Town of Oriental's Form of Government

Did the Town's 1899 Charter establish a Mayor/Council form of government? Yes. In fact, in 1899, that was the only form of municipal government in North Carolina.

Does the 1899 Charter determine what Oriental's form of government is today? Not necessarily. A lot has happened since then.

In 1899, for example, the Mayor had all of the powers of a Justice of Peace. He could put people in jail, levy fines, sentence citizens to work on the roads. The Town issued its own automobile license plates, kept its own tax lists, ran its own elections. In the 1920's, the Town had authority to issue bonds. In those days, if the Town wanted to amend its charter, it had to petition the General Assembly.

No more.

A big change, introduced in North Carolina General Statutes about 40 years ago, was to give Towns the right to change their form of governance without going back to the General Assembly for an amendment to the charter.

The town can change its form of government to a number of forms spelled out in NCGS 160A-101. They may change it by ordinance (160A-102)[see below for new info], subject to referendum by petition (160A-103). The charter can also be amended by popular initiative (160A-104) in the form prescribed by 160A-105. When the charter is amended, the amendments must continue in force for at least two years after beginning the term of office of officials elected thereunder (160A-107). Take a look at NCGS 160A. The index and links are at: http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/gascripts/statutes/StatutesTOC.pl?Chapter=0160A

Advocates of the Mayor/Council theory apparently believe the Town never officially adopted the Council/Manager form of government.

Before I accept that as fact, I would want to research the Town's minutes and ordinances from the time NCGS granted authority to change the form of government until some reasonable time after the Town first characterized the chief administrative officer as "Town Manager." We need more than proof by assertion.

Even if it can be shown that the Town did not follow the procedures prescribed in 160A-101 through 106 to amend its charter, it has consistently followed the procedures of governance characteristic of a Council/Manager system for many decades. This history of town governance establishes a reasonable expectation on the part of the Town's citizens that they will be provided the benefits of a Council/Manager form of government.

I argue that the Town is estopped from adopting a Mayor/Council form of government without going through all of the procedures outlined in NCGS 160A-101 through 106.

I don't argue that the Town Commissioners lack the authority to adopt a Mayor/Council form of government. But to do so, they need to go through all the steps. Not by stealth.

August 16th update. I have pretty good information from the NC School of Government that the town's charter was in fact changed by local ordinance pursuant to the procedures in GS 160A-102. I will be seeking confirmation from the state legislative library, now that I have some citations to refer to.