Item Coversheet


Town of Arlington, Massachusetts


Article 7
Warrant Article Title:
BYLAW AMENDMENT/YOUTH AND YOUNG ADULT ADVISORY BOARD
Warrant Article Text:

To see if the Town will vote to amend Title II of the Town Bylaws to establish a new Youth and Young Adult Advisory Board, establish its membership, duties and responsibilities; or take any action related thereto.

Requested by:

(Inserted at the request of the Town Manager)

Report Excerpt:

The Select Board unanimously recommends to Town Meeting the creation of the Arlington Youth Collaborative as developed by the Youth and Young Adult Advisory Board, Commission, or Committee Study Committee established under Article 17 of the 2021 Annual Town Meeting. The purpose of the Collaborative will be to cultivate the perspective of youth and young adults on issues affecting the Town. While purely advisory in nature, the Collaborative will serve to enhance representation of youth and young people, harness youth activism, and establish a pathway and resource for further engagement in and with the Town’s government.

 

The proposed structure of the Collaborative is modeled on Envision Arlington – a standing committee which may also utilize more flexible and informal forums for discussion and idea development known as “Task Groups.” As presented, the bylaw would authorize appointment of one youth (ages 12 and up) and one young adult (up to age 39) from each of the Town’s 21 precincts in order to garner a wide base of participation and viewpoint. Only half of the membership will be voting members at any given time. Paired with modest quorum requirements, the Collaborative will be able to efficiently conduct its business while benefitting from the collective wisdom a larger public body
Vote Language:

VOTED: That Title II of the Town Bylaws (“Committees and Commission”) be and hereby is amended to add a new “Article 15 ‘The Young Arlington Collaborative’” as follows:

 

Article 15.  The Young Arlington Collaborative

Section 1. Establishment and Purpose of the Young Arlington Collaborative

A. The Young Arlington Collaborative shall strive to engage with all of the youth and young adults that reside, attend school, or work in Arlington with the purpose of increasing their awareness of their local government and their participation in all aspects of it. The Young Arlington Collaborative shall also act as a conduit of issues and concerns of the youth and young adult population to Town Meeting, the Select Board, the School Committee, and the Town Manager.

 

B. The Young Arlington Collaborative shall be composed of a “Standing Committee” which shall serve as the coordinating and policy-making body and any number of working groups which will work with and report to the Standing Committee. The working groups, as well as any necessary ad hoc committees, may be established and disbanded by a vote of the majority of the Standing Committee members (or as consistent with Section 2 of this bylaw).

 

Section 2. Standing Committee Membership, Quorum, Administration & Organization

A. The Standing Committee shall consist of up to twenty-one (21) voting members appointed pursuant to subsection (1) below and a liaison from the Select Board who is the Secretary and non-voting member.

 

A quorum shall consist of a majority of the current voting Standing Committee Members, and all actions shall be made pursuant to a majority vote of members in attendance. The Committee shall organize for the conduct of its affairs and shall elect its own officers.

 

1.  Standing Committee Membership

a.     Two (2) Standing Committee members shall be selected from among the respective residents of each of the Town’s twenty-one

(21)    precincts

i.     One (1) Standing Committee member from each precinct shall range in age from twelve (12) years through twenty (20) years (21 years minus 1 day). That Standing Committee member shall be recognized as the “Youth Member” for that precinct.

ii.     One (1) Standing Committee member from each precinct shall range in age from twenty-one  (21) years through thirty-nine (39) years (40 years minus 1 day). That Standing Committee member shall be recognized as the “Young Adult Member” for that precinct.

