records, etc., to

SECT. 23. All officers of the town of Roxbury having the care and Delivery of custody of any records, papers, or property, belonging to said town, city clerk. shall deliver the same to the city clerk, within one week after his entering upon the duties of his, oflice.

inconsistent

SECT. 24. All such acts, and parts of acts, as are inconsistent Repeal of with the provisions of this act, shall be, and the same are hereby, re- provisions. pealed.

alter and amend

SECT. 25. Nothing in this act contained shall be so construed as Legislature may to prevent the legislature from altering or amending the same, when- thus act. ever they shall deem it expedient.

SECT. 26. This act shall be void, unless the inhabitants of the Act to be void unless accepted town of Roxbury, at a legal town meeting called for that purpose, by inhabitants. shall, by a vote of a majority of the voters present, and voting thereon, by a written ballot, determine to adopt the same within twenty days from and after its passage.

effect.

SECT. 27. This act shall go into operation from and after its When to take passage.

March 12, 1846.

1847. CHAPTER 29.

AN ACT TO ESTABLISH THE CITY OF CHARLESTOWN.

Be it enacted, etc.:

SECTION 1. The inhabitants of the town of Charlestown shall Charlestown to be a city. continue to be a body politic and corporate, under the name of the city of Charlestown: 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 town as a municipal corporation.

etc., to be vested

in a mayor, six

aldermen, and eighteen common council.

men.

SECT. 2. The administration of all the fiscal, prudential, and Administration, municipal affairs of said city, with the government thereof, shall be vested in one principal officer, to be styled the mayor; one council of six, to be called the board of aldermen; and one council of eighteen, to be called the common council, which boards, in their joint capacity, shall be denominated the city council; and the members thereof shall be sworn to the faithful performance of the duties of their respective offices. A majority of each board shall constitute a quorum for doing Boards to serve business, and no member of either shall receive any compensation for pensation. his services.

without com.

divide the town

SECT. 3. It shall be the duty of the selectmen of the town of Selectmen to Charlestown, as soon as may be after the passage of this act, and its into three acceptance by the inhabitants, as hereinafter provided, to divide said wards. town into three wards, as nearly equal in number of inhabitants as may be consistent with convenience in other respects. And it shall Arrangement be the duty of the city council, once in five years, to revise, and, if it revised every be needful, to alter said wards, in such manner as to preserve, as the city council five years by nearly as may be, an equal number of voters in each ward.

thereof to be

cations, and

SECT. 4. On the second Monday in March, annually, there shall Election, qualifi be chosen by ballot, in each of said wards, a warden, clerk, and three duties of inspectors of elections, who shall hold their offices for one year from warden. the first Monday in April following said second Monday in March, and until others shall have been chosen in their places. And it shall be the duty of such warden to preside at all ward meetings, with the powers of moderator of town meetings. And if, at any meeting, the warden shall not be present, the clerk of such ward shall call the meeting to order, and preside until a warden, pro tempore, shall be chosen by ballot. And if at any meeting the clerk shall not be present, a clerk, pro tempore, shall be chosen by ballot. The clerk —- clerk.

and inspec

tors of elections.

To serve under

oath, etc.

Warrants for ward and city meetings.

Election, qualification, and

mayor, alder. men, and

common councilmen.

shall record all the proceedings, and certify the votes given, and deliver over to his successors in office all such records and journals, together with all other documents and papers held by him in said capacity. And it shall be the duty of the inspectors of elections to assist the warden in receiving, assorting, and counting the votes. And the warden, clerk, and inspectors, so chosen, shall respectively make oath or affirmation faithfully and impartially to discharge their several duties relative to elections, which oath may be administered by the clerk of such ward to the warden, and by the warden to the clerk and inspectors, or by any justice of the peace for the county of Middlesex. And all warrants for meetings of the citizens for mu nicipal purposes, to be held either in wards or in general meetings, shall be issued by the mayor and aldermen, and shall be in such form, and shall be served, executed, and returned in such manner, and at such times, as the city council may, by any by-law, direct.

