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CITY OF BOSTON CODE OF ORDINANCES
THE CHARTER OF THE CITY OF BOSTON
CHAPTER I: GENERAL PROVISIONS
CHAPTER II: FORM OF GOVERNMENT
CHAPTER III: ACQUISITION AND DISPOSITION OF PROPERTY
CHAPTER IV: CONTRACTS
CHAPTER V: ADMINISTRATION
CHAPTER VI: GENERAL SERVICES
CHAPTER VII: ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
CHAPTER VIII: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER IX: BUILDING REGULATIONS
CHAPTER X: HOUSING SERVICES
CHAPTER XI: PUBLIC SERVICES
CHAPTER XII: PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE
CHAPTER XIII: NATURAL GAS
CHAPTER XIV: LICENSING AND CONSUMER BOARDS, COMMITTEES AND OFFICERS
CHAPTER XV: DIVISIONS OF THE MAYOR’S OFFICE
CHAPTER XVI: PROHIBITIONS, PENALTIES AND PERMITS
CHAPTER XVII: LICENSES AND REGULATIONS AFFECTING CERTAIN TRADES
CHAPTER XVIII: FEES AND CHARGES
CHAPTER XIX: SCHOOLS
CHAPTER XX: CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS
CHAPTER XXI: MISCELLANEOUS PUBLIC BUILDINGS
CHAPTER XXII: SUFFOLK COUNTY
CHAPTER XXIII: TRASH AND REFUSE DISPOSAL
CHAPTER XXIV: BOSTON JOBS, LIVING WAGE AND PREVAILING WAGE ORDINANCE
PARALLEL REFERENCES
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SECTION 76.   Provision for Administrative Assistant.
   Notwithstanding any special or general law to the contrary, the members of the school committee appointed pursuant to this act shall not have the authority to hire personal staff; provided, however, that a paid administrative assistant may be appointed by the president of the school committee. [Acts of 1991, c. 108, s. 5]
SECTION 77.   Nominating Panel for Appointment of School Committee.
   There shall be in the city of Boston a nominating panel composed of thirteen members whose sole function shall be to nominate persons for consideration by the mayor for appointment to the school committee. Representation on the panel and the selection of said members shall be as follows:
      (1)   Four parents of children in the Boston public school system as follows: (i) one parent who shall be selected by the citywide parents council; (ii) one parent who shall be selected by the citywide educational coalition; (iii) one parent who shall be selected by the Boston special needs parent advisory council; and (iv) one parent who shall be selected by the bilingual education citywide parent advisory council.
      (2)   One teacher in the Boston public school system who shall be selected by the Boston teachers union from its membership.
      (3)   One headmaster or principal in the Boston public school system who shall be selected by the Boston association of school administrators and supervisors from its membership.
      (4)   One representative from the Boston business community as follows: one representative each shall be selected by the private industry council, the Boston municipal research bureau, and Boston chamber of commerce from their respective memberships. Such representatives shall serve on a rotating basis as follows: the representative from the private industry council shall serve for the first year of the first term of the nominating panel; the representative from the Boston municipal research bureau shall serve for the second year of the first term of the nominating panel; the representative from the Boston chamber of commerce shall serve for the first year of the second term of the nominating panel; and so forth.
      (5)   One president of a public or private college or university who shall be selected by the chancellor of higher education of the commonwealth.
      (6)   One person shall be the commissioner of education of the commonwealth.
      (7)   Four persons who shall be appointed by the mayor. The members of the nominating panel shall be selected from time to time no later than September thirtieth and shall serve for a term of two years, except as otherwise provided in this section. In the event that any member does not complete his or her term for any reason, the person or entity who selected such member shall select another person in like manner to complete the unexpired term.
[Acts of 1991, c. 108, s. 6]
SECTION 78.   Nomination of the School Committee.
   The nominating panel annually shall from among its membership elect a chairman who shall forthwith file a list of the names and addresses of the members of the panel with the city clerk. The panel shall meet in public for the sole purpose of deliberating upon, hearing public comment with respect to, and finally selecting a list of nominees to be presented to the mayor from time to time. Each nominee shall be a resident of Boston at the time of such nomination. The panel shall strive to nominate individuals who reflect the ethnic, racial and socioeconomic diversity of the city of Boston and its public school population.
   On the first Wednesday of October of every year the nominating panel shall convene to select not fewer than three but not more than five nominees for each office of school committee member that shall become vacant on the first day of the next municipal year. No later than the first Monday in December of each year, the panel shall present to the mayor a list containing the names and addresses of the said nominees for each term of office to commence on the first day of the next municipal year; provided, however, should the panel fail to present said list to the mayor by said first Monday in December, the mayor shall have the power to appoint any person he deems suitable to the office of school committee for the term to commence in the following January.
   Upon notice provided by the city clerk that a vacancy exists in the office of any school committee member due to death or resignation, the panel shall convene within ten days of such notice and shall, within thirty days after so convening, select and present to the mayor a list containing the names and addresses of not fewer than three but not more than five nominees. Within fifteen days after such presentment, the mayor shall appoint a school committee member to serve the unexpired term of the vacant office; provided, however, should the panel fail to present said list within said thirty days, the mayor shall have the power to appoint any person he deems suitable to the vacant office to serve said unexpired term.
[Acts of 1991, c. 108, s. 7]
APPENDIX A
BALLOT QUESTIONS—1909, 1948, 1996, 2021
I. Acts of 1909, c. 486, s. 35
   SECTION 35: At the state election on November second, nineteen hundred and nine, the then registered male voters of the city of Boston shall be entitled to vote upon the following plans, which shall be printed upon the official ballot in the following form. The voters shall make a cross in the space at the right of the plan which he desires to have adopted. No ballot shall be counted upon which the voter has made a cross in both spaces.
      Plan No. 1. The term of mayor to be two years; the city council to consist of one member from each ward (except wards twenty and twenty-four, which shall have two each) nominated in primaries and elected for two-year terms; nominations for school committee, mayor, and councilmen-at-large to be made by independent nominations and by delegates elected by the voters in the primaries.
      Plan No. 2. The term of mayor to be four years, subject to recall after two years by not less than a majority of all the voters in the city; the city council to consist of nine members elected at large for three-year terms; all nominations for a municipal election to be made by petition of not less than five thousand voters, without party designations on the ballot.
 
