Town Meeting

What is Town Meeting?

Town meetings have been an important part of government in Massachusetts and throughout New England since the 1600s. Arlington has a representative town meeting, which means that Arlington residents elect people from their precinct to attend the annual meetings and vote on warrant articles. Each of Arlington’s 21 precincts elect four town meeting representatives each year for three year terms for a total of 252 representatives. Town meeting as a whole has two key powers:

• It controls the money, including appropriations for programs and the salaries of elected officials
• It serves as the legislative branch of town government, voting on proposed town by-laws

Here are a few ways that town meeting may have affected your life in the past year:

• Funded a bikeshare program in town (first the lime green and now the blue bikes)
• Regulated new construction and major renovations to push for greener infrastructure
• Formed a committee to study the creation of a civilian police advisory board

What I Vote For

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