Sect. 1. The inhabitants of the town of Cambridge shall continue to be a body politic and corporate, under the name of the City of Cambridge, and as such shall have, exercise and enjoy all the rights, immunities, powers and privileges, and shall be subject to all the duties and obligations, now incumbent upon and appertaining to said town, as a Municipal Corporation.

Sect. 2. The administration of all the fiscal, prudential and municipal affairs of said city, with the government thereof, shall be vested in one principal officer, to be styled the mayor; one council of four, to be denominated the board of aldermen; and one council of twenty-four, to be denominated the common council; which boards, in their joint capacity, shall be denominated the city council, and shall be sworn to the faithful performance of the duties of their respective offices.

A majority of each board shall constitute a quorum, for the transaction of business, and no member of either board shall receive any compensation for his services.

Sect. 3. It shall be the duty of the selectmen of the town of Cambridge, as soon as may be, after the passage of this act, and its acceptance by the inhabitants, as hereinafter provided, to divide said town into four wards, to contain, as nearly as conveniently may be, an equal number of inhabitants, which proceedings of the selectmen shall be subject to the revision of the inhabitants, at a meeting which shall be called for that purpose.

And it shall be the duty of the city council, once in five years, and not oftener, to revise, and, if it be needful, to alter said wards in such manner as to preserve, as nearly as may be, an equal number of voters in each ward.

Sect. 4. On the first Monday of March, annually, there shall be chosen by ballot, in each of said wards, a warden, clerk, and three inspectors of elections, who shall hold their offices for one year, and until others have been chosen in their places, and qualified to act. And it shall be the duty of such warden to preside at all ward meetings, with the powers of moderator of town meetings. And if, at any such meeting, the warden shall not be present, the clerk of such ward shall call the meeting to order, and preside until a warden pro tempore shall be chosen by ballot. And if, at any meeting, the clerk shall not be present, a clerk pro tempore shall be chosen by ballot. The clerk shall record all the proceedings, and certify the votes given, and deliver over to his successors in office all such records and journals, together with all other documents and papers held by him in said capacity.

It shall be the duty of the inspectors of elections, to assist the warden, in receiving, sorting and counting the votes. And the warden, clerk and inspectors so chosen, shall respectively be under oath, faithfully and impartially to discharge their several duties relative to all elections, which oath may be administered by the clerk of such ward to the warden, and by the warden to the clerk and inspectors, or by any justice of the peace for the county of Middlesex. And all warrants for the meetings of the citizens for municipal purposes, to be held either in wards or in general meetings, shall be issued by the mayor and aldermen, and shall be in such form, and shall be served, executed and returned at such time and in such manner, as the city council may, by any by-law, direct and appoint.

Sect. 5. The mayor and four aldermen, one alderman being selected from each ward, shall be elected by the inhabitants of the city at large, voting in their respective wards, and six common councilmen shall be elected from and by each ward, being residents in the wards where elected; all said officers shall be chosen by ballot, and shall hold their offices one year from the first Monday in April, and the mayor, until another shall be elected in his place and qualified.

Sect. 6. On the first Monday in March, annually, the qualified voters in each ward shall give in their votes for a warden, clerk and three inspectors, a mayor, four aldermen, one of whom shall reside in each of the wards, and six common council men; all the votes given for the several officers respectively, shall be assorted, counted, declared and registered in open ward meeting, by causing the names of persons voted for, and the number of votes given for each, to be written in the ward record, in words at length. The ward clerk, within twenty-four hours after such election, shall deliver to the persons elected common council men, certificates of their election, signed by the warden and clerk, and a majority of the inspectors, of election, and shall deliver to the city clerk, a true copy of the records of such election, also certified by the clerk, warden, and a majority of inspectors. Provided, however, that if the choice of common council men cannot conveniently be effected on that day, the meeting may be adjourned to another day, not more than two days thereafter, to complete such election. The board of aldermen shall, as soon as conveniently may be, examine the copies of the records of the several wards, certified as aforesaid, and shall cause the person who shall have been elected mayor, by a majority of the votes given in all the wards, to be notified, in writing, of his election; but if it shall appear that no person shall have been so elected, or if the person elected shall refuse to accept the office, the board shall issue their warrants for another election, and the same proceedings shall be had, in all respects, as are hereinbefore described, for the choice of mayor, and repeated, from time to time, until a mayor shall be chosen.

