Retro pay questions loom in Lynn

LYNN – Former City Councilors are wondering if the court decision that has set the stage for a June 10 hearing on a mayoral pay hike is going to raise questions about the salaries and stipends they received during their city service.Former councilors at large Paul Crowley and Stephen Duffy don?t anticipate they will have to return a portion of the taxpayer-paid salaries they received, but they said that possibility is occupying the attention of current councilors.?The council wants the mayor to indemnify councilors for all past wages. The solution is to get it fixed, then go forward – forcing people to pay it back is unnecessary,” said Crowley.Kennedy won a long-fought battle over pay for the top city job in March when a Superior Court justice ruled the mayor?s salary is $82,500 a year and said the city could collect pay former Mayor Edward J. Clancy Jr. received above that amount between 2002 and 2010.The decision prompted councilors to cut their monthly pay by $243 per councilor and eliminate a $725 a month stipend that Kennedy also stopped taking. The cut recalculated council pay to bring it in line with a city ordinance setting council pay at 15 percent of the mayor?s salary.To date, the only aspect of the court decision councilors have discussed in public is how much Kennedy makes compared to other mayors. They voted Tuesday to hold a public hearing next month on mayoral pay.Kennedy has appeared at one council committee hearing on the mayor?s pay and discussed the subject with councilors.?The council and I are working closely with the (city) Law Department. We?re very close to an agreement that satisfies the council and satisfies me. I think their concerns have been met,” she said.She refused to discuss the agreement in detail but Ward 6 Councilor Peter Capano said he is waiting to review any proposal from the Law Department.?I understand the solicitor?s office is drafting language to address concerns that people who held office in the past might have about reimbursements,” Capano said.Duffy and former Councilor at large Loretta Cuffe-O?Donnell each served two council terms and said they are waiting to see how the court decision and the council debate will affect their former city pay.?If it needs to be paid back, I?ll do whatever is necessary, but you take it in stride,” Duffy said.Cuffe-O?Donnell recalled her first reaction following the Superior Court decision.?I said when it came out, ?How far back do they want to go??” she said.Crowley, who served on the council from 2006 to 2011, called himself a “stakeholder” in the court decision and mayoral pay discussion.?If we were overpaid all those years and we had to pay it back, I?ll pay it back. The likelihood of that happening is kind of remote,” Crowley said.Former Ward 3 Councilor Charlie O?Brien said he opposed a 1997 city attorney?s ruling he said increased former Mayor Patrick J. McManus? pay. He has a different view about a raise for Kennedy.?She should be making more money,” he said.