City To Pay Military Officers in Full

After 20 Cambridge Police officers appealed to the city council last night— saying that officers who also serve in military combat receive a smaller net paycheck than other city employees pulling double duty—the council passed a measure to give all enlisted employees their full city salary while in combat.

Surrounded by supporters and colleagues in police uniform, Detectives Thomas Glynn and Brian Branley—each of whom served in the Massachusetts Army National Guard—said “other city employees have received full pay during their deployments” on top of the military salary.

Meanwhile, the detectives said the city only pays police officers the difference between their Cambridge paycheck and the smaller military one.

The Personnel Department, which oversees compensation for all city employees, had not returned requests for comment last night.

Councillor Anthony D. Galluccio, who co-sponsored last night’s measure, declined to comment on which departments’ enlisted employees did not receive a full salary from the city during their deployment.

Glynn, who appeared in his military uniform, said that the disparity “sends the message that our sacrifice was not worth as much as that of other city employees.”

Glynn asked the council to “do what is just and fair for all of us.”

Councillor and Veteran Affairs Committee Chair Marjorie C. Decker—who reads a list of Iraq war casualties at each weekly council meeting—said she was surprised at the disparity.

Councillor Timothy J. Toomey, Jr. said he had submitted a resolution in 2001 promising all city employees full pay during wartime deployment.

Decker, who co-sponsored the measure with Galluccio and Toomey, said she only discovered “inconsistencies in how [the 2001 resolution] has been applied” several weeks ago.

Following the detectives’ comments, the council unanimously approved the measure ordering the Office of the City Manager to “provide full salary and benefits...in addition to their military combat pay, to all city employees who are now actively serving in Iraq or being deployed to Iraq.”

City Manager Robert W. Healy could not be reached for comment in his office after the meeting.

Decker said the difference in pay was likely due to confusion about who had authority to dictate salary.

“In my perspective, it’s about policy,” Decker said.

Under the Cambridge model of government, council members set policy and the city manager implements it.

Councillor Craig A. Kelley said bureaucratic disparities seen in the salary issue can also arise from state-level legal restrictions.

“State law’s a funny thing,” he said.

In other council news, Councillor Craig A. Kelley spoke about a September 2006 resolution to consider adding public toilets in Central Square and nearby Raymond Park.

“They illustrate a theme in our city, which is there are virtually no public bathrooms available to people in our town,” Kelley said. “It’s embarrassing for 40-year-old women to have to go pee in the bushes, which is what they’re doing.”

—Staff writer Nicholas K. Tabor can be reached at ntabor@fas.harvard.edu.