jackiedoherty.org

I read Sunday’s list in the Lowell Sun of the top 100 earners from area municipalities, and the first thing to get straight is the salary error regarding Fred Abisi, director of Lowell’s Adult Education Program, which is the largest and most successful in the state. The Sun incorrectly reported that Mr. Abisi earned $131,000 in 2006 when he actually earned $105,000. If there were other mistakes in the report, I’m not aware of them, but there were several things worth noting: Out of Lowell’s top 20 highest paid municipal workers, only three belonged to the school department and that includes Mr. Abisi at his incorrect salary. Lowell Schools Superintendent Karla Brooks Baehr, while managing the largest school district in the Greater Lowell Area and the fifth largest in the state, was not even close to the highest paid superintendent for the region. Also, many of the highest paid Lowell employees are police officers (about 16 out of the top 20). I don’t know about you, but I’ve always been okay with paying a decent wage to people who go after bad guys with guns (also folks who rush into burning buildings to save others). Yet, with soaring costs and people reluctant to pay more taxes, it seems overtime should be managed more efficiently. Also, do officers earn overtime or straight pay for doing road details? I heard in Ireland they have lights to control traffic at either end of construction, yet in Massachusetts, we pay police officers to direct traffic at these sites. This appears to be one of those times when what makes sense for the community is not translating to labor relations.