Lynn candidate: I will give up 5 percent of salary

LYNN – Councilor at large candidate Clay Walsh has pledged, if elected, to give up 5 percent of his salary to help pay for a summer job for a Lynn youth.”I’ve been thinking about this for a while,” he said. “A councilor at large salary is about $15,000 so 5 percent is $750.”Walsh said John Kaisan, who oversees the summer jobs program for Community Development, told him it costs about $1,400 to put a teen to work for one summer. That means his two-year term would fund one job, Walsh said.The fact that he worked a summer job through the city’s program was the impetus for his decision, Walsh said.”I remember as a youth I worked two summers at the Lynn Housing Authority,” he said. “I pushed a lot of papers, filed and assisted in the department.”Walsh said he also met people who he looked up to like Executive Director Charles Gaeta, Director of Planning and Development Norm Cole and Joe Scanlon, director of Policy and Finance.Walsh said his decision had nothing to do with the salary squabbles in the mayor’s race. Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy recently challenged her opponent City Council President Timothy Phelan to reduce councilors salaries of 18.5 percent down to 15 percent of the mayor’s salary. Phelan essentially declined, stating that the salaries had already been approved in the budget.”Anybody can take a salary reduction,” Walsh said. “I want to be able to delegate where my five percent goes.”Though he said the pledge comes from his heart Walsh said he knows there will be critics.”If people know me they know I’m active, I’m visible and this is not the first time I’ve given back,” he said. “If you’ve followed me at all you know this is typical.”Walsh said he has volunteered with a number of local fundraisers, most recently helping to raise funds for La Chic Mentoring, a program that mentors young women, the Veterans Appreciation parade and with the Knights of Columbus.”At the end of the day giving a kid a job keeps him off the streets and doing something productive,” he said. “It’s just something I’ve wanted to do.”