Bylaws of the Massachusetts Municipal Councillors’ Association
An Affiliate of the Massachusetts Municipal Association

Approved January 12, 2008, revised February 8, 2011

ARTICLE I
Name
The organization shall be called the Massachusetts Municipal Councillors’ Association (hereinafter referred to as the Association).

ARTICLE II
Purpose
The Association shall be non-partisan and shall not endorse or oppose any candidate for public office. The association shall provide members with professional support in performance of their responsibilities, encouraging best practices in municipal administration and promoting mutuality of interests. The association shall not discriminate with regard to race, color, creed, national origin, disability sexual orientation, sex or age.

ARTICLE III
Membership

Section 1. MEMBERS. Members in the Association shall be defined as those persons presently serving as elected city or town councillors or aldermen in all municipalities that are members in good standing of the Massachusetts Municipal Association.

Section 2. DUES. There shall be no individual dues for such membership, since costs will be covered through the dues paid by each member municipality to the Massachusetts Municipal Association. However, the Association may vote at a regular or special meeting to request its members to pay individual voluntary assessments for purposes consistent with these Bylaws.

ARTICLE IV
Officers

Section 1. OFFICERS. Officers shall be President, First Vice President, and a Second Vice President, who shall be elected annually by a majority vote of Members present and voting at the Annual Meeting of the Association to serve for one year or until their successors are elected and their terms of office shall begin at the close of the Annual Meeting at which they are elected. The Officers shall represent different municipalities.

Section 2. VACANCY. Any vacancy in the office of the President shall be filled by the First Vice President. Vacancies in other offices shall be filled by the Executive Committee to be effective until the next election.

Section 3. DUTIES. The President shall preside at all meetings of the Association and the Executive Committee. The First Vice President shall assist the President and serve in his/her place during his/her absence or disability. The Second Vice President shall assist the President and the First Vice President, and shall serve in the place of the First Vice President during his/her absence or disability. In addition, the President may assign other specific duties to the individual Officers.

Section 4: MMA: The President, First Vice President and Second Vice President shall also serve on the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Municipal Association.

ARTICLE V
Executive Committee

Section 1. COMPOSITION. The Association shall have an Executive Committee consisting of the Officers of the Association, the Immediate Past President, and five councillors elected as District Representatives to the association. Association Officers and the Immediate Past President shall serve on the Executive Committee for terms of one year and District Representatives shall serve for two-year terms. The Executive Committee shall have general supervision of the affairs of the Association, and shall perform such duties as the Association may direct.

Section 2. QUORUM. A majority of the members of the Executive Committee shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business at any meeting of the Executive Committee.

Section 3. MEETINGS. Executive Committee meetings may be called by the President or three members of the Executive Committee, provided each member is notified one week in advance of such meeting, except in the case of urgent need of such meeting as may be determined by the President or a majority of the Executive Committee.

ARTICLE VI
Councillors’ District Representatives

Section 1. DISTRICT REPRESENTATIVES: In addition to Officers of the Association, there shall be geographic representation elected by District as follows:

District 1: Agawam, Amherst, Chicopee, Easthampton, East Longmeadow, Greenfield, Holyoke, North Adams, Northampton, Palmer, Pittsfield, Springfield, West Springfield, Westfield

District 2: Fitchburg, Gardner, Leominster, Marlborough, Southbridge, Worcester

District 3: Amesbury, Beverly, Gloucester, Haverhill, Lawrence, Lowell, Lynn, Methuen, Newburyport, Peabody, Salem, Woburn

District 4: Attleboro, Barnstable, Braintree, Bridgewater, Brockton, Fall River, Franklin, New Bedford, Quincy, Randolph, Taunton, Weymouth

District 5: Boston, Cambridge, Chelsea, Everett, Malden, Medford, Melrose, Newton, Revere, Somerville, Waltham, Watertown, Winthrop

Section 2. REORGANIZATION: The Executive Committee shall, by a majority vote, assign cities and towns with new city forms of government to the appropriate districts.

Section 3. ELECTION. The district representatives shall be elected by a majority vote of the members present voting at the Annual Meeting of the Association to serve for two years, or until their successors are elected, and their terms of office shall begin at the close of the annual meeting at which they are elected.

Section 4. ELIGIBILITY. Any member in good standing is eligible to be elected as a District Representative.

Section 5. MMA: The District Representatives shall also serve on the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Municipal Association.

Section 6. VACANCIES. Vacancies within the District Representatives shall be filled by the MMCA Executive Committee to be effective until the next election.

