CHARTER
ENFORCEMENT COMMISSION
Rules
of Procedure
The
following rules of procedures are available on-line as a service and are
not the official record due to changes in formatting for the Internet.
The official, complete paper copy can be viewed during regular office hours,
Monday - Friday: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Office of the Town Clerk, 260
Commercial St. Provincetown, MA 02657.
Section
I Officers
a.
The Commission shall elect from its own membership a Chairperson,
a Vice-Chairperson and a Secretary. Such election shall take place annually
at the first regular meeting following the Town Election.
b.
The Chairperson, or in his/her absence, the Vice-Chairperson or then the
Secretary shall preside at meetings of the Commission, shall subject to
these rules, decide all points of procedure, unless over-ruled by a majority
of the Commission in session at the time. The Chairperson shall act as
liaison between the Commission and the Town Manager.
c.
The Secretary shall monitor the clerical work of the Commission including
correspondence and preparation of any reports.
Section
2 Meetings
a.
General. All meetings of the Charter Enforcement Commission shall
be conducted in accordance with Chapter 39, Section 23A-C, Massachusetts
General Laws (Open Meeting Law).
b.
A meeting of the Commission shall be held each year no later than one month
following the Town Election for the purpose of electing officers. Other
meetings of the Commission shall be scheduled as determined by the Commission
for the purposes of annual review of standing procedures or conduct of
other Commission business. Unless it is in executive session, every meeting
of the Charter Enforcement Commission shall be open to the public and to
the press (By-Laws of the
Town of Provincetown, Section 4-2-1).
c.
Special meetings of the Commission may be called by the Chairperson with
the concurrence of a majority of the remaining members of the Commission;
however, the required statutory forty-eight
hours public notice of such a meeting shall not be waived.
d.
Executive Session
(1)
Executive sessions of the Commission shall be conducted in strict accordance
with Chapter 39, Sections 23A
and 23B of the Massachusetts General Laws.
(2)
Any member of the Commission may makea
motion to allow the Commission to convene in executive
session. However, the motion shallbe
made while in open session and shall clearly state the need for executive
session deliberations.
(3)
A roll call vote shall be taken on all motions which call for executive
sessions, and such
roll call vote shall duly be recorded in the minutes of the open session
at which the motion was acted upon.
(4)
the presiding officer shall cite the purpose for an executive session,
and the presiding officer shall state prior to the executive session whether
the Commission will reconvene in public after the executive session.
e.
Time of meetings. All Commission meetings shall be scheduled to commence
at 7:00 p.m. and terminate at 9:00 p.m. unless otherwise advertised. However,
in the event official business remains to be transacted at the scheduled
adjournment time, the Commission may vote to suspend this requirement
by a majority vote of the members
present and voting.
f.
Unfinished business remaining at the scheduled or alternate adjournment
time shall appear on the agenda of the next regularly scheduled meeting.
g.
A quorum shall consist of 3 Commission members.
h.
Any Commission member who expects to be absent from a scheduled Commission
meeting or delayed for more than - one hour shall notify the Chairperson
or Vice-Chairperson in advance of the scheduled meeting.
i.
A written notice of all scheduled meetings of the
Commission shall be filed with the Town Clerk at least forty-eight hours
in advance of the meeting for posting on the official town bulletin board.
Section
3 Procedures During Meetings
a.Proceedings
during the meetings of the Commission
shall normally be governed by Robert's
Rules of Order except as modified by these procedures.
b.
When deemed necessary and appropriate, the Chairperson may offer a motion
and/or second a motion.
c.
No person shall address a public meeting of the Commission without permission
of the Chairperson or other designated presiding officer.
d.
Items that appear on the meeting agenda shall be considered as properly
before the Commission without benefit of a specific motion to that effect.
However, any member of the Commission may reserve the right to move that
an agenda item be stricken from the agenda. Such a motion, if made, shall
be subject to action by the other members of the Commission as would be
appropriate to action on routine motions.
e.
Public Hearing Procedures - Preliminary
(1)
Proponents and opponents must set up any displays or graphic presentations
prior to the actual start of the hearing.
