CITY CHARTER
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS
In the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven
Incorporation.   City Government.     To be sworn Quorum. Division into wards.     Revision of wards.     Election of ward officers. Powers and duties of Warden. Absence of Warden, Clerk, or Inspectors.     Duties of Ward Clerk. Duties of the Inspectors. Oath.   Warrants for meetings.     Certain city officers How elected.     Annual election of Mayor, City Council, School Committee and Overseers fo the Poor. Certificates of election. Plurality. Non-election.   Notice to Mayor elect. Non-election of Mayor.   Vacancy   Oath. Inauguration       Organization of Common Council Absence of Mayor elect.   Chairman pro tem. Each board judge of election of its own members. Vacancies.   Powers and duties of Mayor.         Executive power in Mayor and Aldermen. Mayor's salary.   Police Officers. Bonds.   Powers of City Council.   Election of City Clerk, Treasurer, and other officers.     Sittings public. Appropriations. Accountability. City property.   Receipts and expenditures.   Nomination by Mayor. Members of City Council ineligible to offices of emolument.   City Clerk. Duties.   Assesors.     Taxes.   Fire Department.                         Jurors.           Highways.           Drains and common sewers.   Inspection of lumber and c. Board of Health.     Representatives.     Election of National, State and County Officers.   Examination and return of votes.     Non-election of Representatives.   Lists of voters.       Names not on voting lists.     General meetings of citizens.	AN ACT TO ESTABLISH THE CITY OF CHELSEA. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives, in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows: - SECT. 1. The inhabitants of the Town of Chelsea shall continue to be a body politic and corporate, under the name of the City of Chelsea, 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 the said town, as a municipal corporation. SECT. 2. The administration of all the fiscal, prudential and municipal affairs of the said city, with the government thereof, shall be vested in one municpal officier to be styled the mayor; one council of eight, to be called the board of aldermen; and one council of twenty, to be called the common council; which boards, in their joint capacity shall be denominated the city council, and the members thereof shall be sworn to the faithful performance of their respective offices. A majority of each board shall constitute a quorum for doing business. SECT. 3. It shall be the duty of the selectmen of Chelsea, as soon as may be after the passage of this act, and its acceptance by the inhabitants, as herein after provided, to divide the said town into four wards, to contain, as nearly as conveniently maybe, an equal number of legal voters, which proceedings of the selectmen shall be subject to the revision of the city council, within one year after the pasaage of this act. And it shall be the duty of the city council, once in three years, and not oftener, to revise, and, if it be needful, to alter the said wards, and increase their number, in such manner as to preserve, as nearly as may be, an equal number of legal voters in each ward: provided, however, that in case the number of wards shall be increased, each ward shall continue to be entitled to elect two aldermen and five members of the common council, any thing in the second section of this charter to the contrary notwithstanding. SECT. 4. On the first Monday in December, annually, there shall be chosen by ballot, in each of the said wards, a warden, clerk and three inspectors of elections, who shall be different persons, residents of wards in which they are chosen, who shall hold their offices for one year, and until others shall have been chosen and qualified in their stead. It shall be the duty of such wardens to preside at all ward meetings, with the power of moderators of town meetings; and if at any meeting the warden shall not be present, the clerk of such ward shall call the meeting to order, and preside until a warden pro tempore shall be chosen by ballot; and if both the warden and clerk shall be absent, either of the inspectors of said ward may call the meeting to order, and preside untill, a warden and clerk pro tempore shall be chosen, as aforesaid; and in case of the absence of all of ward officers, any legal voter present, resident in the ward, may preside until a warden pro tempore shall be chosen by ballot; and in like manner, whenever any ward officer may be absent, or neglect or refuse to perform his duties, his office shall be filled pro tempore. The clerk shall record all the proceedings and certify the votes given, and deliver to his successor in office, all such records and journals, together with all other documents and papers held by him in the said capacity. It shall be the duty of the inspectors of elections to assist the warden in receiving, assorting and counting the votes. The warden, clerk and inspectors so chosen, shall respectively make oath or affirmation, faithfully and impartially to discharge their several duties relative to all elections, which oath may be administered by the clerk of such ward to the warden, and by the warden to the clerk and inspectors, or