Castinetti returns as Saugus selectman

SAUGUS – Three incumbents will be returning to the Board of Selectmen this year, while one former selectman and one newcomer will take the two other seats on the board.Scott Crabtree was re-elected to the Board of Selectmen with 2,922 votes, followed by Michael Serino, another incumbent, with 2,607 votes.Steve Castinetti will be returning for his second stint on the board after receiving 2,557 votes, while newcomer Debra Panetta tallied 2,502 votes and incumbent Stephen Horlick received 2,412 votes.Crabtree received 12 percent of the votes cast, while Serino, Castinetti, Panetta and Horlick all netted around 10 percent of the votes.Julie Ann Mitchell came in sixth with 1,661 votes, but said she?s not disappointed with the results and is happy with how things went.?I made a lot of good friends and met a lot of new people,” said Mitchell. “I wouldn?t change anything. I?d do everything the same.”Rounding out the rest of the candidates, Mike Downing received 1,514 votes, Sean Maltais received 1,511 votes, George DeDomenico received 1,327 votes, Matt Canterbury received 680 votes and Bob Cox received 505 votes.In all, Saugus saw close to 5,550 voters turn out Tuesday, which is about 32 percent of the 17,137 registered voters in town.Crabtree said his goal once the new board is sworn in is to protect Saugus? property values.?I feel pretty good,” said Crabtree. “I want to continue working together to move Saugus forward and prioritize where we invest to make Saugus a more attractive community.”Castinetti served on the board from 2007 to 2009, and said “it?s nice to be back,” and wants to start off by looking at Town Manager Andrew Bisignani?s contract situation.?I?m looking forward to it,” said Castinetti. “I think the top priority is trying to determine what to do with the Town Manager position and find out what his intentions are and see where the board stands on it. I think that?s the most pressing issue at this point because he could leave us tomorrow.”Panetta said she?s looking forward to moving Saugus forward, and wants to tackle the town budget once sworn in.?One of the big issues I ran on is financial accountability,” said Panetta. “As well as open communication with all the boards and organizations, and all the citizens in town.”Horlick was elected to his fifth consecutive term, and said he?s looking forward to getting back to work, and wants to get on the same page with the new selectmen.?We need to have all the different board members state their opinions on what we should be looking at to try and get done this year and what?s important to the town,” said Horlick. “The best thing to do is to meet with everyone and just put it all out there.”Matt Tempesta can be reached at [email protected]. You can follow him on Twitter @MattTempesta.