Town manager salary to be listed at $200K to $250K

MIDDLEBORO -- The town manager position salary will be advertised in a range of $200,000 to $225,000, higher than the $190,000 currently budgeted, select board members agreed at their May 26 meeting.

The decision was made to ensure that the town remained financially competitive to similar communities, board members said.

Three similarly sized towns, Bridgewater, Duxbury and Mansfield, pay their town managers $200,000, $229,500 and $235,000 respectively, according to information presented at the meeting.

By listing a salary lower than any of them, Middleboro already faces a disadvantage, board member Tracie Craig-McGee said. “We really have to be mindful of salary if we want to attract the best candidates,’’ she said.

A search for a new town manager is in its early stages, with a search committee slated to meet for the first time June 4. The eventual new hire will replace Jay McGrail, who left in March for a similar position in Harwich. Joe Perkins, the former police chief, was brought in to fill the role on an interim basis.

Board member Thomas White questioned where the extra money for a higher salary could be found in the budget. The town will attract good candidates, he said, because “Middleboro is considered a strong place to be.’’

Not everyone agreed with that sentiment. “This is not a desirable job,’’ Interim Town Manager Joe Perkins said. Since he began in February, he has been forced to redo a budget that he said had not been done correctly by the previous town manager.

That resulted in layoffs in many departments and strong emotions throughout the community.

Craig-McGee expressed a similar sentiment. “It takes a lot to convince someone to leave their position and come to a town that, let’s face it, is a little troubled right now.’’

Resident John Burbage, who sits on the search committee, noted that another challenge is the lack of permanent department heads. The superintendent of school and the fire chief, two major roles, are now staffed with interims.

Building bridges is an important part of the job, he said, but the lack of some permanent department heads can make that challenging. “They are looking to have relationships’’ with these individuals, he said, but “they don’t even know who will be in the key positions.’’

Perkins noted that the $190,000 that is budgeted would begin July 1, well before the new person would likely start, which would give the town more fiscal flexibility with the salary.

“We need someone who’s qualified in this position,’’ he said.