The Town Council is made of five citizens elected at-large to staggered four-year terms. An election is held every odd-numbered year, alternating between two and three council seats up for election. The Town Council elects a Mayor Pro-Tempore (Pro-Tem) to act as the Mayor when the Mayor is unavailable.

Under the Council-Manager form of government the elected Town Council members are the community leaders and policy makers who establish a vision for Summerfield, and who hire the town manager to carry out policy and ensure that all residents are equitably served. The manager coordinates the work of the employees, who help ensure the smooth and efficient delivery of services.

All official meetings of the Town Council are “open meetings” and shall be open to the public as required by state law. There are specific provisions (G.S. 143-318.11(a)) that allow for “closed” sessions for specific purposes as outlined in the above state statute. All meetings must be announced, however, there are different criteria for announcing public meetings dependent upon the type of meeting being advertised. Any meeting can be recessed to reconvene to another meeting date as long as the motion is made in open session and sets a date, time, and location.

There are three types of Town Council meetings. The first, and the most used, is the Regular Meeting. The regular meeting is required by G.S. 160A-71 which states that every municipality fix the time and place of their regular meeting, and hold a meeting at least once a month. A schedule must be kept on file with the clerk. In addition, Summerfield publishes a list of regular meeting dates in December for the following calendar year. Summerfield holds at least one regular meeting per month, currently the second Tuesday.

A typical agenda, with a general explanation, can be downloaded by clicking here .

A Special Meeting may be called by the mayor, mayor pro-tem, or any two council members. State statute requires that written notice of a special meeting stating its purpose must be posted in the principal bulletin board used for public notice. In addition, written notice must be mailed or delivered to each person, newspaper, wire service, radio station or television station which has filed a written request for notice with the clerk. The notice must be posted at least 48 hours before the time of the meeting. Generally, special meetings are called for three reasons. The first is to provide for a “workshop” or “retreat” for Council to focus on one or two issues or items. Generally no action is taken at a meeting labeled workshop or retreat. The second reason is to handle an issue that is not necessarily an emergency yet needs to be acted upon before the next regularly scheduled meeting. The Third reason for a special meeting is to discuss a personnel matter in closed session. At a special meeting only those items of business specified in the notice may be transacted, unless all members are present or have signed a written waiver of notice.

An Emergency Meeting is only used in situations when there is no time to wait for the 48 hours for a special meeting or a regular meeting to handle a public emergency. Examples may include a weather emergency that causes serious damage to Town Hall or other Town property, or something similar. Notice for these types of meetings are made by telephone or by the same method used for a special meeting. Only business connected with the emergency may be considered at an emergency meeting.