Town Council meeting on 12/8/2025 a heated public discussion among town officials regarding significant, non-union raises given to a small group of non-represented employees, including department heads and the town manager. Town Councilor Deb Paul initiates the discussion by demanding the total dollar amount and average percentage of these increases, which is revealed to be 16.8% on average, a much higher rate than the 3-8% increases for unionized workers. The town manager defends the high raises as a necessary, proactive measure to achieve competitive wages for essential staff to ensure retention and attract new talent, citing the difficulty in hiring and the high cost of losing experienced employees, especially in crucial areas like finance and public works. Other councilors express concern that these substantial increases were made unilaterally and too quickly, arguing they should have been implemented more incrementally over time to be more palatable to the community given current budgetary constraints and the town’s need to cut costs in other areas.