In case of the decease, resignation or absence of the mayor, and the same being declared, and a vote passed by the aldermen and common council, respectively, declaring the cause and expediency of electing a mayor, for the time being, to supply the vacancy thus occasioned, the aldermen and common council shall meet in convention, and elect a mayor to hold the office until such occasion be removed, or until a new election.

And, if it shall appear that the whole number of aldermen shall not have been elected, the same proceedings shall be had, as are herein before directed in regard to the choice of mayor. And each alderman elected, shall be notified in writing of his election, by the mayor and aldermen for the time being. The oath prescribed by this act, shall be administered to the mayor by any justice of the peace for the county of Middlesex.

The aldermen and common council men elect, shall, on the first Monday of April, at 10 o’clock in the forenoon, meet in convention, when the oath required by this act, shall be administered to the members of the two boards present, by the mayor, being himself first sworn as aforesaid, or by any justice of the peace for the county of Middlesex, and a certificate of such oath having been taken, shall be entered in the journal of the mayor and aldermen, and of the common council, by their respective clerks.

And, whenever, on examination, by the mayor and aldermen for the time being, of the returns of votes given for mayor at the meeting of the citizens holden for the purpose of electing that officer, last preceding the first Monday of April, in each year, no person shall appear to have a majority of all the votes given for mayor, the mayor and aldermen by whom such examination is made, shall make a record of that fact, an attested copy of which, the city clerk shall read at the opening of the convention to be held, as aforesaid, on the first Monday of April.

After the oaths required by this act, shall have been administered as aforesaid, the two bodies shall separate; and the board of common council shall be organized by the choice of a president, and also of a clerk, who shall be under oath faithfully to perform the duties of his office, and who shall hold his office during the pleasure of the common council.

In case of the unavoidable absence by sickness or otherwise, of the mayor elect, on the first Monday of April, in each year, the city government shall organize itself in the mode herein before provided, and may proceed to business in the same manner as if the mayor were present, and the oath required to be taken by the mayor, may, at any time thereafter, be administered, as herein provided, in convention of the two branches.

The board of aldermen may, in the absence of the mayor, choose a presiding officer pro tempore, who shall also preside at joint meetings of the two boards. Each board shall keep a record of its own proceedings, and judge the elections of its own members; and, in case of failure of election, or vacancy by death, resignation, or otherwise, may order new elections. And in case of any such vacancy, declared by either body, the mayor and aldermen shall issue their warrants for a new election.

Sect. 7. The mayor, thus chosen and qualified, shall be the chief executive officer of said city. It shall be his duty to be vigilant and active in causing the laws and regulations of the city to be executed and enforced, to exercise a general supervision over the conduct of all subordinate officers, and to cause their violation or neglect of duty to be punished. He may call special meetings of the board of aldermen and common council, or either of them, when, in his opinion, the interests of the city require it, by causing a summons or notification to be left at the usual dwelling place of each member of the board or boards to be convened. He shall, from time to time, communicate to both of them such information, and recommend such measures, as the business and interests of the city may, in his opinion, require. He shall preside in the board of aldermen, and in joint meeting of the two boards, but shall have a casting vote only. The salary of the mayor, for the first year in which this charter shall take effect, shall be six hundred dollars, and no more. He shall afterwards be compensated for his services by a salary to be fixed by the city council, payable at stated periods, and shall receive no other compensation; but such compensation shall not be increased nor diminished during his continuance in office.

