[0:00] Welcome to the Fair Haven Town Meeting overview. My name is Mark Sylvia. I'm

[0:05] the Fair Haven Town moderator and today we're going to walk through what town

[0:11] Meeting does, how it functions, and share information on procedures and

[0:18] rules for town meeting. In this overview, we'll cover the following

[0:24] forms of local government. What does town meeting do? forms and frequency of

[0:30] town meeting, how town meeting actually works, who the other participants are,

[0:36] and what resources are available to learn more about the town meeting

[0:40] process and how it works in Fair Haven. So, let's start with forms of local

[0:46] government in Massachusetts. In Massachusetts, there

[0:49] are 351 cities and towns. That's broken down into 59 cities. Many we're familiar

[0:56] with like New Bedford, Fall River, and Boston. But there are others that have a

[1:02] council manager form of government such as Franklin, Lel, and Worcester. There

[1:07] are also 292 towns. In all 292 towns, there are select boards. Some have town

[1:15] managers or town administrators or executive secretaries. But in certain

[1:20] instances, towns either have an open town meeting form of government or a

[1:25] representative town meeting form of government. In Massachusetts, that's

[1:29] broken down to 260 towns have open town meeting and 32 have representative town

[1:38] meeting. Fair Haven happens to be one of those communities that has a

[1:42] representative town meeting. So, we now know there are two

[1:46] different town meetings. There's the open town meeting and the representative

[1:50] town meeting. Open town meeting is where any

[1:54] town resident who is a registered voter can go and vote. And a representative

[1:58] town meeting is one where you elect representatives to go to town meeting

[2:04] and vote on your behalf. So, as I mentioned, Fair Haven's a representative

[2:08] town meeting, but in either case, open or representative, what exactly does

[2:12] town meeting do? Well, town meeting is the legislative body for towns in

[2:18] Massachusetts. In cities, they have city councils. In towns, they have town

[2:22] meeting. And if you can believe it, we have well over 400 years of history of

[2:26] town meetings in Massachusetts with the first town meeting happening in Plymouth

[2:31] in 1622. Town Meeting is a local legislative body

[2:36] that has the power to create or amend town bylaws, zoning bylaws, adopt the

[2:44] budget, or approve other spending priorities. To boil it down more

[2:50] specifically, the Secretary of State Citizens Guide to Town Meeting, which is

[2:54] a a great reference, identifies three things specifically

[2:59] that town meetings do. They set the salaries for elected officials. They

[3:04] vote to appropriate money to run the town. And they vote on the town's local

[3:08] statutes, which in towns are called bylaws. As I mentioned earlier, there

[3:13] are two types of town meeting. Representative, which is fair haven, and

[3:17] open, which by example, a Kushnet, Matapo, Marian, and Rochester all have

[3:22] open town meeting form of government. Forms and frequency of town meeting

[3:28] include with representative town meeting. You elect town meeting members

[3:32] and that's again Fair Haven is the example. They're elected by precinct. In

[3:37] Fair Haven, we have six precincts and so there are town meeting members elected

[3:40] from each of those six precincts. They serve for a specified

[3:45] term. So the standard term for a town meeting member is three

[3:49] years. Only elected town meeting members may vote at a town meeting. That's what

[3:53] makes it representative is that you have to be elected as a town meeting member

[3:57] to actually vote at town meeting. And the number of town meeting members in

[4:01] Fair Haven is set by special act. We are the largest representative town meeting

[4:08] in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. As it relates to open

[4:12] town meeting, as I mentioned, any town voter may vote at a town

[4:17] meeting. The frequency of town meetings are regardless of whether you're an open

[4:23] town meeting or a representative town meeting is there is always an annual

[4:27] town meeting. And that's primarily to set the budget for the next fiscal year.

[4:33] And from time to time, there may be special town meetings. And it's called

[4:36] special town meeting because they're not planned like the annual town meeting.

