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.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Special Town Board Meeting August 17 11:00
The Town of Oriental has scheduled a Special Workshop Meeting August 17, 2010 at 11:00 am with Mr. Hartwell Wright of North Carolina League of Municipalities to discuss Human Resources.
Warning! This could be a stealth effort to change the form of government the Town of Oriental has enjoyed for nearly 40 years, without alerting the citizenry to the issues.
To set the stage, I quote from a recent letter of Mayor Bill Sage to the Local Government Commission (back)dated April 1, 2010:
"The prior Town Administrator, Wyatt Cutler, had served for nearly a decade when he announced his retirement in late 2008, effective January 31, 2009. The Town began a search process for his replacement and hired the current Administrator, Randall K. Cahoon, in March 2009."
"Pay no attention," the letter seems to say, "to the contract between the Town of Oriental and the same Randall K. Cahoon, made the 9th of March, 2009." The contract was addressed to "Randall K. Cahoon, Town Manager" and signed for the Town of Oriental by "William R. Sage, Mayor." Pay no attention, likewise, to nearly 40 years of minutes describing the "Town Manager's Report," correspondence addressed to and signed by "Town Manager," and the fact that during his "nearly a decade" of service, Wyatt Cutler was styled as and performed the functions of the Town Manager.
With no notice to the public, someone working out of Town Hall seems to have decided to expunge the term "town manager" from our lexicon and replace it with "administrator."
Isn't this a distinction without a difference? Not exactly.
What is at stake is how the town is governed.
The Council/Manager plan of government promotes the separation of the Town Board's responsibility for political judgments and policy direction from the manager's responsibility for administration in accordance with the council's overall policy guidance and his or her own politically neutral expertise.
I think this is a fair description of how the Town has been governed for many years.
The Mayor/Council form of government assigns decision making responsibility to the Town Board as a group, with no clear executive authority.
Advocates of the Mayor/Council model contend that the Town's 1899 Charter provides for a Mayor/Council form of government.
Maybe.
Maybe not.
More to come.
Warning! This could be a stealth effort to change the form of government the Town of Oriental has enjoyed for nearly 40 years, without alerting the citizenry to the issues.
To set the stage, I quote from a recent letter of Mayor Bill Sage to the Local Government Commission (back)dated April 1, 2010:
"The prior Town Administrator, Wyatt Cutler, had served for nearly a decade when he announced his retirement in late 2008, effective January 31, 2009. The Town began a search process for his replacement and hired the current Administrator, Randall K. Cahoon, in March 2009."
"Pay no attention," the letter seems to say, "to the contract between the Town of Oriental and the same Randall K. Cahoon, made the 9th of March, 2009." The contract was addressed to "Randall K. Cahoon, Town Manager" and signed for the Town of Oriental by "William R. Sage, Mayor." Pay no attention, likewise, to nearly 40 years of minutes describing the "Town Manager's Report," correspondence addressed to and signed by "Town Manager," and the fact that during his "nearly a decade" of service, Wyatt Cutler was styled as and performed the functions of the Town Manager.
With no notice to the public, someone working out of Town Hall seems to have decided to expunge the term "town manager" from our lexicon and replace it with "administrator."
Isn't this a distinction without a difference? Not exactly.
What is at stake is how the town is governed.
The Council/Manager plan of government promotes the separation of the Town Board's responsibility for political judgments and policy direction from the manager's responsibility for administration in accordance with the council's overall policy guidance and his or her own politically neutral expertise.
I think this is a fair description of how the Town has been governed for many years.
The Mayor/Council form of government assigns decision making responsibility to the Town Board as a group, with no clear executive authority.
Advocates of the Mayor/Council model contend that the Town's 1899 Charter provides for a Mayor/Council form of government.
Maybe.
Maybe not.
More to come.
