Welcome to the Town Meeting pages of NeedhamOnLine.Com. New England Town Meetings, the legislative bodies of towns, have often been called "the purest form of democracy". In Needham we have a Representative Town Meeting in which all residents are welcome to speak but only the 200+ elected representatives and a few ex officio members may vote.

Town meetings are governed by Warrants, consisting of Articles. The Warrant is prepared in advance, distributed to all households, and posted in conspicuous places. In order to dispose of an Article, a Main Motion must be voted. The Main Motion is often worded identically to the description of the Article in the Warrant, but the only requirement on the Main Motion and its discussion is that their subject matter must fall within the four corners of the Article.

Needham's Town Meeting is run according to the rules of Town Meeting Time (reference Town Meeting Time : A Handbook of Parliamentary Law by Ralph C. Copeland; 2nd Edition; Krieger Pub Co: 1984; ISBN: 0898747546). These rules are more flexible than Roberts' Rules of Order, having fewer procedural details and giving the Moderator greater discretion.

In the warrant that follows, the text is that of the Warrant Article before discussion begins. When an article is discussed or approved, the text on the page will be changed to the text of the Main Affirmative Motion, which is usually similar. Amendments will be generally indicated below but will not necessarily be stated exactly and will not be integrated into the body of the motion.

Disclaimer: The information on these pages is not official; it is simply the reporting efforts of one Town Meeting Member.

Click here for a record of the February, 1997 Special Town Meeting.
Click here for a record of the 1997 Annual Town Meeting.

Below is a guide to the November, 1997, Special Town Meeting. Click on the name of any article to view its details.