The City Council, meeting as the committee of the whole, will review Mayor Ted Bettencourt’s salary during a meeting on Thursday, Feb. 22.
The council reviews Bettencourt’s performance as mayor on an annual basis in a process dictated by the city charter and has the authority to increase his compensation if it deems fit. The meeting notice posted to the city’s website appears to indicate Bettencourt is not getting a raise, but the council has historically offered raises to the mayor each year, though he had declined raises in six of the past 12 years before 2023.
In 2023, Bettencourt received a significant raise — $9,000 — to bring his compensation from $126,000 to $135,000, a move councilors said aligned Peabody more closely with its neighbors. Indeed, Lynn Mayor Jared Nicholson earns a salary of $145,000, Saugus Town Manager Scott Crabtree earns nearly $195,000, and Lynnfield Town Administrator Rob Dolan earns more than $200,000 annually.
Raising the mayor’s compensation is a somewhat complex vote for councilors as doing so would raise their own salary. Former Ward 6 Councilor Mark O’Neill had sought to untether the two, but faced stiff opposition.
“He (O’Neill) has every right to say we shouldn’t be doing it, but as a councilor who sat for 24 years, we have only had a raise two times. Salary changes (that we make) are for the next council, not our salaries,” Ward 5 Councilor Dave Gamache said at the time.
Councilor-at-Large Jon Turco said he also was in favor of keeping the status quo.
“I want the public to know that nobody got on the council to get rich,” he said, adding that over the last seven years, from 2016 to 2023, council members have received a total raise of only $35.35 per week. “As a group, we receive a $11,339 salary. The council donates to 50-60 charities a year. The vast majority of that is given back to the city. You just don’t say no. This isn’t about dollars. The public has never come out on this. This hasn’t been an issue for seven years. This is a solution for a problem that doesn’t exist.”
Councilor-at-Large Anne Manning-Martin, who voted against linking the mayor’s salary with that of councilors back in 2013, said, “the council and the Mayor’s salaries are not excessive. This works, if it’s not broke, don’t fix it. I’m fine with where it stands at this time.”
The committee of the whole will convene at 7 p.m., ahead of the Council meeting at 7:30 p.m.
