James Island town council passes salary increase for next mayor

JAMES ISLAND, S.C. (WCSC) - Anyone looking to run for mayor on James Island in 2023 can expect a bigger salary. On Thursday, James Island town council voted to increase the mayor’s annual compensation by more than double what it is now.

The original proposal would have increased the current $15,000 salary for the part-time position to $48,000. After a few failed amendments and some changes council voted to make it $36,000.

“We proposed raising the mayor’s salary at the next election cycle which would be 2023 in the hopes that we can attract interest from the community and get some good candidates to run,” town councilman Dan Boles said.

During the public hearing only one person spoke, and they said they were not opposed to a raise but they believe the job should be a full-time position.

Mayor Bill Woolsey has opposed the raise since it was first proposed. He voted against it, saying it’s too high for a part-time position and too low to be someone’s full time job.

Councilmember Troy Mullinax had the only other opposing vote. He said he asked people on the Next Door app about the proposed increase, and most people were against it.

He said he wanted the issue to be brought forward as a referendum for voters, but the motion failed.

Mullinax also proposed a resolution to create a referendum that would increase town council from four to six members. The resolution passed during the meeting.

“This is something I’ve been bouncing around since 2013. It’s adding two seats to council, and I would like to get this on the ballot in November 2023 which would coincide with our municipal election and would go into effect in 2025,” Mullinax said.

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