Saugus gets OK from AG for charter

SAUGUS – The proposed charter put together by the Charter Commission has been approved by the Attorney General and Thursday the public will have a chance to have its say.Charter Commission Chairman Peter Manoogian said he received word from Martha Coakley’s office that stated, “we find that the proposed charter does not conflict with the Constitution or laws of the Commonwealth and on this basis we approve it.”That does not mean the town has approved it, however.Residents will have their chance to sound off on the proposed changes both for and against and offer their changes during a public forum to be held Thursday in Town Hall auditorium at 7:30 p.m.”We are delighted to have our work approved by the attorney general prior to the hearing,” Manoogian said. “The constitutional language of home rule truly allows a community to craft a governmental structure that will best match the problems, challenges and opportunities of Saugus.”Manoogian said he believes that the proposal brought forth by the commission addresses what it calls the chronic issues that the town has faced for decades while retaining broad scale representation that is neighborhood based and easily accessible for citizens.Critics however argue that the proposal actually narrows representation because the number of “assemblers” would only be 27 instead of 50 Town Meeting members.Manoogian pointed out that Town Meeting is the only board that needs to rely on another board, the selectmen, to call it into session. The proposed assembly would be able to call itself into session whenever it was needed.Manoogian said many charter proposals tend toward cookie cutter types of government as in Town Meeting/Town Manager or a council/mayor, but the proposal the commission came up with is definitely unique.”We truly took this seriously,” he said. “We chose what would match the needs of the town. This is truly unique.”Which is why Manoogian said he is so pleased with the announcement from Coakley’s office.”We have these milestones we want to hit, like getting the full Charter Commission to agree on the proposal, which happened,” he said. “And to have something like the A.G.s approval-it’s significant.”On top of okaying the proposal Manoogian said Coakley’s office also suggested several language clarifications that the commission will review along with its consultant Attorney Michael P. Curran.Following the public hearing the commission will sit down to revise again, this time with the comments and suggestions from the public in mind. The commission has until early May to complete the proposal.”So basically, for the last month will be to work in the revisions,” Manoogian said. “We have a punch list of suggestions and we’re open minded to what the community has to say.”The final proposal will go to the Board of Selectmen which is then responsible for mailing it out to every household in town.But as Manoogian noted, “the ultimate milestone will be with the voters in November.”Copies of the draft proposal are available in the Town Clerk’s office and the Public Library.