GRANITE QUARRY — Granite Quarry heard a guest presentation about what a timeline for changing the mayoral term from two years to four years would look like during their board of aldermen meeting Monday.

The presentation was given by Tom Carruthers, general counsel for the N.C. League of Municipalities. Carruthers told the board that although it was too close to the 2023 municipal election to change anything, the town could look to change the mayor’s term by the 2025 election.

Carruthers said the town would need to amend its charters in order to accomplish the change. Previously, there had been discussion about making the change through the N.C. General Assembly, but Carruthers said that the change could be accomplished entirely in-house. The board would need to jump through a few hoops to make it happen, including holding a public hearing to allow citizens to voice their opinions and providing time for citizens to ask for a referendum if they disagree with the decision made by the board.

Carruthers explained the timeline that the board would have to follow if they chose to amend the town’s ordinances. First, the town would present the resolution to change the mayor’s terms at a first board meeting. During the next month’s meeting, they would hold a public hearing to receive citizen input. During a third meeting the town would then vote on the resolution, after which they would need to give public notice and allow the public 30 days to ask for a referendum.

At a previous meeting, the board voiced that they wanted to explore making the change to bring the mayor’s term up to four years in order to allow the mayor to serve the same and have the same amount of time as aldermen to work with the town. The aldermen in Granite Quarry currently serve staggered, four-year terms.

“I’m in favor of trying to get from two, you can’t do it in two years. Nobody can. I don’t see how you can do a mayor job in two years, four years is going to be difficult enough,” said Constantino during the board’s July 10 meeting.

Before 2015, the town’s mayor was chosen and appointed by the board of aldermen from within their ranks after the election. In 2015, the board changed the town charter to make the mayoral position directly elected by residents in a separate race. That same process of changing the charter is what Carruthers proposed to the board for changing the term length on Monday.