Saugus Town Meeting approves two articles

SAUGUS – Saugus Town Meeting approved just two articles Monday night before adjourning until May 20.Town Meeting took its first vote nearly an hour-and-a-half into the proceedings as article 14, a bylaw that prohibits graffiti and gives property owners two weeks to remove the graffiti, passed 36-2.?This has been something that?s a concern not only in the Police Department but in my precinct,” said Town Meeting member Peter Manoogian, who wrote the article.Police Chief Domenic DiMella spoke in favor of the article and said graffiti is very costly.?We take it very serious,” he said. “There?s a real cost associated with it with cleanup and it affects property values. If it?s left there, it gives a message of, ?No one cares? and it attracts more tagging.”Town Meeting member Maureen Dever said the article was “well-intentioned” but “re-victimizes” property owners and made a motion to refer it back to Manoogian.?I think about the elderly who have 14 days to do this and may not have the money to do so,” she said. “I think this bylaw could be better with people coming together with input from the DPW.”Manoogian argued that the majority of the graffiti is on commercial or abandoned property.Dever?s motion failed and the article was approved.Town Meeting also approved article 25, a referendum which seeks to petition the United States Congress to propose an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would affirm that “corporations are not entitled to the constitutional rights of human beings, and that, since money is not speech, Congress, and state and local governments may place limits on political contributions and expenditures from any source.”Saugus resident Robert Cox said he wrote the article because was frustrated with the amount of money spent last election.?What I?m asking you to do is join with us,” said Cox. “It?s just starting a message and hopefully we?ll make the initiative work in federal and state congresses.”The article passed 30-7 and Town Meeting adjourned for two weeks.Finance Committee Chairman Robert Palleschi updated Town Meeting members Monday and said the committee has had a “very active spring.”?Unfortunately there are a lot of unknowns that are still floating around that have a lot to do with state aid,” he said.Palleschi said the committee will get the final town budget today and won?t vote on it until next week in order to have more time to review it.Matt Tempesta can be reached at [email protected].