[4:40] But there are instances where town meeting must vote on matters related to

[4:45] the town. And so a special town meeting may be called. All right. So, we talked

[4:50] about forms of town meeting, representative versus open, how town

[4:55] meeting members participate in the process. Now, let's talk a little bit

[4:59] more specifically about how town meeting works. A little more detail on annual

[5:05] versus special town meetings. Annual town meeting, every town must have an

[5:09] annual town meeting and it's typically held between February and May. It can be

[5:16] in June, but that requires a special act or charter to specify that. And the

[5:21] whole reason why you want it done um well before July 1st is because July 1st

[5:26] is when the fiscal year starts. The annual town meeting is always called by

[5:30] the select board and there is a requirement of 7 days notice prior to

[5:37] the actual town meeting happening. So, the warrant, which I'll go into more

[5:41] detail in a few minutes, is the notice to the town that they're having this

[5:46] meeting, and it must be posted at least seven days prior to holding that

[5:50] meeting, and that's under state statute. I also mentioned special town

[5:55] meetings. That's anything in addition to annual town meetings. They may be called

[6:01] at any time during the year. They can be called either by the select board or

[6:06] upon request by 200 registered voters. So there are two pathways there for a

[6:11] special town meeting to be called. And unlike the annual, it requires 14 days

[6:16] notice. And the reason why is people don't anticipate a special. They know

[6:21] when their annual is, but if you have a special, that's usually something

[6:25] unique. And so they want more time to notify the public of that actual

[6:30] meeting. So let's talk a few minutes about town meeting members and what

[6:33] their responsibilities are. So as I mentioned previously in a representative

[6:38] town meeting form which fair haven is members are elected by their precinct to

[6:42] vote on articles that come before annual or special town

[6:46] meetings. Those town meeting members represent the citizens in their

[6:50] precincts and certainly vote on matters that will affect their precincts as well

[6:55] as the entire town. And it's the responsibility of town meeting members

[6:59] to debate articles and make motions that they feel are important on any topic

[7:06] that's in the warrant. So a town meeting member comes to town meeting, they're

[7:10] representing their precinct, they also have the perspective of the whole town

[7:14] and they actually debate and ultimately vote on all of the matters that come

[7:19] before them. It's a pretty important responsibility. Now, some interesting

[7:23] town meeting facts about Fair Haven. We have approximately

[7:27] 429 elected town meeting members, the majority of which are divided among the

[7:32] six precincts, but there are also atlarge town meeting members like

[7:35] members of your select board or the school committee. It's also interesting

[7:39] that if the state representative or state senator for the district lives in

[7:44] Fair Haven, they automatically become town meeting members. Town meeting

[7:47] members in Fair Haven generally serve for three-year terms and they're

[7:51] staggered a third, a third, a third. quorum for that town meeting is 100 town

[7:55] meeting members and as I mentioned earlier fair haven actually has the

[7:59] largest representative town meeting in Massachusetts. So we talked broadly

[8:04] about responsibilities of town meeting members. We talked about the difference

[8:08] between open town meeting and representative town meeting. So let's

[8:13] talk a little bit more specifically about Fair Haven. in Fair Haven's town

[8:17] meeting um and the town as a whole were divided into six precincts. So there are

[8:23] six voting precincts in the town and so town meeting members are elected from

[8:28] each of those six precincts. Prior to a town meeting um

[8:34] there are precinct meetings for each one of those

[8:37] precincts. In those meetings they you would elect a chair. If there are any

[8:42] vacancies in your precinct for town meeting, you can fill vacancies at that

[8:46] precinct meeting. Um, or you can also discuss any of the town meeting articles

[8:52] that are on the warrant or really any issues that you want to bring up related

[8:56] to your precinct. As I mentioned, you elect a chair. The role of the chair for

[9:00] each precinct is to call and organize those precinct meetings, conduct those

[9:06] meetings. Each precinct has two appointments to the finance committee.

