HB1034 is a local act that amends the charter of the Town of Stanley in Gaston County. The bill updates the town’s council-manager form of government provisions and specifically revises the town manager’s authority over municipal personnel. Under the revised charter language, the town manager would be empowered to hire, suspend, or remove town employees, with the key exception of the town attorney, and would continue to serve as the town’s chief administrator responsible to the town council.
The bill also restates and modernizes several charter provisions governing the town manager’s duties, including supervising departments, attending council meetings, preparing the annual budget, submitting financial and administrative reports, and receiving legal process on behalf of the town. It preserves procedures for appointing an acting or interim town manager during temporary absence or vacancy and bars the mayor or any council member from serving in that role. The act takes effect upon becoming law.
HB1034 would change the Town of Stanley’s local charter and, as a result, alter the allocation of administrative authority within the town government. It would give the town manager explicit charter authority to manage town personnel, while preserving the council’s authority over the town attorney and maintaining council oversight through general personnel rules, ordinances, and policy. The bill affects only the Town of Stanley and does not amend statewide municipal law generally, though it operates within the broader council-manager framework in Chapter 160A of the General Statutes.
The available record suggests the bill moved forward without recorded opposition in the materials provided. There are no committee transcripts or vote tallies included, and the bill was reported favorably by committee substitute before being referred to the Senate Rules and Operations Committee. The absence of recorded debate or dissent indicates the measure was likely treated as a routine local charter adjustment.
The main substantive issue in the bill is the scope of the town manager’s hiring and firing authority. The original charter language and the bill text reference exceptions for the city/town attorney, tax collector, and clerk in places, but the bill’s stated purpose is to allow the town manager to hire, suspend, or remove town employees other than the town attorney. That drafting inconsistency may be the only notable point of ambiguity, though no explicit controversy is documented. Otherwise, the bill appears noncontroversial and narrowly focused on local administrative structure.