Annual Town Meeting Warrant Article Ideas

[paineinthearse]

A thread about Vermont town meetings - http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=3204481#3205263 - has inspired me to start a new thread in our "flatland" forum.

Let us list here ideas we can present to our towns.

For the uninitiated, Massachusetts general law provides for towns to hold annual town meetings to conduct its business, including approving committee reports, approving a budget, and any other matters that are brought forward by any elected board OR by CITIZENS PETITION of at least 10 residents.

If you have an article and cannot secure committee sponsorship, read the guidelines for filing it as a CITIZENS PETITION - see http://www.mass.gov/legis/laws/mgl/39-10.htm

If you go the CITIZENS PETITION route, I encourage you to notify the applicable committees with as much advance warning as possible. Take it to them first, ask for sponsorship and a public hearing. Only if you do not secure sponsorship, then go the CP route.

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* Note: At least 40 Vermont towns have voted to instruct the governor to withdraw Vermont national guard troops from Iraq!

[paineinthearse]

1. Bolton articles under consideration

WHEREAS, The United States faces three issues of immense importance:
- Terrorist possession of WMD
- War, in Iraq, and possibly with Iran, North Korea, and/or Syria
- Whether to privatize Social Security;
WHEREAS, democracy necessitates the time and personal attention of all citizens;
WHEREAS, few Americans spend time seriously discussing issues with fellow citizens;
WHEREAS, local communities are the only likely local forums for public discussion;
WHEREAS, New England town meetings played a significant role in American independence;
WHEREAS, community discussion would heal civic divisions by facilitating mutual understanding of basic assumptions and the sharing of information; and
WHEREAS, Americans will need to devote more personal time to public issues if they are to shoulder their responsibilities as controllers of history’s most powerful nation,
NOW THEREFORE, the (your town) Democratic Town Committee recommends that the next (your town) Town Meeting adopt the following three Warrant Articles:

First Proposed Warrant Article:
VOTED, that the Town Clerk is directed to send a copy of the following three votes, with the Town seal attached, to the President, the two Massachusetts Senators, Congress Member Meehan, and the Governor.
1. The (your town) Town Meeting of creating a ten year international process for eradicating the world of weapons of mass destruction through comprehensive, enforced control the production, possession, and use of all such weapons, universal inspections, and international guarantees of the defense of all nations against external aggression and external, armed conspiracies.
2. The (your town) Town Meeting of the present use of American armed forces in Iraq.
3. The (your town) Town Meeting of the President’s proposed revisions to the Social Security Law.

Second Proposed Warrant Article
VOTED, that a Town Committee be formed, consisting of one member appointed, respectively, by each political town committee that wishes to participate and is registered and in good standing with the Secretary of the Commonwealth and verified by the Town Clerk, plus one member appointed by vote of the Board of Selectmen, to meet at the call of any of said Committee’s members, receive proposals from (your town) residents, hold public hearings on, and recommend to the Selectmen and the Town Meeting, for consideration by the Town Meeting from time to time, proposed Warrant Articles, and/or proposed referendum ballot questions, by means of either of which (your town) voters can evidence positions on public issues that affect the Town and its residents.

Third Proposed Warrant Article
VOTED, that a Special Town Meeting be called annually by the Selectmen for the purpose of discussing and taking positions on state, national, and international issues that affect the Town and its residents.

We will also look into the Vermont articles.

[merbex]

3. Bolton, this Hinghamite is impressed!

All towns in Mass should be so progressive!

I am going to copy what you posted and bring it my local Dem Town Committee meeting

[paineinthearse]

2. Chapter 39: Section 10 Warrant; issuance; contents

GENERAL LAWS OF MASSACHUSETTS
PART PARTIzMV-RP.
ADMINISTRATION OF THE GOVERNMENT
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TITLE VII.
CITIES, TOWNS AND DISTRICTS
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CHAPTER 39. MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT
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TOWN MEETINGS
Chapter 39: Section 10 Warrant; issuance; contents

Section 10. Every town meeting or town election, except as hereinafter provided, shall be called in pursuance of a warrant, under the hands of the selectmen, notice of which shall be given at least seven days before the annual meeting or an annual or special election and at least fourteen days before any special town meeting. The warrant shall be directed to the constables or to some other persons, who shall forthwith give notice of such meeting in the manner prescribed by the by-laws, or, if there are no by-laws, by a vote of the town, or in a manner approved by the attorney general. The warrant for all town meetings shall state the time and place of holding the meeting and the subjects to be acted upon thereat. The town meeting may be held in one or more places; provided, that if it is held in more than one place, the places are connected by means of a public address system and loud speakers so that the proceedings in all such places may be heard and participated in by all the voters present therein. Whenever the moderator determines that voters are being excluded from the town meeting because there is no room for them in the places provided or that voters in attendance are being deprived of the opportunity to participate therein for any reason whatsoever, he shall either, on his own motion recess the meeting for any period during the day of the meeting or, after consultation with the members of the board of selectmen then present, adjourn the same to another date, not later than fourteen days following the date of said meeting, when places and facilities sufficient to accommodate all voters attending and to enable them to participate therein shall be available. The selectmen shall insert in the warrant for the annual meeting all subjects the insertion of which shall be requested of them in writing by ten or more registered voters of the town and in the warrant for every special town meeting all subjects the insertion of which shall be requested of them in writing by one hundred registered voters or by ten per cent of the total number of registered voters of the town whichever number is the lesser. The selectmen shall call a special town meeting upon request in writing, of two hundred registered voters or of twenty per cent of the total number of registered voters of the town, whichever number is the lesser; such meeting to be held not later than forty-five days after the receipt of such request, and shall insert in the warrant therefor all subjects the insertion of which shall be requested by said petition. No action shall be valid unless the subject matter thereof is contained in the warrant. Two or more distinct town meetings for distinct purposes may be called by the same warrant.

