Guide to Garner 2020 edition | Page 6

Town Council Overview of Town Government Ken Marshburn Mayor [email protected] 919.773.4404 (office) Term expires December 2023 Kathy Behringer Mayor Pro Tem (Council Member) [email protected] Term expires December 2021 Demian Dellinger Council Member [email protected] Term expires December 2023 Phil Matthews Council Member [email protected] Term expires December 2023 Gra Singleton Council Member [email protected] Term expires December 2021 FORM OF GOVERNMENT The Town of Garner operates under the council-manager form of government. The Town Council is a five-member body. All seats are at-large. The Council enacts ordinances and resolutions, adopts the annual budget, approves the financing of all Town operations and capital projects, and authorizes contracts of significant scope. The town manager is responsible for implementing the policies of the Council and managing the dayto-day operations of the Town government. MAYOR AND MAYOR PRO TEM The mayor presides at Town Council meetings and signs documents authorized by the Town Council. The mayor pro tem is selected by Council members after each election cycle. He or she assumes all mayoral duties in the absence of the mayor. no term limits. ELECTION PROCESS Regular municipal elections are held in the Town of Garner every other November in odd-numbered years and are conducted in accordance with the uniform municipal election laws of the state of North Carolina. In the mayoral election, the top vote getter wins. Top vote getters also win the open seats for Town Council. If there are, for example, two open seats for Council, the two top vote getters are declared winners. TOWN COUNCIL VOTES Official approval of the Town Council is by majority vote, provided that a quorum—which is a majority of the full membership of the Council and mayor—is present. Every member must vote unless excused by the remaining members, according to Elmo Vance Council Member [email protected] Term 4expires December 2023 garnernc.gov statute. Unless a present Council member is excused from voting, his or her silence is recorded as an affirmative vote. TOWN COUNCIL MEETINGS The Town Council has regular meetings on the first Monday and on the Tuesday following the third Monday of each month at 7 p.m. in the Council Chambers on the first floor of Town Hall, located 900 7th Ave. These meetings are live streamed at facebook.com/townofgarner. They are also videotaped and later broadcast on the Town’s public, educational and governmental channel, GTV11. The recorded meetings also can be viewed on demand on the Town’s website, garnernc.gov, and on the Town’s YouTube channel, youtube.com/townofgarner. The Council holds work sessions on the last Tuesday of the month at 6 p.m., also in the Council Chambers. In addition, special meetings of the Council may be called. Agendas for all meetings are posted at garnernc.gov/ government/town-council/towncouncil-agendas-and-minutes. Minutes of all meetings are kept and recorded by the town clerk or deputy town clerk. The minutes are then presented to the Council for approval. The minutes, as well as audio recordings of the meetings and the aforementioned videos, are available at garnernc.gov. The Council receives public comments at the beginning of both regular meetings. Any person wishing to speak may sign in prior to the beginning of the meeting or submit a request to the Town Clerk’s Office by going to garnernc.gov/government/ town-council.