Sect. 8. The executive powers of said city, and the administration of police, with all the powers heretofore vested in the selectmen of Cambridge, shall be vested in the mayor and aldermen, as fully, as if the same were herein specially enumerated. And the mayor and aldermen shall have full and exclusive power to appoint a city marshal and assistants, and a constable or constables, and all other police officers, and may remove the same, when, in their opinion, sufficient cause for the removal exists. And the mayor and aldermen may require that any person who may be appointed a constable of the city, shall give bonds, with such security and to such amount as they may deem reasonable and proper, before he shall be entitled to enter upon the discharge of the duties of his office; upon which bonds the like proceedings and remedies may be had, as are by law provided in case of constables’ bonds required by selectmen of towns in this Commonwealth. And the mayor and aldermen shall have full power to grant licenses to innholders, victuallers and retailers within the city, in as full and ample a manner as the mayor and aldermen of the city of Boston, by virtue of the laws of this Commonwealth.

The city council shall, annually, as soon after their organization as may be convenient, elect, by joint ballot in convention, a city treasurer and collector of taxes, and city clerk, and shall, in such manner as the city council shall determine, by any by-law made for the purpose, appoint or elect all subordinate officers, not herein otherwise directed, for the ensuing year, define their duties and fix their compensation, in cases where such duties and compensations shall not be defined and fixed by the laws of this Commonwealth.

All sittings of the common council shall be public, and all sittings of the mayor and aldermen, when they are not engaged in executive business. The city council shall take care that moneys shall not be paid from the treasury, unless granted or appropriated; shall secure a just and prompt accountability, by requiring bonds, with sufficient penalty and sureties, from all persons trusted with the receipt, custody or disbursement of money; shall have the care and superintendence of the city buildings, and the custody and management of all city property, with the power to let, or sell what may be legally sold, and to purchase property, real or personal, in the name and for the use of the city, whenever its interests or convenience may in their judgment require it. And the city council shall, as often as once a year, cause to be published, for the use of the inhabitants, a particular account of the receipts and expenditures, and a schedule of city property.

Sect. 9. In all cases in which appointments are directed to be made by the mayor and aldermen, the mayor shall have the exclusive power of nomination, — such nomination, however, being subject to be confirmed or rejected by the board of aldermen; provided, however, that no person shall be eligible to any office, the salary of which is payable out of the city treasury, who, at the time of his appointment, shall be a member either of the board of aldermen or common council. And neither the mayor, nor any aldermen, or member of the common council, shall, at the same time, hold any other office under the city government.

Sect. 10. The city clerk, chosen by the city council, as provided in the eighth section, shall be clerk of the board of aldermen, and shall be sworn to the faithful performance of his duties. He shall perform such duties as shall be prescribed by the board of aldermen, and shall perform all the duties, and exercise all the powers, by law incumbent upon, or vested in, the town clerk of the town of Cambridge. He shall be chosen for one year, and until another is chosen and qualified in his place, but may be, at any time, removed by the city council.

Sect. 11. The citizens at their respective ward meetings, to be held on the first Monday of March, annually, shall elect, by ballot, two persons in each ward to be overseers of the poor; and the persons thus chosen shall, with the mayor of the city, together, constitute the board of overseers of the poor, and shall have all the powers, and be subject to all the duties, now by law appertaining to the overseers of the poor for the town of Cambridge. And the citizens shall, at the same time and in like manner, elect two persons in each ward to be members of the school committee; and the persons so chosen, together with the mayor, shall constitute the school committee, and have the care and superintendence of the public schools. And the citizens shall, at the same time, and in like manner, elect one person in each ward to be an assessor; and the persons, thus chosen assessors in the several wards, shall constitute the board of assessors, and shall exercise the powers, and be subject to the duties and liabilities, of assessors in towns. An assistant assessor for each ward may be chosen, in the same manner as is herein provided for the choice of assessor, when the city council shall so order, which assistant assessors shall be sworn to the faithful performance of their duties. All taxes shall be assessed, apportioned, and collected, in the manner prescribed by the laws of the Commonwealth.