[9:11] It's the chair that makes those appointments and then the chair

[9:14] communicates. They're the communicator. They're the coordinator between the

[9:18] precinct and the town moderator and the town clerk on any town meeting related

[9:23] issues. So, it's an important role. Um, it's one that is a resource to all of

[9:28] the town meeting members in that precinct. And it's one that uh is

[9:33] elected each year at a precinct meeting. So, we talked about town meeting

[9:38] members, we talked about the precincts. So let's spend a few minutes on the role

[9:42] of the town moderator. So the town moderator is the person who presides

[9:47] over the town meeting. They're responsible for the orderly conduct um

[9:52] of those town meetings. Uh that includes ensuring that there's equal emphasis on

[10:00] the rules that any determination of um questions regarding points of order or

[10:08] uh the rules and procedures that the moderator interprets them evenly and

[10:12] equitably. Um the town moderator declares the outcome of all votes um and

[10:17] will determine matters of procedure. That's a definition that's in state

[10:22] statute. The moderator role is established by state law. So every town

[10:26] that has a town meeting has an elected moderator and that moderator's duties

[10:30] and responsibilities are outlined in state law and can also be further

[10:34] defined in local bylaws or charter. The moderator is elected to a three-year

[10:40] term. In Fair Haven, in addition to uh presiding over town meeting, the

[10:45] moderator also has certain appointing authority responsibilities. So in Fair

[10:50] Haven, the town moderator jointly appoints the atlarge member of the

[10:54] finance committee along with the chairman of the finance committee and

[10:58] the chair of the select board. And the moderator also jointly appoints um the

[11:04] two Fair Haven members to the Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational

[11:07] Technical High School Committee along with the chair of the school committee

[11:12] and the chair of the select board. It's also the case that from time to time the

[11:17] moderator may be designated as the appointing authority for special

[11:21] committees and so in Fair Haven most recent example of that is the charter

[11:25] committee town meeting through a article on the warrant authorized and approved

[11:31] the creation of a charter committee and as part of that designated the moderator

[11:37] as the person who would be the appointing authority for the charter

[11:40] committee. So, those are some of the roles and responsibilities of the town

[11:44] moderator. So, now let's talk about the actual warrant. You've heard me talk a

[11:48] little bit about the warrant in this presentation. So, it's important to not

[11:53] only understand what the warrant is, but how the warrant is organized. So, the

[11:59] warrant is actually the agenda for town meeting. It is defined in state law.

[12:05] Just to give you a few of those highlights. Under state law, the warrant

[12:10] is what every town meeting must be called through. So in other words, that

[12:14] is the agenda. That is what has to be posted 7 days before the annual or 14

[12:21] days before the special. It lists all the matters to be voted on at town

[12:26] meeting as well as specifies the date, time, and location. And so anything that

[12:31] is not on that warrant cannot be taken up at town meeting. And then it's

[12:36] important to emphasize that the warrant is actually prepared by the select

[12:41] board. At the end of the day, it's the select board that determines generally

[12:46] what is going to be included on the warrant from a town meeting. The only

[12:51] difference is petitioned articles, which I'll get into in a moment. But

[12:54] ultimately the select board organizes the warrant and then signs it. Which

[12:58] means once it's signed by the select board and it's posted, that's it. It

[13:02] cannot be changed after that. So what are those agenda items that are included

[13:08] in the warrant? They're actually called articles and they're in order. So in

[13:13] this example that you can see here, there's article one, article 2, article

[13:17] 3. Those are each of the items to be voted on at town meeting and they're

[13:21] referred to as articles. As I mentioned, the warrant is intended to be there to

[13:27] warn the voters of the matters that are going to be discussed. And the articles

[13:30] are those specific matters. And as I mentioned previously,

[13:35] those are the only items that can be acted on at a town meeting and must be

[13:40] acted on through what's called a motion. Once a motion is made and seconded on

[13:44] any one of these articles, then town meeting members can debate them and then

[13:48] vote on them. In addition to that warrant, what else do town meeting

[13:52] members get to prepare for town meeting day? So there are a number of things

[13:57] that are provided to town meeting members. It is the case on an annual

[14:01] basis certainly that town administration, the moderator, town

[14:05] meeting members, precinct chairs identify ways to improve the materials

[14:09] that are provided to town meeting members. But in general, town meeting

[14:12] members will receive the town warrant and report of the finance committee,

[14:16] which also includes a letter from the town moderator. There are instances

[14:20] where fiscal information is provided by the finance director. And all of that is

[14:24] mailed to town meeting members and made available on the town website at the

[14:29] precinct meetings that are held. Motions are distributed. Many times motions will

[14:34] be distributed in advance of town meeting at the preview and any updates

[14:40] on the day of town meeting also provided um on the town's website and at these

[14:46] precinct meetings updates may be shared with town meeting members. On the day of

