Staff Writer

CARLISLE - Residents here will get a refresher course Friday evening on changing their town's form of government.

Administrator Shannon McBride said Carlisle Town Council will hold a public hearing at 7 p.m. to provide residents with information on changing the town's form of government. The meeting, scheduled at the direction of Mayor Radzil Thompson, will also provide information on the different forms of municipal government permitted in South Carolina and the division of powers within each system.

The forms of municipal government in South Carolina are council, strong mayor and manager. Under the council system, council wields all legislative and administrative powers. In the strong mayor system, the mayor serves as the city's chief administrator and executive officer. In the manager system, the council hires a manager who wields most of the administrative power. In both the strong mayor and manager systems the council retains all legislative powers.

Council member Ann Stevens has proposed changing Carlisle's system of government from council to strong mayor. Mrs. Stevens, who served as mayor from 1996-2000 and is seeking to regain her old office in November, submitted a petition to the Union County Election Commission in August asking that a referendum on changing Carlisle's system of government be placed on the November ballot.

Mrs. Stevens' request was denied by commission chairman Keith Vanderford who said it must first be approved by the town council. For the referendum to be placed on the ballot, it must first receive the signatures of 15 percent or 41 of the town's registered voters.

Once the petition is presented to council, the election commission will then verify the signatures. After the verification process is complete, council will then have 30-90 days to set a date for the referendum. Vanderford said that if the process moves forward fast enough, the referendum could be held Nov. 4.

Mrs. McBride emphasized that Friday's meeting is for public information only. She said it is not part of the referendum process, adding that the matter has not been brought before council for consideration.

Carlisle has been under the council system since voters approved a 1998 referendum changing it from strong mayor. The change was approved by voters in an effort to end the clashes between Mrs. Stevens, who was mayor at the time, and council members Mary Ferguson Glenn and Thompson. The clashes continued, however, and municipal government remained in stalemate until 2000 when Mrs. Stevens, Mrs. Glenn and Thompson were voted out of office.

Mrs. Stevens and Mrs. Glenn were returned to council in 2002 and Thompson was elected mayor in 2004. The three are running for mayor in the November general election.