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Boston Region MPO – MPO Election Process
OVERVIEW • WHAT IS AN MPO? • MPO MEMBERSHIP • MPO ELECTION PROCESS •
MPO REGION MAP • NON-DISCRIMINATION POLICY
Each year the MPO holds an election of municipal members and provides information to the public on the MPO´s election process and activities. One city and one town are elected to three-year terms to serve on the MPO. The chief elected officials of the 101 municipalities in the MPO region may cast ballots. The Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) and the MBTA Advisory Board administer the election which takes place at the MAPC Annual Meeting, typically held in spring.

Currently, the elected MPO member municipalities, with the corresponding MAPC subregions indicated in parentheses, are: the cities of Braintree (South Shore Coalition), Newton (Inner Core), Somerville (Inner Core), and the towns of Bedford (Minuteman Advisory Group on Interlocal Coordination), Framingham (MetroWest Growth Management Committee), and Hopkinton (SouthWest Advisory Planning Committee).
Eligibility
Every municipality has an equal opportunity to run for election. Providing geographic diversity of municipal members on the MPO is important, so no more than one municipality per MAPC subregion may be elected, except for the Inner Core subregion, which may have two elected municipal seats (in addition to the City of Boston, which is a permanent member of the MPO).

Notification
At the start of the process, a letter of notification is sent from MAPC and the MBTA Advisory Board to the chief elected official of every municipality in the MPO region. It includes all of the details necessary for participation in the election process, either as a candidate municipality, an endorsing chief elected official, or a voting municipality.
Nominating Process
The nomination of a municipality for a seat on the MPO requires the support of five chief elected officials from the MPO region. Chief elected officials are: in cities, the mayor or, if there is no mayor, the chairman of the city council, or, as in Cambridge, the city manager; in towns, the chairman of the board of selectmen. A chief elected official may sign nomination papers for only one city and one town.

The MAPC subregions have the right to nominate municipal candidates, provided that each nomination is supported by five signatures of chief elected officials from the 101 municipalities in the MPO region.

If the designated officer of MAPC and the designated officer of the MBTA Advisory Board determine that nominations received by the nomination deadline provide insufficient geographic diversity, they notify the president of MAPC and the chairman of the Advisory Board, who then convene the chairs of all the MAPC subregions to discuss nominations. The chairs caucus with the members of their subregions, and each subregion may then submit one additional municipal nomination, endorsed by five chief elected officials. A chief elected official may sign only one nomination paper in this additional process; an official's having signed papers for a city and a town in the earlier phase does not disqualify him or her from endorsing an additional municipality in this phase.
Steps
MAPC and the MBTA Advisory Board prepare the ballot on which the candidate municipalities (with their subregion noted) appear in an order drawn by lot by designated officers of those two agencies. A candidates booklet is then issued; it contains the list of candidates in the same order in which they will appear on the ballot, along with statements of candidacy from all nominees.

MAPC and the MBTA Advisory Board usually conduct a Candidates Night or a similar forum in order to provide an opportunity to meet representatives of candidate municipalities and discuss issues.

The ballot information and the date and location of any Candidates Night or other forum are posted on this website.
Election
The election will be held at the MAPC Annual Meeting. Designated officers of MAPC and the MBTA Advisory Board supervise the election.

At the election, votes are cast by the chief elected official of each municipality in the MPO region or by the official´s designee. Each municipality may vote for one city and one town. The designee of a chief elected official must present a letter appointing the designee, signed by the chief elected official, to the designated officers of the election, or such a letter may have been mailed to MAPC. A designee may represent only one municipality. Designations may require the designee to vote for specific municipalities or may allow the designee to vote at his or her discretion.

Absentee ballots may be filed if the chief elected official is unable to attend on election day and does not designate another individual to attend. Absentee ballots are valid for any election held during the Annual Meeting for which the candidates on the ballot are eligible to receive votes.

The one city and one town that receive the most votes in their respective categories are elected to a three-year term, provided that only one municipality is elected from any MAPC subregion, other than the Inner Core which may have two. The chief elected official of a municipality elected to the MPO (or that official´s designee) represents the municipality throughout his or her term in office. If the chief elected official does not complete the term, the municipality retains that seat for the full term and the new chief elected official is the representative.

The designated officers of MAPC and the MBTA Advisory Board certify the results of the election to the chairman of the MPO by 12:00 noon on the day following the election.
MPO Member Responsibilities

Each member of the MPO participates in the following:

Specific Responsibilities
The MPO must prepare and approve the following certification documents, which are part of the federal planning process:
  • The Transportation Improvement Program, which programs funds for surface transportation projects (both highway and transit)
  • The Unified Planning Work Program, which programs funds for transportation planning in the region
  • The Transportation Plan, the MPO´s long-range plan to prioritize and meet the region´s transportation needs
  • Documents demonstrating the conformity of plans and programs with applicable federal laws, including air quality legislation, the Americans with Disabilities Act, Title VI, and executive orders
MPO Meetings
Meetings are held as needed to accomplish the MPO´s business. There are approximately four MPO meetings a year; they are held during the day in Boston at the State Transportation Building. The MPO has the authority to establish committees necessary to accomplish its responsibilities. Recent experience suggests that the municipal members of the MPO or their designees need to atttend at least two additional meetings per month in order for the committees to accomplish their work.

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