Boston City Council holds home rule petition for injured firefighter's pension increase

BOSTON -- July 18, 2024, Boston City Council hears home rule petition to boost disabled firefighter Richard Lopez's pension from 72 percent to as much as 100 percent of current salary. District 5 Councilor Enrique J. Pepén filed Docket 0995 on behalf of Lopez, who was permanently injured on June 10, 2006, rescuing an unconscious victim from a building via aerial ladder and was retired from the department in December 2008 with more than 40 percent loss of range of motion in his dominant shoulder. Lopez told councilors he now suffers chronic migraines that leave him "unable to take on the commitments of a job of any kind." Councilor Edward M. Flynn pledged his vote in support, but the presiding chair said the legal maximum for such pensions may be capped at 80 percent and deferred final language pending review by council legal staff, keeping the docket in committee.