SECT. 5. The mayor and six aldermen, two aldermen to be selected term of office of from each ward, shall be elected by the inhabitants of the city at large, voting in their respective wards; and six common councilmen shall be elected from and by each ward, being residents of the wards in which they are elected: all said officers shall be chosen by ballot, and shall hold their offices for one year from the first Monday in April, and the mayor until another shall be elected and qualified in his place.

Proceedings at meetings for elections.

Certificates of elections to members of common council.

Proviso.

SECT. 6. On the second Monday in March, annually, the qualified voters in each ward shall give in their votes for mayor, aldermen, and common councilmen, warden, clerk, and inspectors, as provided in the preceding sections; and all the votes so given shall be assorted, counted, declared, and registered in open ward meeting, by causing the names of persons voted for, and the number of votes given for each, to be written in the ward records, in words, at length. The clerk of the ward, within twenty-four hours after such election, shall deliver to the persons elected warden, clerk, inspectors, and members of the common council, certificates of their election, signed by the warden and clerk, and a majority of the inspectors of elections, and shall deliver to the city clerk a copy of the records of such election, certified in like manner: provided, however, that if the choice of warden, clerk, inspectors, or common councilmen cannot be conveniently effected on that day, the meeting may be adjourned, from time to time, to complete such election. The board of aldermen shall, as soon as conveniently may be, examine the copies of the records of the several wards, certified as aforesaid, and shall cause the person who may have been elected mayor to be notified, in writing, of his election; but if it shall appear that no person has received a majority of all the votes, or if the person elected shall refuse to accept the office, the board shall issue their warrants for a new election, and the same proceedings shall be had as are hereinbefore described, for the choice of mayor, and repeated, from time to time, until a mayor is chosen. In case of the decease, resignation, or absence of the mayor, or of in the office of his inability to perform the duties of his office, it shall be the duty of the board of aldermen and the common council, in convention, to order, by vote, an entry of that fact to be made in their records, and then to elect a mayor, for the time being, to serve until another is chosen, or until the occasion causing the vacancy is removed.

Notification to mayor.

Proceedings in

cases of failure

to elect a mayor,

Proceedings to supply vacancy

mayor.

-and of alder.

men.

And if it shall appear that the whole number of aldermen have not been elected, the same proceedings shall be had as are herein before Notification to directed for choice of mayor. And each alderman shall be notified in writing of his election, by the mayor and aldermen for the time being.

aldermen.

Administration

The oath prescribed by this act shall be administered to the mayor

by the city clerk, or any justice of the peace for the county of and record of Middlesex.

The aldermen and common councilmen elect shall, on the first Monday in April, at ten o'clock in the forenoon, meet in convention, when the oath required by this act shall be administered to the members of the two boards present, by the mayor, or by any justice of the peace for the county of Middlesex: and a certificate of such oath having been taken shall be entered on the journal of the mayor and aldermen, and of the common council, by their respective clerks.

oaths of office.

case of failure to

And whenever it shall appear that no mayor has been elected pre- Record, etc., in viously to the said first Monday in April, the mayor and aldermen for choose a mayor. the time being shall make a record of that fact, an attested copy of which the city clerk shall read at the opening of the convention to be held as aforesaid.

of common

After the oath has been administered as aforesaid, the two boards Organization shall separate, and the common council shall be organized by the council. choice of a president and clerk, to hold their office during the pleasure of the common council, and to be sworn to the faithful performance of their duties.

case of absence

elect at the time for organization.

In the case of the absence of the mayor-elect on the first Monday Proceedings in in April, the city government shall organize itself in the manner of the mayorherein before provided, and may proceed to business in the same manner as if the mayor were present; and the oath of office may be administered to the mayor at any time thereafter, in a convention of the two branches.

pore.