 

b.     The first selection of representatives from each precinct shall be conducted by lottery from all names submitted directly to the Select Board office by any youth or young adult from their respective precinct or by any Town Meeting Member on their behalf.

c.     Terms shall be for two (2) years.

d.     Within eighteen (18) months of the first meeting of the Standing Committee, a presentation will be made to the Select Board seeking its approval for the process determined by the Standing Committee for selecting its subsequent cohort of members.

e.     For one (1) year of a Standing Committee member’s term that member will be designated as the alternate, and that member shall vote in the Standing Committee meeting only when the other Standing Committee from the same precinct is absent.

f.     Voting members of the Standing Committee

i. In odd-numbered years, the voting members for Standing Committee shall include the “Youth” representatives from precincts 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, and the “Young Adult” representatives from precincts 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20.

 

ii. In even-numbered years, the voting members for Standing Committee shall include the “Youth” representatives from precincts 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14,16, 18, 20 and the    “Young Adult” representatives from precincts 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21.

 

g.     Only the voting members are required to attend Standing Committee meetings.

h.     The Select Board liaison, which need not be a member of the Select Board, shall be chosen by the Select Board by September 1 after the passage of this Bylaw .

i.     If Town Meeting Members of a given precinct fail to present candidates by September 1 after the passage of this Bylaw, the Secretary shall work with the Select Board staff to fill the vacancies with a residents from the respective precinct(s).

 

j.     If  no  representative  from  a  precinct  attends  a Standing Committee for six (6) months, the Secretary shall notify the Town Meeting Members from the respective precinct and being the process of replacing the absent representatives with two (2) other representatives for either the rest of the term, if over one (1) year, or for two (2) years plus the remainder of the term, if under one (1) year,

2. Standing Committee Quorum A quorum requires eleven (11) representatives from eleven (11) of the twenty-one (21) precincts. Only one (1) representative from each precinct may participate in the meeting as a voting member of the Standing Committee. Both representatives may attend any Standing Committee meeting, and both may speak when called upon by the Chair.

3. Voting at a Standing Committee meeting, each precinct shall have only one vote that is cast by the either representative of that precinct as set forth in Section 1(e) & (f) above.

4.  Chair and Vice Chair

a.     Upon convening the first meeting and on the anniversary of that meeting, thereafter, the first order of business shall be the selection of two (2) Co-Chairs.

b.     One (1) chair shall be a Youth representative, and one (1) chair shall be a Young Adult representative.

c.     The term for each Co-Chair shall be one (1) year.

5.  Required Meetings For the first two (2) years, the Standing Committee shall meet at least six (6) times per year at the dates of its choosing.

6. Open Meeting Law Standing Committee Meetings shall comply with Massachusetts’ Open Meeting Law

Section 3. Task Groups

A. The Standing Committee may authorize the creation of Task Groups on any subject at any time of its choosing.

B.  Tasks Groups participants shall range in age between 12-39.

C.  Groups participants may or may not be members of the Standing Committee and may or may not be Youth or Young Adult representatives from the precincts.

D. One (1) Youth and one (1) Young Adult member of the Standing Committee shall function as Co-Chairs for the first three (3) meetings of a Task Group, and they shall administer the election of the first Chair or Co-Chairs of Task Group at the Task Group’s fourth meeting.

E. Eligibility of participants to vote on administrative and procedural    matters shall require a minimum attendance at three (3) meetings within the previous twelve (12) months or since the inception of the task group (whichever is shorter).

F. Task Groups function as forums for the exchange of ideas with no requirement of membership, quorums or authority to make reports or recommendations.

Nonetheless, Task Groups shall:

1.  Post announcements of their meeting at least two (2) business days before the meeting;

 2.  Keep minutes of their meetings for presentation to the Standing Committee.

G. Votes on non-administrative or non-procedural matters by a Task Group shall require review by the Standing Committee or an Ad Hoc Committee of the Standing Committee. Examples of such votes include endorsements of warrants articles, and letters presented by other parties.

H. At least annually, following the election of its Co-Chairs, one or both Co- Chairs shall submit a report that includes the minutes and anything else of note to the Standing Committee.

 I. If a Task Group does not meet for twelve (12) consecutive months and does not submit a report to the Standing Committee, it shall be considered inactive and defunct.

 

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