Title
Order: That the City submit to the legislature of passage An Act Relative to the terms of Councillors At Large and the composition and method of election School Committee members in the city of Malden.
Body
Ordered: That the City submit to the Massachusetts legislature for passage in substantially the following form: An Act Relative to the terms of Councillors At Large and the composition and method of election School Committee members in the city of Malden.
Be it enacted, etc., as follows:
Section 1. Chapter 550 of the Acts of 1955 is hereby further amended by striking out Section 1 and inserting in place thereof the following:
Commencing January first, two thousand and eighteen, the city council of the city of Malden shall consist of eleven members, one member to be elected by and from the registered voters of that ward and the remaining members to be elected by and from the registered voters of the city. Members elected by and from the registered voters of their ward shall be elected to serve two years from the first day of January following their election and until their successors are qualified. Members elected by and from the registered voters of the city shall be elected to serve four years from the first day of January following their election and until their successors are qualified. Said council shall elect annually one of its members as its president.
Section 2. Section 24 of Chapter 169 of the Acts of 1881, as most recently amended by Chapter 434 of the Acts of 1999 and Chapter 114 of the Acts of 2011, is hereby amended by striking out the first seven sentences and inserting in place thereof the following:
Section 24. The school committee of the city of Malden shall consist of five members, one of whom shall be the Mayor, who shall serve as Chairman, and the remainder of whom shall be elected by and from the registered voters of the city; but no person shall be eligible for membership on the committee who is not an inhabitant of the city. The school committee shall have care and superintendence of the schools. Members shall be elected to serve for four municipal years from the first Monday in January next following their election until their successors are qualified. The school committee members shall receive such compensation as determined by municipal ordinance. The committee shall appoint, but not from among its members, a superintendent of the schools. The committee may choose from among its members or otherwise a secretary, to be under the direction and control of said committee. The compensation of such secretary and superintendent shall be determined from year to year by the school committee and it may remove such secretary and superintendent at its pleasure. If at any time a vacancy occurs in the school committee from any cause, the president of the city council and the remaining school committee members, meeting in joint convention, shall, within fifteen days after the vacancy arises, choose, as school committee member for the unexpired term, whichever of the defeated candidates for the office of school committee member who received the highest number of votes at the preceding election and is willing and eligible to serve, or, if there is no such defeated candidate willing and eligible to serve, a registered voter of the city duly qualified to vote for the office of school committee.
Section 3. Section 4 of Chapter 434 of the Acts of 1999 is hereby stricken in its entirety and the following inserted in place thereof:
Candidates for election to the school committee of the city of Malden shall be nominated in accordance with the requirements of chapter 53 of the General Laws; provided, however, that nomination papers of candidates for the office of school committee shall be signed in the aggregate by not less than 200 voters qualified to vote in the next municipal election.
Section 4. The school committee elected under and in accordance with the provisions of this act shall be the lawful successors to the present school committee and shall be entitled to all the powers and privileges conferred and subject to all the duties and obligations imposed by general law and chapter 169 of the acts of 1881.
Section 5. Sections 1 and 2 of this act shall be submitted to the voters of the city of Malden at the regular municipal election to be held in the year 2015 in the form of questions which shall be placed on the official ballot to be used of the election of city officers at said election as follows:
"Shall Section 1 of an act passed by the general court relative to the term of councillors at large in the city of Malden be accepted?" If a majority of the votes cast in answer to this question is in the affirmative, Section 1 shall take effect for the municipal election to be held in 2017, but not otherwise
"Shall Section 2 of an act passed by the general court relative to the composition and method of election of the School Committee in the city of Malden be accepted?" If a majority of the votes cast in answer this question is in the affirmative, that section shall take effect for the municipal election to be held in 2019, but not otherwise.