The written requests of registered voters for the insertion of subjects in town meeting warrants shall not be valid unless the required number of registered voters not only sign their names but also state their residence, with street and number, if any. The selectmen shall submit such written requests to the board of registrars of voters or the board of election commissioners who shall check and forthwith certify the number of signatures so checked which are names of voters in the town, and only names so checked and certified shall be counted. A greater number of names than are required in each case need not be certified.


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[paineinthearse]

4. Arlington article 69

ARTICLE 69 RESOLUTION OF THE TOWN OF ARLINGTON CONCERNING THE MASSACHUSETTS

NATIONAL GUARD AND THE WAR IN IRAQ

WHEREAS: the Town and its citizens recognize the sacrifices that the men and women serving in the United States Armed Forces in Iraq are making.


WHEREAS: in October 2002 the United States Congress adopted a Joint Resolution to Authorize the use of United States Armed Forces Against Iraq, relying on statements that were untrue, when in fact

*
the United States was not threatened with attack by Iraq,

*
Saddam Hussein had no weapons of mass destruction,

*
Saddam Hussein had no role in the 9/11 attacks.


WHEREAS: in going to war, the President did not meet the conditions imposed by Congress, failing to show Congress why he decided that diplomatic or peaceful means alone would not protect the national security of the United States or lead to enforcement of Security Council resolutions on Iraq, why he decided that going to war was a necessary action against Iraq on the theory – never proven – that Iraq authorized, committed, or aided in the 9/11 attacks.

WHEREAS: the war has resulted in serious and potentially long-lasting consequences for the United States and for the chances for a just and durable peace in Iraq and the Middle East;

WHEREAS: the United States Constitution provides that Congress shall have the power to "provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, to suppress insurrections and repel Invasions," and the Massachusetts Constitution provides that no armies be maintained without the consent of the State Legislature;


WHEREAS: at least since 1986, the President and the Congress have had nearly total control over state militias, including the Massachusetts National Guard;

WHEREAS: the costs of the call-up of Massachusetts National Guard members for deployment in Iraq has been significant, as reckoned in lost lives, combat injuries, psychic trauma, disruption of family life, financial hardship for individuals, families, and businesses, interruption of careers, and damage to the fabric of civic life in many Massachusetts communities;

WHEREAS: these are costs which would be suffered willingly were there a threat to our nation, but which are not tolerable where there is none;

WHEREAS: Massachusetts’ residents have joined the Guard thinking that they would be serving their neighbors by helping with Massachusetts-based emergencies, unless there was a danger to America requiring transfer to active duty;

WHEREAS: stop-loss orders violate the mutual understanding between Massachusetts’ residents in the Guard and the state and nation they agreed to serve;

WHEREAS: there is reason to believe that the federalization and deployment of Massachusetts National Guard members has rendered the remaining Guard force unable to carry out its state activities effectively; and

NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS HEREBY RESOLVED, that the Town requests the members of Massachusetts’ Congressional Delegation to urge Congress to restore the balance between the federal government and the states, limiting the nearly complete federal control over State National Guard units to cases where there is reasonable evidence that war powers are requested in order to protect against a threat to the territory of the United States, where there is an insurrection or a plausible threat of insurrection; or where there is a declaration of war under the United States Constitution;

RESOLVED, that the Town requests the General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, exercising its powers under Article XVII of the First Part of the Massachusetts’ Constitution, to: investigate and discuss whether members of the Massachusetts’ National Guard have been called to active service and assigned to duties relating to the war in Iraq in conformity with the U.S. Constitution and federal laws, including the 2002 Congressional Resolution on Iraq; and create a commission or other body to collect statutory, historical, and statistical information about the role of the National Guard in serving the State of Massachusetts and to study the impact of the federalization and deployment of its members on the ability of the Guard to perform its mission in Massachusetts;

RESOLVED, that the President and the Congress take steps to withdraw American troops from Iraq, consistent with the mandate of international humanitarian law; and

RESOLVED, that the Town Clerk send a copy of this Resolution to each member of the Massachusetts’ Congressional Delegation, the Massachusetts Governor, the Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, the President of the Senate, and the Adjutant General of the National Guard of Massachusetts.
(Inserted at the request of 10 registered voters)