inspectors of elections. The municipal year and terms of office not herein otherwise fixed shall begin upon the first Monday of January following the election. The mayor and ward officers named in this section shall hold office until their respective successors are chosen and qualified, and the members of each branch of the city council until a majority of a succeeding board is qualified. meetings. SECT. 4. All ward officers shall be sworn to a faithful discharge of Ward officers to their duties; and the oath of office shall be administered by the clerk be sworn. to the warden, by the warden to the clerk and inspectors, or to any of said officers by a justice of the peace. Certificates of such oaths shall be made by the ward clerks upon their respective records. The Warden to prewarden shall preside at all ward meetings with the power of moderators side at ward at town meetings, and shall receive, assort, count, and declare in open ward meetings all ballots given in at such meetings. The clerk shall Clerk to record record all proceedings, and certify the ballots given in at any election, proceedings. and shall enter upon the ward records in open ward meeting the names of all persons receiving votes, the number of votes cast for each person, and the title of the office for which he received such votes. The clerk shall forthwith deliver certified copies of such records to the city clerk, who shall forthwith enter the same in the city records. The inspectors of elections shall assist the warden in Inspectors to receiving, sorting, and counting the ballots given in at any election. assist warden. If at any meeting the warden is not present, the clerk shall preside until a warden pro tempore is elected; if both the warden and clerk are absent, the senior in age of the inspectors present shall preside until a warden pro tempore is elected. When any ward officer is Election of absent or neglects to perform his duty, his office should be filled pro pro tempore. tempore by hand vote. A record ward officer SECT. 5. The mayor and members of the city council shall be Mayor and sworn to the faithful discharge of their duties. The oath of office may council to be members of city be administered to the mayor by the city clerk, or by any justice of the sworn. peace. Each branch of the city council shall be the judge of the election of its own members, and a majority of each branch shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. No member of either branch shall receive any compensation for his services, nor be eligible to any salaried office of the city. The aldermen and common councilmen elect shall on the first Monday of January in each year, at three o'clock in the afternoon, meet in convention, and be sworn by the mayor if present; otherwise, by any justice of the peace. of the oath administered shall be made in each branch. may be administered afterwards to any member of either branch by the city clerk, or by the presiding officer of either branch when in session. After the oath has been administered the two branches shall separate. The mayor shall be the presiding officer of the board of aldermen and of the city council when in convention. The city clerk shall be the clerk of the board of aldermen. He shall be sworn to the faithful discharge of his duties. The. common council shall organize by Organization of choosing a president and clerk, who shall hold their offices respec- c tively during the pleasure of the common council. The clerk shall be sworn to the faithful discharge of his duties. The sessions of both branches of the city council shall be public, except when action is taken upon appointments or removals. cominon coun surer, etc. SECT. 6. The city council shall annually in January elect by ballot Election of city in convention a treasurer, who shall be collector of taxes, an auditor, clerk, treaa city clerk, one assessor for the term of three years, and from each ward an assistant assessor and an overseer of the poor, and may at any time remove any of said officers, except an assessor, by concurrent vote. The terms of office of said officers shall begin upon the first Monday of February following, and shall continue until their Vacancies. Appropriations. wards. Fire department. respective successors are chosen and qualified. The mayor and aldermen shall appoint ward clerks, constables, a city marshal with the powers and duties of a constable, and all other officers required by the laws of the Commonwealth, or by the ordinances of the city, whose selection is not herein before provided for, to hold office until they resign or are removed by the mayor with the consent of the aldermen; but no member of the city council shall continue in an appointed office after the term for which he was elected. Vacancies shall be filled in the manner of the original election or appointment, unless herein otherwise provided. In case of a vacancy in the office of mayor, or of his inability to act, the president of the board of aldermen shall act as mayor until the inability ceases or the vacancy is filled. The removal of a person holding office from one ward to another shall not create a vacancy in such office. Every person who is elected or appointed to an office shall receive a certificate of such election or appointment from the city clerk. Every officer of the city, except the mayor, shall at the request of either branch of the city council, appear before such branch and give such information as it may require, and answer such questions as may be asked, in relation to any matter, act, or thing connected with his office or the discharge of the duties thereof. SECT. 7. The city council shall, in November of each year, appropriate the amount necessary to meet the expenditures of the following year; and such appropriations shall not be increased or exceeded except by a vote of two-thirds of all the members of each branch, voting by yeas and nays. No money shall be expended and no liability of the city shall be incurred by any member of the city council, or any board or officer of the city elected by the city council or appointed by the mayor and aldermen, except in pursuance of an order of the city council. The city council shall have power:- To New division of make a new division of wards in each year of the state or national census; to control and have the custody of all city property; to require a bond with sufficient sureties of any officer elected by the city council or appointed by the mayor and aldermen; to establish by ordinance such offices as may be necessary for any municipal purposes; to establish a fire department with such officers and men, apparatus, and regulations for the government thereof, as said city council