Open Meeting Law and Conflict of Interest
Every Elected or Appointed officer in the Town of Pelham is required by Massachusetts General Laws to comply with certain requirments regarding the Open Meeting Law and/or the Conflict of Interest Law.
When elected or appointed to a position the individual must be administered an Oath of Office by the Town Clerk. The Town Clerk is required to provide the appointee with information regarding the Open Meeting Law and the Conflict of Interest Law EACH TIME they are appointed or elected, and FOR EACH OFFICE they are elected or appointed to.
In the past the appointee was provided with hard copies of these documents, but in more recent times, in an effort to reduce the amount of printed material, the documents have been emailed with instructions.
Moving forward, when elected or appointed officers come in to take the Oath of Office, the Town Clerk will refer them to this website to access the documentation.
There are eight documents in all:
- FORM 1 - Summary of Open Meeting Law
- FORM 2 - Receipt of Open Meeting Law
- FORM 3 - AG Open Meeting Law Guide
- FORM 4 - AG Open Meeting Law CMR
- FORM 5 - Notice to Municipal Employees
- FORM 6 - Summary of Conflict of Interest Law
- FORM 7 - Receipt of Conflict of Interest Law
- FORM 8 - Conflict of Interest Training Instructions
FORM 2 and FORM 7 - (see links below) need to be printed, completed, signed, and return to the Town Clerk within 30 days of the date they are sworn into office.
- Acknowledgment of Receipt of Summary of the Open Meeting Law (FORM 2)
- Acknowledgment of Receipt of Summary of the Conflict of Interst Law (FORM 7)
It is important to understand that when the officer completes and signs the Acknowledgement of Receipt of the Open Meeting Law that they are acknowledging they have received, read, and understand the Open Meeting Law.
In addition appointees may have to return a Certificate of Completion if they are required to take the online Conflict of Interest training.
- Conflict of Interest Training (FORM 8)