Led by Association President Ralph White, retiree after retiree addressed the Board, each making valid statements justifying the need for a 3% COLA rather than the 1.4% COLA which was on the table for a vote.

But when the Board's vote was taken in the steamy City Council chamber, which lacked air conditioning, the three members of the Board, who had earlier been lobbied by Mayor Dan Kelley to vote for 1.4%, were unmoved.

At that point, the retirees, who were quite orderly prior to the vote, exploded in anger at the three Board members who had unjustly denied them a very reasonable COLA.

John Wall (elected member) had done an outstanding job in explaining to the three recalcitrants why the city's funding schedule justified a 3% COLA and that there was no rational fiscal evidence to vote for less.

Wall, a retired firefighter, said that the vote would have been for 3%, if Kelley had not intervened and convinced Board members Kevin McInerney, a car salesman (Kelley's appointee), and Charles Langlois, Jr., a private sector retiree (fifth member), to vote for 1.4%. Strangely, Kelley is a firefighter who took a leave of absence four years ago to run for mayor. He will return to his job as a firefighter this fall where he will be immediately eligible for an 80% pension in Group 4, based on his salary as mayor.

Denise Merriam, a DPW employee who is the Board's other elected member, also spoke strongly in support of a 3% COLA. Merriam, a longtime Board member, has always backed Gardner's retirees.

During the meeting, McInerney and Langlois remained mute, while only Calvin Brooks, the city auditor who is the ex officio member, attempted to make a case for the lesser COLA. Brooks said he would always vote for the CPI figure when it is lower than 3%.

"I can't say enough about John Wall's leadership during the month prior to the meeting," said White. "He organized the retirees, had his funding facts straight and was not hesitant to point a finger at Kelley, despite their longtime friendship."

"My mission is to look out for Gardner's retirees and survivors," Wall said. "My relationship with Dan Kelley as a fellow firefighter comes second. Plain and simple, the 1.4% vote was an injustice."