By Thane Grauel

WESTPORT — Whoever wins the first selectman’s race in the Nov. 2 municipal election just got a big raise.

The Representative Town Meeting voted 31-1, with one abstention, on Tuesday to raise the top elected official’s salary to $150,000.

The current salary is $104,925, and the new rate represents a 45 percent raise.

It’s the first time the salary has been increased, aside from cost-of-living adjustments, in about two decades.

The larger paycheck will benefit the candidate elected first selectman in November, as the current officeholder, Republican Jim Marpe, is not seeking re-election.

Though the legislative body’s vote was overwhelmingly in favor, there was an hour-long discussion on the topic.

Connor Handley, a Staples High School grad attending college in Vermont, spoke on the issue via Zoom. He called the size of the raise absurd.

“Most common people in this state can’t afford enough to live, especially in our neighboring towns like Fairfield and Bridgeport,” he said. “It just seems a bit extreme. I think there are more important matters at hand than giving people with lots of money even more money.”

RTM member Jay Keenan, District 2, was the sole vote against the raise.

“Taking any salary, regardless of the position, and increasing it by 45 percent, is really bad optics,” he said. 

Louis Mall, District 2, spoke in support of the raise.

“It’s no reflection of the amount of time and the work,” Mall said of the current salary. “We got off really cheap. We had a first selectman that was 24-7, working with the RTM until 1 o’clock in the morning, and then he’s in his office at 9 o’clock conducting a first selectman meeting.”

“Jim Marpe set the high bar,” Mall said. “It’s going to be tough for the next selectman or selectwoman — they have big shoes to fill.”

Seth Braunstein, District 6, compared the Westport first selectman’s compensation to salaries for similar officials in area towns.

“We’ve the second-lowest mill rate, and our first selectman has the second-lowest compensation level,” he said. “Leadership in Westport has been exceptionally effective, and we do want to make sure that it is adequately compensated.”

The pay for Westport’s top job has been significantly lower than compensation for full-time chief elected officials in nearly every other community in southwestern Connecticut.

The mayors in the larger cities of Stamford and Norwalk are paid approximately $182,000 and $160,000, respectively.

In neighboring suburban towns, salaries for full-time first selectmen are also higher than Westport’s. 

Approximate compensation for those leaders is: Fairfield, $145,000; Greenwich, $150,000; Ridgefield, $139,000; New Canaan, $147,000; Darien, rising to $142,500 in November; Wilton, $139,000, and Redding, $121,000.