[14:49] town meeting, there's also material that's provided in the lobby included

[14:54] updated motions, other materials regarding articles, and then the town's

[14:59] annual report, which is something that's approved by town meeting, and also

[15:03] provided the day of town meeting. So, there is a lot of information that's

[15:06] provided. There is information that's posted on the town moderator page, the

[15:10] town meeting page, and information that's provided through the select board

[15:15] and the finance committee. So, we now know what the warrant is. We know what

[15:20] articles are. We know what materials are provided. I just want to run through

[15:26] with all of you what to expect the day of town meeting. So, what are the town

[15:30] meeting procedures that we follow whenever we have an annual town meeting

[15:34] or a special town meeting? So, the first order of business is always to call the

[15:38] town meeting to order. We need to indicate that a quorum of town meeting

[15:43] members are present and that the warrant that agenda has been properly posted. At

[15:47] the annual, we'll do opening ceremonies. We don't typically do that for a special

[15:51] town meeting because they're smaller and they're usually on week nights, not on

[15:56] Saturdays like the annual. As moderator, I'll provide instructions to town

[16:00] meeting members and offer procedural motions uh so that we have rules of

[16:04] procedure outside of Robert's rules, which of course is what helps to guide

[16:09] us. But we create some of our own rules to make town meeting more efficient and

[16:14] equitable. We'll then have the chair of the select board and chair of finance

[16:19] committee typically make opening statements. We will then go into any

[16:24] other procedural motions regarding the warrant that are required or any other

[16:28] instructions. And then we move into article presentations, debates, and

[16:33] votes. And so we go through each article in the warrant. There's a motion and a

[16:37] second. There's presentation on that article, debate and then we vote and

[16:41] then the final order of business in any town meeting is to adjourn. So I talked

[16:46] about uh rules of procedure and so there are a number of different rules that

[16:51] govern how town meeting operates. Our bylaws reference Robert's rules of

[16:58] order, which lays out how you make a main motion, how you amend that main

[17:03] motion, what different um other motions can be made procedurally like indefinite

[17:08] postponement. Our bylaws indicate that we generally follow Robert's rules of

[17:12] order. There are also state laws that drive or direct how we vote at a town

[17:18] meeting. That includes that zoning bylaws and borrowing authority uh in

[17:24] each instance require twothirds of town meeting members to vote favorably in

[17:28] order for those to pass. And a bill of prior year, which is a bill from a

[17:31] previous fiscal year, depending on if it's at the annual or the special, state

[17:35] law defines what that quantum of vote is. For an annual, it's four-fifths of

[17:40] those present in voting and for a special, it's 9/10. And then we have

[17:44] traditions. Some of those traditions we adopt through rules of procedure at the

[17:50] beginning of town meeting and others are traditions that we follow um that have

[17:56] been traditions passed on from town meeting to town meeting. And some of the

[18:00] examples of traditions are uh whenever we vote on a fiscal item, we always vote

[18:06] on the higher figure first. It's also a tradition that the select board

[18:10] generally make all main motions and the finance committee second those motions.

[18:14] Those traditions have been followed for decades and are um part of what makes up

[18:21] the town meeting rules that we follow. It's important I think that we also take

[18:25] a few minutes to talk about when we actually take up an item, how do you do

[18:29] that? How do you make motions? How do you make changes? And how do you

[18:35] ultimately vote on a particular article? So a motion as it's defined is a formal

[18:41] proposal by a member to take certain action. So in other words, if and we

[18:46] used an example here, article 10 from a previous town meeting. It was community

[18:50] preservation program fire escapes. The article itself reads exactly what action

[18:56] is being asked of for a town meeting to take and who's asking for that and how

[19:02] much. So you can see in the article language itself, it explains an amount

[19:06] of money to be transferred from a previous town meeting to fund a

[19:11] particular project at the Fair Haven High School. Then it explains who's

[19:15] asking for that money, in this case the community preservation committee, how

[19:18] much is being requested and what's being recommended by, in this case, this the

[19:24] select board and the finance committee. So that's the article, but in order to

[19:27] actually take action on that article, somebody needs to make a motion. That's

[19:32] the specific formal proposal for town meeting to take. And so the motion in

