By Carol Britton Meyer

Town meeting voters approved with flying colors the inclusion of $130,000 to pay for an assistant town manager in the Fiscal 2024 budget. The salary could be more or less, depending upon the applicant’s qualifications.

The vote was 293 to 73 following a nearly two-hour debate during the annual town meeting’s first session.

“Why do we need an assistant town manager?” resident Scott Miller asked prior to the vote.

Town Manager Philip Lemnios, who is retiring in June, said the town’s operations have become “more complex over time,” the workload has increased, and that the person in this position would provide valuable assistance to the town manager related to capital and other ongoing projects, seawall repairs, and the town budget, and other responsibilities.

“If this position isn’t approved and the town manager was not able to perform [his or her duties], there would be nobody in place to take over that role,” Lemnios explained. “We’re running a $47 million operation, and there would be great impacts if the town was not being run properly. Frankly, the role is too great for one person.”

There was some debate over whether an assistant town manager should be expected to also serve in a human resources capacity.

Amendments by citizens related to removing the $130,000 from the overall town budget and another asking town meeting to approve allocating that amount toward the creation of a human resources department were defeated.

A couple of voters questioned the $185,000 estimated salary for the new town manager.

“We’re the fourth smallest town in Massachusetts,” resident Mike Hickey said. “The governor makes $185,000 and a United States senator $174,000 a year. The man in the corner over there [referring to Lemnios] makes over $200,000 a year, and we want to add [another position]?”

The select board supported the budget as presented, including the assistant town manager position, Interim Chair Donna Pursel said.

“We’ve been fortunate – Phil Lemnios has been the anomaly. People don’t stay in jobs for decades now,” she said. “We need to offer a good salary and work-life balance.”

Pursel also reiterated remarks made earlier by Lemnios that because his children are grown, he no longer has soccer games and other such activities to attend, allowing him time to dedicate outside of regular business hours, but that the new town manager might have such family obligations. 

Select board member Irwin Nesoff advocated strongly for the new position, saying that Lemnios is on the job 24/7 and that it would be unrealistic to expect the new town manager to do the same.

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