by any justice of the peace for the county of Suffolk; and the fact, or certificate that such oath has been taken, shall be entered on the record of the ward by the clerk thereof. All warrants for meetings of the citizens, for municipal purposes, to be held either in wards or in general meetings, shall be issued by the mayor and aldermen, and shall be in such form, and shall be served, executed and returned in such manner and at such times as the city council may, by any by-law, direct. SECT. 5. The mayor shall be elected by the qualified voters of the city at large, voting in their respective wards; and two aldermen, five common councilmen, two school committee men, and one overseer of the poor, shall be elected from and by the voters of each ward, being residents in the wards where elected. All the said officers shall be chosen by ballot, and shall hold their offices for one year from the first Monday in January, and until others shall be elected and qualified in their stead. SECT. 6. On the first Monday in December, annually, the qualified voters in each ward shall give in their votes for mayor, aldermen, common councilmen, school committee men, and overseers of the poor, as provided in the preceding section; and all the votes so given shall be assorted, counted, declared and registered, in open ward meeting, by causing the names of persons voted for, and the number of votes given for each, to be written in the ward records, in words at length. The clerk of the ward within, twenty-four hours after election, shall deliver to the persons elected aldermen, common councilmen, school committee and overseers of the poor, certificates of their election, signed by the warden and clerk, and by a majority of the inspectors of elections, and shall deliver to the city clerk a copy of the records of such elections, certified in like manner: provided, that in all cases, the persons having the greatest number of votes for their respective offices, shall be deemed and declared to be elected; and if the choice of aldermen, common councilmen, school committee men and overseers of the poor shall not be effected on that day, by reason of two or more persons having received an equal number of votes for the same office, the meeting may be adjourned from time to time, to complete such election.   The board of aldermen shall, as soon as conveniently may be, examine the copies of the records of the several wards, cerffied as aforesaid, and shall cause the person that shall have received the greatest number of votes for mayor, to be notified in writing, of his election ; but if it shall appear that no person has been elected, by reason of two or more having received an equal number of votes, or if the person so 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 hrerin before provided for the choice of a mayor, and repeated from time to time, until a mayor shall be chosen. In case of the decease or resignation of the mayor, or of his inability to perform the duties of his office, the boards of aldermen.and common council shall, respectively, by vote, declare that a vacancy exists, and the cause thereof; whereupon the two boards shall meet in convention and elect a mayor to fill such vacancy; and the mayor thus elected shall hold his office until the inability causing the vacancy shall be removed, or until a new election.   The oath prescribed by this act shall be administered to the mayor by the city clerk, or any justice of the peace for the county of Suffolk.   The aldermen and councilmen elect, shall, on the first Monday in January, at ten o'clock in the forenoon, meet in convention, when the oath required by this act shall be administered to the members of the two boards present, by the mayor, or by any justice of the peace for the county of Suffolk; and a certificate of such oath having been taken, shall be entered on a journal of the mayor and aldermen, and of the common council, by their respective clerks.   After the oath has been administered, as aforesaid, the two boards shall separate, and the common council shall be organized by the choice of one of their own members as president,.and also of a clerk, who shall be sworn to the faithful performances of their duties.   In case of the absence of the mayor elect, on the first Monday in January, the city government shall organize itself in the manner herein before provided, and may proceed to business in the same manner as if the mayor was present; and the oath of office may be administered to the mayor at any time thereafter in a convention of the two branches.   In the absence of the mayor, the board of aldermen may choose a chairman pro tempore, who shall, preside at joint meetings of the two boards.   