Changes
Pending, Proposed, and Approved
Revised 1/4/02
Charter, Article 2, Section
2-5
Change approved by
Town Meeting; awaiting voter approval on 3/26/02.
Amend Article 2 of the Natick Home Rule Charter as follows:
1. In Section 2-5, delete the
third sentence.
2. Add the following sentences at
the end of Section 2-5:
In case of a tie vote affecting
the determination of which candidates are elected or affecting a division into
thirds, the town clerk shall conduct a lottery among those tied. Any such lottery
shall be conducted at a time and place open to the public.
Charter, Article 2, Section
2-6 (c)
Change approved by
Town Meeting; awaiting voter approval on 3/26/02.
Amend Article 2 of the Natick Home Rule Charter as follows:
In Section 2-6 (c), rewrite the
second sentence to read as follows:
Each list shall include names of
such persons for elections in the present and previous two calendar years,
provided, however, that elections in years prior to the last revision of
precincts shall not be considered.
Charter, Article 3, Section
3-1 (d)
Warrant article under
review.
To see if the Town will vote to
modify its procedures for conducting preliminary elections so that (1) more
candidates may run for an office without thereby requiring a preliminary
election; (2) the expense of conducting low-turnout preliminary elections may
be avoided; (3) the threshold to trigger a preliminary election for an office
is raised to allow two more candidates than is currently the case; and,
furthermore, to accomplish such change in procedures by approving an amendment
to Article 3 of the Natick Home Rule Charter for submittal to the voters, said
amendment to be as follows:
1. In Section 3-1 (d), reorder and
renumber the subsections (5), (6), and (7) so that new subsection (5) is old
subsection (7), new subsection (6) is old subsection (5), new subsection (7) is
old subsection (6).
2. In the new subsection (5),
replace the first sentence with the following:
After the certified nomination
papers of the candidates have been filed with the town clerk, a threshold is
calculated for each office to determine whether the preliminary election is
necessary.
The threshold is the sum of two
plus twice the number of persons to be elected. If the number of candidates for
an office does not exceed the threshold, all candidates shall be nominated for
the office and their names shall be printed on the ballot for that office at
the succeeding regular or special election, as the case may be, and the town
clerk shall not print their names on the ballot to be used at the preliminary
election, and no other nomination to the office shall be made.
Charter, Article 3, Section
3-1 (g)
Warrant article under
review.
To see if the Town will vote to add new procedures to advise
elected officials who move out of town that they are no longer eligible to hold
elective office and therefore they should resign; and, furthermore, to
accomplish such change in procedures by approving an amendment to Article 3 of
the Natick Home Rule Charter for submittal to the voters, said amendment to be
as follows:
1. In Section 3-1, reorder and renumber the subsections (g)
and (h) so that new subsection (g) is as described below, new subsection (h) is
old subsection (g), new subsection (i) is old subsection (h).
2. New subsection (g) reads as follows:
(g) Vacancies
(1) Resignation - An elected town officer
may resign by filing a written resignation with the town clerk in accordance
with Section 109 of Chapter 41 of the General Laws.
(2) Removal From Town - An elected town
officer who removes from the town and no longer maintains a residence in the
town or who becomes a registered voter elsewhere shall resign in accordance
with said Section 109. If the town clerk receives a report of such removal from
the town or registration elsewhere, the town clerk shall notify the elected
town officer in writing of the eligibility requirement for elective town office
as specified in Section 3-1 (b) of the Charter and of the resignation
requirement as specified in said Section 109.
3. In the newly numbered subsection (i), in subsection (7),
rewrite the sentence to read as follows:
In the case of an officer subjected to a recall election and
not recalled thereby, no repeat of the recall petition may be filed until at
least six months after the election at which the recall was submitted to the
voters.
Charter, Article 5, Section
5-2
Warrant article under
review.
