Hampshire Council of Governments Charter

1. Composition, Election, and Terms of Office
The legislative power of the Council of Governments shall be vested in a board of Council of Governments councilors. The board of councilors shall be composed of members chosen at municipal general elections for terms of two years. Councilors shall be residents and registered voters of the municipalities from which they are elected, and shall qualify for the ballot in towns in the same manner as candidates for the board of selectmen and in cities in the same manner as at-large candidates for the city council. No person shall be a councilor and at the same time an employee of the Council of Governments. There shall be at least one councilor elected from each municipality. However, any municipality whose population comprises more than ten per cent of the population of the Council of Governments, as determined by the most recent federal census, shall elect one councilor for each ten per cent or portion thereof. Councilors, at their first meeting after receiving the final population count of member municipalities for each federal decennial census, shall determine the number of councilors each municipality shall elect, adopt a weighted vote schedule by population to be cast by councilors from each municipality, and promptly inform each municipality of the same.

2.Organization, Rules and Procedures

a. The Council of Governments councilors shall annually elect from their membership a chairman, vice-chairman, and three other members, no more than one of whom shall be from any single municipality, to serve as an executive committee of the board. The councilors shall choose a moderator who shall not be a member of the executive committee to preside over their meetings, and councilors may, from time to time, constitute other committees as they deem appropriate.

b. The Council of Governments councilors shall meet at least once monthly, shall on all questions cast votes weighted by the populations of the municipalities they represent with the weighted vote of a municipality with more than one councilor being divided equally among its councilors and, upon the request of councilors representing one fifth of the weighted votes present, shall require that the yeas and nays of councilors be recorded on any question. The number of councilors sufficient to cast a majority of weighted votes shall constitute a quorum to do business.

c. The Council of Governments councilors shall determine the rules of their proceedings and shall publish and make available those rules. Said councilors shall keep a record of their proceedings and those of their executive committee and any other committee, and shall make those records available to the public during normal business hours.

d. The executive committee shall meet at least twice monthly and shall report to the board of Council of Governments councilors at least once monthly. They shall oversee the carrying out of policies voted by the Council of Governments councilors and the duties of the administrator, and shall perform other duties as the Council of Governments councilors shall by a majority of weighted vote assign to them. The executive committee shall vote by person, not by weighted vote, and a majority of its members shall constitute a quorum to do business.

3. Compensation

Councilors shall receive compensation at the rate of six hundred dollars per year; members of the executive committee shall receive compensation at the rate four times that of the rate awarded to councilors; the moderator shall receive compensation at the rate of two times that of the rate awarded to councilors, and, as specified in the Administrative Code, chairmen of standing committees shall receive compensation at the rate of up to two times that of the rate awarded to councilors. A change in the amount of salary of the councilors not to exceed two and one-half per cent per annum may be provided for by a roll call vote of the Council of Governments councilors; provided, however, that no increase so voted shall take effect until the beginning of the next fiscal year.

4. Powers and Duties

a. The Council of Governments councilors shall appoint an administrator, fix annually the administrator's salary and benefits, and annually evaluate in public session the administrator's job performance. They shall conduct hearings on, and approve by a majority of the weighted votes prior to the first day of May every year, an annual budget for the Council of Governments. Their consent shall be required to confirm any appointments by the administrator to the offices specified in the Administrative Code.

b. The Council of Governments councilors shall approve the acquisition, disposition, and management of real property; the declaration of emergencies; the entering into, conduct and termination of litigation; the establishment of Council of Governments personnel policies and administrative procedures; collective bargaining agreements; the designation of newspapers for required notices and advertisements; and other matters as the Council of Governments councilors may deem appropriate.

5. Vacancies

Vacancies in or failure to elect to the office of Council of Governments councilor shall be filled within thirty days by appointment in the towns by the board of selectmen and in cities by the mayor with the approval of the city council. Such appointees shall serve only until their replacement, who shall be elected at the next municipal general election, takes office.

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