Town Considers Higher Pay for Mayor

If you're the mayor of Mount Pleasant, the job brings a $24,000 annual salary, health benefits, access to a town vehicle, cell phone and tablet PC.

It also requires up to 50 hours of work per week, according to town officials evaluating whether the job needs a raise.

Councilmen worry that the long hours and relatively low pay closes the position to all but retirees and affluent business owners.

"We've been so fortunate ... that we've had mayors who served for the love of being mayor," said Councilman Elton Carrier. "But now we're pushing 75,000 people... It's a concern going forward if we are going to attract some good quality candidates when the time comes for an election."

The mayor's position comes with an office and a secretary, who also coordinates with the council, but the job is defined as part-time by town ordinance. A full-time town administrator runs operations on a day-to-day basis.

Based on pay studies, Carrier proposed paying the mayor between $45,000 and $55,000 annually.

Mount Pleasant Mayor Billy Swails donates his pay back to the town. He's not behind the effort to get a larger salary, councilmen say. Even if  higher pay was approved, it wouldn't go into place until Nov. 2013.

Swails has for years owned a State Farm insurance office. His contract with the insurer prohibits taking a full-time job, but Swails often says he works 40 to 60 hours a week for the town.

In January, however, Swails proposed a "strong mayor" system of government with a full-time mayor similar to the systems in place in Charleston and in North Charleston. The council was not in favor of the proposal and Swails dropped the idea.

Carrier, who was the most vocal opponent of the strong mayor proposal, said he was in favor of higher pay for the mayor, since the position often pulls the town's top elected official in so many directions.

Other councilmen aren't so sure if higher pay would necessarily draw a larger pool of candidates.

"You can raise compensation to reflect time investment, but I don't know that we greatly expand the pool of qualified candidates," said Councilman Chris O'Neal.

If a future mayor left their full-time job or stepped away from their business, they'd likely suffer for having abandoned their full-time obligations, O'Neal said.

"How do you plan out a career as a the Mayor of Mount Pleasant? It's a four-year position."

Town councilmen discussed the pay issue at Monday's council committee meeting. No action was taken. Carrier, who chairs the finance committee, said the panel would continue the conversation at future meetings.