In the absence of the mayor, the board of aldermen may choose a Mayor pro temchairman, pro tempore, who shall preside at joint meetings of the two boards.

board as to

Each board shall keep a record of its own proceedings, and judge Duties of each of the elections of its own members; and, in failure of election, or records, rights in cases of vacancy declared by either board, the mayor and aldermen to seats, and shall order a new election.

new elections.

SECT. 7. The mayor, thus chosen and qualified, shall be the chief Duties of mayor. executive officer of the city. It shall be his duty to be vigilant in causing the laws and regulations of the city to be enforced, and to keep a general supervision over the conduct of all subordinate officers, with power to remove them for neglect of duty. He may call special meetings of the boards of aldermen and common council, or either of them, when necessary in his opinion, by causing notices to be left at the places of residence of the several members; he shall communicate, from time to time, to both of them, such information, and recommend such measures as, in his opinion, the interests of the city may require; he shall preside in the board of aldermen and in convention of the two branches, but shall have only a casting vote.

The salary of mayor, for the first year in which this charter shall Compensation. take effect, shall be five hundred dollars, and no more; his salary shall afterwards be fixed by the city council, but neither increased nor diminished during the year for which he is chosen, and he shall have

commissioner

no other compensation: provided, however, that the city council shall Mayor may be have power to appoint the mayor commissioner of highways, when, of highways. in their opinion, such an office is necessary, and allow him a suitable compensation therefor.

powers of select

aldermen, and

SECT. 8. The executive power of said city, generally, and the Executive administration of police, with all the powers heretofore vested in the men transferred selectmen of Charlestown, shall be vested in the mayor and aldermen, to mayor and as fully as if the same were herein specially enumerated. And all powers of inbabiother powers now vested in the inhabitants of said town, as a mu- to mayor and nicipal corporation, and all powers granted by this act, not herein aldermen and otherwise provided for, shall be vested in the mayor and aldermen counci..

tants transferred

common

Power of mayor, etc., in respect

and common council of said city, to be exercised by concurrent vote, each board to have a negative upon the other.

And the mayor and aldermen shall have full and exclusive power to to appointments appoint a constable and assistants, or a city marshal and assistants, with the powers and duties of constables, and all other police-officers; and the same to remove at pleasure.

and removals.

And the mayor and aldermen may require any person, appointed a constable of the city, to give bonds, with such security as they may deem reasonable, before he enters upon the duties of his office, upon which bonds the like proceedings and remedies may be had as are by law provided in case of constables' bonds taken by the selectmen of towns. And the mayor and aldermen shall have the same power to grant licenses to innholders, victuallers, and retailers, within the city, which is possessed by the mayor and aldermen of the city of Boston. The city council shall, annually, as soon after their organization as may be convenient, elect by joint ballot, in convention, a treasurer and collector of taxes, engineers of the fire department, a city clerk, three assessors of taxes, and fix their compensations. They shall also, in such manner as they shall determine, appoint or elect all other subordinate officers, not herein otherwise directed, define their duties, and fix their compensations.

All sittings of the common council shall be public, and all sittings of the mayor and aldermen, when they are not engaged in executive business.

The city council shall take care that no moneys be paid from the treasury, unless granted or appropriated; shall secure a just and proper accountability, by requiring bonds, with sufficient penalties and sureties, from all persons trusted with the receipt, custody, or disbursement of money; shall have the care and superintendence of the city buildings, with the power to let or sell what may be legally sold; and to purchase property, real or personal, in the name and for the use of the city, whenever its interest or convenience may, in their judgment, require it. And the city council shall, as often as once in a year, cause to be published, for the use of the inhabitants, a particular account of the receipts and expenditures, and a schedule of city property.

SECT. 9. In all cases in which appointments are directed to be made by the mayor and aldermen, the mayor shall have the exclusive power of nomination, such nomination, however, being subject to be confirmed or rejected by the board of aldermen: provided, however, that no person shall be eligible to any office of emolument, the salary of which is payable out of the city treasury, who, at the time of such appointment, shall be a member of the board of aldermen or of the common council.