may by ordinance prescribe; to make ordinances and affix penalties thereto, as provided herein and by general law, without the sanction of any court or justice thereof; to act upon all matters in which authority is now given to said city of Newton under any Acts to supply said city Water supply. and the town of Newton with water; to lay out, alter, discontinue, locate anew, fix the grade of, or order specific repairs in, any highway, street, or townway, and to estimate and assess the damages any person may sustain thereby, and the powers of the city council shall be exclusive therein; but action upon all said matters shall first be taken by the mayor and aldermen, and persons sustaining damage in their property shall have the remedies which are provided in the case of taking land for ways in said city of Newton; but there shall be no appeal from a decision not to lay out a way; to act upon all matters in which authority is given to said city council and the board of aldermen and the mayor and aldermen in Acts relating to "Cheese Cake Brook," to laying and maintaining drains and sewers in said city and in the city of Boston and the town of Watertown, to establishing grades for drainage and sewerage in said city of Newton, and in general laws relating to streets, sidewalks, drains, and sewers, and the taking of lands from which may be taken earth and gravel; but action upon all said matters shall first be taken by the mayor and aldermen; and generally to exercise all the powers of towns under general laws. Drainage. SECT. 8. Provision may be made from time to time by the city Number of council by ordinance ratified by the legal voters at an annual munici- wards, etc may be fixed by pal election as follows:- Fixing the number of wards, but only in a ordinance. year preceding that of the state or national census; fixing the number of members of the common council, provided that wards shall be equally represented; fixing the number of aldermen, provided that wards shall be equally represented. SECT. 9. The mayor and aldermen shall issue warrants for meet- Warrants for ings of citizens for municipal purposes. meetings. The mayor and aldermen shall have power to act in all matters in which authority is given to the city and said board relating to the "Kenrick Fund;" and shall "Kenrick have all the powers of selectmen and of boards of aldermen and of a Amended. mayor and aldermen under general laws, excepting as is otherwise St, 1883, ch. 4, provided in the preceding section. Fund." § 1. chief executive SECT. 10. The mayor shall be the chief executive officer of the Mayor to be city. He shall see that the laws and the ordinances, orders and regu- oficer of the lations of the city are duly executed and enforced, and shall exercise city. a general supervision over the official acts and conduct of all subordinate officers. He may suspend any officer, and may suspend any work or payment, whether under a contract, or otherwise, for a period not exceeding ten days; but in such case he shall report his action, with his reasons therefor, to the city council, which shall take immediate action thereon. He may except from his approval of any ordinance, order, resolution, or vote, in which he has the power of veto by general law, any portion involving a distinct item of expenditure; in such case, instead of returning the original, he shall transmit a copy of such portion not approved. He shall be, ex officio, a member and chairman of the school committee, and of the overseers of the poor. In the school committee he shall have only a casting vote. He call special meetings of the city council, or of either branch thereof, by causing notices to be left at the usual place of residence of each member of the city council or of the branch to be convened. He shall at all times have the control and direction of the police force, subject only to the ordinances of the city. His salary shall not be changed during his term of office. may Chairman of mittee and of the school com the overseers of the poor. mittee. SECT. 11. The school committee shall continue as at present con- School comstituted, and shall consist of the mayor, and president of the common council, ex officio, and two members from each ward elected for the term of three years. They may elect from their own number a chairman, who shall preside in the absence of the mayor. They shall serve without compensation. No member shall be the superintendent of schools. They shall forthwith notify the mayor and aldermen of any vacancy in their board, and may fill such vacancy until the end of the municipal year in which the warrant for the next municipal election is issued. At such election the vacancy shall be filled for the unexpired term. No money shall be expended by the school committee except by a two-thirds vote of members present and voting. Repeal not to tofore repealed. revive Act here SECT. 12. All Acts and parts of Acts inconsistent herewith are repealed: provided, that this repeal shall not revive any Act heretofore repealed, nor affect any right accruing or accrued, or any offence committed, or penalty, or forfeiture incurred at the time when this Act takes effect, or any suit or prosecution, or other proceeding then pending, nor abridge the term of any office then filled, nor affect any ordinance then in force and not inconsistent with this Act. SECT. 13. This Act shall take effect for the election of municipal When to take officers at the annual municipal election on the first Tuesday of December in the year eighteen hundred and eighty-two, and for all other purposes at the beginning of the municipal year in the following January: provided, that it shall be accepted by a majority of the legal effect. voters of said city of Newton voting thereon by ballot at the annual state election in the year eighteen hundred and eighty-two, notice. thereof having been duly given. May 10, 1882. Charter revised. Government and city coun cil. CHAPTER 211. AN ACT TO REVISE THE CHARTER OF THE CITY OF TAUNTON. SECTION 1. The inhabitants of the city of Taunton, for all purposes for which towns and cities are by law incorporated in this Commonwealth, shall continue to be a body politic and corporate under the name and style of the City of Taunton, and as such shall have, exercise, and enjoy all the rights, immunities, powers, and privileges, and shall be subject to all the duties and obligations now incumbent upon and appertaining to said city as a municipal corporation. SECT. 2. The administration of all the fiscal, prudential, and munivested in mayor cipal affairs of said city, with the government thereof, shall be vested in a mayor, one council of eight to be called the board of aldermen, and one council