Town Meeting Times, which is embedded in Templeton town bylaws, selectmen: when it comes to selectmen role in town meeting, their part actually comes at the beginning, where they set the time and place of town meeting and prepare and submit town meeting warrant with articles "warning residents of upcoming meeting and what will be discussed. After that, selectmen have no real role in town meeting other than as individual voters. Of course people look to the selectmen to do certain things, but it is possible to have a town meeting without them. All that is actually required for a town meeting is a properly executed warrant, a clerk, a moderator and voters.

Templeton does have a town bylaw concerning the budget;

§ 28-7

Preparation by Administrator and Board.

[Amended 5-19-2014; 11-20-2019 STM by Art. 7; 6-17-2020 ATM by Art. 9]

It shall be duty of the Town Administrator, in conjunction with the Select Board (Board), to consider expenditures and develop a budget for the ensuing fiscal year of the several boards, officers and committees of the Town, as prepared by them in such form and detail as prescribed by the Town Administrator, and further to present and defend the same throughout the review process and to the Town Meeting for action.

So, other than budget, selectmen in theory could be told to address meeting by way of microphones on town floor like the rest of the residents. The moderator runs town meeting, not the selectmen and they probably need to be reminded of that often!

Procedural rulings at town meeting are made by the moderator and the moderator is not bound by town counsel opinion. (one must always remember town counsel gives opinions, they are not law, and Templeton town counsel has been wrong numerous times to date.)

 Summer education time.

Just in case anyone calls office of selectmen to request to be on agenda of an upcoming meeting and say town administrator refuses your request, you have options to include filing open meeting law complaint (at least make them deal with it and have to explain the reason for complaint).

Preparation of the Agenda

The agenda of a selectmen’s meeting had virtually no legal significance prior to a major overhaul of the open meeting law in 2010. Under the previous version of the law, the meeting posting simply had to say when and where the board would convene. Now, the required notice of a meeting must include “a listing of topics that the chair reasonably anticipates will be discussed at the meeting”

[G.L. c. 30A, §20(b)]. Note the imposition of personal responsibility: “that the chair reasonably anticipates will be discussed.”

See, the law gives responsibility and authority to chair of the public body, not town admin, regardless of what selectmen may put in a policy (that they do not usually follow anyways- in my opinion).

Note: selectman handbook - In most towns, the responsibility for preparing the meeting agenda falls to the chair, often with help from professional staff, or to the town manager or other professional staff member. This task includes determining what issues will be up for discussion, what the order of items will be, and what will not appear on the agenda. Again, open meeting law puts agenda responsibility (final) on the chair.

Again, what if a topic comes up within forty-eight hours before the meeting that the chair failed to anticipate? The chair should amend the posted notice as soon as possible, even if it means the topic is posted less than a full forty-eight hours in advance. If feasible, the board may also consider postponing discussion until the next meeting, so there will be no question about the adequacy of notice. (chair is ultimately responsible)