Huntersville town clerk to retire after 31 years

Janet Pierson is retiring after 31 years as Huntersville’s town clerk. Her last day is Nov. 30, and her retirement takes effect Dec. 1.

The Town Board is set to name her successor at its meeting at 6 p.m. Monday. A resolution on the agenda would appoint Shelly Stewart as town clerk from Dec. 1, with a start date of Nov. 12, before Pierson’s last day.

The town announced the retirement in a news release posted Oct. 29. The appointment is item 9.G on the Nov. 2 Town Board agenda.

Three decades of town records

Pierson was born and raised in Huntersville, according to the town. She has served a long run of town boards and has been a fixture at their meetings.

In 2023 the North Carolina Open Government Coalition gave her its Sunshine Award for government work. The award recognized her work keeping public records.

In her submission to the coalition, quoted by the town, Pierson described how the job has changed. “It is no longer just written or email communications that are maintained,” she wrote. “Now we have to track and archive social media engagements and so much more.”

“When you can provide records that accurately support an action or discount any cries of lack of transparency, you maintain the trust of the community you serve,” she wrote.

“I’ve loved being here and being able to help my community,” Pierson said in the town’s release. “There is something truly special about being able to serve the Town you were raised in, and it has been an honor to do this job for the place I love calling home.”

The town said she plans to spend time with her family.

What a town clerk does

The town charter requires the Town Board to appoint the clerk. The resolution cites Section 4.3 of the charter and the state law on city clerks, N.C.G.S. 160A-171.

In Huntersville the clerk:

• keeps the minutes of Town Board meetings
• keeps the town’s official records and ordinances
• attests the board’s resolutions, signing them with the mayor
• arranges accommodations for people who need help attending a meeting

The board’s agenda memo, from Mayor Christy Clark, lists no cost for the appointment.

Also on Monday’s agenda

The board meets at Town Hall, 14704 N. Old Statesville Road. The board normally meets on the first and third Tuesday of the month; this meeting falls on a Monday. Other items include:

• A gym and soccer field at the new Huntersville Elementary. The town would pay up to $2.5 million toward a gym and a soccer field with a public restroom at the replacement school Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools is building on Gilead Road. The town would use them for its recreation programs when the school is not, under a 25-year agreement with an option for 10 more. The memo says the school is expected to open in fall 2028. The money is in the town’s capital plan for the 2029 fiscal year and is paid only once the school has its certificate of occupancy.
• Ten police SUVs from Parks Ford for $480,302.30, replacing older vehicles, under a state sheriffs’ association contract. The purchase was in this year’s budget.
• A Downtown Huntersville Transportation Plan, a contract with the engineering firm Kittelson & Associates.
• A hearing on the Bragg Agricultural Campus, a request to rezone 30.4 acres at 15715 Davidson-Concord Road from Rural to Highway Commercial Conditional District for a plant nursery. The staff report says the owners want to move Dearness Gardens plant nursery to the site, reuse the existing Washam House and add up to 20,000 square feet of limited commercial space later.
• Two annexations: 183.72 acres on Sam Furr Road for Shea Homes Carolina’s Westmoreland Farms subdivision, and one parcel on Huntersville-Concord Road.
• Setting a Dec. 1 hearing on the Social Mugs request to rezone three parcels from Highway Commercial Conditional District to Rural.

The clerk appointment, the gym agreement, the police SUVs, the transportation contract and the Dec. 1 hearing date are all on the consent agenda, which the board can approve in one vote.

What it means for you

• Public records requests and meeting questions still go to the clerk’s office until the handover. The agenda lists clerk@huntersville.org and 704-875-6541.
• To speak at Monday’s meeting, sign up on the speaker sheet at least five minutes before 6 p.m. Speakers get up to three minutes, under the board’s policy printed on the agenda.
• To watch, the meeting streams on the town’s YouTube channel.

Our guide to who to call at Town Hall has the town’s other departments, and building permits and zoning explains how rezonings like the Bragg request work.