(A) The Mayor shall be elected by all the qualified voters of the city for a term of four years.
(B) The City Council shall consist of seven members, who shall all serve terms of four years. The city shall be divided into five single-member electoral districts (wards), the wards to be delineated and numbered on an official map, and adopted by the governing body pursuant to G.S. §§ 160A-22 and 160A-23. Five Council members shall be apportioned to the districts (wards) so that each member represents the same number of persons as nearly as possible. The qualified voters of each district (ward) shall elect from candidates who reside in the district (ward) for the seat apportioned to that district (ward). The other two Council member(s) shall be apportioned to the city at large and all the qualified voters of the city shall elect candidates apportioned to the city at large.
(C) The terms of office for the Mayor and Council members shall be staggered, such that some members of the governing body shall run for election in each biennial municipal election. In the 1991 municipal election, and in elections every four years subsequent to the election, Council members from districts (wards) 1 and 2; and one at-large Council seat; and the Mayor shall be elected for those offices. Because the Council size is increasing from six to seven members, the second at-large seat will need to be filled for a two-year term in the 1991 election. Therefore, in the 1991 municipal election, all qualified voters shall vote for two at-large Council seats, using the methods prescribed in G.S. § 163-293, so that the successful at-large candidate with the largest number of votes shall serve a four-year term and the successful at-large candidate with the next largest number of votes shall serve a four-year term. In the 1993 municipal election, and in elections every four years subsequent to the election, candidates for Council member from districts (wards) 3, 4 and 5; and one at-large Council seat shall be elected for those offices.
(D) The nonpartisan election and runoff election method shall be used, as authorized by G.S. § 160A-101(7)(c). The elections shall be conducted in accordance with G.S. Ch. 163, Art. 23 and Art. 24. The determination of election results shall be made using the methods prescribed in G.S. § 163-293.
(E) The Mayor and City Council members shall possess the qualifications set out in Article VI of the Constitution of the state. In addition, Council members who were elected to district (ward) seats on the governing body shall reside in the district (ward) they represent. When the Mayor or any Council member ceases to meet all of the qualifications for holding office pursuant to the Constitution, or when a Council member ceases to reside in an electoral district (ward) that he or she was elected to represent, the office is ipso facto vacant.
(F) Vacancies in either the Office of Mayor, or the Office of any Council member, shall be filled as prescribed by G.S. § 160A-63.
(G) The governing body shall fix the date and time for its organizational meeting in accordance with G.S. § 160A-68. At the organizational meeting, all successful candidates for Mayor or Council member shall qualify by taking the oath of office prescribed in Art VI, § 7, of the Constitution of the state.
(Prior Code, § 2-19) (Ord. passed 5-14-1991; Ord. 07-12, passed 4-24-2007)
Statutory reference:
Administration of Mayor-Council cities, see G.S. §§ 160A-55 through 160A-59