Sec. 12. Same — Authority generally; meetings; journal of
proceedings; general ordinance book; inspection of
documents and papers.
The council shall have authority to adopt such rules and to
appoint such officers and clerks as it may deem proper for the
regulation of its proceedings, and for the convenient transaction
of business, to compel the attendance of absent members,
to punish its members for disorderly behavior, and by vote of
two-thirds of all the members elected to it, expel a member
for malfeasance or misfeasance in office. The council shall keep
a journal of its proceedings, and its meetings shall be open,
except when, it votes to hold an executive or closed session
pursuant to general law. The council shall also require to be
kept by its clerk a separate book, termed "the general ordinance
book," in which shall be recorded all ordinances and
resolutions of a general and permanent character, properly indexed
and opened to the public inspection. Other documents
or papers in the possession of the clerk of the council which
may affect the interest of the city, shall not be exhibited nor
copies thereof furnished, except as may be required by general
law. (1972, c. 184.)
Effect of amendment.—The 1972 amendment rewrote the second and
last sentences of this section regarding executive sessions and exhibition
of documents and papers.
