Institute of Air & Space Law 3690 Peel Street Montreal, Quebec CANADA H3A 1W9 Tel. Public bodies are encouraged to coordinate with the municipal clerk, or the person designated by agreement with the municipal clerk, to ensure that meeting notices are filed sufficiently in advance of the meeting to allow the municipal clerk or the designee to post the meeting 48 hours in advance. Citizen's Guide to Town Meetings | Douglas, MA Newly appointed or elected members of public bodies must receive and review the following materials, which are available at the Attorney Generals website: 1. Townsend, R. M. (2004). Complaints are ripe for review by our office 30 days after the complaint is first filed with the public body. The ghostly body politic: The Federalist Papers and popular sovereignty. For example, a town may not hold its town meeting virtually, with voters watching, listening, and voting from various and remote locations. Cambridge University Press. 514 (1980)). c. 30A, 21(a)(7) [t]o comply with, or act under the authority of, any general or special law or federal grant-in-aid requirements (Purpose 7), citing to the Open Meeting Law, G.L. The adjudicatory proceeding itself must still be open to the public. The simplicity and flexibility of the legal framework for town meeting have permitted it to adapt to the changes in the world around it. Similarly, tax returns, health records, and other sensitive material discussed in executive session along with an application for tax exemption may also be withheld as long as a statute requiring their confidentiality applies. Generally, no. Bedford TV, MA. What process must public bodies follow for reviewing executive session minutes for approval? c. 59, 60 as the statute requiring confidentiality, the minutes may be withheld as long as that statutes confidentiality restrictions apply. Contemporary towns, with complex infrastructure, public safety departments, public education systems, and myriad citizen services and regulatory obligations, are vastly different from the towns of the 17th century, whose concerns were primarily land and livestock management and local trade. The Attorney General recommends that a public body that does not achieve a quorum for a particular meeting consider postponing the meeting until a quorum is present, rather than proceeding with an informal discussion. The Massachusetts Moderators Association has produced two educational videos to encourage voters to participate in their Town Meetings across Massachusetts. See G.L. 2001). Top-requested sites to log in to services provided by the state. has 10 calendar days from the date a request is received to provide a response. Detailed coverage of every aspect of the open meeting law. The town meeting ideal and race in America. The American Commonwealth, volume II: The state governmentsThe party system. As an event, it is a gathering of a town's eligible voters, and is referred to as "the Town Meeting." As an entity, it is the legislative body for towns in Massachusetts, and is referred to simply as "Town Meeting." So you may say, "I went to the Town Meeting. contract negotiations with nonunion personnel. G.L. Its not debatable The Boston Globe. Communications between and among a quorum of a public body on matters within the jurisdiction of the public body must occur during a noticed meeting. SOME PRACTICAL AND LEGAL TIPS ABOUT TOWN MEETING AND - Sturbridge MA 2017-3269-E (Suffolk Sup. Executive session minutes must be approved in a timely manner, just like open session minutes. c. 30A. c. 30A, 22(f). A public body may approve final terms and execute a CBA with a union in executive session, but should promptly disclose the agreement in open session following its execution. We find that Massachusetts law codified basic elements which empirically had worked in the self-regulation of communities through town meetings, leaving broad latitude for implementation of the basic elements in individual towns, but also creating guardrails to prevent communities from making local governance decisions inimical to their roles as functional units within the larger state and national governments. A .mass.gov website belongs to an official government organization in Massachusetts. The seven men, antecedent to todays Select Board, instituted the office of Moderator in reaction to a particularly raucous town meeting. | Privacy Policy |, View c. 66, 10. www.kbjournal.org/townsend. A member of a public body may subscribe to a listserv. The complaint must be filed on a Complaint Form. The Moderator is specifically empowered to give, and to withhold, permission to speak at the meeting, and to have removed any attendee who refuses the Moderators direction or otherwise disrupts the meeting.23 In case of a public health or safety emergency, the Moderator is empowered to recess and continue the meeting to another date, time, and place certain. As one parliamentary handbook author observed, [e]very deliberative assembly, by the mere fact of its being assembled and constituted, does thereby necessarily adopt and become subject to those rules and forms of proceeding, without which it would be impossible for it to accomplish the purposes of its creation (Cushing 1928: 6). Praeger. c. 4, 2A, (collectively Special Commissions) are public bodies and must follow the requirements of the Open Meeting Law, G.L. This means that if the chair wishes to participate remotely, he or she may do so, but