Police dominate Saugus salaries

SAUGUS – A look at Saugus salaries in 2012 shows the Police Department made up the majority of the highest paid employees in town last year.While Superintendent Richard Langlois topped the overall list at $160,557, police officers made up 31 out the top 40 highest paid Saugus employees.Lt. Thomas Coogan is second on the list at $157,336 last year, which includes $32,780 in police details.Lt. Anthony Lopresti took in $148,401 with $23,500 in detail pay while Sgt. Paul VanSteensburg is fourth with $146,390, which includes $24,674 in detail pay.Police Chief Domenic Dimella said officers are assigned detail time based on seniority and how many hours logged. He said officers sign up for detail work at the beginning of the week and whoever has the fewest hours gets assigned.Assistant Police Chief Ronald Giorgetti made $140,741 last year with $18,765 in detail pay. Former Fire Chief James Blanchard was sixth on the list with $140,114 last year followed by Dimella with $138,788.Overall, 39 employees in the Police Department made more than $100,000 last year, with the average salary at $103,000.Detail work includes road construction sites and even bars and restaurants on occasion, said Dimella.Dimella also emphasized that officers that work a lot of detail hours are choosing to work 70 to 80 hours per week.?That high pay that everyone sees in the paper are people working basically two jobs,” said Dimella. “It?s all motivated on wanting to work extra.”Current Fire Chief Donald McQuaid made $107,000 last year as six firefighters made more than $100,000, including Capt. Christopher Rizza, who made $113,849 and was the second highest paid firefighter. The average pay for an employee in the fire department was around $82,700 last year.On the school side, Saugus High School Principal Joseph Diorio took in $120,779 last year for the second highest in the department and 13th over all followed by Geoff Bruno, the executive director of curriculum, instruction and accountability, who made $107,751 last for third highest paid in the schools and 22nd overall.Langlois, Diorio and Bruno were the only school department employees to make more than $100,000 last year. Lynnhurst Elementary School Lori Gallivan made $97,000 last year while Waybright Elementary School Principal Dr. Linda Arsenault made $95,600 and Belmonte Middle School Principal Kerry Robbins made $92,000 last year. High School Athletic Director Michael Nelson made $82,370 last year.Town Manager Scott Crabtree made $88,370 last year and was 73rd on the list.See for yourselfThe chart below contains all 2012 salaries for Saugus municipal employees. Scroll through the pages, and click on the heading of each column to sort A-Z or highest to lowest
Matt Tempesta can be reached at [email protected].