Nothing Light about these Peabody workers’ wallets

PEABODY – Members of the Peabody Police Department may have dominated the 2007 list of highest-paid city employees, but it was one man, far removed from law enforcement, who took home the largest salary.Bill Waters, manager of the Peabody Municipal Light Plant collected $150,741.59.Other employees of the PMLP were scattered throughout the list, including Assistant Light Plant Manager Russell Dunn ($123,505), Supervising Electric Engineer Glenn Trueira ($111,562), and linemen Michael Conwell ($106,643) and Benning Tierney ($100,429).Superintendent Milton Burnett captured the No. 2 spot with a gross income of $144,200 after his first year in the position, making him the highest- paid school employee in the city.Four additional school employees made it to the top 50, including high school principal Ed Sapienza. He earned an extra $20,000 this year, with a grand total of $107,974. Higgins Middle School principal Melissa Matarrazo checked in at No. 35 with $96,089. And soon to be retired Special Education Director Jean Shea ranked 21st with $105,878. She was also the only woman in the top 25.Police Lt. Marty Cohan earned more than Police Chief Robert Champagne this year with the help of nearly $70,000 in overtime and other earnings. He ranked third on the list with $125,267, and Champagne was fourth with $123,629. Twenty-three other officers made the list.The same scenario took place within the fire department, as four employees, due to overtime and other earnings, topped Fire Chief Steve Pasdon, who ranked 31st with $96,849.Mayor Michael Bonfanti, who has refused a raise for the last four years due to tight fiscal times, came in at No. 39 with $95,233.Public Services Director Dick Carnevale rounded out the list with $91,244, earning him the number 49 spot.Overall, $73,225,195 was spent on salaries for 2,297 city employees, as opposed to the $71,798,263 that was spent last year on 2,280 employees. Of that, roughly $1.6 million was spent on overtime in 2007, down about $100,000 from last year. However, extra earnings, such as detail work, sick leave, and career incentives went up from 2006, with a total of $7.8 million. Regular earnings accounted for approximately 87 percent of the salary budget at about $63.8 million, up just slightly from 2006.