Corporate powers. 1 Pick. 375. 1 Met. 473. City government. Division into twelve wards. 1875, 243. P. S. 28, 14. Annual meeting Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives, in General SECTION 1. The inhabitants of the city of Boston, for all the purposes for which towns and cities are by law incorporated in this commonwealth, shall continue to be one body politic, in fact and in name, under the style and denomination of The City of Boston: 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 municipal concerns of said city, with the conduct and government thereof, shall be vested in one principal officer, to be styled the mayor, one council of twelve persons, to be called the board of aldermen, and one council of forty-eight persons, to be called the common council, which boards, in their joint capacity, shall be denominated the city council; and also in such other boards of officers as are hereinafter specified. [SECT. 3. It shall be the duty of the city council, and they are empowered, during the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty, and whenever thereafterwards they may deem it expedient, not oftener than once in ten years, to cause a new division of the city to be made into twelve wards, in such manner as to include an equal number of voters in each ward, as nearly as conveniently may be, consistently with well-defined limits to each ward; and until such division be made, the boundary lines of the wards shall remain as now established.]" SECT. 4. The annual meeting of citizens for the election of muof city oflicers. nicipal officers hereinafter mentioned, shall be held on the second for the election 1 The establishment of the town of Boston dates from the passage of the order of the Court of Assistants, September 17 (7th, O. 8.) 1630, "that Trimountain shall be called Boston." The act of the legislature establishing the city of Boston was passed February 23, 1822, and adopted March 4, 1822 (St. 1821, c. 110). The Act to revise the Charter (St. 1854, c. 448) is here printed as it was enacted. The sections which have been repealed or superseded, are enclosed in brackets, and amendments or modifications are indicated in the notes. Roxbury was first recognized by the Court of Assistants as a town October 8, 1630. It was incorporated as a city March 12, 1846 (St. 1846, c. 95), and annexed to Boston by vote of the two cities September 9, 1867 (St. 1867, c. 379). Dorchester was named by the Court of Assistants in the same order in which Boston was named, and it retained its town organization until annexed to Boston, June 22, 1869 (St. 1869, c. 349). Charlestown was founded July 4, 1629; incorporated as a city in 1847 (St. 1847, c. 29); annexed to Boston October 7, 1873 (St. 1873, c. 286). West Roxbury was incorporated as a town March 24, 1851 (St. 1851, c. 250): annexed to Boston October 7, 1873 (St. 1873, c. 314). Brighton was incorporated as a town in 1806 (St. 1806, c. 65); aunexed to Boston October 7, 1873 (St. 1873, c. 303). The changes in the original charter (St. 1821, c. 110), prior to the general revision, may be traced through the following statutes, which, having been repealed or superseded, are not printed in this volume: 1822, 85, 107; 1823, 2; 1824, 28, 49; 1829, 80; 1830, 7; 1831, 38; 1838, 123; 1850, 167; 1851, 337; 1852, 266; 1853, 354. 2 By St. 1875, c. 243, the number was increased to seventy-two. St. 1875, c. 243, required the city council in 1875, and during each tenth year thereafter, to cause a division of the city to be made into twenty-four wards. By St. 1876, c. 242, Ward 22 was divided into two wards, che being numbered twenty-five. Monday of December, and the citizens of said city, qualified to vote in city affairs, shall, for the purpose of such election, then meet together within the wards in which they respectively reside, at such hour ard place as the board of aldermen may, by their warrant, direct and appoint; and the person receiving the highest number of votes for any office shall be deemed and declared to be elected to such office; and, whenever two or more persons are to be elected to the same office, the several persons, to the number required to be chosen, having the highest number of votes, shall be declared elected. election to be [SECT. 5. Every person so chosen in any ward shall, within Certificates of forty-eight hours of his election, be furnished by the clerk with a furnished. certificate thereof, signed by the warden, clerk, and a majority of the inspectors, which certificate shall be presumptive evidence of the title of such person to the office therein mentioned.] SECT. 6. The municipal officers to be chosen at the annual elec- Commencement of municipal tion shall enter upon the duties of their respective offices on the first Monday of January. year. [SECT. 7. The qualified voters of said city shall, at the annua, Election of meeting, choose, by ballot, one warden and one clerk, and five in- ward officers. spectors of elections for