Town Meeting members rejected three proposed attempts to lower the $185,000 salary of Town Administrator Shawn MacInnes during their June 1 meeting.

Three individual amendments were brought forward to Town Meeting to reduce his salary by varying amounts. Janine Simmons of the Finance Committee suggested he be paid $169,600, a six percent increase over his previous salary of $160,000.

Precinct 5 member Shelley Zhang proposed a reduction to $163,200, which would be a 2% increase from the $160,000. Courtney Cohen of Precinct 8 requested a 2.25% increase to $163,600.

All three proposals failed and his salary was eventually approved as part of the overall budget.

In December, three out of five Select Board members approved a three-year contract renewal for MacInnes. His salary was approved at  $185,000 for the first year, with merit increases of 2.5 percent each of the following two years.

Prior to that, he had been making $160,000 a year for the town of Dartmouth. He was hired in July 2018 and had worked for 21 years as municipal operations director for the town of Yarmouth.

Simmons said the increase negotiated by the Select Board “has not been well-received’’ by some residents of town, adding that the average town employee received a raise of 2 to 3.5 percent. Employees and executives should have “an equitable balance’’ in salary, she said.

Cohen questioned the staffing at Town Hall.

“Why do we have so much turnover?’’ she asked, noting that several new department heads have been hired. “Why did the ones before them leave?’’

Precinct 9 member Peter Howland said he is “just not seeing the performance’’ to justify such a raise, He noted that issues at Reed Road and Bliss Corner Road have not been resolved. 

A 2% increase is “higher than he deserves,’’ he said.

Select Board member David Tatelbaum said that it was “no accident’’ that the town weathered the pandemic as well as it did. 

“Leadership starts at the top,’’ he said.

“I’m not one to give away funds to anyone who doesn’t deserve it,’’ he said. But he said that MacInnes oversees a “$94 million business’’ with 66 square miles and hundreds of employees.

Select Board member John Haran, who voted against the $185,000 salary in December, said the raise was “out of line,’’ adding that “What is right for town employees is right for administrators also.’’

Paying MacInnes a competitive salary would help provide security for the town moving forward, Tatelbaum said. In early 2020, MacInnes was a finalist for the town administrator job in Wellfleet. 

“We didn’t feel there was any need to wonder if the leadership wasn’t going to be there,’’ he said.