[19:37] this instance reads below move adoption and that the the town vote to transfer

[19:43] that sum of money. It specifies where it comes from and then any other

[19:48] requirements in that motion. So at the end you see it reads however that no CPC

[19:54] funds may be spent until the school committee obtains the necessary

[19:57] additional funds to complete the project. So all of that is in the motion

[20:00] that is ultimately what town meeting is being asked to vote on. So that motion

[20:06] gets made. There needs to be a second from someone and as I mentioned

[20:10] previously under town traditions typically the select board would make

[20:13] this motion. It would be seconded by the finance committee. Likely the community

[20:20] preservation committee might make a presentation on it. And then once that

[20:24] presentation is done, it is left to town meeting to debate and ultimately vote on

[20:30] it. So town meeting members can get up, they can speak in favor, they can speak

[20:34] in opposition and then ultimately once debate is exhausted or someone moves the

[20:39] question, we then go to a vote and then I will say all those in favor say I.

[20:44] those opposed and then I will call what that outcome is and we'll move on to the

[20:49] next article. So that's what a motion ultimately does. I mentioned debate,

[20:54] right? So the motion is made, then it's seconded and then there's debate. As I

[20:58] mentioned, there's typically a presentation, not always, sometimes. And

[21:03] then town meeting members can get up, they can ask questions, they can speak

[21:08] in favor or in opposition, or they can offer other motions. So that's how it

[21:14] works with town meeting. Let's take a few minutes to just talk about some of

[21:18] the other participants that play an important role um in support of what

[21:23] town meeting does. The first that I'll mention here is the select board. As I

[21:27] mentioned previously, the select board, they play many roles in the town meeting

[21:32] process. First, they call the annual town meeting annually. They also can and

[21:37] typically call a special town meeting as needed unless a citizen's petition does

[21:42] that. They issue the warrant, meaning they spend the time putting that warrant

[21:46] together. They review all of the articles and typically we'll make

[21:50] recommendations on every article and then they sign the warrant and it gets

[21:55] posted which means at that point nothing else can be added to the warrant and

[22:00] that's what's going to be discussed and debated at town meeting. In addition to

[22:04] the select board, the finance committee plays a very important role in the town

[22:09] meeting process. The finance committee, there's one in every town, every

[22:14] municipality. It's established by statute. It defines in state law what

[22:20] the function of the finance committee is, which is to review the town budget

[22:25] and any other finance related issues and make recommendations to town meeting. In

[22:31] some instances and in some towns, it's broader than just reviewing financial

[22:35] matters. Uh the town of Plymouth, as an example, has what's called an advisory

[22:39] and finance committee. They review every article, regardless of whether it has a

[22:42] financial impact, and make recommendations to town

[22:46] meeting. For Fair Haven, our finance committee is made up of 13 members. Two

[22:52] are appointed per precinct and one at large. Uh the precinct members are

[22:57] appointed by the precinct chair for that precinct and as I mentioned before the

[23:02] atlarge appointment is made by the combined votes of the moderator the

[23:06] finance committee chair and the select board chair. The finance committee

[23:09] reviews all financial articles and makes a report to the annual town meeting.

[23:13] They make recommendations on all fiscal articles and they also approve reserve

[23:18] fund transfers. annually there's a reserve fund set up and so during the

[23:21] year when there isn't town meeting if there is a departmental need for

[23:25] additional funding instead of waiting for that next town meeting they can go

[23:29] to the fincom and the fincom can approve reserve fund transfers. So the finance

[23:34] committee plays a very important role just like the select board does. There

[23:38] are other participants in that town meeting process as well and I just

[23:43] wanted to highlight a few. The first is the town clerk. So the town clerk takes

[23:48] the minutes at town meeting and also takes attendance to verify that there is

[23:55] a quorum. Whenever there is a question of the moderator on their determination

[24:01] on a vote and we go to a tally, the clerk ultimately will tally those votes

[24:08] and work with the tellers that are appointed for that town meeting. In some

[24:12] instances, there could be secret ballot. Regardless of how that vote is taken,

[24:16] other than when the moderator calls the vote, if the town moderator's call is

[24:21] questioned or there's a request to go to secret ballot, the town clerk oversees

[24:26] that process. Tellers are appointed at the beginning of town meeting. And

[24:29] again, when seven town meeting members stand to question the decision of a

[24:34] moderator on a hand vote, it may be that we have to do a count. And when we do a

[24:39] count, you need tellers. Tellers are typically they are always town meeting

[24:43] members that are appointed at the beginning of town meeting. And then

[24:46] there's town council. Town council is the attorney for the town. Town council

[24:51] plays an important role in town meeting the day of and even leading up to it.

