Town Meeting Says No To Clerk's Salary Increase

In the film, "The Godfather" – and later parodied in "You've Got Mail" – Al Pacino as Michael Corleone says the classic line about rubbing out a police chief who broke his jaw, "It's not personal … It's strictly business."

On May 23, both the Warrant Committee and later the entire Town Meeting told Ellen O'Brien Cushman basically the same line when asked to consider an article to increase the new Town Clerk's $60,000 yearly salary by about $16,000 using the town's $1.7 million free cash reserves.

We like you personally, came the vote, but denying the pay raise was strictly a business decision.

The debate centered on the town's decision before the town elections in April to readjust the clerk's salary to $60,000 a year so it would fall in line with the salaries for the same position in similarly-sized towns as Belmont in Massachusetts.

A report by a sub-committee of the Warrant Committee led by member Roy Epstein found that entry-level clerks in those towns rated a beginning salary of $60,000.

The election saw the popular O'Brien Cushman easily win election to replace long-standing Town Clerk Deloris Keefe, whose salary reached $80,000.

The article to increase O'Brien Cushman's pay came from fellow town official, Assessor Robert Reardon. Using data from eight surrounding towns, Reardon contended the average salary for an experienced town clerk was about $78,000.

He also noted that Mel Kleckner, the former Town Administrator, referred nearly a decade ago to the clerk's job as being a "grade 18" level position, ranging from nearly $70,000 to $98,000 annually.

Reardon also said that O'Brien Cushman was hardly inexperienced, having served as assistant clerk for two years and was well known around town.

And while nearly everyone spoke of O'Brien Cushman in glowing terms as an asset to the town, using free cash for operating expenses was roundly condemned by the majority of the Warrant Committee – which voted 11-1 against Reardon's article – and most of those speaking on the measure at Town Meeting.

Town Treasurer Floyd Carman noted that Belmont's envious Triple A bond rating ­– which allows the town to borrow at lower interest rates than conventional borrowers — could come under fire by bond rating agencies if any attempt is made to use it to pay salaries.

Liz Allison of the Warrant Committee stated at Town Meeting that free cash ­– part of the $8.3 million in total revenue ­– is traditionally used to pay for unexpected expenditures and during emergencies.

While the town's and Warrant Committee's arguments carried the day, there was a small opening in the door for future consideration of a salary "bump" as one Warrant Committee member described it.

"If she does an extraordinary job, you will see members more willing to increase that base salary," she said.