Results                  November 2, 1909
Plan 1
Plan 2
Blanks
Total
35, 276
39,170
5,970
80,416
Registered Voters: 107,918
 
II. Acts of 1948, c. 452, s. 3
   SECTION 3: A petition, as hereinafter described, addressed to the board of election commissioners and signed by qualified voters of the city to a number equal at least to ten per cent of the registered voters at the state election next preceding the filing of the petition may be filed with the board of election commissioners not later than five o’clock of the afternoon of the first Wednesday in July next preceding the regular municipal election at which the question proposed by the petition is to be submitted to a vote of the voters, and such petition shall set forth any one of the following questions:
      Question One. “Shall the City of Boston adopt the form of government defined as Plan A under the provisions of an act passed by the General Court in the year nineteen hundred and forty-eight, and consisting of a mayor, a city council of nine members elected at-large, and a school committee of five members elected at-large, with all candidates therefor being nominated by preliminary elections?” 6
 
Results                  November 8, 1949
Yes
No
Total
146,162
73,882
220,044
 
      Question Two. “Shall the City of Boston adopt the form of government defined as Plan D under the provisions of an act passed by the General Court in the year nineteen hundred and forty-eight, and consisting of a city council of nine members elected at-large, including a mayor elected by and from its members, and a city manager appointed by it, and a school committee of five members elected at-large, with each voter having the right to vote for six members of the city council and three members of the school committee, and with all candidates for said elective offices being nominated by preliminary elections?” 7
      Question Three. “Shall the City of Boston adopt the form of government defined as Plan E under the provisions of an act passed by the General Court in the year nineteen hundred and forty-eight, and consisting of a city council of nine members elected at-large, including a mayor elected by and from its members, a city manager appointed by it, and a school committee of five members elected at-large, with all said elective officers being elected by proportional representation?” [Acts of 1948, c. 452, s. 3] 8
   The petition shall be in the form of separate sheets; and each sheet of said petition shall be in substantially the following form:
   To the Board of Election Commissioners, City of Boston:
   We, the undersigned, qualified voters of the City of Boston, respectfully petition you to cause to be submitted to a vote of the voters of the City of Boston the following question: (insert one of three questions as set forth above).
   To the Board of Election Commissioners, City of Boston:
   We, the undersigned, qualified voters of the City of Boston, respectfully petition you to cause to be submitted to a vote of the voters of the City of Boston the following question: (insert one of three questions as set forth above).
 
CHECK
SIGNATURES
(To be made in person with name as registered)
RESIDENCE ON JANUARY 1, 19__
Street and Number, if any
W’d
P’ct
NOW LIVING AT
Street and Number, if any
W’d
P’ct
 
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS
Suffolk, ss.   Boston,   (Date), 19__
   The undersigned, being the circulator or circulators of this paper, severally certify, under the pains and penalties of perjury, that the persons whose names are written upon the lines the numbers of which appear opposite our signatures below, signed the same in person.
 