(2)
Principal speakers must identify themselves to the Chairperson prior
to the start of the hearing.
(3)
Copies of the hearing procedures will be posted (or distributed) prior
to the start of the hearing.
(4)
Written statements from citizens to be read at the public hearing must
be submitted to the Chairperson prior to the commencement of the hearing.
f.
Public Hearing Procedures
(1)
The Chairperson or his/her designate will open the hearing by identifying
the purpose of
the hearing and the rules to be followed during the hearing.
(2)
The basic format of the hearing will be:
Arguments:
Proponents
Questions:
Commission
Questions:
Public
Arguments:
Opponents
Questions:
Commission
Questions:
Public
Written
statements read intorecord
Recess
(five minutes)
Concluding
statement/rebuttal: Proponent
Concluding
statement/rebuttal: Opponents
(3)
No questions will be permitted
until after the speaker has finished his or her presentation.
Questions will be accepted first from Commission members and then from
the public. All public questions will be addressed through the Chairperson.
Questioners will identify themselves to the Chairperson, state their question,
and specify to whom it is addressed. Any disagreement with answers is restricted
to rebuttal statements.
(4)
At the completion of arguments, citizens may record themselves in agreement
with the speaking side without making another presentation. (This
provision is designed to reduce repetition).
(5)
Written statements from citizens submitted to the Chairperson prior
to the commencement of the hearing will be read into the record.
Section
4 Minutes of Meetings
a.
The secretary or his/her designate shall prepare written minutes of
all Commission meetings and proceedings. The minutes shall record the time
and date of meetings, names of Commission members present and voting, names
of other members of official Boards, committees, commissions who may be
in attendance at the meeting, the exact motions made and voted upon or
other official actions taken. Written minutes shall not include verbatim
or otherwise lengthy record of discussion on agenda items.
b.
Written minutes shall be prepared as expeditiously as possible to
allow the Commission to act upon them at a subsequent regularly scheduled
meeting. Following the Commission's approval, the written minutes shall
become the permanent and official record of meetings.
c.
Executive session minutes will be recorded by cassette recording device;
in addition, the secretary will prepare minutes which include any motions
made and actions taken thereon and a recorded roll call vote.
d.
Minutes of executive sessions shall remain
in the permanent personal custody of the
Commission's secretary and shall not be released unless authorized
by a majority vote of the Commission taken in open session or upon an order
of a Court of law.
Section
5 Suspension of Procedures
These
standing procedures may be suspended by an affirmative majority vote of
the Commission members present and voting.
Section
6 Reconsideration of Votes
Any
vote taken may be reconsidered without limitations as to time upon
a proper motion before the Commission and a favorable majority vote of
the members present and voting, providing the Commission member making
reconsideration voted in the majority on the original motion, and notice
to the principals involved, if the motion in is in regard to a petition,
is given in advance.
Section
7 Commission Vacancy Between Town Elections
a.
Commission vacancies occurring between Town Elections shall be advertised
for a minimum of two (2) weeks beginning no more than two (2) weeks following
notification to the Commission of a resignation or other cause of vacancy.
b.
All applications received by the time specified in the advertisement shall
be considered.
e.
Appointments shall be made by a majority vote of the Commission and confirmed
in writing with a letter to the appointee.
Section
8 Review of Standing Procedures
These
standing procedures shall be reviewed annually following the normal reorganization
of each new Commission or more often if necessary and dictated by changes
in the Commission composition if occurring
prior to the normal electoral process.
Section
9 Amendments to Standing Procedures
a.
These standing procedures may be amended by a majority vote of the members
present and voting at a regularly scheduled meeting provided, however,
that the proposed amendment has been submitted in writing at least
one week prior to the date the amendment is to be voted upon
b.
An amendment shall be construed to mean any addition of a new procedure
or a deletion or modification of an existing procedure.
Section
10 Effective Date
These
standing procedures are effective August 30, 1990.
Section
11 Distribution
A
copy of these procedures will be provided to each newly elected commissioner
upon that individual's assumption of office.
Amended
June 4, 1998
Amended
July 1, 1992