each ward, who shall be resident in said ward, and who shall hold their offices for one year, and until others shall be chosen and qualified in their stead. to be sworn. [SECT. 8. The ward officers mentioned in the preceding section Ward officers shall respectively make oath faithfully and impartially to discharge their several duties, which oath may be administered by the clerk of such ward to the warden, and by the latter to the clerk and inspectors, or to all of said officers, by any justice of the peace for the county of Suffolk; and a certificate thereof shall be entered in the record to be kept by the clerk of the ward.] [SECT. 9. In case of the non-election of any ward officer at the Non-election of annual meeting adjournments may be had for the purpose of effect- ward officers. ing such election, in the same manner as is hereinafter provided with regard to the election of members of the common council.] [SECT. 10. In case of the absence of any ward officer at any ward Absence of meeting such officer may be chosen pro tempore, by hand vote, and ward officers. shall have all the powers, and be subject to all the duties of the regular officer, at such meeting.] [SECT. 11. It shall be the duty of the warden to preside at all ward Power and meetings, with the powers of moderators of town meetings. In case duty of warden. of his absence. the clerk, and, in case of the absence of the clerk, any inspector shall preside according to seniority, until a warden shall be chosen, as provided in the preceding section.] [SECT. 12. It shall be the duty of the clerk to make a fair and true Duties of ward record, and to keep an exact journal of all the acts and votes of citi- clerk. zens at the ward meetings, and to deliver over such records and journals, together with other documents and papers held by him in his said capacity, to his successor in office.] [SECT 13. It shall be the duty of the warden and inspectors of Duties of war. each ward to receive, sort and count, and of the warden to declare, all den and inspecvotes at any election within such ward.] tors. [SECT. 14. It shall be the duty of all ward officers, authorized to Duties of ward preside and act at elections of city officers, to attend and perform elections. 1 By P. 8. c. 7, § 67, the municipal election is now held on the Tuesday next following the second Monday. St. 1878, c. 243, $1 provides for a division of each ward into precincts, and requires (§ 4) meetings for elections to be "at the several polling-places" within each ward. Annuiled by St. 1878, c. 243, § 2. Sections seven to fourteen, inclusive, were repealed by St. 1876, c. 216. By St. 1878, c. 243, § 2, the powers, duties, and liabilities of ward officers devolved on precinct officers. officers at al Election of mayor. Board of aldermen to examine for mayor. their respective duties at the times and places appointed for elections of any officers, whether of the United States, state, city, or wards, and to make and sign the regular returns of the same.] SECT. 15. The qualified voters of said city shall, at the annual meeting, be called upon to give in their votes for one able and discreet person, being an inhabitant of the city, to be mayor of said city for the term of one year. ['All the ballots, so given in, in each ward, being sorted, counted and declared, shall be recorded at large by the clerk, in open ward meeting; and, in making such declaration and record, the whole number of votes or ballots given in shall be distinctly stated, together with the name of every person voted for, and the number of votes given for each person respectively; such numbers to be expressed in words at length, and a transcript of such record, certified and authenticated by the warden, clerk, and a majority of the inspectors of elections, for each ward, shall forthwith be transmitted or delivered by such ward clerk to the clerk of the city. It shall be the duty of the city clerk forthwith to enter such returns, or a plain and intelligible abstract of them, as they are successively received, upon the journal of the proceedings of the board of aldermen, or some other book to be kept for that purpose.] SECT. 16. The board of aldermen shall, as soon as conveniently returns of votes may be, within three days of such election, meet together and examine all the said returns, and they shall cause the person who may have been elected mayor to be notified, in writing, of his election; but if it shall appear by said returns that no person has been elected, 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 provided in the preceding section for the choice of a mayor, and repeated, from time to time, until a mayor shall be Proceedings in case of no choice of mayor before the commencement of the municipal year. Proceedings in case no mayor is chosen, or a full board of aldermen is not elected. 