Friday, August 13, 2010
Town Board Impressions
Watching the proceedings at last week's Town Board reminded me of a film clip I once saw at the Will Rogers Memorial in Claremore, Oklahoma. Will had his foot on the running board of a car, relaxed grin on his face, talking to the occupant.
"From the newspapers, Mr. Coolidge," he said,"I see you haven't done much of anything this year."
"Yep," President Coolidge said.
"But," Will observed, "It seems that's just what the public wanted done."
"From the newspapers, Mr. Coolidge," he said,"I see you haven't done much of anything this year."
"Yep," President Coolidge said.
"But," Will observed, "It seems that's just what the public wanted done."
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Oriental Town Board of Commissioners August 3
I attended the August 3 meeting of the Oriental Town Board of Commissioners. I learned a lot. Much of what I learned was from what wasn't said, and some from how things were said. Some of what I learned was just from observation. I'll share some of these observations over the next few days.
One of the first observations is that previous problems with minutes haven't been resolved. The Board spent the first thirty minutes of the meeting wrestling over minutes. In fact, they did not approve the minutes for June 1. What I thought I heard was that those minutes would be approved at the next agenda meeting. I must have been mistaken, because now I see that minutes for June 1 have been posted on the Town's web site. Surely that wouldn't have been done without revisiting them at a public meeting of the Board. August 13 update: just checked the town's web site - the June 1 minutes have been removed.
Surely there is some way to make sure the minutes are done right the first time. On second thought, maybe not. We still haven't solved a similar problem at the County Board of Elections.
More later.
One of the first observations is that previous problems with minutes haven't been resolved. The Board spent the first thirty minutes of the meeting wrestling over minutes. In fact, they did not approve the minutes for June 1. What I thought I heard was that those minutes would be approved at the next agenda meeting. I must have been mistaken, because now I see that minutes for June 1 have been posted on the Town's web site. Surely that wouldn't have been done without revisiting them at a public meeting of the Board. August 13 update: just checked the town's web site - the June 1 minutes have been removed.
Surely there is some way to make sure the minutes are done right the first time. On second thought, maybe not. We still haven't solved a similar problem at the County Board of Elections.
More later.
Political Expectations
"A man that would expect to train lobsters to fly in a year is called a lunatic; but a man that thinks men can be turned into angels by an election is a reformer and remains at large."
Mr. Dooley (Finley Peter Dunne)
Mr. Dooley (Finley Peter Dunne)
Monday, August 9, 2010
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Physical Changes
I saw my doctor last week for my annual physical. Everything was great. Only one piece of bad news: I'm an inch and a half shorter than I was when I was 21.
That's unfair.
The problem isn't that I want to tower over other people - it is that now I have to lose more weight. The weight charts are calibrated by height. As long as I thought I was taller, my weight didn't look that bad.
When you think about it, using overall height as the benchmark discriminates in another way. My legs are short. They should be a couple of inches longer. That wouldn't add much weight, but would make a difference on the weight chart.
Guess I just have to start eating less and exercising more.
That's unfair.
The problem isn't that I want to tower over other people - it is that now I have to lose more weight. The weight charts are calibrated by height. As long as I thought I was taller, my weight didn't look that bad.
When you think about it, using overall height as the benchmark discriminates in another way. My legs are short. They should be a couple of inches longer. That wouldn't add much weight, but would make a difference on the weight chart.
Guess I just have to start eating less and exercising more.
South Avenue Update
Pamlico County Superior Court Judge Kenneth Crow signed the final judgment granting ownership of the end of South Avenue to the Town of Oriental last February 5th.
Six months have passed, and the fence is still up. I am told that last Wednesday Lacy Henry agreed for the Town to remove the fence he put up in the Town's Right of Way about eighteen years ago.
Care to place bets on how long it will take for the fence to come down?
Six months have passed, and the fence is still up. I am told that last Wednesday Lacy Henry agreed for the Town to remove the fence he put up in the Town's Right of Way about eighteen years ago.
Care to place bets on how long it will take for the fence to come down?
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