NAMES AND ADDRESSES OF PERSONS CIRCULATING THIS PAPER
Numbers of Lines Upon Which Appear Signatures as to Which Certification is Made Hereby
Name
Address
 
   The signature of any petitioner which is not so certified shall not be counted in determining the number of petitioners.
   A separate typewritten sheet in substantially the aforesaid form, signed by at least ten and not more than fifteen qualified voters of the city, shall, not earlier than the first Wednesday of February next preceding the regular municipal election at which the question set forth on said typewritten sheet is to be submitted to a vote of the voters, be presented to the board of election commissioners. Within forty- eight hours after the presentation of said typewritten sheet said board shall certify thereon the number of signatures which are the names of qualified voters in the city; and if said typewritten sheet contain the signatures of at least ten qualified voters as aforesaid, said board shall within ten days after the presentation of said typewritten sheet provide blanks for the use of subsequent signers, sufficient in number to contain spaces for signatures equal at least to twenty times the number of signatures required as above provided, shall print at the top of each blank the question set forth on said typewritten sheet, together with the names and residences of the certified signers, and shall number each of said blanks consecutively. Said typewritten sheet shall upon presentation be photostated by said board and shall within ten days after presentation be returned by said board to the signers or any one of them, who shall offer said typewritten sheet for filing with the printed sheets as hereinafter provided. The petition shall consist solely of the typewritten sheet and of printed sheets provided by said board as aforesaid.
   Such separate sheets, containing at least the required number of signatures of qualified voters as aforesaid, shall not be offered for filing separately but shall be offered as one petition, and when so filed, together the several papers shall be deemed to constitute the petition, and the name and address of the person presenting the same for filing shall be endorsed thereon. The board of election commissioners shall forthwith examine the petition and certify thereon the number of signatures which are the names of qualified voters in the city, except that said board need not certify a greater number of names than is equal in number to twelve per cent of the registered voters at the state election next preceding the filing of the petition, and said board shall attach thereon its certificate showing the results of such examination. The petition shall, when filed, be a matter of public record, but it shall not be open to public inspection until after certification of the signatures thereon. Not later than thirty days after the petition has been filed with them, said election commissioners shall complete such certification. The provisions of law relative to the signing and circulating of nomination papers of candidates for office in the city and to the identification and certification of names thereon and submission to the board of election commissioners therefor shall apply, so far as apt, to the signing of petitions hereunder.
   Any petition certified by the board of election commissioners as not containing at least the required number of signatures as aforesaid, or found by the state ballot law commission, upon appeal as provided in section four, not to contain at least said required number of valid certified signatures as herein provided, shall be invalid and insufficient. The board of election commissioners and the state ballot law commission shall receipt in writing for the petition submitted to and received by them and shall deliver the petition only on receiving written receipt therefor. [Acts of 1948, c. 452, s. 3]

 

Notes

6
    Plan A, as noted in the ballot question, is fully described in Acts of 1948, c. 452, ss. 10-20, 53-65, et al., as amended.
7
    Plan D, as noted in the ballot question, is fully described in Acts of 1948, c. 452, ss. 21-22, 25-52, 53-65, et al., as amended.
8
    Plan E, as noted in the ballot question, is fully described in Acts of 1948, c. 452, ss. 23-24, 25-52, 66-70, et al., as amended.
III. Acts of 1991, c. 108
   The elected School Committee was abolished and an appointed School Committee was established by St. 1991, c. 108 which was preceded by a nonbinding ballot question on November 7, 1989.
      “Should the elected school committee structure be changed to a new seven member school board serving four year terms, appointed by the Mayor with the approval of the City Council from a list of Boston residents selected by a nominating panel comprised of community leaders, parents, educators, business and labor leaders; provided that within eight years after any such change is enacted, voters shall be given the opportunity to evaluate the new governance structure?”
 
      Question 2 Results            November 7, 1989
Yes
No
Total Ballots
29,183
28,314
57,497
 
   St. 1991, c. 108 gained its final approval on July 5, 1991. A subsequent ballot question was presented to the voters of the City of Boston on November 5, 1996:
      “Shall an act passed in the General Court in 1991, entitled ‘An Act Reorganizing the School Committee of the City of Boston’ be repealed as of January 1998 and in place thereof the school committee structure as existing in 1991 be reconstituted after an election held in 1997?”
 
      Question 2 Results            November 5, 1996
Yes
No
Blanks
Total Ballots
41,070
94,200
39,689
174,959
 
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