Each board shall keep a record of its own proceedings and judge of the election of its own members; and in case of failure of an election, or in case of any vacancy, declared by either board, or in case of any vacancy in the school committee or in the board of overseers of the poor, the mayor and aldermen shall order a new election. SECT. 7. The mayor thus chosen and qualified, shall be the chief executive officer of the said city; it shall be his duty to be vigilant in causing the laws and regulations of the city to be enforced, and to exercise a general supervision over the conduct of all subordinate officers, and to cause their neglect of duty to be punished; he may call special meetings of the boards of aldermen and common council, or either of them, when necessary in his opinion, by causing written notices to be left at the places of residence of the several members; he shall communicate, from time to time, to both of them, such information and recommend such measures as, in his opinion, the interests of the city may require; he shall preside in the board of aldermen, and in convention of the two boards, but shall have a casting vote only. SECT. 8. The executive power of the said city generally, and the administration of the police, with all the powers theretofore vested in the selectmen of Chelsea, shall be vested in, and may be exercised by, the mayor and aldermen, as fully as if the same were herein, specially enumerated. The mayor shall receive four hundred dollars per annum for his services, until otherwise determined by the city council; but the amount of such compensation shall not be increased, or diminished during the term for which he shall have been elected. The members of the board of aldermen and common council shall receive no compensation. The mayor and aldermen shall have full and exclusive power to appoint constables, and a city marshal and assistants, with the powers and duties of constables, and all other police officers, and the same to remove at pleasure. And the mayor and aldermen shall require any person who may be appointed marshal or constable of the city, to give bonds for the faithful discharge of the duties of the office, with such security and to such amount as they may deem reasonable and proper; upon which bonds the like proceedings and remedies maybe had, as are by law provided in the case of constables' bonds taken by the selectmen of towns.   All other powers now vested in the inhabitants of the said town, and all powers granted by this act,. shall be vested in the mayor and aldermen and common councilor the said city, to be exercised by concurrent vote, each board to have a negative upon the other; but the city council shall, annually, as soon after their organization as may be convenient, elect by joint ballot, in convention, a city treasurer, collector of taxes, assessors, city clerk and firewards of engineers, who shall hold their offices until others are elected and qualified in their stead, and shall, in such manner as the said city council may determine, by any by-law made for the purpose, appoint or elect all subordinate officers not herein otherwise directed, for the then ensuing year, define their duties and fix their compensations, in cases where such duties and compensations shall not be defined and fixed by the laws of the Commonwealth. In case any vacancy shall occur in any office the election to which is made by the city council, said council shall have the power to fill the same.   All sittings of the.mayor and aldermen, of the city council and of the common council, shall be public when they are not engaged in executive business.   The city council shall take care that money shall not be paid from the treasury unless granted or appropriated; shall secure a just and prompt accountability, by requiring bonds, with sufficient penalty and sureties, from all persons intrusted with the receipt, custody, or disbursement of money; shall have the care and superintendence of city buildings, and the custody and management of all city property, with power to let or sell what may be legally let or sold; and to purchase property, real or personal, in the name or for the use of the city, whenever its interest or convience may, in their judgment, require it.   The city council shall, as often as once a year, cause to be published, for the use of the inhabitants, a particular account of receipts and expenditures, and a schedule of all the property and debts of the city. SECT. 9. In all cases in which appointments are directed to be made by the mayor and aldermen, the mayor shall have the exclusive power of nomination, being subject, however, to confirmation or rejection by the board of aldermen; but if a person so nominated shall be rejected, it shall be the duty of the mayor to make another nomination within one month from the time of such rejection. No person shall be eligible to any office of emolument the salary of which is payable out of the city treasury, who, at the time of such appointment shall be a member of the board of aldermen or of the common council. SECT. 10 The city clerk shall also be clerk of the board of aldermen, and shall be sworn to the faithful performance of his duties. He shall perform such duties as shall be prescribed by the board of aldermen; and be shall perform all the duties, and exercise all the powers by law now incumbent upon, or vested in, the town clerk of the town of Chelsea, and may be removed at the pleasure of the city council. SECT. 11. The assessors to be chosen as herein before provided, shall constitute the board of assessors, and shall exercise the same powers, and be subject to the same duties and liabilities, that the assessors in the several towns in the Commonwealth may exercise or are subject to under existing laws, and shall be sworn to the faithful performance of their duty.   