SURFSIDE BEACH, SC (WBTW) – Several different opinions came forward on Tuesday night while the Surfside Beach Town Council talked about giving the mayor a raise.
The mayor’s annual pay has not changed since 1992 and a new ordinance would raise the annual pay from $7,200 a year to $9,600.
Councilwoman Julie Samples said during a workshop last week the raise is overdue and well deserved. Councilman Mark Johnson and David Pellegrino agreed and noted the council got a raise in 2006.
However, council members Tim Courtney, Ron Ott and Randle Stevens voted against the raise. Stevens told News13 last week the council works just as hard as the mayor and he doesn’t support raises for anyone on the council, including the mayor.
Courtney said he thinks the mayor deserves a raise but didn’t agree with the amount of $9,600. He argued the town can’t pay its police officers and they should be a priority.
“We are losing police officers and it’s hard to retain police officers,” said Courtney. “So it’s a big concern of mine. It’s more of a priority for me and I don’t want a raise, I want to give them a raise.”
Mayor Bob Childs voted in favor of the raise for himself and said he feels the position of mayor deserves more money.
“I think most people, if they keep track of what the mayor does, you’ll find that you’re going to events, I had to work this Sunday. I had a ribbon cutting. It’s things like that that come up and it’s just a seven days a week job,” he added.
The vote passed 4-3 but the council needs to vote and approve the raise one more time for it to become official.