The petition, which required legislative approval, was filed by Representative Paul Donato, enacted by the Legislature and signed by the acting Governor at the tail end of the 2002 session, giving McGlynn the right to set the ERI parameters.

Moving quickly, McGlynn set a retirement date of no later than February 14, 2003 with no limit on the number of retirements. A total of 50 employees subsequently accepted the retirement offer, including 7 firefighters and 1 police officer. Also retiring were 13 school department employees (non-teachers), 7 school traffic employees and 8 DPW workers.

Included in the 50 early outs were 7 employees who had reached their maximum 80% pension without needing the extra credit. These employees were offered a bonus of $7,500 to retire by February 14 and opted to accept the deal, said Medford Retirement Board Executive Secretary Gilda Antolini.

Employees of the Retirement Board itself have until this July 15 to accept the ERI. Antolini and Assistant Secretary Dora LoConte have expressed interest in the offer.