proposing a different plan shall be filed until after three years and six months from such adoption.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts › Chapter 43 - City Charters › Section 14 - Officials to Expedite Transition to Adopted Plan

Section 14. The mayor, the aldermen and the common council, the city council or other legislative body, and the city clerk in office when any plan set forth in this chapter has been adopted, or is proposed for adoption, shall comply with all requirements of this chapter relating to such proposed adoption and to the election of the officers specified in said plan, in order that all things necessary for the nomination and election of the officers first to be elected under the provisions of this chapter and of the plan so adopted may be done.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts › Chapter 43 - City Charters › Section 15 - Dates of Elections Under Adopted Plan; Municipal Year Defined

Section 15. After the adoption by any city of any plan provided for by this chapter
(a) If the plan adopted provides for annual elections, regular municipal elections under said plan shall take place in the year following its adoption, and thereafter, on the Tuesday next following the first Monday of December in each year; provided, that if said city accepts or has accepted section one hundred and three A of chapter fifty-four all regular municipal elections under such plan following such acceptance shall take place on the third Tuesday of December in each year;
(b) If the plan adopted provides for elections to be held biennially in every even-numbered year, the regular municipal election next succeeding the adoption of such plan shall take place on the Tuesday following the first Monday of December in the even-numbered year next succeeding the year of its adoption, and regular municipal elections thereafter shall take place on the Tuesday next following the first Monday of December in every even-numbered year; provided, that in any such city which accepts or has accepted said section one hundred and three A all regular municipal elections under said plan following such acceptance shall take place biennially on the third Tuesday of December in every even-numbered year; and
(c) If the plan adopted provides for elections to be held biennially in every odd-numbered year, the first regular municipal election following its adoption shall take place in the odd-numbered year next succeeding the year of its adoption on the day fixed for the holding of such elections under the laws in effect in such city immediately prior to such adoption, and regular municipal elections thereafter shall take place in every odd-numbered year on the day fixed as aforesaid; provided, that in any city which adopts Plan E all regular municipal elections shall take place as provided in section one hundred and nine.
In each city adopting any plan provided for by this chapter, the municipal year shall begin and end at ten o'clock in the morning of the first Monday of January in each year.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts › Chapter 43 - City Charters › Section 16 - Primaries and Caucuses Prohibited

Section 16. No primary or caucus for municipal officers shall be held, except in a city under Plan F. Candidates for mayor, city council and school committee, and assessors, if elected by the people, shall, except in a city under Plan F, be nominated in accordance with section six of chapter fifty-three.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts › Chapter 43 - City Charters › Section 16a - Plan F; Primaries and Caucuses

Section 16A. The city primary and election under Plan F shall, except as otherwise provided in this chapter, be conducted under the provisions of the statutes of the commonwealth relating to party primaries and elections. The city primary shall be held on the sixth Tuesday preceding the regular city election. At said primary each political party shall place in nomination a candidate for mayor, six candidates for school committeeman, as many candidates for councillor-at-large as there are councillors-at-large to be elected, and a candidate for councillor from each ward of the city. There shall not be printed on the ballot at such city primary the name of any person as a candidate for nomination for the office of mayor, school committee, or city councillor, unless a certificate from the registrars of voters of the city wherein such person is a registered voter that he is enrolled as a member of the political party whose nomination he seeks is filed with the city clerk on or before the last day for filing nomination papers.
Nominations of candidates, other than party nominations for any offices to be filled at a city election may be made by nomination papers containing the name of the candidate, his residence with street and number, if any, the office for which he is nominated and the principle, if any, which he represents in not more than three words. If a candidate is nominated otherwise than by a political party, the name of a political party shall not be used in his political designation, nor shall the name of any organization which has been adjudicated subversive under section 18 of chapter 264, be used in his political designation.
Such nomination papers shall be signed in the aggregate by not less than such number of voters as will equal three per cent of the entire vote cast for governor at the preceding biennial state election in the electoral district or division for which the officers are to be elected, but in no event by less than fifty voters.
A nomination paper for city office shall be filed with the city clerk by a responsible person who shall sign his name and address. The written acceptance of the candidate shall be filed therewith.
Such independent nomination papers for city offices shall be filed not later than the last day fixed for the filing of party nomination papers for the city primaries.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts › Chapter 43 - City Charters › Section 17 - Oath of Office; Time of Taking

Section 17. On the first Monday in January following a regular municipal election, at ten o'clock in the forenoon, the mayor-elect if elected by the people, the councillors-elect, and the assessors-elect if elected by the people, shall meet and be sworn to the faithful discharge of their duties. The oath may be administered by the city clerk or by a justice of the peace, and a certificate thereof shall be entered in the journal of the city council. At any regular council meeting thereafter the oath may be administered in the presence of the city council to the mayor, or to any councillor absent from the meeting on the first Monday in January; provided, that, under Plan E, the oath may be so administered to the mayor and vice-chairman at the same meeting at which they are respectively elected.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts › Chapter 43 - City Charters › Section 17a - Salaries of Mayor, City Manager and Council

