Saugus selectmen dump citizens forum

SAUGUS-In a move that clearly stunned some, Selectmen voted 3-1 to discontinue the Citizen’s Forum portion of their meetings Tuesday, effective Jan. 1.Chairman Donald Wong, along with Stephen Castinetti, voted to support Peter Rossetti’s motion to end the public contribution portion of the meeting. Selectman Stephen Horlick voted against the idea and Michael Kelleher was absent.”It’s freedom of speech,” said Horlick, who was clearly shocked by the motion. “Anybody should be able to walk in here; we shouldn’t stop anybody from standing at that podium.”Kelleher, who was stuck in New York on business, said Wednesday that the action took him by complete surprise.”Why are they fixing something that wasn’t broken?” he said. “Tweak it maybe, but they took a shotgun to an anthill. In essence they are putting up roadblocks to people speaking to their elected officials.”Rossetti broached the forum as an unnecessary agenda item that could be covered under correspondence.Former Selectman Janice Jarosz, who was in the audience, saw it differently and told the board following the meeting she thought canceling the forum was wrong. She said she believed having to request a spot on the agenda would intimidate some residents and doing away with the forum was unfair.Horlick agreed.”People have a right to come before an elected body at any time,” he told his colleagues. “They’re residents, taxpayers and to tell them they have to submit a letter ahead of time, to not allow any resident to come in here ?it’s their constitutional right.”Rossetti said the idea was not to stop people from speaking before the board, but to give the board a heads up. He said if he knew what issues were coming up, the board could be ready.Kelleher scoffed at the thought.”If you don’t have an answer that’s fine,” he said. “You give them an answer at the next meeting.”Kelleher said he realized his point of view might seem lame, but argued that even if he had been there the measure still would have passed 3-2.Rossetti also argued that there have been many nights residents sat through lengthy board meetings just to ask a question. Rossetti said that if the residents called and were put on the agenda they could have their issues heard in a more timely fashion.Wong said he supported the motion because he wanted the chance to be ready for residents when they come before them with an issue.”If something is important and we have it in writing, we can research it and give them an educated answer instead of being surprised by something,” he said.Clerk Wendy Reed said residents wishing to be placed on the agenda should contact her no later than the Wednesday prior to the meeting.”As long as I have it on the Wednesday before the meeting,” she said. “Even if I’m not in the office, they can leave a message. I post the agenda on Thursday so I need it Wednesday.”Kelleher said anyone with an issue can call or email him and he will bring up the issue during the members’ motions. He can be reached at 781-233-3114 or at [email protected].