Saugus board hands over proposed charter

SAUGUS – The Charter Commission officially handed over nearly two years worth of work Tuesday when it passed the proposed charter off to the Board of Selectmen for the next leg of the long journey to the ballot box.The commission didn’t, however, let go entirely.Commission Chairman Peter Manoogian gave selectmen a brief overview of the 50-plus page document that, if approved in November, would constitute the town’s new charter. Manoogian, who was joined by commissioners Eugene Decareau, Albert Diotte, Karen Cote, Cam Cicolini and Thomas Stewart, said there were four guiding principles that ran throughout the document. They included accountability, transparency, improving the election process and accessibility.Manoogian gave the board an outline of the principles and wrapped his presentation with the suggestion that the commission not fully relinquish its hold on the proposal.Manoogian said while the commission took its final vote on the document last week it is sensitive to the task now set before the board and that is making sure the proposal is distributed to every household in town.By law the document must be delivered no later than two weeks prior to the November elections but Manoogian said the commission and the Town Clerk would like to see it sent out earlier. He suggested if the board was to send out the document right after Labor Day it would give residents who feel particularly strong, one way or another, a chance to register to vote if they haven’t already.And to make sure the document is printed and goes out as designed, Manoogian suggested two Charter members be chosen to work with the board on the printing and mailing.Selectman Peter Rossetti said he welcomed the notion but took issue with an implication Manoogian made earlier that the board might somehow thwart the proposed charter.”I was a little disheartened that you implicated the board would do something so that the charter wouldn’t be accepted,” he said.Manoogian said he was only relating what had been done in other communities where boards of selectmen were vehemently against the charter. In those cases he said hostile selectmen produced a charter in print so tiny and crowded it was virtually impossible to read or follow. He said he didn’t think it would happen, he was just showing that it has.The board also voted to appoint two residents to the printing process as well.Manoogian also said his research shows that if the board sends the document to every household rather than every resident it will save the community substantially on printing and mailing. The selectmen had set $25,000 aside for the job but Manoogian said it could be done for closer to $5,000 and the Charter Commission could pay for more than half the amount.Manoogian said the commission finished its task on time and under budget and with a little more than $3,100 left in its coffers it would be willing to pick up a portion of the printing and mailing.”The town would only have to come up with $1845.33,” he said.Selectman Stephen Horlick not only commended the Charter Commission on a job well done but threw his support behind the document calling it a great document that would empower residents.He was the only board member to fully voice his support for the proposal.