Gov. Maura Healey has signed into law an act establishing Swampscott’s annual fall Town Meeting.

“The annual Town Meeting shall meet on the third Monday of May each year and on the first Monday in December each year, and at such other times and places as shall be set forth by the Select Board in a warrant for each meeting,” the act reads.

The governor’s approval follows a vote by Town Meeting Members last May to establish a biannual Town Meeting. Town Meeting Members passed Article No. 21, creating a fall annual Town Meeting in addition to the existing spring session. Since 2020, Swampscott has held 12 special Town Meetings – including one in December prior to Healey’s approval and after the May vote – in addition to five annual meetings. 

Former Town Clerk Jared LaLiberte told the Swampscott Tides at the time that a second Town Meeting is “growing more common” across the Commonwealth as local government becomes more involved.

​​Only towns in Massachusetts have Town Meetings. Cities are instead governed by a city council or board of aldermen. However, not all towns use the Town Meeting form of government. However, not all towns have Town Meetings. A few in Massachusetts are governed by town councils. 

Town Meetings can either be open – where all the residents vote on all matters – or representative, with elected members from each precinct serving in a legislative body. Towns with fewer than 6,000 residents are required by state law to hold open Town Meetings.

Swampscott is among roughly 30 Massachusetts communities that use a representative Town Meeting format, according to Town Moderator Michael McClung. 

The State Senate and State House of Representatives’ respective speaker and acting president  signed the act on February 19, and Healey approved the act on February 26. 

Swampscott will hold its next Town Meeting on May 18. Those interested in becoming Town Meeting Members are encouraged to run for one of the 18 open positions in each of the town’s six precincts.