Profile | Town Meeting
The legislative branch of our town's government
We’ve already talked about why Burlington is considered a town and not a city, and that is owed to our Town Meeting style of government. But what is Town Meeting, and how does it work?
What is Town Meeting?
Massachusetts has two different Town Meeting structures - open, where anyone can come and vote, and representative, where anyone can come but only elected members can vote. Open Town Meetings are required for smaller towns (populations under 6,000) but can get cumbersome with larger populations. Since 1970, Burlington's Town Meeting has been representative - and only 33 towns in the state have this kind of structure.
Currently, Burlington is divided into 7 precincts with 18 elected Town Meeting Members per precinct, for a total of 126 voting members. Six members are elected from each precinct every April for a term of 3 years. There are three town meetings each year - one in January, one in May (this is a long, often multi-day meeting where the town's annual budget is discussed and approved) and one in September.
Town Meeting is responsible for approving the allocation of funds in the town and approving changes, additions, or deletions to the local statutes, called bylaws (including zoning bylaws). Town Meeting also approves salaries for elected officials.
How Does Town Meeting Work?
A couple of weeks before Town Meeting, the Warrant (the document that has all the articles up for a vote) and any supporting documentation for the articles (called the Backup) are circulated to TM Members and available online for the public to review.
There are several committees appointed by the Town Moderator. Committees also are sometimes appointed on an as-needed basis - the Transportation Committee and Sidewalk Committee are recent examples of such committees. These committees serve in an advisory capacity to Town Meeting, reviewing relevant warrant articles prior to town meeting and voting on whether or not to recommend each article. Below is a list of the Committees; see here for more details.
General Bylaw Review Committee (5 members, 1-year term)
Zoning Bylaw Review Committee (11 members, 3-year term)
Capital Budget Committee (7 members, 3-year term)
Facilities Committee (7 members, 1-year term)
Human Services Committee (7 members, 3-year term)
Land Use Committee (9 members, 3-year term)
Rules Committee (13 members, 1-year term)
Ways & Means Committee (the town’s Finance Committee) (15 members, 3-year term)
As articles are presented at Town Meeting, the Moderator will ask for committee recommendations on each one. This provides insight on whether an article is feasible and fits in with historical precedent, and sometimes brings up issues individuals haven't considered.
Town Meeting in Action
In the last few years, Town Meeting has had the opportunity to decide whether or not to appropriate money to fund, among many other things,
Installation of a sun shade at Wildwood Park
A director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in our schools
Period product dispensers in school bathrooms
Scoreboards at Marshall Simonds Middle School field
Vehicles for recreation and public safety purposes
Feasibility studies for Fox Hill, the police station, and the high school
many, many other budget appropriations
Town Meeting has also voted on updating the term "Board of Selectmen" to “Select Board,” updating our zoning bylaws to be sure we are attracting amazing biotech businesses to the area, and much more.
Town Moderator and Town Clerk
The Town Moderator and Town Clerk are two other offices that greatly support the efforts of Town Meeting.
The Town Moderator is a one-year elected official whose job it is to facilitate debate and discussion during Town Meeting. Any conversation between attendees goes through the moderator. Another responsibility of the moderator is to appoint committees. Town Meeting Members are not required to sit on committees, or they may serve on more than one committee. For this reason, there is a broad range of local government activities a community member could undertake depending on their availability.
The Town Clerk holds a five-year term. The Town Clerk's office is the source for information and records for the town. The Town Clerk is also responsible for organizing all the materials necessary for Town Meeting. They assemble the Warrant and Backup and ensure all the logistics are set for TM. Elections fall under the Town Clerk's purview, too, and you'll want to check out the Town Clerk's website throughout the year for all the information you need about not just running for office but VOTING!
You Can Get Involved Now!
A few hours of your time each year, either to get to know the issues facing the town and how the town is dealing with those issues, or to actually get involved and run for a seat, make a big difference in understanding the community in which we live. Our community is enriched by having many different perspectives represented in our local government.
I hope this helps you get a better feel for how our local lawmaking body works. Be sure to check out the Local Government section of the Buzz for more profiles on our elected and appointed Boards and Commissions. Learn more about Town meeting on the Massachusetts Secretary of State’s website.