Town Manager Libby Gibson Gets New Three-Year Contract

Nantucket town manager Libby Gibson has been granted a new three-year contract with the town that will keep her as the island's municipal leader through September 2028 and pay her $262,000 annually.

The Select Board voted unanimously on Wednesday to approve the new contract for Gibson during its Wednesday night meeting. Terms of the deal have not yet been disclosed, as the Current requested a copy of the employment contract on Tuesday but has not yet received it. Select Board chair Brooke Mohr said the contract agreement would not be released until it had been signed and executed.

The contract extension for Gibson comes on the heels of a glowing review of her performance by the Select Board in March.

"The compiled scores of the entire Select Board accurately reflect that the Town of Nantucket is well-served by Ms. Gibson as our Town Manager," Select Board chair Brooke Mohr concluded in a two-page letter presented during a recent board meeting.

Gibson, who has worked for the town for nearly 40 years, last received a contract extension in June 2023 that extended her employment as town manager through Sept. 30, 2025. At the time the extension and raise were granted, then-Select Board chair Dawn Hill Holdgate said the contract amendment was in line with other non-union employee pay raises recently endorsed by the board following the completion of a municipal compensation study, and would also help with succession planning for the town manager position.

The amendment boosted Gibson’s salary to $226,000 retroactive to Jan. 1, 2023, a $31,000 annual increase, or a 16 percent bump, from her annual salary at the time of $195,000. The deal will ultimately pay her $250,000 in the final nine months of the contract. It also requires Gibson to give the town at least a one-year notice of her retirement from the town.

The Select Board also voted Wednesday to approve two other contract extensions for department heads - fire chief Michael Cranson and finance director Brian Turbitt - with both men set to receive annual salaries of $222,010.