ARTICLE VII
Nominating Committee and Election Process

Section 1. APPOINTMENT. The President, with the approval of the Executive Committee, shall appoint a Nominating Committee of three members, designating one of them as Chair, at least two months before the Annual Meeting. No member of the Nominating Committee may be a candidate for any office, and no member of the Nominating Committee may be nominated for any office.

Section 2. DUTIES. The Nominating Committee shall meet at least one month before the Annual Meeting, on the call of the Chair, to review each Executive Committee candidate and to prepare a single slate of nominations for the Officers and District Representatives.

The Nominating Committee shall provide the opportunity for an interview to all candidates for contested positions. Interviews may be conducted by telephone or in person. Members of the Nominating Committee shall give careful and fair consideration to all candidates for any and all offices for which they have been duly nominated.

For any office for which one or more members have submitted his or her name for nomination, the Nominating Committee shall only consider for nomination those individuals who submitted applications for that position, in accordance with the guidelines stated above. However, should a vacancy exist in another office after the nominating process concludes, the Nominating Committee shall have the authority to consider candidates before them to fill said vacancy.

Section 3. NOMINATIONS. Nominations shall be solicited from the membership by publication in the MMA Beacon at least two months prior to the Association’s Annual Meeting. All nominations must be submitted in writing. Members may submit their own name to be considered for nomination or their name may be submitted for consideration by other members. Candidates may apply for more than one position however the nominating committee may only nominate them for one position. The slate of nominees shall be mailed to all members with the notice of the Annual Meeting.

ARTICLE VIII
Advisory Commission on Local Government

SECTION 1. Pursuant to the General Laws of Massachusetts, four members of the Association shall serve as members of the Advisory Commission on Local Government (hereinafter referred to as the LGAC). The President, the First Vice President and Second Vice President of the Association shall fill three or the four seats. The fourth seat shall be filled each year by a District Representative on a rotating basis, starting in 2008 with the District 3 Representative, followed in subsequent years by the Representatives for Districts 4, 5, 1, and 2, and continuing thereafter in that order.

Section 2. In the event that a District Representative who is also serving as a member of the LGAC is no longer able to continue in office, the President shall appoint one of the remaining District Representatives to fill the vacancy on the LGAC. The established rotation shall resume the following year as if no vacancy had occurred.

Section 3. In the event that a District Representative is elected to serve as the Vice President or President of the MMA, the fourth seat on the LGAC shall be allotted to that person for those years. The rotation shall resume the following year, with the District Representative that would have served assuming the seat on the LGAC for that year.

ARTICLE IX
Special Committees
The President may appoint such special committees as may be required by vote of the Association or the Executive Committee. The President shall define for such committees their purposes, duties, and duration, unless otherwise specified by said vote.

ARTICLE X
Meetings

Section 1. GENERAL MEETINGS. There shall be at least two general membership meetings held during the year, one of which shall be the Annual Meeting. Notice of regular meetings shall be mailed at least 14 days before said meetings.

Section 2. SPECIAL MEETINGS. Special meetings may be called by the President or a majority of the Executive Committee as necessary, provided that notice is mailed to all members at least seven days before said meetings.

Section 3. ANNUAL MEETING. The Annual Meeting of the Association shall be held in conjunction with the MMA Annual Meeting and Trade Show.

Section 4. REPORTS. Copies of reports of any officer or any regular or special committee shall be mailed to all members at least seven days prior to the membership meeting at which such reports are to be presented.

Section 5. QUORUM. 20 Members of the Association present shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business at any regular, special, or annual meeting properly called in accordance with these Bylaws, provided that a majority of the Executive Committee must be present at the meeting.

ARTICLE XI
Procedures

Section 1. PARLIAMENTARY AUTHORITY. The rules contained in the current edition of “Roberts Rules of Order Newly Revised” shall govern the proceedings of the Association to the extent that they are applicable and not inconsistent with these Bylaws.

Section 2. MMA COMMITTEE APPOINTMENTS. The President shall nominate members of the Association to serve on committees or other temporary groups of the Massachusetts Municipal Association.

ARTICLE XII
Amendments
Amendments to these Bylaws shall be approved by two-thirds vote of the members present and voting at any regular, special or annual meeting, provided that a copy of the text of any proposed amendment shall have been mailed to all members at least 10 days prior to said meeting. Amendments may only be initiated by a majority vote of the Executive Committee or by a petition signed by at least 25 members representing at least ten percent of municipalities that are represented by the association.