Provided, however, that the city council may establish further or additional provisions for the collection thereof. Should there fail to be a choice of overseers of the poor, members of the school committee, assessors or assistant assessors, in any ward, the vacancy or vacancies shall be filled by the city council in convention, and the candidates for the several vacancies shall be determined in the same manner as is provided by the Constitution of this State, for fixing upon the candidates to fill any vacancies which may exist in the Senate of the Commonwealth.

Sect. 12. The city council shall have exclusive authority and power, to lay out any new street or town way, and to estimate the damage any individual may sustain thereby; and all questions relating to the subject of laying out, widening, altering or discontinuing any street, shall be first acted upon by the mayor and aldermen. And any person aggrieved by the decision or judgment of the city council, in the estimate of damages, may make complaint to the county commissioners, in the county of Middlesex, at any meeting held within one year after such decision, whereupon the same proceedings shall be had as are now provided by the laws of the Commonwealth, in cases where persons are aggrieved, by the assessment of damages by the selectmen, in the 24th chapter of the Revised Statutes.

Sect. 13. All the power and authority now by law vested in the board of health for the town of Cambridge, shall be transferred to, and vested in, the city council, to be carried into execution by the appointment of health commissioners, or in such other manner as the city council may deem expedient.

Sect. 14. The city council shall have authority to cause drains and common sewers to be laid down through any streets or private lands, paying the owners such damage as they may sustain thereby, and to require all persons to pay a reasonable sum for the privilege of opening any drain into said public drain or common sewers. And may make by-laws with suitable penalties, for the inspection, survey, admeasurement and sale of wood, coal and bark, brought into the city for sale.

Sect. 15. There hereby is established, within the city of Cambridge, a police court, to consist of one learned, able and discreet person, to be appointed and commissioned by the Governor, pursuant to the Constitution, to take cognizance of all crimes, offences and misdemeanors, committed within the city of Cambridge, whereof justices of the peace now have, or may hereafter have, jurisdiction. And the court hereby established shall hear and determine all suits, complaints and prosecutions, in like manner as is by law provided for the exercise of the powers and authority which are or may be vested in justices of the peace, and do all acts necessary to, and consistent with, such powers and authority. And the said police court shall also have original jurisdiction and cognizance of all suits and actions which may now, or at any time hereafter, be heard, tried and determined before any justice of the peace in the county of Middlesex; and no writ, in any such suit or action, shall be made returnable before any justice within said city of Cambridge, but to said police court only; and an appeal shall be allowed from all judgments of said police court, in like manner and to the same extent, that appeals are now allowed by law from judgments of justices of the peace; and the justice of said police court shall not be of council or attorney to any party in any matter or thing whatsoever, which may be pending in said court.

All warrants issued by said court, or by any justice of the peace within said city, shall be made returnable, and be returned before said court; and if any warrant shall be issued by any justice of the peace, returnable before said court, the lawful fees, payable therefor, shall not be paid or allowed, unless, on the examination in hearing before said court, it shall appear to said court that there was just and reasonable cause for issuing said warrant, in which case such fees, costs and charges shall be allowed and taxed, in like manner as though said warrant had been issued by a justice of the peace, according to the law now in force.

All fines and forfeitures, and all costs in criminal prosecutions, which shall be received by or paid into the hands of the justice of said court, shall be by him accounted for, and paid over to the same persons, in the same manner, and under the same penalties for neglect as are by law prescribed in the case of justices of the peace; and all costs in such prosecutions, not thus received, shall be made up, taxed, certified and allowed, and shall be paid and satisfied in like manner as provided by law in cases of justices of the peace.

A court shall be held by said justice at some suitable and convenient place, to be provided at the expense of said city of Cambridge, on two several days of each week, at nine of the clock in the forenoon, and as much oftener as may be necessary, to take cognizance of crimes, offences and misdemeanors, and on one day in each fortnight, at ten of the clock in the forenoon, and may be adjourned from day to day by the justice thereof, and at such other times as may be necessary for the trial of civil suits and actions; and the justice of said court shall, from time to time, establish all necessary rules for the orderly and uniform conducting of the business thereof.

