Alfred Chandler of Brookline introduced the idea of limited or representative town government as early as 1897, but it was not adopted until 1915, when Brookline accepted an act of the Massachusetts legislature providing for "precinct voting, limited town meeting, town meeting members, a referendum, and an annual moderator in the Town of Brookline." Newport, Rhode Island, influenced by Chandler, had adopted a form or representative town meeting in 1906. Representative or "Limited" Town Meeting consists of Town Meeting members elected from election districts or precincts and Members-at-Large. Representative Town Meetings may be chosen by a town through a special act of the state legislature, by petitioning the General Court to enact special legislation which applies solely to that town, or by using the Home Rule Charter process.
