While boards have until July, the start of the new COLA year, to vote on a pension increase, the Medford Board decided this past December 23, to go ahead and vote on 3%.

According to Association Vice President Tom Curtis, who is also an elected member and chairman of the Medford Board, "There was no point in waiting." Curtis, a retired firefighter, said "We (Board) agreed that three percent was reasonable, especially with the limited $12,000 base. We've always been up front with our members... and there was no point keeping them hanging."

And Board members Anne Baker, Tom Cangiano and Jim Vieira also agreed. City Auditor Baker is the Board's ex officio member; Cangiano, a banker, is Mayor Michael McGlynn's appointee and Vieira, a recent state retiree, the Board's fifth member, is elected by the first four.

Plymouth County, under Chairman John McLellan, is a perennial early-voting retirement board. On January 20, Board members Joe McDonough, John Sciara, Jim Harrington, Carole McCormack and McLellan, without debate, voted 5-0 for this July's COLA.

"Why procrastinate," said McLellan. "It's (COLA) something that we've provided for in our funding schedule."

Newton is another Retirement Board that always votes early for the retirees' COLA, and this year Newton held true to form.

On January 21, Board members Paul Bianchi, Frank Capello, David Wilkinson, Nunzio Piselli and Dick Heidlage voted 5-0 for a 3% COLA.

Nunzio Piselli, the Board's chairman, said that his Board is "always sensitive to the needs of its retirees and wanted to make the COLA the first order of business in January." Piselli is a retired Newton DPW Commissioner of Administration.

On January 28, the Essex Regional Retirement Board voted 5-0 for a 3% July COLA. The Essex System includes 19 towns and 28 authorities and districts. Tim Bassett, Jim Cashman, Glenn Morse, Bill Martineau and Kathy O'Leary are the Essex board members. Bassett is the executive director.

Under our COLA law, boards have the option this year of voting for a COLA based on the latest consumer price index (CPI) figure of 2.1% or a maximum of 3%. Most boards will be voting within the next few months, but there are always a few that will wait until June. We will keep members apprised of the boards that have voted through our website and our toll-free hotline.