Lynn council tables cop’s full retirement bid

LYNN – Concerned it might unleash a torrent of disability claims from other departments, the city council Tuesday voted to table a request by Police Officer Gregory Leblanc that would increase his involuntary retirement benefits from 72 to 100 percent of his $64,000 annual base salary.Leblanc, seriously injured in an on-duty collision with another police cruiser, has asked the councilors to seek a Homerule Petition from the state Legislature, which would allow him to collect the full amount.Leblanc, 38, a married father of two, has been out of work since the July 12, 2008 crash. He has endured multiple operations and intense rehabilitation therapy, but doctors concluded he was unfit for full-time street duty as a police officer.Police Chief Kevin Coppinger has recommended that the retirement benefits remain at 72 percent.In a heartfelt delivery, Leblanc addressed the councilors Tuesday night, emphasizing that the current agreement would cap his earning forever. During the three years preceding the crash, Leblanc’s salary approached $100,000 with overtime and private detail work.”My only concern is for my family,” he said. “At the time of the accident, I was in the best shape of my life. I loved going to work every day. I enjoyed the company of my fellow officers.”Leblanc, who served on the Police Department for nine years, said he tires easily and cannot make sudden movements or run. He said he was naïve to think a $48,000 annual salary would be adequate to support his wife and daughters. “I thought it would be enough to get by,” he said, noting that the present retirement agreement limits additional part-time earnings to $20,000. “Inflation will inevitably take its toll.”The police officer said the prospect of involuntary retirement at such a young age was not something he ever anticipated or wanted.Karen Bowden, a Leblanc family friend, spoke at the public hearing in favor of granting the Homerule Petition. She retold the story of the fateful day when police radios crackled across the city about a man with a gun and a policeman on foot in pursuit but out of contact with headquarters. All available police units were instructed to head for the location as backup. It was then that the two marked cruisers collided at the corner of Western Avenue and Chestnut Street.Ward 1 Councilor Wayne Lozzi made the motion to table the vote, ending the discussion. Asking to suspend the rules of order, Ward 7 Councilor Richard Ford sought an explanation for why the vote was tabled. “It seems a no-brainer,” he said, asking aloud whether the matter was tabled because it might set a precedent for other similar disability cases in Lynn.Homerule Petitions of this sort are rare.The rate of disability claims in Lynn has been described by local officials as more than twice that of same-size cities, prompting a joke at City Hall that many municipal employees in late May like to visit Dr. Summeroff.