The Board of Aldermen is the Legislative Branch of Newton City Government. The Board has the power to: make, amend or repeal City Ordinances; approve the city budget; approve the Mayor’s expenditure of funds; approve land use issues; and confirm the Mayor’s appointments to Newton boards and commissions
The Board of Aldermen Process
Every item that comes before the Board of Aldermen can be tracked by using documents found on this website. |
The Docket
When an item is submitted for consideration to the Board of Aldermen it is “docketed” with the Board. Docketing involves giving the item a unique number, assigning it the appropriate committee/s for discussion, and placing the item on the “Docket.” |
Track an Item
You can track an item before the Board by its docket number. Click on the “Search Documents” link to the left, then type in the docket number in the search box and click search. Links to every document that contains that item will be generated. |
The docket is the list of all new business that has come to the Board since the last Board meeting. All items are given a unique number and assigned to a committee based on the Boards assignment rules. The Board approves the docketing of the items and the committee assignments at their board meeting.
Click here to see the Board of Aldermen dockets. |
Committee Agenda
Once it has been accepted to a docket, an item is placed on the Committee’s Agenda and the chair of that committee assigns it a date to begin consideration. Committee agendas are posted in Newton City Hall, and here on the web, the Friday before a Committee meeting. The public is invited to attend the committee meetings to see the presentation and hear the discussions. The chair of the committee may allow comments from the public.
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Meeting audio on-line
Listen to the discussions that took place at Board of Aldermen meetings.
Click here to choose a full board meeting.
Move your cursor over the “Board Committees” link to the left to choose a committee. |
A committee agenda lists the items that are currently before the committee and identifies those that will be discussed at a particular meeting.
To see the agenda for a particular committee, move your cursor over the “Board Committees” link to the left and choose the appropriate committee.
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Committee Report
After a committee has discussed an item a description of those discussions will be found on the Committee Report. Once a committee has finished it’s deliberations it will vote on the item and the vote will be reported in the next Board of Aldermen “Reports Docket.” If the Committee needs additional information, or wants more time to discuss an item, they may vote to hold the item in committee. |
A committee report provides a description of the discussions that took place at a committee meeting and the action that the committee recommends.
To see a report from a particular committee, move your cursor over the “Board Committees” link to the left and choose the appropriate committee.
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Reports Docket
Once an item has been voted on in Committee, it is moved to the “Reports Docket” where the committee’s recommendation is listed for action by the full Board of Aldermen. The Reports Docket, also known as a “consent agenda” lists all of the items that the board will take action on and the committee in which it was discussed. At the full Board meeting the chair of each committee is asked to report on the items that their committee has taken up and the vote that they recommend. Once all of the committees have reported, the Board votes to accept the committee’s recommendations (known as First Call) and to approve the docket. If any board member would like to have further discussion on an item, or an item that was assigned to two or more committee has conflicting reports, that item is placed on Second Call and is discussed further by the full board and voted on individually.
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The reports docket lists all of the items that committees discussed during the previous two weeks with the committee’s recommended actions.
Click here to see the Board of Aldermen Reports Dockets.
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Board Actions
After the Board of Aldermen has voted on an item, the Board’s vote can be found in the Board Actions Report which is usually posted on-line the day after the Board meeting. The Board Actions report lists the votes on all items that were before the Board at a meeting. Those items that were placed on second call are listed first, then all of the items that were voted as part of first call. |
The Board Actions report lists the final vote taken by the Board at a particular Board meeting.
Click here to see the Board of Aldermen’s Board Actions
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