SECT. 10. The city clerk shall be clerk of the board of aldermen, and shall be sworn to the faithful performance of his duties. He shall perform such duties as shall be prescribed by the board of aldermen; and he shall perform all the duties, and exercise all the powers, by law incumbent upon, or vested in, the town clerk of the town of Charlestown. He shall be chosen for one year, and until another shall be chosen and qualified in his place, but may be at any time removed by the city council.

SECT 11. The citizens, at their respective annual ward meetings for the choice of officers, shall elect, by ballot, two persons in each ward, to be overseers of the poor; and the persons thus chosen, together with the mayor, shall constitute the board of overseers of the poor, and shall have all the powers, and be subject to all the duties, now by law appertaining to the overseers of the poor for the town of Charlestown.

School com. mittee.

And the citizens shall, at the same time and in the same manner, elect five persons from the city at large, and two persons from each ward, to be members of the school committee; and the persons thus chosen shall constitute the school committee, and have the care and superin- 1847, 238. tendence of the public schools; and said school committee shall have all the powers and privileges, and be subject to all the liabilities, set forth in an act passed by the legislature of Massachusetts, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety-three, entitled, "An act to incorporate certain persons by the name of the Trustees of Charlestown free schools," and all acts in addition thereto.

And the persons chosen by the city council as assessors shall constitute the board of assessors, and shall exercise the powers, and be subject to the duties and liabilities, of assessors in towns.

Assessors.

apportionment,

All taxes shall be assessed, apportioned, and collected, in the Assessment, manner prescribed by law relative to town taxes: provided, however, and collection of that it shall be lawful for the city council to establish further addi- taxes. tional provisions for the collection thereof.

Should there fail to be a choice of overseers of the poor, or mem- Vacancies. bers of the school committee, the vacancy or vacancies shall be filled by the city council in convention, in the same manner that is provided for filling vacancies in the senate of this commonwealth.

ways; powers of

respect to.

damages.

SECT. 12. The city council shall have exclusive authority and Streets and power to lay out any new street or town way, and to estimate the city council and damages any individual may sustain thereby; but all questions re- mayor in lating to the subject of laying out, accepting, altering, or discontinuing any street or way, shall be first acted upon by the mayor and aldermen. And any person dissatisfied with the decision of the city Appeals for council, in the estimate of damages, may make complaint to the county commissioners of the county of Middlesex, at any meeting held within one year after such decision, whereupon the same proceedings shall be had as are now provided by the laws of this commonwealth in cases where persons are aggrieved by the assessment of damages by selectmen, in the twenty-fourth chapter of the revised statutes.

SECT. 13. All power and authority now by law vested in the Health officers. board of health for the town of Charlestown, or in the selectmen of said town, shall be transferred to, and vested in the city council, to be carried into execution in such manner as the city council shall deem expedient.

common sewers

SECT. 14. The city council shall have authority to cause drains Drains and and common sewers to be laid down through any street or private Jands, paying the owners such damage as they may sustain thereby; and to require all persons to pay a reasonable sum for the privilege of opening any drain into said public drain or common sewer. And the city council may make by-laws, with suitable penalties, Inspection of for the inspection, survey, measurement, and sale of lumber, wood, coal, and bark, brought into the city for sale.

wood, etc.

council to deter

SECT. 15. It shall be the duty of the city council, annually, in the Duty of city month of October, to meet in convention and determine the number mine number of of representatives to be elected by the city to the general court, in representatives to general court, such year, which shall be conclusive, and the number thus determined etc. shall be specified in the warrant calling meetings for the election of representatives.

and after micet

of county, state

SECT. 16. All elections for county, state, and United States Proceedings at officers, who are voted for by the people, shall be held at meetings of ings for election the citizens qualified to vote in such elections in their respective of datar wards, at the time fixed by law for these elections respectively; and, officers. at such meetings, all the votes given for said several officers respectively shall be assorted, counted, declared, and registered in open