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Section 17F. Requests for Specific Information.
The city council at any time may request from the mayor specific information on any municipal matter within its jurisdiction, and may request his presence to answer written questions relating thereto at a meeting to be held not earlier than one week from the date of the receipt of said questions, in which case the mayor shall personally, or through a head of a department or a member of a board, attend such meeting and publicly answer all such questions. The person so attending shall not be obliged to answer questions relating to any other matter. Specific information, as used in this section, shall include any and all records, other than those exempt from disclosure under clause Twenty-six of section seven of chapter four of the General Laws, within the control of any executive department or agency of the city, including the Boston water and sewer commission and the Boston Redevelopment Authority, whether the information is in printed or electronic form. For the purposes of enforcing this section, the city council shall have standing to request a justice of the superior court department of the trial court of the commonwealth to issue appropriate orders to compel compliance with this section. The mayor at any time may attend and address the city council in person or through the head of a department, or a member of a board, upon such subject as he may desire.
[Acts of 1951, c. 376, s. 1.17F; Acts of 1982, c. 190, s. 16]
Section 17G. Restrictions on the Making of Contracts.
Except as otherwise provided in chapter four hundred and eighty-six of the acts of nineteen hundred and nine, neither the city council nor any member, committee, officer or employee thereof shall directly or indirectly on behalf of the city or of the county of Suffolk take part in the employment of labor, the making of contracts, or the purchase of materials, supplies or real estate; nor in the construction, alteration, or repair of any public works, buildings, or other property; nor in the care, custody, or management of the same; nor in the conduct of the executive or administrative business of the city or county; nor in the appointment or removal of any city or county employee; nor in the expenditure of public money except such as may be necessary for the contingent and incidental expenses of the city council. Any person violating any provision of this section shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than one year, or by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars, or both.
[Acts of 1951, c.376, s.1.17G]
No contract for lighting the public streets, parks, or alleys, or for the collection, removal, or disposal of refuse, extending over a period of more than one year from the date thereof, shall be valid without the approval of the mayor and the city council after a public hearing held by the city council, of which at least seven days’ notice shall have been given in the City Record.
[Acts of 1909, c. 486, s. 6]
The provisions of this section shall not affect the powers or duties of the city council as the successor of the present board of aldermen relative to state or military aid and soldiers’ relief.
[Acts of 1909, c. 486, s. 8]
It shall be unlawful for the mayor or for a member of the city council or for any officer or employee of the city or of the county of Suffolk or for a member of the finance commission directly or indirectly to make a contract with the city or with the county of Suffolk, or to receive any commission, discount, bonus, gift, contribution or reward from or any share in the profits of any person or corporation making or performing such contract, unless such mayor, member of the city council, officer, or employee or member of the finance commission immediately upon learning of the existence of such contract or that such contract is proposed, shall notify in writing the mayor, city council, and finance commission of such contract and of the nature of his interest in such contract and shall abstain from doing any official act on behalf of the city in reference thereto. In case of such interest on the part of an officer whose duty it is to make such contract on behalf of the city, the contract may be made by any other officer of the city duly authorized thereto by the mayor, or if the mayor has such interest by the city clerk: provided, however, that when a contractor with the city or county is a corporation or voluntary association, the ownership of less than five per cent of the stock or shares actually issued shall not be considered as being an interest in the contract within the meaning of this act, and such ownership shall not affect the validity of the contract, unless the owner of such stock or shares is also an officer or agent of the corporation or association, or solicits or takes part in the making of the contract.
[Acts of 1909, c. 486, s. 8]
A violation of any provision of this section shall render the contract in respect to which such violation occurs voidable at the option of the city or county. Any person violating the provisions of this section shall be punished by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars, or by imprisonment for not more than one year, or both.
[Acts of 1909, c. 486, s. 8]
Section 17H. Restrictions on City Employment.
No city councillor nor any person elected city councillor shall, during the term for which he is elected or chosen, be appointed to, or hold, any office or position which is under the city government or the salary of which is payable out of the city treasury except the office of city councillor and any office held ex officio by virtue of being a member, or president, of the city council; provided, however, that nothing herein contained shall prevent a city councillor or any person elected city councillor from, during the term for which he is elected or chosen, being appointed by the governor, with or without the advice and consent of the council, to, and holding, any such office or position if before entering upon the duties of such office or position he resigns as city councillor or city councillor elect.
[Acts of 1951, c. 376, s. 1.17H]
Section 17I. Power to Summons and Subpoena.
Witnesses may be summoned to attend and testify and to produce books and papers at a hearing before a city council, ... a licensing board or licensing authorities, as defined in section one of chapter one hundred and thirty-eight [of the General Laws], ... the police commissioner or election commissioners of Boston, ... as to matters within their authority; and such witnesses shall be summoned in the same manner, be paid the same fees and be subject to the same penalties for default, as witnesses in civil cases before the courts. The presiding officer of such council ... or a member of any such committee, board or commission, or any such commissioner, may administer oaths to witnesses who appear before such council, branch thereof, committee, board, commission or commissioner, respectively.
[General Laws c. 233, s. 8]
CITY DISTRICTS.
Section 18. District Boundaries.
[T]he respective district lines shall be the same for the city council and the school committee. Each such district shall be compact and shall contain, as nearly as may be, an equal number of inhabitants as determined by the most recent state decennial census, shall be composed of contiguous existing precincts, and shall be drawn with a view toward preserving the integrity of existing neighborhoods.
[Acts of 1982, c. 605, s. 3]
[The ordinance containing the definition and boundaries of the districts is found at CBC 2-9.2.]
Said districts shall continue in force until redrawn by the city council as provided herein. The council shall redraw the districts for the purpose of city council and school committee representation as specified in this section on or before (a) ninety days from the date that the nineteen hundred and eighty-five state census, including census figures for the city of Boston, is properly certified by the state secretary; and (b) on or before August first, nineteen hundred and ninety-six and on or before said August first every subsequent tenth year.
[Acts of 1986, c. 343, s. 1]
Section 19. District Requirements.
In the year nineteen hundred and eighty-five, and each subsequent year, the city of Boston shall not be required to make a new division of its territory into wards as required by section one of chapter fifty-four of the General Laws.
[Acts of 1982, c. 605, s. 3]
Section 20. Habitation Requirements for Representation.
Every city councillor ... who is elected to represent an individual district shall have been an inhabitant of a place within the district for which he is chosen for at least one year immediately preceding his election, and he shall cease to represent such district when he shall cease to be an inhabitant thereof.
[Acts of 1982, c. 605, s. 6]
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