may not then chair the meeting. [1] Note, however, that the Open Meeting Law does not require that any topic be discussed in executive session. See G.L. To address the increased complexity and volume of the business that comes before town meeting, towns have adopted consent agendas identifying a slate of non-controversial items to be taken up together for a vote without any deliberation. No. Ct. 360 (1979). Boston University Law Review, 38. NorthAndoverCAM. Townsend, R. M. (2009). A request for minutes that is directed to a public body will trigger the requirements of the Open Meeting Law. Massachusetts law about town meetings | Mass.gov May a Board of Assessors meet in executive session to discuss applications for tax abatement or exemption? The Town Clerk may also be the custodian of meeting minutes that have been approved by public bodies. Election Law Journal, 12(4), 355371. Zuckerman, M. (1978). (2018). Leadership groups that are not structured in such a way as to allow for collective action, but rather that merely perform an administrative function on behalf of the SEPAC as a whole (such as scheduling and running meetings, relaying information between the membership and school officials, sharing resources, and planning programs), are not public bodies under the Open Meeting Law. However, where a quorum of the members of a public body subscribe to a listserv, the public body risks unlawful deliberation. With a few exceptions, any use of electronic messaging by public body members to communicate with a quorum of public body members, during or outside of a meeting, may constitute private deliberation, which is prohibited by the Open Meeting Law. The following are questions regarding issues that do not involve the Open Meeting Law, and are therefore matters that the Division is generally not able to resolve. Special state acts remain necessary to empower town meeting to adopt certain types of measures, such as a property tax exemption for senior citizens of limited means, or a bylaw permitting the recall of elected officials. (1997.). Members of public bodies who do not have defined terms of office must recertify receipt of the educational materials every two years following appointment or election to office. For instance, a Board of Selectmen may choose to adopt a policy saying that no member of any public body in the town may participate remotely in more than three meetings each year. The Board could not hold executive sessions for purposes other than those enumerated in MGL c.39, 29B. This article will examine the role of the legal framework adopted for town meetings in Massachusetts in enabling communities to continue to govern themselves through the deliberative democratic body known as open town meeting, adapting to shifts in demographics, economic and environmental realities, and technology. Deliberations conducted for the explicit purpose of evaluating the professional competency of an individual may not occur during an executive session. The Open Meeting Law requires that [m]inutes of an open session, if they exist and whether approved or in draft form, shall be made available upon request by any person within 10 days. G.L. Chapter 8. When must a public body respond to a request for meeting minutes? Section 5: Meetings; quorum; compensation of members. We have concluded that a body with such a fluid makeup, which has an ever-changing membership and quorum, and which carries out its role based on whoever attends a particular meeting or participates in a particular vote, is not the type of body to which the Open Meeting Law applies. G.L. Does the Division have jurisdiction to find a violation of the Open Meeting Law if members of a public body make untrue comments during a meeting or disparage an individual? Assuming that a majority of a Special Commission votes to do so, the statute appears to provide that a Special Commission may enter into executive session for any purpose, not just the 10 enumerated in the Open Meeting Law. The only exception to this general rule is for local commissions on disability (see below). DOI: http://doi.org/10.16997/jdd.333. State law also requires the Town to hold at least one Town Meeting each year in the spring. The contemporary town meeting, relatively unstudied compared with historical town meetings, remains the accepted, well-functioning form of local government in most Massachusetts municipalities. c. 30A, 21(a)(3). c. 30A, 22(e). State "quasi-judicial" public bodies are cautioned that they must still follow the requirements of the Open Meeting Law, including posting notice of meetings, retaining minutes, and opening their meetings to the public. Town Meetings operate in accordance with rules of procedure established by general laws, local bylaws, and local customs and traditions. Local commissions on disability may decide by majority vote of the commissioners at a regular meeting to permit remote participation during a specific meeting or during all commission meetings. No. No. Annual Town Meeting | Town of Rehoboth MA However, the OML does not define "quasi-judicial" and there is some confusion as to whether the exemption applies to local "quasi-judicial" bodies, such as zoning boards. What is a Town Meeting? Open Meeting Law complaint form,Mass. Chapter 39, Sturbridge By-Laws, local custom and tradition, and . Throughout our analysis, we include examples, detailing how philosophical principles of