2020 Boston Region MPO Municipal Election Procedures
At the Metropolitan Area Planning Council’s (MAPC) Fall Council meeting the elections will be announced for four (4) of the twelve (12) elected municipal seats on the Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO).
The municipalities running for these seats will be elected to the MPO by the chief elected officials of the 97 municipalities which constitute the Boston metropolitan region. Pursuant to the MPO Memorandum of Understanding, approved on July 7, 2011, MAPC and the MBTA Advisory Board (Advisory Board) administer the election of the municipal representatives to the MPO.
Boston MPO Seats Up for Election in 2020:
One (1) city from the Boston MPO region.
One (1) town the Boston MPO region.
One (1) municipality from the North Shore Task Force (NSTF) sub-region.
One (1) municipality from the South West Advisory Planning Committee (SWAP) sub-region.
Terms of election on the MPO are for three years.
Nominees for the elected municipal seats shall be the chief elected official of the municipality. In cities this is the Mayor or, if the city does not have the office of Mayor, then the Chair of the Council, with the exception of Plan E cities (ex: Cambridge) in which case it shall be the City Manager. In towns, the chief elected official is the Chair of the Select Board. The MPO will accept the Chair’s nomination of a candidate whether or not the full Select Board has voted it.
A nominee for an open municipal seat must receive five nominations made by any chief elected official from the Boston region, regardless of which sub-region they are from. A chief elected official may nominate his or her municipality and that nomination shall count as one of the five nominations needed to place a municipality on the ballot. Each chief elected official may only nominate one municipality per open seat.
Nominations are due
on Friday, October 16th, 2020 to MAPC by 5:00 PM and must be submitted
electronically at https://mapc.seamlessdocs.com/f/MPO2020Nomination
MAPC
will follow-up with the nominating municipal CEOs by phone or email to confirm
their nomination.
Nomination papers shall include a statement of candidacy (250 word limit) of the community, also due at this time.
Voting Process
Each of the 97 municipalities may vote for one (1) municipality for each of the four (4) open seats.
A ballot will be prepared by MAPC and the Advisory Board based on the certification of nominations. The ballot shall contain a list of the nominated municipalities. Candidate communities shall appear on the ballot in an order drawn by lot by designated officers of MAPC and the Advisory Board. The subregion of each of the communities shall be identified on the ballot. The ballot will be submitted electronically to MAPC by the municipal CEO.
The Metropolitan Area Planning Council and the MBTA Advisory Board shall provide appropriate opportunity for the electorate to meet representatives of candidate communities. In 2020, this may be accomplished by holding a virtual Candidates Forum if needed.
Given the current restrictions on large gatherings due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the election will be held through the submission of ballots electronically to MAPC. Electronic ballots will be emailed from MAPC to the chief elected official of each municipality in the Boston MPO region. Ballots will then be filled out and signed by the chief elected official and submitted to MAPC by the date of the MAPC Fall Council meeting (date TBD). A forthcoming correspondence will explain the ballot submittal process in more detail and provide the deadline.
The MPO seat is held by the municipality. The chief elected official (or their official designee) shall represent the municipality throughout the municipality’s term of office.
The designated officers of MAPC and of the Advisory Board shall certify the results of the election to the chairman of the MPO by 12 noon on the Monday following the election.
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Attachment A MAPC Sub-regions |
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SUBREGION |
COMMUNITIES |
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North Shore Task Force |
Beverly, Danvers, Essex, Gloucester, Hamilton, Ipswich, Manchester-by-the-Sea, Marblehead, Middleton, Nahant, Peabody, Rockport, Salem, Swampscott, Topsfield, Wenham |
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North Suburban Planning |
Burlington, Lynnfield, North Reading, Reading, |
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Council |
Stoneham, Wakefield, Wilmington, Winchester, |
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Woburn |
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Minuteman Advisory Group |
Acton, Bedford, Bolton, Boxborough, Carlisle, |
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Interlocal Coordination |
Concord, Hudson, Lexington, Littleton, Lincoln, |
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(MAGIC) |
Maynard, Stow, Sudbury |
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MetroWest Regional |
Ashland, Framingham, Holliston, Marlborough, Natick, |
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Collaborative |
Southborough, Wayland, Wellesley, Weston |
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South West Advisory |
Bellingham, Dover, Franklin, Hopkinton, Medway, |
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Planning Committee (SWAP) |
Milford, Millis, Norfolk, Sherborn, Wrentham |
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Three Rivers (TRIC) |
Canton, Dedham, Dover, Foxborough, Medfield, Milton, Needham, Norwood, Randolph, Sharon, Walpole, Westwood |
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South Shore Coalition |
Braintree, Cohasset, Hingham, Holbrook, Hull, Marshfield, Norwell, Rockland, Scituate, Weymouth |
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Inner Core |
Arlington, Belmont, Boston, Brookline, Cambridge, Chelsea, Everett, Lynn, Malden, Medford, Melrose, Milton, Newton, Quincy, Revere, Saugus, Somerville, Waltham, Watertown, Winthrop |
Attachment B
Boston MPO 97 Cities and Towns
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Beverly Boston Braintree Cambridge Chelsea Everett Franklin* Gloucester |
Lynn Malden Marlborough Medford Melrose Newton Peabody Quincy |
Revere Salem Somerville Waltham Watertown* Weymouth Woburn |
Framingham
* MAPC Legal Counsel has rendered an opinion that Franklin and Watertown are defined as cities for the purpose of the MPO Election.
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Acton Arlington Ashland Bedford Bellingham Belmont Bolton Boxborough Brookline Burlington Canton Carlisle Cohasset Concord Danvers Dedham Dover Essex Foxborough Hamilton Hingham Holbrook Holliston |
Hopkinton Hudson Hull Ipswich Lexington Lincoln Littleton Lynnfield Manchester Marblehead Marshfield Maynard Medfield Medway Middleton Milford Millis Milton Nahant Natick Needham Norfolk North Reading Norwell Norwood |
Randolph Reading Rockport Rockland Saugus Scituate Sharon Sherborn Southborough Stoneham Stow Sudbury Swampscott Topsfield Wakefield Walpole Wayland Wellesley Wenham Weston Westwood Wilmington Winchester Winthrop Wrentham |
Attachment C
Background:
The Metropolitan Planning Organization is established as a required part of the transportation planning process under federal law. It is responsible for planning and programming financial resources for a multi-modal transportation system for the Boston region. The MPO was established in 1973.
The Boston MPO Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that details the governing structure and process of the MPO can be viewed at www.bostonmpo.org/mou
Specific Responsibilities:
The MPO must prepare and approve several plans and programs on an annual basis. These include:
• The Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP), which programs funds for transportation planning programs in the region;
• The Transportation Improvement Program (TIP), which programs federal, state, and local funding for surface transportation projects (highway and transit).
The MPO also prepares and approves several other plans and programs as necessary. These include:
• The Regional Transportation Plan (RTP), which provides a 25-year plan for the Region’s transportation needs and priorities and;
• The conformity of all surface transportation plans and programs with applicable federal laws (including air quality, and the Americans with Disabilities Act).
MPO Meetings:
Meetings are held as needed to accomplish the MPO’s business. There are approximately two MPO meetings a month and all but four are held in Boston, during the day, at the state transportation building. Four MPO meetings will be held (one per quarter) outside of Boston. MPO meetings typically begin at 10 AM on the first and third Thursday of the month, and last approximately three hours. The MPO has the authority to establish necessary committees to accomplish its responsibilities. Recent experience suggests that the municipal members of the MPO or their designees attend at least two meetings per month to accomplish the work of the MPO.