Saugus charter board holds first meeting

SAUGUS-A residency requirement for the town manager and staggered elections were two of the more popular wishes heard at the Charter Commission’s first public hearing.More than 50 residents turned out for the hearing to tell commissioners what works and what doesn’t work in the town’s government.Ellen Faiella was the first to suggest staggered elections and everyone else followed suit.Town Meeting member Sean Maltais said he would also like to see longer terms.”Two years is not long enough if you’re inheriting someone else’s mess,” he said. “It should be at least three, but I’d rather see four years.”While residents and town officials talked about the constraints of Town Meeting, no one but William Stewart said they were ready to abandon that form of government.”I think the major problem is Town Meeting,” he said, adding he served on Town Meeting for about 20 years. “It takes forever to get anything done.”He said he felt it took Town Meeting too long to deal with the budget and he especially disliked the way it left the School Department until last, giving it nothing but crumbs.Janet Leuci disagreed.”I could not feel more strongly in urging you to retain Town Meeting,” she said. “Town Meeting gives the little guy a voice when, in other areas of government, they might not have one.”Stewart was not the only resident to bring up the fate of the schools. Henry Merrifield said he was “sick over the school system” and Chris Luongo said he believed the School Committee should be involved in the budget process.While no one said town employees shouldn’t be allowed to serve as Town Meeting members, there was a fair amount of discussion on conflict of interest issues as well.Selectman Michael Kelleher said he would also like to see Finance Committee and Board of Health seats elected rather than appointed, largely because he believes they wield a lot of power.When questioned regarding the Finance Committee’s power, Kelleher said he believed influence was power and the Finance Committee had a lot of influence, particularly at Town Meeting.Others disagreed, saying elections often amount to little more than a popularity contest. They said they would prefer people who serve on the boards to come with knowledge and experience, which may or may not happen with an election.There was also talk that centered around splitting off some of Town Meeting’s power and giving it to Selectmen.Kelleher suggested the Selectmen should be the ones to vote the budget and Town Meeting should handle zoning issues.But Town Moderator Robert Long said he believed Town Meeting should be left as is. He said if it weren’t for the town’s financial issues, there probably wouldn’t be a Charter Commission. He also thought bringing the School Committee into the budget process would be mixing apples and oranges.Commission Chairman Peter Manoogian said he was pleased not only with the hearing’s turnout, but also with the quality of the discussions.The Charter Commission’s next meeting will be held Dec. 27 in Town Hall at 7:30 p.m.