Section 17A. The mayor or city manager and the members of the city council shall receive for their services such salary as the city council shall by ordinance determine, and they shall receive no other compensation from the city, except that a member of a city or town council in a municipality with a city or town council form of government may receive a salary for serving as a municipal employee of said municipality in lieu of receiving compensation for serving as a member of said council. No increase or reduction in the salaries of mayor or city councillors shall take effect during the year in which such increase or reduction is voted, and no change in such salaries shall be made between the election of a new council and the qualification of the new council. The provisions of this section shall not be applicable in a city under Plan F.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts › Chapter 43 - City Charters › Section 17b - Compensation of Mayor and City Council

Section 17B. In a city under Plan F the mayor and the members of the city council shall receive for their services such salary as the city council shall by ordinance determine, and they shall receive no other compensation from the city. The compensation for the mayor shall not exceed fifteen thousand dollars annually in cities having a population of less than fifty thousand or twenty thousand dollars annually in cities having a population of fifty thousand or more. The compensation for city councillors shall not exceed two thousand dollars annually in cities having a population of less than fifty thousand, or three thousand dollars annually in cities having a population of fifty thousand or more.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts › Chapter 43 - City Charters › Section 37 - Initiative Petition; Measure Defined

Section 37. A petition conforming to the requirements hereinafter provided and requesting the city council to pass a measure, except an order granted under section seventy or seventy-one of chapter one hundred and sixty-four or chapter one hundred and sixty-six, or requesting the school committee to pass a measure, therein set forth or designated, shall be termed an initiative petition, and shall be acted upon as hereinafter provided. In this and the eight following sections, ''measure'' shall mean an ordinance, resolution, order or vote passed by a city council, or a resolution, order or vote passed by a school committee, as the case may be.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts › Chapter 43 - City Charters › Section 38 - Initiative Petitions; Validity of Signatures; Objections

Section 38. Signatures to initiative petitions need not be all on one paper. The papers constituting a petition shall be filed in the office of the city clerk, with the endorsement thereon of the names and addresses of three persons designated as filing the same, but all the papers need not be filed at the same time. The petition shall be considered filed whenever the designated persons notify the board in writing that the filing is complete. Before receiving such notice, the registrars of voters may, but shall not be required to, certify signatures on the papers already filed. With each signature to the petition shall be stated the place of residence of the signer, giving the street and number, if any.
Within five days after the filing of said petition the registrars of voters shall ascertain by what number of registered voters the petition is signed, and what percentage that number is of the total number of registered voters, and shall attach thereto their certificate showing the result of such examination.
The city clerk shall forthwith transmit the said certificate with the said petition to the city council or to the school committee, according as the petition is addressed, and at the same time shall send a copy of said certificate to one or more of the persons designated on the petition as filing the same.
When such certificate has been so transmitted, said petition shall be deemed to be valid unless written objections are made thereto by a registered voter of the city within forty-eight hours after such certification by filing such objections with the city council or the school committee, and a copy thereof with the registrars of voters or the board or commission having similar duties. Section seven of chapter fifty-five B shall apply to such objections, and the board of registration of voters shall transmit a copy of its decision to the city council or school committee.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts › Chapter 43 - City Charters › Section 39 - Initiative Petition; Passage and Submission to Electorate

Section 39. If any initiative petition is signed by registered voters equal in number to at least fifteen per cent of the whole number of registered voters:
(1) the city council or the school committee shall, within twenty days after the date of the certificate of the registrars to that effect, pass said measure without alteration, subject to the referendum vote provided by this chapter, or
(2) the city clerk shall call a special election to be held on a Tuesday fixed by said clerk not less than thirty nor more than forty-five days after the date of qualification, and shall submit the proposed measure without alteration to a vote of the registered voters of the city at that election; provided, however, that if any city election is otherwise to occur within ninety days after the date of qualification, the city clerk may, at his discretion, omit calling the special election and submit the proposed measure to the voters at such approaching election.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts › Chapter 43 - City Charters › Section 40 - Proceedings if Initiative Petition Not Properly Signed

Section 40. If an initiative petition is signed by registered voters equal in number to at least eight per cent but less than fifteen per cent of the total number of registered voters, and said measure is not passed without alteration within twenty days by the city council or the school committee, as provided in the preceding section, such proposed measure, without alteration, shall be submitted by the city clerk to a vote of the registered voters of the city at the next regular municipal election which occurs at least thirty days after the date of qualification. As used in this section and section thirty-nine, ''date of qualification'' shall mean the twentieth day after the date of the certificate of the registrars, or the day on which the city council or school committee finally decides not to pass the measure without alteration, whichever day occurs first. A proposed measure under this section or section thirty-nine shall become effective if it shall be approved by registered voters of the city equal in number to one third of the whole number thereof and also by a majority of the voters voting on such measure, but not otherwise.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts › Chapter 43 - City Charters › Section 41 - Contents of Ballot for Proposed Measure

Section 41. The ballots used when voting upon a proposed measure under section thirty-nine or forty, or a measure or part thereof protested against under the following section, shall contain only a fair, concise summary of the measure, as determined by the city solicitor, which shall follow the question, ''Do you approve of a measure summarized below?''