inclusion, self-determination, fairness, and fidelity to the common good underpin town meeting. Town Meeting is considered a legislative body. c. 30A. No. So long as a community decision formed through deliberation at town meeting does not invade the province of another branch of government or run afoul of state or federal law, it may be enacted as local law. No decisions are made at hearings of this sort, but the deliberation that takes place often shapes the proposal and may provide the basis for town officials recommendations.30. Ideally, this should occur either during the same meeting or at the public bodys next scheduled meeting. As an event, it is a gathering of a town's eligible voters, and is referred to as "the Town Meeting.". Open Meeting Law | Town of Harvard MA This is the . Citizen's Guide to Town Meetings - Dover, MA First, the public body must determine whether the executive session purpose continues to warrant confidentiality. Members of a public body may create individual evaluations and submit them for compilation into a master evaluation to be discussed at an open meeting. Our aim is neither case study nor a comprehensive historical analysis. However, the Special Commission must still follow certain procedural requirements for entering into executive session outlined in G.L. SeeG.L. Hohenberger, D. (2020, June 1). A Town Meeting is both an event and an entity. (2019, April 3). May a public body hold an in-person meeting at a location that requires individuals to wear a facemask? Urban Planning - Hampstead Although Special Commissions are not required to post notices in the same manner as other state public bodies, in the interest of transparency, the Attorney General recommends that Special Commissions still follow the notice requirements for state public bodies found at G.L. https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/06/21/metro/durable-democracy-its-not-debatable/, Gustafson, S. M. (2019). The Open Meeting Law encourages government transparency; however, the best practice is for public body members to avoid the use of electronic devices during meetings to discuss matters within the jurisdiction of the public body if those electronic communications are not shared with members of the public attending the meeting. What is an Open Town Meeting? 643 (1982) (holding that closed door votes are permissible where a body meets in executive session to protect its litigating position). Newsgathering in Massachusetts, Berkman Center for Internet and Society, Harvard Law School, May 2013. Adaptation observed in this historical moment informs our expectation that town meeting will continue to adapt and evolve. No, the Board does not need to list applicants names or addresses in the Boards meeting notice, and the Department of Revenues Division of Local Services has stated that Boards may be legally prohibited from doing so. Iowa Journal of Communication, 51(2), 177205. While conclusions drawn from deliberations about professional competency may be part of a deliberation for another executive session purpose, the evaluation of professional competency, itself, must occur during an open session. While state public bodies designated as Special Commissions or Special Legislative Commissions pursuant to G.L. They add that no single forum, however ideally constituted, could possess deliberative capacity sufficient to legitimate most of the decisions and policies that democracies adopt (2012: 1). No form of government is perfect, and while we avoid assessing in favor of explaining, we do note that this form has limitations. Adoption by the municipal adopting authority (i.e., Board of Selectmen or Mayor) is not required. Within two weeks after receipt of the educational materials, the member shall certify the receipt of the materials on the form provided by the Attorney General and available on the AGO's website. (Eds.) Because there are circumstances in which both the bargaining and litigating positions of a public body may be detrimentally affected by voting on a final CBA in the open, then, if the chair determines that such circumstances are present, contract approval may occur in executive session if the chair makes the appropriate declaration, and no open session ratification is needed. Massachusetts. c. 32B, 19, are not public bodies subject to the Open Meeting Law. Every town meeting or town election, except as hereinafter provided, shall be called in pursuance of a warrant, under the hands of the selectmen, notice of which shall be given at least seven days before the annual meeting or an annual or special election and at least fourteen days before any special town meeting. State constitutions and laws vested certain state powers in local governments. Boards may also wish to include the number of applications under consideration in their meeting notices. For particularly complex or controversial decisions, local officials may host additional deliberative sessions. . Direct democracy can be capable of meeting the deliberative demands of contemporary lawmaking (Levy 2013: 355). G.L. Town While the Open Meeting Law is silent with regard to holding public meetings on Sundays, the best practice is not to hold public meetings on Sundays or holidays when access to public buildings may be limited and when the public does not normally anticipate the scheduling of a public meeting. May a public body approve a non-union personnel contract in executive session?