The justice of said court shall retain to his own use all fees by him received, or which now accrue to justices of the peace in civil actions and criminal prosecutions, in full compensation for all services assigned to him by the provisions of this act.

The justice of said court shall keep a fair record of all proceedings in said court, and shall make return, to the several courts, of all legal processes, and of his doings therein, in the same manner as justices of the peace are now by law required to do, and he shall also annually, in the month of January, exhibit to the mayor and aldermen of said city of Cambridge, a true and correct account of moneys by him received as fees.

All suits, actions and prosecutions which shall be instituted and pending before any justice of the peace within the town of Cambridge, when this act shall take effect, shall be heard and determined as though this act had not been passed.

There shall be appointed by the Governor, by and with the advice and consent of the council, two special justices of said court, and whenever it shall happen that the standing justice of said court shall be interested in any suit or prosecution, cognizable in said court, or shall, from any cause, be unable to hear and determine any matter or thing pending therein, the cause shall be assigned on the record by the standing or special justice, and the court shall be held, and its jurisdiction exercised, by one of said special justices.

And the said special justice shall be paid for the services by him performed, out of the fees received in said court, such sum as the standing justice would be entitled to receive for the same services.

Sect. 16. It shall be the duly of the city council, in the month of October, annually, to meet in convention, and determine the number of representatives to be elected to the General Court by the city, in such year, and to publish such determination which shall be conclusive, and the number thus determined shall be specified in the warrant calling meetings for the election of representatives.

Sect. 17. All elections for County, State and United States officers, who are voted for by the people, shall be held at meetings of the citizens qualified to vote in such elections, in their respective wards, at the time fixed by law for those elections respectively, and, at such meetings, all the votes given for said several officers respectively, shall be assorted, counted, declared and registered in open ward meeting, by causing the names of all persons voted for, and the number of votes given for each, to be written in the ward record in words at length. The ward clerk shall forthwith deliver to the city clerk, a certified copy of the record of such elections. The city clerk shall forthwith record such returns.

And the mayor and aldermen shall, within two days after every such election, examine and compare all said returns, and make out a certificate of the result of such elections to be signed by the mayor and a majority of the aldermen, and also by the city clerk, which shall be transmitted or delivered in the same manner, as similar returns are by law directed to be made by selectmen of towns. And in all elections for representatives to the general court, in case the whole number proposed to be elected shall not be chosen by a majority of the votes legally returned, the mayor and aldermen shall forthwith issue their warrant for a new election, conformably to the provisions of the Constitution and the laws of the Commonwealth.

Sect. 18. Prior to every election, the mayor and aldermen shall make out lists of all the citizens of each ward qualified to vote in such elections, in the manner in which selectmen of towns are required to make out lists of voters; and for that purpose they shall have full access to the assessors’ books and lists, and be entitled to the aid and assistance of all assessors, assistant assessors, and other city officers, and they shall deliver said lists, so prepared and corrected, to the clerk of said ward, to be used at such elections; and no person shall be entitled to vote whose name is not borne upon such list. They shall also cause to be posted up, in one or more public places in each ward, ten days at least before the first Monday in March, and at least ten days before the second Monday in November, annually, correct alphabetical lists of all the persons qualified to vote for the several officers to be elected at those periods respectively.

Sect. 19. General meetings of the citizens qualified to vote may, from time to time, be held, to consult upon the public good, to instruct their representatives, and to take all lawful measures to obtain redress of any grievances, according to the right secured to the people by the Constitution of this Commonwealth; and such meetings may, and shall be duly warned by the mayor and aldermen, upon the requisition of thirty qualified voters.