1884, 250. chosen. SECT. 17. Whenever, on examination by the board of aldermen of the returns of votes given for mayor, at the meetings of the wards holden for the purpose of electing that officer, last preceding the first Monday of January in each year, no person shall appear to be chosen, the board of aldermen, by whom such examination is made, shall make a record of that fact, an attested copy of which record it shall be the duty of the city clerk to produce and read, on the first Monday of January, in the presence of the members returned to serve as aldermen and common councilmen; and the oaths prescribed by law may be administered to the members elect. The members of the board of aldermen shall thereupon proceed to elect a chairman, and the common council a president, in their respective chambers; and, being respectively organized, they shall proceed to business in the manner hereinafter provided in case of the absence of the mayor; and the board of aldermen shall forthwith issue their warrants for meetings of the citizens of the respective wards, for the choice of a mayor, at such time and place as they shall judge most convenient; and the same proceedings shall be had, in all respects, as are hereinbefore directed, and shall be repeated, from time to time, until a mayor shall be duly chosen. SECT. 18. Whenever it shall appear, by the regular returns of the elections of city officers, that a mayor has not been chosen, or that a full board of aldermen has not been elected, such of the board of aldermen, whether they constitute a quorum or not, as may have been chosen, shall issue their warrant in the usual form, for the election of a mavor, or such members of the board of aldermen as may be neces 1 Modified by statutes dividing wards into precincts, and prescribing the (luties of precinct officers. See St. 1878, c. 243, §§ 4, 18, 19; 1884, č. 299, § 19. 2 Modified by St. 1884, c. 299, § 32. aldermen. sary, and the same proceedings shall be had and repeated until the election of a mayor and aldermen shall be completed, and all vacancies shall be filled in the said board; and in case neither a mayor nor any alderman shall be elected at the usual time for electing the same, and after the powers of the former mayor and aldermen shall have ceased, it shall be the duty of the president of the common council to issue his warrant in the same manner as the board of aldermen would have done. if elected, and the same proceedings shall be had and repeated until a mayor or one or more aldermen shall be elected. [SECT. 19. The qualified voters of said city shall, at the annual Election of meeting, be called upon to give in their votes for twelve persons, 1881, 250. being inhabitants of said city, to constitute the board of aldermen for the ensuing year, and all the votes so given, being sorted, counted and declared, by the warden and inspectors, shall be recorded at large by the clerk, in open ward meeting; and, in making such declaration and record, the whole number of votes or ballots given in shall be particularly stated, together with the name of every person voted for, and the number of votes given for each person; and a transcript of such record, certified by the warden and clerk, and a majority of the inspectors of each ward, shall forthwith be transmitted to the city clerk; whereupon the same proceedings shall be had, to ascertain and determine the persons chosen as aldermen, as are hereinbefore directed in regard to the choice of mayor, and for a new election, in case of the whole number required not being chosen at the first election. And each alderman so chosen shall be duly notified, in writing, of his election, by the mayor and aldermen for the time being.] common coun 1876, 225, § 8. 1876, 242. case there is no mon councilmen. [SECT. 20. The qualified voters of each ward shall, at the annual Election of election, be called upon to give in their votes for four able and dis- cilmen. creet men, being inhabitants of the ward, to be members of the 1875, 243. common council for the ensuing year; and all the ballots so given in, in each ward, being sorted, counted and declared, a public declaration of the result shall be made by the warden in open ward meeting; and a record of such proceeding shall be kept by the clerk in his journal, stating particularly the whole number of ballots given in, the number necessary to make a choice, the number actually given for each person, the whole to be written in words at length.] [SECT. 21. In case four persons are not chosen at the first bal- Proceedings in loting in any ward, the meeting of such ward shall be adjourned by choice of com the presiding officer, for the purpose of filling such vacancies, to a period not less than twenty-four nor more than seventy-two hours distant from the hour when the polls were opened at the first balloting; the time of adjournment, within such limits. to be determined by the warden, with the consent of a majority of the inspectors who may be present when such adjournment is had; and such notice shall be given of the time of such adjournment, and the time the polls