[24:55] Town council will review all motions and warrant articles in advance of town

[24:59] meeting to make sure there aren't any legal issues. And at town meeting, town

[25:05] council is there to advise the moderator on town meet questions of town meeting

[25:10] procedure and law or on any legal matters that may come up at town

[25:14] meeting. There are also numerous appointed officials that play an

[25:18] important role leading up to town meeting, including the town

[25:22] administrator, superintendent, the chiefs of police and fire, board of

[25:27] public works superintendent, the director of finance, planning director,

[25:31] concom. There are a number of appointed officials that play an important role

[25:36] and other boards and committees. School committee, planning board, board of

[25:40] health, board of public works, community preservation committee. There are a

[25:43] number of other committees that may themselves have sponsored articles on

[25:47] the warrant or may have a role to play in any one of the articles and they

[25:52] certainly all have budget requests that are part of the annual budget. There are

[25:56] also petitioners. So I mentioned the select board creates the warrant and

[26:01] determines what articles appear on the warrant. But petitioners, citizens can

[26:06] actually collect signatures and place their own articles on the warrant. Those

[26:10] have to be placed on the warrant. There's not a question. Once they're

[26:14] filed and those signatures are certified, they go on the next town

[26:18] meeting warrant. So for an annual town meeting, it's 10 signatures to place a

[26:23] petitioned article on the warrant. And for a special, it's 100 signatures. So

[26:28] petitioners play a role not only in getting articles on the warrant, but

[26:32] also they're usually there to make the presentation or to argue their case for

[26:37] their article that's on the warrant. residents and citizens, that's anybody

[26:41] in town or in surrounding communities can come and observe town meeting. Uh

[26:46] they can speak at town meeting but cannot vote as long as they get

[26:50] permission from town meeting to do so. And of course, just like this video

[26:54] that's being produced now, Fair Haven TV, cable access, print

[26:59] journalists are all critically important because they bring that democracy

[27:05] directly to residents in the form of for Faven TV. They produce the actual day of

[27:11] town meeting. It's live and then it's available thereafter to stream. Any of

[27:16] the other leadup events like the preview are also covered by Fair Haven TV. We

[27:21] have our local print journalists that also cover it for local newspapers and

[27:27] there may be others that are from regional publications that may be

[27:31] interested. It's always very important for the press and our local access to be

[27:37] participants in this process. That is the overview of Fair Haven Town Meeting

[27:43] and Town Meetings in general. Before I end, I just want to point out a few very

[27:47] important resources to get more information. One is the secretary of

[27:50] state citizens guide to town meetings. It is an important document that really

[27:54] gives a high level overview of how town meetings work. There's also the

[27:58] Massachusetts Municipal Association which is the organization that

[28:03] represents all 351 cities and towns. There's a wealth of information there

[28:07] including about town meeting but even more importantly about municipal

[28:11] government in general. the Massachusetts Department of Revenue, Division of Local

[28:14] Services, they have an enormous amount of financial information uh about

[28:21] communities. So, for the town of Fair Haven, if you want to know what the

[28:25] budget is that was finally approved or what state aid is, the Division of Local

[28:29] Services has that information. And then, of course, there's always the Town of

[28:32] Fair Haven website. There are a number of different pages on that website,

[28:36] including the moderator page and town meeting page that have older versions of

[28:41] the warrants, minutes from town meeting, town meeting materials. So, it's a good

[28:47] resource to go back and see what's been done previously, but also what's

[28:50] available for upcoming town meetings. So, that's the overview of Fair Haven

[28:56] Town Meeting. I really appreciate the opportunity to share this information

[28:59] with all of you. Um, as always, you can contact the town moderator to get more

[29:05] information or the town clerk's office as well.

Fairhaven Town Meeting Overview

Transcript