Sect. 20. For the purpose of organizing the system of government hereby established, and putting the same into operation in the first instance, the selectmen of the town of Cambridge, for the time being, shall, on some day during the month of March or April, of the present year, issue their warrants seven days at least previous to the day so appointed, for calling meetings of the said citizens, at such place and hour as they may deem expedient, for the purpose of choosing a warden, clerk, and three inspectors of elections for each ward, and also to give in their votes for mayor, and four aldermen, one from each ward, six common council men, two overseers of the poor, two members of the school committee, and one assessor from each ward; and the transcripts of the records of each ward, specifying the votes given for a mayor, four aldermen, six common councilmen, two overseers of the poor, two members of the school committee, and one assessor, certified by the warden, clerk, and a majority of the inspectors of such ward, at said first meeting, shall be returned to the said selectmen, whose duty it shall be to examine and compare the same; and in case said elections should not be completed at the first meeting, then to issue new warrants until such elections shall be completed, and to give notice thereof in the manner herein before directed to the several persons elected.

And at said first meeting, any inhabitant of said ward, being a legal voter, may call the citizens to order, and preside until a warden shall have been chosen. And at said first meeting, a list of voters in each ward, prepared and corrected by the selectmen for the time being, shall be delivered to the clerk of each ward, when elected, to be used as herein before directed. And the selectmen shall appoint such time for the first meeting of the city council, as they may judge proper, after the choice of the city officers as aforesaid, or a majority of the members of both branches, not later than the first Monday of May, in the year one thousand eight hundred and forty-six, and shall also fix upon the place and the hour of said first meeting, and notice of the day, hour and place of said first meeting shall be published in one or more newspapers printed in the city of Boston, and a written or printed notice thereof shall be sent, by said selectmen, to the place of abode of each of the city officers chosen, as provided in this section. And after this first election of city officers, and this first meeting for the organization of the city council, as in this section is provided, the day of holding the annual elections, and the day and hour for the meeting of the city council, for the purpose of organization, shall remain as provided in the sixth section of this act.

And it shall be the duty of the city council, immediately after the first organization, to elect all necessary city officers, who shall hold their offices respectively until the first Monday in April, then next, and until others are chosen and qualified.

And at the meetings to be called, as provided in this section, for the choice of ward and city officers, the said inhabitants may, and shall also give in their votes for county officers, which votes shall be recorded, certified and returned in the manner provided in the seventeenth section of this act.

Sect. 21. The city council shall have power to make all such salutary and needful by-laws, as towns, by the laws of this Commonwealth, have power to make and establish, and to annex penalties not exceeding twenty dollars, for the breach thereof, which by-laws shall take effect, and be in force, from and after the time therein respectively limited, without the sanction of any court, or other authority whatever; provided, however, that all laws and regulations now in force in the town of Cambridge, shall, until they shall expire by their own limitation, or be revised or repealed by the city council, remain in force, and all fines and forfeitures for the breach of any by-law, or ordinance, shall be paid into the city treasury.

Sect. 22. An Act establishing the Fire Department in the town of Cambridge, passed March seventeenth, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-two, and an act in addition thereto, passed on the thirtieth day of March, eighteen hundred and thirty-five, shall continue in force, and all the power and authority now vested in the selectmen of the town of Cambridge, in relation to the fire department in said town, shall be transferred to, and vested in the mayor and aldermen.

Sect. 23. The annual town meeting for the town of Cambridge, which by law is to be held in the month of February, March or April, is hereby suspended, and all town officers now in office, shall hold their places until this act shall go into operation, and in case this charter shall not be accepted in the manner and form as hereinafter provided, then the selectmen shall issue their warrant according to law, for holding the annual town meeting of the inhabitants, in which all the proceedings shall be the same, as if this act had not been passed.

Sect. 24. All officers of the town of Cambridge having the care and custody of any records, papers, or property belonging to said town, shall deliver the same to the city clerk, within one week after his entering upon the duties of his office.

Sect. 25. All such acts, and parts of acts, as are inconsistent with the provisions of this act, shall be, and the same are, hereby repealed.

Sect. 26. Nothing in this act contained, shall be so construed as to prevent the Legislature from altering or amending the same, whenever they shall deem it expedient.

Sect. 27. This act shall be void, unless the inhabitants of the town of Cambridge, at a legal town meeting, called for that purpose, shall, by a majority of the voters present, and voting thereon, by a written vote, determine to adopt the same within fourteen days after its passage.

Sect. 28. This act shall go into operation from and after its passage.