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Hendersonville board adopts major overhaul of municipal personnel code after hours of debate
Summary
After extensive discussion and multiple amendments, the Hendersonville Board of Mayor and Aldermen adopted a rewritten personnel code and HR policies on second reading, addressing appointment authority, discipline, hiring practices, education pay and notification requirements.
The Hendersonville Board of Mayor and Aldermen adopted a comprehensive revision of the city’s personnel code on second reading Tuesday night, approving a package of policy changes and clarifying amendments after several hours of debate.
The ordinance, presented as Ordinance 2026-01, updates municipal personnel provisions and a suite of HR policies and procedures. Alderman Collins led multiple amendment efforts and raised concerns that some text conflicted with charter provisions; the board revised language to clarify roles for the mayor, the chief of operations (COO), and the board in appointing and overseeing department heads.
Board members wrestled with how authority is allocated. The adopted language keeps appointment authority consistent with the charter while explicitly authorizing the COO to remove, suspend, and discipline employees — including department heads — and adds a notification requirement that the board be informed of actions taken outside existing policy, except where state or federal law prohibits disclosure. Alderman Collins framed the change as clarifying the COO’s duties, while Alderman Robertson and the city attorney pressed for precise wording to avoid charter conflicts.
The council also approved a set of procedural amendments affecting pay and hiring. The board accepted a requirement that the COO consult with department heads when recommending salary-range changes and added a notice to the board when a candidate accepts an offer outside the normal hiring rate. An amendment requiring board notification when exceptions are made for ‘‘hard-to-fill’’ positions (including pay, benefits, or minimum qualifications) passed 9–3.
Education pay (‘‘E-pay’’) prompted particularly intense discussion. After concerns that a new formula would treat existing and future hires inconsistently, the board voted 9–3 to grandfather existing employees hired before March 22, 2026, retain current E-pay treatment for them, and centralize E-pay calculations in HR to ensure uniform application.
Among other changes, the ordinance incorporates state-recommended language addressing political activity restrictions (Hatch Act guidance), formalizes the city’s Title VI coordinator functions and training expectations, and creates a notification pathway for the board when pay exceptions are authorized.
Mayor Clary said the revisions put the city ‘‘in compliance’’ with applicable state guidance while giving staff time to clean up transitional language in the ordinance and accompanying examples. The measure passed on second reading by a 10–2 roll-call vote; Aldermen Skidmore and Sassy voted no.
What happens next: staff will update the ordinance’s technical examples and remove grandfathered references where the board’s votes already changed policy language. The board directed staff to return revised, clean copies where clarifications are administrative rather than policy-setting.