of twenty-four to be called the common council; which boards, in their joint capacity, shall be called the city council; and the members thereof shall be sworn to the faithful discharge of their duties. A majority of each board shall constitute a quorum for business. To be divided into eight wards. Election of ward officers. SECT. 3. The city of Taunton shall continue to be divided as heretofore into eight wards. The city council may, at any time before the year eighteen hundred and eighty five, and not oftener than once in five years thereafter, alter, if needful, the boundaries of the ward, so as to preserve, as nearly as may be consistent with well defined limits to each ward, an equal number of voters in each ward; and until such alteration shall be made the boundary lines of the wards of said city shall remain as now established. SECT. 4. On Tuesday after the first Monday in December in each year, there shall be chosen by ballot in each of said wards, a warden, clerk, and three inspectors of elections, who shall be different persons, residents in the ward, who shall hold their offices one year and until others are chosen and qualified in their stead. Said wardens shall preside at all ward meetings, with the powers of moderators of town meetings; and if at any meeting the warden is not present, the clerk shall preside until a warden pro tempore is chosen by ballot; if both the warden and clerk are absent, the senior in age of the inspectors present shall preside until a warden pro tempore is thus chosen; and if all said officers are absent, any legal voter in said ward may preside until a warden pro tempore is so chosen. When any ward officer is absent, or neglects to perform his duty, his office shall be filled pro tempore, by the voters present. The clerk shall record all the proceedings of such meetings and certify the votes cast and deliver to his successor in office all records, journals, documents, and papers held by him in his official capacity. The inspectors shall assist the warden Ward officers to in receiving, assorting, and counting the votes. All said officers shall be sworn to the faithful discharge of their duties. The oath of office shall be administered by the clerk to the warden, and by the warden to the clerk and to the inspectors, or to either of said officers by any justice of the peace; certificate of such oaths shall be made by the clerk upon the ward records. The election of municipal officers shall take place on Tuesday next after the first Monday of December annually, and the municipal year shall begin on the first Monday of Janu be sworn. ary following. All warrants for meetings of the citizens for municipal Warrants for purposes, to be held either in wards or in general meeting shall be meetings. issued by the mayor and aldermen, and shall be in such form and served and returned in such manner and at such times as the city council shall by ordinance direct. and three SECT. 5. The mayor shall be elected by the qualified voters of the Mayor to be elected at large. city at large, voting in their respective wards. He shall be a qualified voter of the city, and shall hold his office for the municipal year next following his election, and until another shall have been elected and qualified in his place. One alderman and three common councilmen One alderman shall be elected by and from the voters of each ward, and shall at the councilmen time of their election be residents of the wards respectively in which from each ward. they are elected; they shall hold their offices for the municipal year next following their election and until a majority of the new boards respectively shall be elected and qualified in their places. The board of school committee shall consist of eleven persons; three members shall be chosen at each annual election, in the manner provided for the election of mayor, for the term of three years. The mayor and School compresident of the common council shall be ex officiis members of the mittee. board of school committee, with the same powers and duties as if severally elected thereto; and the mayor shall be chairman of said board. The persons heretofore elected as members of said board shall continue in office according to the tenure thereof. The board of school committee shall be the final judge of the qualification and election of its own members, and shall have all the powers vested in school committees by the laws of the Commonwealth. A majority of the members of said board shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. Any vacancy occurring in said board may be Vacancies. filled, for the remainder of the municipal year, by the joint ballot of the aldermen and school committee, and for the unexpired term thereafter shall be filled at the first municipal election after such vacancy occurs. of officers. election. SECT. 6. On Tuesday after the first Monday of December in Annual election each year when the qualified voters in each ward shall give in their votes for mayor, aldermen, common councilmen, school committee, and ward officers, as herein before provided, all the votes so given in shall be assorted, counted, declared, and registered in open ward meeting, and the name of each person voted for and the number of votes given for each person shall be recorded in words at length. The clerk of the ward, within twenty-four hours after such election shall cause to be delivered to each person elected as alderman and common councilman a certificate of his election, signed by the warden and Certificates of clerk and a majority of the inspectors, and shall deliver to the city clerk a copy of the record of such elections certified in like manner: provided, that in all cases the persons receiving the greatest number of votes for their respective offices shall be declared to be elected. If two or more persons have received the same number of votes for any of said offices, the meeting may be adjourned from time to time until some person is elected. The board of alderman shall, as soon as may be and in the manner provided by law, examine the copies of the records of the several wards, certified as aforesaid, and shall cause the person who has received the greatest number of votes for mayor, and the persons who have received the greatest number of votes for school committee, respectively, to be notified in writing of their election; but if there shall appear to be a failure so to elect in any case, or if a person so elected shall refuse to accept his office, the board of aldermen shall issue their warrants for a new election, and the same proceedings as herein before provided shall thereupon be had and repeated until such officers shall be elected. In case of the decease or |