Bisignani reflects on six years in Saugus, deep local aid cuts

SAUGUS-Andrew Bisignani has marked his sixth anniversary as Town Manager and, in doing so, realized he has come full circle.”When I first came in here in 2003 I had to deal with the 9C cuts,” he said referring to a series of deep local aid cuts made by then Gov. Mitt Romney. “Now here we are again.”Gov. Deval Patrick announced Friday he would trim $128 million from local aid. Bisignani said he has yet to receive the details but estimates the town’s hit to be about $450,000. Unlike 2003, Bisignani said he thinks the town can absorb the cut for 2009.In 2003 the town lost 10 police officers, six positions in the Fire Department and Public Works and the School Department were both hit hard.Bisignani said that was probably the most difficult incident he has faced in his six years with the town.”It has been a challenge,” he said reflecting. “Once we adjusted to the cutback it was hard to stabilize. There were a lot of priorities and a lot, I hate to say it, but political in-fighting . . . there was a lot of passion for different programs.”It took the town several years, which included some steep hurdles, such as the Main Street landfill closure, skyrocketing health care costs, the Kasabuski Arena deficit and very nearly state intervention, but the town did climb out of its financial hole.”We took baby steps forward and for the last six months we’ve been relatively stable, which was our goal,” he said. “Now we get hit again. The difference is this time we have no control.”Bisignani sounds positively relieved to point out that the financial problems now facing the community are a direct result of cuts from the governors office, they are not town driven.”You could say I’ve come full circle,” he said.Town Moderator Robert Long joked that Bisignani shouldn’t be so hard on himself as to think that he brought the town back to where it was.”He’s worked hard to sustain services,” he said.”We’ve all done our part,” Bisignani said. “We’ve made a lot of sacrifices and there are still a lot of deficiencies . . . and it’s not over.”He is hopeful however that the town might pick up a little in the way of help from the state. Along with the cuts, Patrick is also mulling over a 1 percent increase in restaurant and hotel taxes. With a couple of motels and a number of restaurants it could give the town a little boost.When asked if he had any idea when he took the job that he would still be in the position six years later Bisignani shrugged.”I never really thought about it,” he said. “You can’t go into a job like this and set limits. The time did go by fast but every day is a challenge.”Should he fulfill his obligation Bisignani will have roughly three more years of challenging days until his contract is up.