All taxes shall be assessed, apportioned and collected, in the manner prescribed bv the laws of this Commonwealth: provided, however, that the city council may establish further or additional provisions for the collection thereof. SECT. 12. An act establishing the firedepartment in the town of Chelsea, passed March twentieth, in the year one thousand eight hundred and forty-three, is hereby repealed. The city council of the City of Chelsea may establish a fire department for said city, to consist of a chief engineer, and so many assistant engineers and so many enginemen, hosemen, and hook and laddermen, as the city council.by ordinance shall, from time to time, prescribe; and said city council, shall have authority to make such provisions in regard to the time and mode of appointment, and occasion and mode of removals, of either of such officers or members, to make such requisitions in respect to their qualifications and period of service, to define their office and duties, to fix and pay such compensation for their services, and in general to make such regulations in regard to their conduct and government, and to the management and conduct of fires and persons attending fires, subject to the penalties provided for the breach of city ordinances, as they shall deem expedient: provided, that the appointment of enginemen, hosemen and hook and lademen, shall be made by the mayor and aldermen exclusively.   The engineers and other officers of the fire department, appointed as aforesaid, shall have the same authority in regard to the prevention and extinguishment of fires, and the performance of the other offices and duties now incumbent upon firewards, as are conferred upon firewards by the statutes now in force.   They shall also have authority, in compliance with any ordinance of said city, to make an examination of places where shavings and other combustible materials are collected or deposited, and to require the removal of such materials, or the adoption of suitable safeauards against fire. And the said city council are hereby authorized to make suitable ordinances upon the latter subject, under the penalties enacted in the city charter. SECT. 13. The list of jurors shall be prepared by the mayor and aldermen, in the same manner as is now required by the laws of this Commonwealth to be done by the selectmen within and for their respective towns; and the list, when made out by the mayor and aldermen, shall be submitted to the common council for concurrent revision or amendment.   The mayor and aldermen and city clerk shall, severally, have and exercise all the powers and duties with regard to the drawing of jurors in the city, and all other matters relating to jurors therein, which are by the laws of this Commonwealth, required to be performed by the selectmen and town clerks in their respective towns; and all venires for jurors to be returned from Chelsea, shall be served on the said mayor and aldermen. SECT. 14. The mayor and aldermen, with the concurrent vote of the common council, shall have exclusive power to lay out, alter or discontinue, any street or town way, to establish the grade thereof, and to estimate the damages any individual or party may sustain thereby; and the person or party dissatisfied with, the decision of the city council, in the estimate of damages, may make complaint to the county commissioners of the county of Middlesex, at any meeting at any meeting held within one year after such decision, whereupon the same proceedings shall be had as are now by law provided in cases where persons or parties are aggrieved by the assessment of damages by the selectmen, in the twenty-fourth chapter ot the Revised Statutes. SECT. 15. The mayor and aldermen, with the concurrent vote of the common council, shall have the power to cause drains and common sewers to he laid down through any street or private lands, paying the owners such damage as they may sustain thereby, and to require all persons to pay a reasonable sum for the privilege of opening any drain into such public drain or common sewer; and the city council may make by-laws with suitable penalties, for the inspection, survey, measurement and sale of lumber, wood, coal and bark, brought into the city for sale. SECT. 16. All power and authority now vested in the board of health for the town of Chelsea, or in the selectmen thereof, shall be transferred to and vested in the city council, to be by them exercisedin such manner as they may deem expedient. SECT. 17. The mayor and aldermen shall, in each year, issue their warrant for calling meetings for the election of the whole number of representatives to the general court, to which the said city is by law entitled, and the number shall be specified in the warrant. SECT. 18. All elections for County, State, and United States officers, who are voted for by the people, shall be held at meetings of the citizens qualified to vote in such elections, in their respective wards, at the time fixed by law for these elections respectively; and at such meetings all the votes given for such officers respectively shall be assorted, counted, declared and registered, in open ward meeting, by causing the names of persons voted for, and the number of votes given for each, to be written in the ward records in words at length. The ward clerk shall, forthwith, deliver