After operating under four-year terms for just one year, the Hope Mills Board of Commissioners voted to begin the process of returning elected officials to two-year terms.
The board voted 3-2 for the amendment during its Oct. 5 regular meeting. Commissioners Bryan Marley and Grilley Mitchell voted in opposition, while Lisa Tremmel, Cynthia Hamilton and Mayor Pro Tem Hope Page voted in favor.
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During the same meeting, the board considered amending the charter to require the town manager to live in the town of Hope Mills, but the vote failed 3-2, with Marley, Mitchell and Page voting in opposition. Hamilton, who introduced both items, said her proposals were brought forward in response to comments from residents.
“It’s the citizens of this town that pay the majority of the bills for the town…and they actually elect those of us that sit in those seats,” Hamilton told The Fayetteville Observer Oct. 8. “It’s only fair to them to be allowed to say what we do and what we don’t do.”
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The Oct. 5 meeting follows an announcement from the board that the town is receiving assistance from the North Carolina Local Government Commission as it grapples with a cash-flow shortfall. Town officials have said Hope Mills could be $2.27 million short of the funds needed to cover payroll, accounts payable, contractual obligations and emergency expenses before property tax revenues begin arriving in December.
Two-year terms
Hope Mills Board of Commissioners voted in July 2025 to amend the town charter to establish four-year terms for elected board members. Prior to the July 2025 vote, the board operated under two-year terms.
The switch to four-year terms was on the 2018 ballot and was ultimately rejected by Hope Mills voters. The board still took the matter to a vote. In 2025, board members Marley and Joanne Scarola and Mayor Pro-Tem Kenjuana McCray voted for the change while Elyse Craver and Jerry Legge voted against it.
Long-term development and stability for the town were the main arguments for the four-year term change.
Hamilton said Thursday, however, that if a board member is not doing their job, that person remains in office until voters have a chance to remove them at the end of the four-year term.
“At least for two years, we can elect another commissioner or whoever, again, after two years and not four years,” Hamilton said.
During the Oct. 5 meeting, Page said that since launching her campaign for commissioner, she has been in favor of policies and procedures for the good of the residents and the board.
“During campaign time, I said that I can see the benefit of the four-year terms because it allows for consistency,” Page said, “However, my campaign is our voice, our town, one Hope Mills.”
She added that she supports putting a two-year term amendment before voters.
While agreeing that the matter should be decided by voters, Tremmel said she supports two-year terms.
“During my campaign, I said that the people decide how many years we sit up here. We serve you. We don’t serve ourselves,” Tremmel said. “And I understand the thinking of the four-year terms. I don’t agree with it.”
Page, Tremmel and Hamilton ultimately voted in favor of the amendment.
The Fayetteville Observer attempted to reach Mitchell, Marley, Page and Bellflowers for comment but did not receive a response.
Bellflowers, a nonvoting board member, said the town attorney advised that the process of returning to two-year terms would begin immediately but would not take effect until after 2029 because three commissioners and the mayor, elected in 2025, are serving four-year terms that do not expire until then. Bellflowers, Page, Marley and Mitchell were elected to those terms, while Hamilton and Tremmel were elected to two-year terms. The next Hope Mills Board of Commissioners election is scheduled for 2027.
Audience members expressed concerns about the amendment’s proposed 2029 effective date. In response, Bellflowers said the town attorney would return with the policy in writing at the board’s Oct. 19 meeting.
Hamilton told the Observer that the next step in getting the charter amended is to have a public hearing on the matter. The board will vote on the date and time of the public hearing at a future meeting.
Town manager residing in Hope Mills
Hamilton also introduced an amendment to the charter that would require the town manager to live in Hope Mills.
“The town manager should sit in the same or should reside in the same area and pay the same taxes that we propose and vote on and approve,” Hamilton said during the meeting.
Page said she understood why Hamilton was making the request but argued that there are limitations.
“What if there is no one qualified to do the job? What will you then do?” Page asked. “So by placing that restriction, you put the town in a box.”
Hamilton said that anybody can apply for the job, but that upon hiring, they must live in the town.
Page asked whether the town would pay the employee to relocate. Hamilton said that could be discussed in the future but that, in her opinion, it wouldn’t matter.
“If there are people out there that need a job, I think they’re going to want to move regardless of whether their relocation fees are paid,” Hamilton said.
Hamilton and Tremmel voted in favor of the amendment, but due to the lack of a majority vote, the motion didn’t pass.
Update on town manager position
In July, the Hope Mills Board of Commissioners voted 3-2 not to renew Town Manager Chancer McLaughlin’s contract, with Commissioners Marley and Mitchell voting against the decision.
The decision not to renew McLaughlin’s contract, which ends in March 2027, follows a state audit that found the town used $1.2 million more from its reserves than had been budgeted for the fiscal year 2025-26.
Following a closed session Oct. 5, Bellflowers said that an external hiring source from the League of Municipalities will begin the process of hiring a new town manager.
Reporting by Coral Aponte, Fayetteville Observer / The Fayetteville Observer
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