Editor’s note: The following is an update to a story published this morning on Port City Daily. That original story is below the update.
Following the discovery that North Carolina law would not allow her to serve dually as a legislator and as a town manager, N.C. Rep. Susi Hamilton has announced a reversal to her acceptance of employment as top administrator of Carolina Beach.
Hamilton (D-New Hanover) said in a statement Wednesday afternoon that she was misguided by information from the legislative ethics staff that she could indeed serve in both capacities simultaneously, and that’s why she announced Tuesday she had accepted the town job.
But, “Based on information received today about an obscure statute specific to town managers of towns with populations greater [than] 3,000, state law says that I must resign as soon as I accept this position. This changes the nature of my decision,” Hamilton said.
The Democrat noted the current Republican majorities adjusting policy in North Carolina and said she would “continue to serve in the North Carolina General Assembly and fight hard for my constituents in District 18,” which covers parts of Wilmington and Brunswick County.
Hamilton’s full statement:
Both The Town of Carolina Beach and I acted on good faith regarding my ability to serve both the Town and in the [N.C. General Assembly]. We did so on information we received from the legislative ethics staff, who advised us based on their knowledge and research that it would be lawful and appropriate and I could do both. My personal ethics would never have allowed the process to move forward at all without clearance from the ethics committee. Based on information received today about an obscure statute specific to town managers of towns with populations greater that 3,000, state law says that I must resign as soon as I accept this position. This changes the nature of my decision. In the past Carolina Beach has experienced considerable political activity. I was comfortable working with the existing Mayor and Council. However, there is an election in November, and elections have consequences. I was OK with this uncertainty when my resignation was not eminent. I will continue to serve in the North Carolina General Assembly and fight hard for my constituents in District 18. I have worked diligently and effectively and will continue to rail against the current majorities efforts to undermine public education. There are many more battles ahead that I intend to fight on behalf of women, children, minorities, the elderly, the disadvantaged, students, teachers, the sick – the list is too long. I must to fight for the best interests of District 18 and all North Carolinians.”
Minutes later, at about 3:15 p.m. Wednesday, the Town of Carolina Beach, via a statement from Mayor Bob Lewis on its official Facebook page, noted the situation and wished Hamilton well.
“She feels she is needed in the legislature and could not make a full-time commitment to the Town of Carolina Beach. As with other career decisions, an individual has to do what is best for her family, her faith and possibly Susi felt she had made a commitment to the residents of Wilmington that she represents and wanted to fulfill her term,” Lewis said.
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Law may not allow Hamilton’s dual service
State law might, after all, prohibit Susi Hamilton from serving dually as state legislator and town manager of Carolina Beach, according to an interpretation from the UNC School of Government.
That means Rep. Hamilton (D-New Hanover) might have to resign her District 18 seat to maintain the town manager job she said she had accepted on Tuesday.
In a press release that evening, Hamilton, a Wilmington resident currently serving her second two-year term in the N.C. House, said the General Assembly would not require her resignation and that she had no immediate plans to leave the elected office. (Related story)
But a section of state law dealing with town managers and dual office-holding notes a restriction: “The office of city manager is hereby declared to be an office that may be held concurrently with other appointive (but not elective) offices pursuant to Article VI, Sec. 9, of the Constitution.”
There is no legal difference between a city manager and town manager.
That bit of law “would appear to prohibit a person who is a sitting legislator to also serve as a town manager,” said Frayda Bluestein, a professor of public law and government at the School of Government. Port City Daily contacted the school for a review of the applicable statutes.
Attempts to reach Hamilton for comment Wednesday morning was not successful. The House was scheduled for session at noon.
There is, notably, another passage of law that, on its surface, seems to allow the dual service. “Any person who holds an elective office in State or local government is hereby authorized by the General Assembly, pursuant to Article VI, Sec. 9 of the North Carolina Constitution to hold concurrently one other appointive office, place of trust or profit, in either State or local government.”
Bluestein, asked her opinion Wednesday on the nature of “appointive” office–for instance, a town manager is technically appointed to the job–said the more specific statute, dealing with restrictions squarely on municipal managers, would likely govern.
Town did not envision Hamilton staying in elected seat
Follow-up calls and messages to Carolina Beach officials and legal counsel Wednesday morning were not returned.
But the town’s recently launched, official Facebook page became a forum for discussion about Hamilton’s hiring and how her work with the town would balance or compete with her work in the legislature.
Mayor Lewis, in one response, informed residents that his council examined Hamilton’s “body of work history” and determined her the best of many candidates, but that the town’s leadership did not envision her continuing as a legislator.
He also noted that Hamilton’s role was not yet finalized.
“We had [interim town manager] Bruce Shell and our town attorney negotiate an agreement with the candidate for the office of town manager and provide a contract,” Lewis wrote Wednesday. “The candidate was waiting [until] the end of the long session [of the General Assembly] to agree to a contract with the town and we had planned a special meeting to be held as soon as she gave us notice.”
That meeting was scheduled for Friday and was, according to Lewis, going to involve the town council voting on Hamilton’s contract in open session, should she decide she ultimately wants the town job.
“The applicant will be working full time for the town of Carolina Beach,” Lewis wrote. “She will have a transition period from her current responsibilities but the intent is not for her to hold both positions long term.”
Ben Brown is a news reporter at Port City Daily. Reach him at [email protected] or (910) 772-6335. On Twitter: @benbrownmedia