to the city clerk a certified copy of the record of such elections. The city clerk shall, forthwith, record such returns, and the mayor and aldermen shall, within two days after every such election, examine and compare all such returns, and make out a certificate of the result of such elections, to be signed by the mayor and a majority of the aldermen, and also by the city clerk, which shall be transmitted or delivered in the same manner as similar returns are by law directed to be made by selectmen of towns; and in all elections for representatives to the general court, in case the whole number proposed to be elected shall not be legally chosen, the mayor and aldermen shall forthwith issue their warrant for a new election, conformably to the provisions of the constitution and the laws of the Commonwealth. SECT. 19. Prior to every election, the mayor and aldermen shall make out lists of all the citizens of each ward, qualified to vote in such elections, in the manner in which selectmen of towns are required to make out lists of voters; and for that purpose they shall have full access to the assessors' books and lists, and be entitled to the assistance of assessors and city officers; and they shall deliver the said lists, so prepared and corrected, to the clerks of the said wards, to be used at such elections; and shall cause copies thereof to be posted up in not less than three places in said wards, at least seven days prior to said elections; and no person shall be entitled to vote whose name is not borne on such lists: provided, that any person whose name shall not be borne on the list of the ward in which he is entitled to vote, when it shall be placed in the hands of the clerk of said ward, shall have the right to have his name entered thereon at any time thereafter, and before the closing of the polls, upon presenting to the ward officers a certificate signed by the mayor or city clerk, setting forth his right to have his name thus entered. SECT. 20. General meetings of the citizens qualified to vote may, from time to time, be held, to consult upon the public good, to give instructions to their representatives, and to take all lawful measures to obtain redress for any grievances, according to the right secured by the people by the constitution of this Commonwealth; and such meetings may and shall be duly warned by the mayor and aldermen, upon the requisition of fifty qualified voters.
By-laws and ordinances.   Mayor's approval or objections. Proviso.       Penalties for breachof by-laws and ordinances.                           First organization of the city government.                             Delivery of records & c., to City Clerk.   Town meeting suspended.         Legislature may amend the Charter. Act to be submitted to citizens.     Inconsistent acts repealed. When to take effect.	SECT. 21. The city council shall have power to make all such salutary and needful by-laws as towns, by the laws, of this Commonwealth, have power to make and establish, and to annex penalties, not exceeding twenty dollars, for the breach. thereof; which by-laws shall take affect and be in force from and after the time therein respectively limited, without the sanction of any court or other authority whatever: provided, that all such by-laws or ordinances shall be presented to the mayor for his approval; which, if he approve, he shall sign, if not, he shall return to the city council within one week, with his objections, for a reviewal, and if again passed by a majority of each board, the same shall become a law: and provided, also, that all laws and regulations now in force in the town of Chelsea, shall, until they shall expire by their own litigation, or be revised or repealed by the city council, remain in force; and all fines and forfeitures for the breach of any by-law or ordinance, shall be paid into the city treasury. SECT. 22. All fines, forfeitures and penalties, accruing for the breach of any by-laws of the city of Chelsea, or of the ordinances of the city council, or of any of the orders of the mayor and aldermen, may be prosecuted for and recovered before the police court of the said city of Chelsea, by complaint of information, in the same manner in which other criminal offences are now prosecuted before the police courts within this Commonwealth; reserving, however, in all cases, to the party complained of and prosecuted, the right of appeal to the municipal court of the city of Boston, for the county of Suffolk, to the term there, next to be held, from the judgment and sentence of the police courts as provided in the thirty-first chapter of the laws of the Commonwealth passed in the year one thousand eight hundread and forty-nine; and it shall be sufficient in all such prosecutions to set forth in the complaint the offence fully, plainly, substantiall and formally; and it shall not be necessary to set forth such by-law, ordinance, or order, or any part thereof.   All fines, forfeitures and penalties, so recovered and paid, shall be paid to the treasurer of the city of Chelsea, and shall inure to such uses as said city council shall direct.   