Finance committee votes to add longtime $15,000 stipend to public works foreman's base pay

The Peabody City Council Finance Committee voted 5-0 to amend the city's compensation ordinance to move a longstanding $15,000 stipend for the Public Works foreman (motor equipment) into that position's base salary.

Mayor (unnamed) told the committee the stipend has been paid for decades and that the change would formalize that payment by adding it to the employee's base salary. "He has been receiving, that goes back, a couple of mayors ago, a stipend of about $15,000," the mayor said. The mayor identified the employee as John Keon and said the change is specific to him: "This $15,000 would stay with the person, Mister Keon."

Councilor Gould moved the ordinance amendment to Section 18-21 (rates of compensation for full-time positions not subject to collective bargaining). Councilors Gamache, Higgins, Manning Munn and McGinn voted with Gould; the motion carried 5-0. The mayor said the stipend has been paid for more than 25 years and that folding it into base pay would have "no effect on our budget" because the money is already being paid.

Councilor Manning Munn asked staff where the stipend currently appears in the budget so councilors could verify accounting for the payment. Finance staff (Mr. Gingras) said he would follow up and that the amount may appear in full-time salaries, part-time, or overtime line items and that he would provide the specific line item on request.

The ordinance text discussed at the meeting specified amending the Code of the City of Peabody (adopted 01/23/1969) by replacing the listed compensation for the Public Works foreman (motor equipment) in Section 18-21; the transcript did not provide a final ordinance number or a clear new compensation figure in the motion text. In remarks, the mayor characterized the new annual base salary as increasing from about $83,000 to about $97,908 when the $15,000 stipend is included, but the motion as recorded in the meeting materials should be consulted for an official numeric citation.

No amendments to the motion were recorded. The committee recorded a roll-call vote of five yes and zero no; the motion carried. The change was described by staff and the mayor as honoring an earlier agreement made by a prior mayor and as applying specifically to the named employee.