To see if the Town will vote to
approve an amendment to Article 5 of the Natick Home Rule Charter for submittal
to the voters in order to support the actual school committee budget process
that takes place over a period of several weeks and meetings.
1. In Section 5-2 (a), change the
words “budget as adopted by the school committee” to read “budget as proposed
by the superintendent of schools.”
2. Change Section 5-2 (b) in its
entirety so that it reads as follows:
(b) Public Hearing -
In the notice of any meeting at which the school committee expects to receive
testimony regarding its proposed budget for the next fiscal year, the school
committee shall include in the notice information about the locations of (1)
the complete proposed budget available for public examination and (2) copies of
a general summary of the proposed budget available for public distribution. The
general summary shall specifically indicate any major variations from the
current budget and the reasons for such changes. At all such meetings, in
accordance with the provisions of Section 7-9 (b), all interested persons shall
be given an opportunity to be heard for or against the whole or any part of the
proposed budget.
The
provisions of this section are intended to replace the provisions of Section
38N of Chapter 71 of the General Laws calling for publication of a notice in a
local newspaper.
Charter, Article 7, Section
7-6 (b)
Change approved by
Town Meeting; awaiting voter approval on 3/26/02.
Amend Article 7 of the Natick Home Rule Charter as follows:
Change Section 7-6 (b) by adding
to the last sentence the phrase “or as otherwise provided by town meeting vote”
so that the new last sentence reads as follows:
A report, with recommendations,
shall be submitted to the town meeting not more than ten months following the
date such committee is appointed or as otherwise provided by town meeting vote.
By-Laws, Article 1, Section
1
Warrant article under
review.
To see if the Town will vote to
amend Article 1 of the Town of Natick By-Laws in order to set the date of the
Fall Annual Town Meeting later in October so that the Finance Committee will have
the entire month of September for reviewing the warrant and determining its
recommendations.
In the last sentence of Section 1,
change the word “first” to “third” so that the changed sentence reads:
The fall session of the
representative town meeting, known as the Fall Annual Town Meeting, shall be
called for 7:30 P.M. on the third Tuesday in October of each year.
By-Laws, Article 10, Section
2
Change approved.
Change Article 10, Section 2, the
associated table entitled “Appointments Made by the Board of Selectmen” by
replacing the current list in its entirety with the following new list:
Additional
Name Citation+ References++
Town Officials / Committees
Bacon
Free Library Maintenance Committee
Board
of Appeals (C)
s. 3-2(c) (B) Art. 29
Cable Advisory Board
Chief of Police C.S.
laws & rules
Comptroller (C)
s. 3-2(c) (C) s. 6-3(a)
Conservation
Commission (C)
s. 3-2(c) (B) Art. 30
Contributory
Retirement Board
Council
on Aging (B)
Art. 25
Director
of Veterans Services (C)
s. 3-2(c)
Elderly
and Disabled Taxation Fund Committee
Emergency
Management Director
Asst.
Emergency Management Director
Emergency
Operations Planning Committee
Fire Chief C.S.
laws &rules
Historic
District Commission (B)
Art. 26
Historical
Commission
Information
Systems Advisory Board (B)
Art. 27
Labor
Relations Consultant
Lock-Up
Keeper
Natick
Cultural Council
Parking
Clerk
Recreation
& Parks Commission (C)
s. 3-12(a)
(four appointed members)
Recycling
Study and Advisory Committee
Registrars
of Voters (C)
s. 3-2(c) (B) Art. 28
Town Administrator (C)
s. 3-2(c) (C) s. 4-1; (B) Art. 20
Town Counsel (C)
s. 3-2(c) (B) Art. 22, s. 3
Town
Forest Committee
Veterans
Burial Officer
Representatives to Regional Boards
Joint
Regional Transportation Committee
Keefe
Tech Vocational School (A)
s. 1
MBTA
Advisory Board
Metropolitan
Area Planning Council
MetroWest
Growth Management Committee
(one appointed member)
Middlesex
County Advisory Board
MWRA
Advisory Board
South
Middlesex Opportunity Council
By-Laws, Article 20, Section
3
Change approved.