When any person upon any conviction before the police court for any breach of any by-law of the said city of Chelsea, or any of the ordinances of the city council, or of any of the orders of the mayor and aldermen, shall be sentenced to pay a fine, or any penalty or forfeiture provided by any such by-law, ordinance or order, and shall fail to pay the same, or, upon claiming an appeal, shall fail to recognize for his appeerance at the court appealed to, there, to prosecute his appeal, and to abide the sentence or order of the court and in the meantime to keep the peace and be of good behaviour, he shall be committed until he shall pay such fme, penalty or forfeiture, or be otherwise discharged according to law.   The provisions of this section shall also apply to all prosecutions founded on the by-laws or ordinances of the town of Chelsea, which may continue in force after this act shall go into operation; and all the powers of the police court already established shall be continued to it. SECT. 23. For the purpose of organizing the system of government hereby established, and putting the same into operation, in the first instance, the selectmen of the town of Chelsea, for the time being, shall, within thirty days after the acceptance of this act, issue their warrants, seven days at least previous to the day so appointed, for calling meetings of the citizens at such place and hour as they may deem expedient, for the purpose of choosing a warden, clerk and inspectors for each ward, and all other officers whose election is provided for in the preceding sections of this act; and the transcripts of the records of each ward, specifying the votes given for the several officers aforesaid, cercified by the warden and clerk of each ward, at such first meeting, shall be returned to the said selectmen, whose duty it shall be to examine and compare the same; and in case the said elections should not be completed at the first meeting, then to issue new warrants, until such elections shall be completed, and to give notice thereof, in the manner herein before provided, to the several persons elected. And at the said first meeting, any inhabitant of said ward, being a legal voter, may call.the citizens to order and preside until a warden shall have been chosen. And at said first meeting a list of voters in each ward, prepared and collected by the selectmen for the time being, shall be delivered to the clerk of each ward, when elected, to be used as herein before provided.   And the selectmen shall appoint such time for the first meeting of the city council as they may judge proper, after the choice of the city officers as aforesaid, or a majority of the members of both branches, iri the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, and shall also fix: upon the place and hour of the first meeting, and a written notice thereof shall be sent, by the said selectmen, to the place of abode of each of the city officers chosen, as provided in this section.   And after this first election of city officers, and this first meeting of the organization of the city council, as in this section is provided, the day of holding the annual elections, and the day and hour for the meeting of the city council for the purpose of organization shall remain, as provided in the sixth section of this act. And it shall be the duty of the city council, immediately after the first organization, to elect all necessary officers, who shall hold their offices respectively until others shall be chosen and qualified in their stead. SECT. 24. All officers of the town of Chelsea having the care and custody of any records, papers or muniments of property belonging to the said town, shall deliver the same to the city clerk within one week after entering upon the duties of his office. SECT. 25. The annual town meeting of the town of Chelsea, which.by law is to be held in March, is hereby suspended, and all town officers now in office shall hold their places until this act shall take effect, and their successors are chosen and qualified. In case this act shall not be accepted by the inhabitants of the town of Chelsea, as to hereinafter provided, the selectmen shall issue their warrant according to law, for holding the annual town meeting, in which all the proceedings shall be the same as if this act had not been passed; and the warrant for calling the meeting shall be issued within seven days after the rejection of this act. SECT. 26. Nothing in this act shall be so construed as to prevent the legislature from altering or amending the same whenever they shall deem it expedient. SECT. 27. This act shall be void, unless the inhabitants of the town of Chelsea, at a legal town meeting called for that purpose, and held within twenty days after the passage of this act, at which the selectmen shall preside, and the check list be used in the same manner as at meetings called to choose State officers, and the polls be kept open at least six hours, shall by a vote of a majority of the voters present and voting thereon, yea or nay, by a written ballot, determine to adopt the same. SECT. 28. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent with this act, are hereby repealed. SECT. 29. This act shall go into operation from and after its passage. House of Representatives, March 12, 1857 Passed to be enacted. Charles A. Phelps, Speaker. In Senate, March 12, 1857. Passed to be enacted. Charles W. Upham, President. March 13, 1857. Approved. Henry J. Gardner.