Many Lynn municipal employees in six figures

LYNN – One in four city workers earning more than $25,000 makes a six-figure salary, according to city salary records for 2013.With 164 city employees – not including public school workers – earning $100,000-plus incomes, the city payroll counts police officers among the city’s top-paid employees, including Chief Kevin Coppinger who earned $182,845 in 2013.Deputy Police Chief Kenneth Santoro earned $173,421 in 2013. City Inspectional Services Director Michael Donovan earned $166,177, and Fire Chief James McDonald’s salary for 2013 was $151,121, according to city records.City residents interviewed about municipal salary sizes have mixed views on how much money city workers make. Eloy Pena, a cleaner who earns slightly more than $20,000 a year and commutes to Woburn, said city employees make “too much money.”But Gloria Donahue tempered her view on city salaries.”Normally, I would say they are overpaid but – with everything going on in the city – these cops have got it hard: It’s a dangerous job,” Donahue said.Two top-paid police officers earned a significant amount of their incomes from overtime pay or detail pay in 2013, according to city salary information.Officer Charles Griffin earned $170,416, including $70,595 in detail pay. Officer John Meaney earned $178,665, including $63,186 in overtime pay.Private companies – not taxpayers – pay for police details with the company, including utilities doing underground cable repair work on city streets, arranging with the police department to hire police officers to ensure traffic flows safely around road work sites.Detail pay rates are spelled out in the contract negotiated between city officials and the Lynn Police Association with officers paid for a minimum of four work hours on a detail. Coppinger said officers working “road details” lasting more than four hours are paid for eight hours of work.Griffin topped the 2013 detail earnings list followed by Officer John Dean, who earned $70,455 in detail pay.The top police overtime earner in 2013 was Officer Christopher Haggerty, who earned $77,821 in overtime, followed by Officer Paul Holey who made $75,184 in overtime earnings.Lynn resident Ron Dawson thinks it’s time to revive a state debate over assigning civilian detail workers to help direct traffic around road repairs and other work.”I think they get paid too much money on overtime. Some salaries are astounding,” he said.Lynn resident Joel Estrella earned more than $30,000 last year working two jobs and he asked this question about city workers’ pay: “With the taxes we pay, do they work hard?”The answer is yes, said Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy, who earned $82,500 in 2013, making the second-term mayor – by her own estimation – the 446th highest-paid city worker.Kennedy said city workers and other public service employees “years ago” earned salaries smaller than private sector salaries. She said salaries paid to Lynn municipal employees are “comparable to other communities,” adding she does not think there is “that big of disparity” between pay for private versus public sector jobs.All told, police overtime earnings totaled $3.48 million in 2013, according to city records, and detail pay for the 185-employee department totaled $1.39 million out of a total annual salary for 185 employees of almost $20 million.Gov. Deval Patrick in 2007 recommended studying ways to replace police details with lower-paid civilian flag holders assigned to utility road jobs. Police officers and chiefs said detail officers have stopped crimes, responded to medical emergencies and are better trained to safely direct traffic than flaggers.Other top city earners – again, not counting school employees – include city Clerk Mary Audley, who earned $141,919 in 2013. Audley performs a job that formerly was held by two city department heads – the clerk and a city election commission chairman.The city’s top planner – Economic Development and Industrial Corporation Director James Cowdell – earned $138,048, and ci