will be kept open, as the warden may direct; and at such adjourned meeting a balloting shall be opened for a number of common councilmen sufficient to complete the number of four, which shall be conducted and its results be declared and recorded, in the same manner as before prescribed for the first balloting.] [SECT. 22.3 In case there shall still be vacancies in the number of Same subject. common councilmen in any ward, adjournments of the meetings of 1By St. 1884, c. 250, the city was divided into twelve aldermanic districts, the qualified voters of each to elect at the annual municipal election one member of the board of aldermen, St. 1875, c. 243, provided for the election of three members of the common council from each ward. St. 1876, c. 242, provided for the division of ward twenty-two into two wards, and for the election alternately of one and two members of the council from said wards. Sections 21, 22, 23 and 23 were repealed by St. 1880, c. 225, § 6. The same act provided for Alling vacancies. 1875, 243. 1876, 242. 1880, 225, § 6. P.8. 28, § 19. 1880, 225, § 6. Same subject. 1880, 225, § 6. Board of aldermen, etc., to judge of elec. tions. 1875, 241. Vacancies in city or the citizens thereof, for the purpose of filling the same, shall continue to be had in the same manner, to periods not less than twenty-four nor more than seventy-two hours distant from each other, at all of which the balloting shall be conducted, and the result be declared and recorded, in the same manner as before prescribed, until the number of four shall be duly chosen. And at all such adjournments the polls shall be kept open the same number of hours as were required by the original warrant.] [SECT. 23. If at the close of the last legally adjourned meeting of any ward as aforesaid, preceding the first Monday in January, there shall still be vacancies in the number of common councilmen for any ward, no further adjournment shall be had; but a record of the fact, and of the number of such vacancies, shall be made by the clerk of the ward in his journal, signed therein by the warden, clerk, and a majority of the inspectors, an attested copy of which record shall forthwith be delivered by the clerk of the ward to the city clerk, who shall lay the same before the common council at their first meeting in January.] SECT. 24. The board of aldermen, the common council, and the school committee, shall have authority to decide upon all questions relative to the qualifications, elections and returns of their respective members. [SECT. 25.1 Whenever it shall appear to the board of aldermen that there is a vacancy, by removal from the city, or by death, resig1880, 225, §§ 5, 6. nation or otherwise, in the board of aldermen, the common council, ward offices. Removal of city or ward ollicers from their wards. P.S. 27, § 89. 1'.S. 28, § 2. Organization of city council. Oath of office. [the school committee,] or in any of the city and ward offices, it shall be the duty of said board to issue their warrant, in due form, to fill all such vacancies in each and all of said boards and offices, at such time and place as they may deem advisable; and the same proceedings shall be had, and adjournments if necessary, within the same limits as are herein prescribed for the annual meeting for the election of common councilmen. But in case of vacancies in the cominon council and school committee' such warrant shall not be issued until the board of aldermen receive official information thereof.] SECT. 26. All city and ward officers shall be held to discharge the duties of the offices to which they have been respectively elected, notwithstanding their removal after their election out of their respective wards into any other wards of the city; but they shall not be so held after they take up their permanent residence out of the city. SECT. 27. The mayor, aldermen, and common councilmen, on the first Monday of January, or before entering on the duties of their offices, shall respectively be sworn by taking the oath of allegiance and oath of office prescribed in the constitution of this commonwealth, and an oath to support the constitution of the United States. And such oaths may be administered to the mayor elect by any one of the justices of the supreme judicial court. or any judge of any court of record commissioned to hold any such court within the said city, or by any justice of the peace for the county of Suffolk. And such oaths shall be administered to the aldermen and members of the common council by the mayor, being himself first sworn as aforesaid. or by either of the persons authorized to administer said oath to the mayor; and a certificate of such oaths having been taken shall be entered in the journal of the mayor and aldermen and of the common council, respectively, by their respective clerks. 1 See ante, page 4, note 3. 2 By P. S., c. 44, § 22, vacancies in the school committee are filled by the school committee and board of aldermen in convention. |