AN ACT amending the charter of the town of gatesville to extend the terms of office for the mayor and members of the board of commissioners from two to four years and staggering those terms.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  Section 4 of the Charter of the Town of Gatesville, being Chapter 88 of the 1923 Private Laws, as amended by Section 3 of Chapter 10 of the 1933 Private Laws, reads as rewritten:
"Sec. 3.  
(a)	Regular Municipal Elections.  Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, regular municipal elections shall be held in the Town every four years and shall be conducted in accordance with the uniform municipal elections laws of North Carolina. The Mayor and members of the Board of Commissioners shall be elected according to the nonpartisan plurality method of election, as provided in G.S. 163‑292. The Commissioners shall be elected in a multiseat contest, and the Mayor shall be elected separately.
(b)	Election of the Board of Commissioners; Election of Mayor.  The Commissioners and Mayor shall be elected to four‑year terms by the qualified voters of the entire Town, except as provided otherwise in this subsection. In 2009, and quadrennially thereafter, a Mayor shall be elected separately from the Commissioners to a four‑year term. In 2009, for the position of Commissioner, the two persons receiving the highest numbers of votes in a multiseat contest shall be elected to four‑year terms, and the one person receiving the next highest number of votes shall be elected to a two‑year term. In 2011, and quadrennially thereafter, one person shall be elected to a four‑year term. In 2013, and quadrennially thereafter, two persons shall be elected in a multi‑seat contest to four‑year terms."
SECTION 2.  This act is effective when it becomes law.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 29th day of April, 2009.

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		 Walter H. Dalton
	 President of the Senate

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		 Joe Hackney
	 Speaker of the House of Representatives