Add to Article 20 a new
section as follows:
Section 3 Qualifications
for New Town Administrator
A
candidate for Town Administrator shall have a master’s degree from an
accredited college or university plus five years of experience or a bachelor’s
degree plus ten years of experience. All relevant experience shall demonstrate
the skills needed to perform the duties of Town Administrator, as those duties
are described in Section 4-2 of the Charter. Preferably, a candidate shall have
served as chief administrative officer of a city or town for five years.
By-Laws, Article 20, Section
4
Change approved.
Add to Article 20 a new
section as follows:
Section 4 Procedure for Appointment of Town
Administrator
Within one
year of the time when it is known that the position of Town Administrator shall
become vacant, the Board of Selectmen may initiate the selection process.
Whenever the position of Town Administrator becomes vacant or within six months
of the time when it is known that the position of Town Administrator shall
become vacant, the Board of Selectmen shall initiate the selection process if
the Board of Selectmen has not already done so. The Board of Selectmen shall
initiate the selection process by giving notice of its intention to establish a
screening committee to review applicants for the position of Town Administrator
and shall send a copy of the notice to each town agency or office responsible
for designating persons to serve on the committee. The Board
of Selectmen shall appoint the screening committee not earlier than
twenty-one days nor later than twenty-eight days after such notice.
The
screening committee shall consist of nine members. The
Planning Board, the School Committee, the Finance Committee, the Personnel
Board, and the Town Moderator may each designate one person to serve on the
screening committee. Persons chosen by the said agencies may, but need not, be
members of the agency by which they are chosen, and, in the case of the Town
Moderator, the person may, but need not, be a member of Town Meeting. The Board
of Selectmen shall appoint to the screening committee all such persons
designated, provided that their names have been received in writing by the day
before the screening committee is to be appointed. The Board of Selectmen shall
appoint any other members to the screening committee so that the total
membership is nine.
Not more
than thirty days following the appointment of the screening committee, the
persons chosen shall meet to organize and to plan a process for the
solicitation by advertisement and by other means to receive applications for
the position of Town Administrator. The screening committee shall review all
applications received and provide for interviews to be conducted with such
number of candidates for the position as it may decide.
Not more
than one hundred and eighty days following the date the screening committee
meets to organize, the screening committee shall submit to the Board of
Selectmen the names of not less than two nor more than five candidates whom it
believes to be best suited to perform the duties of Town Administrator. If the
screening committee determines that there are not at least two candidates
qualified to perform the duties of Town Administrator, as those duties are
described in Section 4-2 of the Charter, the screening committee shall report
to the Board of Selectmen that it is unable to complete its assigned task. In
that event, the Board of Selectmen shall direct the screening committee to
reopen the search process and the foregoing procedure shall apply.
Within
thirty days following the date the list of nominees is submitted to it, the
Board of Selectmen shall choose one of the said nominees to be appointed to the
office of Town Administrator. If the Board of Selectmen decides not to appoint
one of the nominees, it shall direct the screening committee to reopen the
search process, and the foregoing procedure shall apply.
Upon the
appointment of the Town Administrator, the screening committee established
hereunder shall be considered discharged.
By-Laws, Article 40,
Sections 1, 2
Change approved.
Change
Article 40, Section 1 and Section 2 as follows:
1. In the first paragraph of
Section 1, change the words “July 15th” to read “January 15” so that the
paragraph reads:
All Town Officers, Boards, and
Committees shall file an annual report of their doings with the Board of
Selectmen on or before January 15 of each year, and the Board of Selectmen
shall cause such reports to be included in the Annual Town Report.
2. In the only sentence of Section
2, change the words “September 25th” to read “March 25” so that the sentence
reads:
The Selectmen shall have the
printed Annual Town Report ready for distribution not later than March 25 of
each year.