To the editor:
Following is a copy of a letter intended for Linda Cavallon, pension administrator for the City of Peabody. It was not mailed:
It is with disbelief that I read in the Salem News that Edward Bettencourt will be receiving a pension because of a vote by the members of the Peabody Retirement Board.
I am writing this letter out of concern that some of the board members of the retirement board are ignorant as to the rules of the Massachusetts Public Employee Retirement Guide. Reference to 16/Forfeiture of Benefits; i.e, Professional Misconduct.
Quote: A member, after a final conviction of a criminal offense committed on or after January 12, 1988, involving violation of the laws applicable to his/her office or position, is not entitled to receive a pension benefit, nor is any beneficiary. Unless otherwise prohibited by law, accumulated total deductions (without interest) are returned to the member or his/her beneficiary.
You, being the pension administrator, should have guided the members of the retirement board as to the Professional Misconduct section of the Retirement Guide. It looks as though only Mr. Yagijan and Mr. McGinn are the only two intelligent people on the Retirement Board. Not much can be said about the other members.
Also, wouldn't it be a conflict of interest to even vote on the matter, where you all are city employees, and some of you are personal friends of Mr. Bettencourt?
Absolutely unbelievable.
Robert D. Marron
Peabody Police (Retired)
Peabody
(Editor's note: Last week the state Public Employee Retirement Administration Commission announced it had overruled the local retirement board and denied Peabody Police Lt. Edward Bettencourt's pension application. Bettencourt was convicted last spring on 21 counts of unlawful computer access for using the Police Department's computers to learn how others had scored on promotional exams. His pension application had been approved by a 3-2 vote of the local retirement board earlier this summer. Bettencourt has 30 days to appeal the PERAC decision.)
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