Saugus parking clerks right call for town coffers

SAUGUS – There was some resistance at first, but the parking clerks armed with their ticket books are earning their keep.Town Manager Andrew Bisignani said Angelo Serino wrote $44,135 in parking tickets for the month of January. K9 Control Officer Harry Young, who also writes tickets during the week, wrote $3,925 in fines.”Collection is another thing,” Bisignani admitted.Town Meeting sanctioned Serino’s job status last October when it voted to approve $6,000 to fund the position. Working weekends, Bisignani said he focuses mainly on the Square One Mall.Young tickets parking scofflaws when he sees them during his regular duties as the K9 Control officer, though he has focused namely on the Cliftondale Square area.Initially, patrolmen resisted the hiring of parking clerks fearing that it was taking away from their duties. Bisignani, however, argued that this takes a burden off an already overburdened department. He also sweetened the deal by agreeing to put the majority of the funds raised right back into the department.Unlike speeding ticket fines where half goes to the state, parking fines go directly back to the town.Bisignani added the parking issue is also a public safety issue.He did not deny that the parking clerks are revenue makers, but said more importantly it attempts to resolve a public safety issue.”I’ve been to the mall,” he said. “I’ve seen the number of illegally parked cars. People blocking the fire lanes, parking in handicap spaces – it’s a real public safety issue.”