GRANITE QUARRY — The Granite Quarry Board of Aldermen held a public hearing on Monday for a proposed charter amendment that would change the mayoral term from two years to four years.

The amendment proposes a change to the town charters that would change the name of the board of aldermen to the town council and would also change the term for mayor from two years to four years, effective at the next election.

One citizen, Marilyn Michael, spoke for the amendment and former alderman Jeff Cannon spoke against the term change portion.

Cannon said that he opposed the amendment because he believed it gave the voters in Granite Quarry less opportunities to make their voices heard and affect the local government.

“The only one benefiting would be the mayor, whoever that may be at the time. Whereas, the citizens would have their rights and privileges lessened from having the opportunity to change 60 percent of the governing body every two years to every four years,” Cannon said.

He also noted the history of the town’s charter, which had been changed from its original four years to the current two years by a previous board.

Michael said that she supported the amendment change because she believed the people in the town’s government were the right people and extending the term to benefit the mayor’s ability to do their job would help the current board.

Cannon made sure at the start of his comments to note that his opposition to the amendment did not contradict Michael’s statement that the current board of aldermen and town staff were doing a great job.

After Cannon and Michael spoke, the board members took some time to digest the comments and speak their minds.

“Having just now entered my second term, it was very difficult to get much accomplished in two years. In government, things move much slower, as far as processes and studies that have to be completed. I do think that mirroring the mayor’s terms to what the aldermen’s terms are would help with consistency and fulfilling those long-term goals,” said Mayor Brittany Barnhardt.

Mayor Pro Tem Doug Shelton said that he had not currently decided on which way he would vote, saying that he could see the reasoning on both sides. He did note that a lot of the first year for a new mayor was spent learning the intricacies of the job, and so they effectively only got one year. Alderman Rich Luhrs also said in the same discussion that six months of that second year would often be spent campaigning for re-election as well.

At one point, an idea to change all the terms to two years was floated, but Alderman John Linker noted that alternating terms were important so that the board always had some experience and that it would be difficult to have alternating two-year terms.

The actual vote on the charter amendment will be during the board’s April meeting. The meeting is currently scheduled for April 8, but the board is looking into moving it because Shelton cannot be present on that day.