Town Meeting; Attendance

The town meeting serves to inform residents, discuss municipal matters, and adopt recommendations for the town council.

The mayor is required to convene a town meeting at least once a year—or more frequently at the request of the municipal council—to discuss municipal matters. In addition, a town meeting must be held within three months if requested in writing by at least 5% of the municipality’s residents—or at least 2.5% in municipalities with more than 10,000 residents—along with a proposed agenda. Corresponding procedures for submitting such requests apply in municipal districts that were still independent municipalities when the Municipal Code came into effect (January 18, 1952), and in cities with more than 100,000 residents, also in the city districts. The agenda may only include municipal matters. A request to convene a town meeting may be made only once a year.

The town meeting is presided over by the mayor or a representative appointed by the mayor. As a general rule, only residents of the municipality may speak; however, the town meeting may decide to grant exceptions to this rule.

Recommendations from town meetings must be addressed by the municipal council within three months.