Open town meeting - Citizendia

An Open town meeting is a form of municipal legislature, typical in the New England region of the United States. History See also History of New England New England's earliest inhabitants were Algonquian -speaking Native Americans including the The United States of America —commonly referred to as the

In Massachusetts, for example, generally the least populous towns have open town meeting form of government. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts ( is a state located in the New England region of the northeastern United States. Through a town charter revision process, no town with fewer than 6,000 residents may adopt representative town meeting form of government; towns with 6,000 or more residents may optionally adopt the representative town meeting form. A charter is the grant of authority or rights stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified A representative town meeting is a form of municipal legislature particularly common in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut and Vermont ^[1] The Board of Selectmen call the town meeting into existence by issuing the warrant, which is the list of items--known as articles--to be voted on, with descriptions of each article. The Board of Selectmen is commonly the executive arm of Town Governments in the New England region of the United States. In New England, a warrant is a document issued by the Board of Selectmen to call a Town meeting Warrants essentially list an Agenda of items The Moderator officiates the meeting by reading each article, explaining it, and making sure the rules of parliamentary procedure are followed, interprets voice votes and counts other votes. The Finance Committee makes recommendations on articles dealing with money, and often drafts the proposed budget. The Town Clerk serves as the clerk of the meeting by recording its results. A town clerk is a senior Employee of a City, Borough, or Town administration Town Counsel makes legal recommendations on all articles of the warrant, to ensure town meeting is acting lawfully. All registered voters are free to attend and vote on any and all articles in the open town meeting.

Open town meetings function largely the same as a Representative town meeting, except that only elected representatives can participate or vote in the Representative town meeting. A representative town meeting is a form of municipal legislature particularly common in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut and Vermont

Compare to

Representative town meeting - Only elected representatives can participate and vote
City Council - Representative legislature for a formally-chartered city
Board of Selectmen - Executive council for a town

Notes

^ See amendment LXXXIX of the Massachusetts Constitution. A representative town meeting is a form of municipal legislature particularly common in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut and Vermont A city council is a form of Local government, usually covering a City or other Urban area, such as a Town. The Board of Selectmen is commonly the executive arm of Town Governments in the New England region of the United States. The New England town is the basic unit of local government in each of the six New England states

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