Saugus TV board fires manager

SAUGUS – The Saugus Cable Television Station Board of Directors voted unanimously to dismiss Operations Manager Richard Garabedian Wednesday night.”I’m very disturbed by what I heard tonight and the lack of answers by Mr. Garabedian,” said Chairman Christopher Peatridge. “Operations have been lacking ? I don’t have the confidence in that person right now.”About a dozen people were in attendance as Attorney Philip Boyle of law firm Morgan, Brown and Joy, who is representing the SCTS Board of Directors, read a list of accusations against Garabedian that show what he called “certain deficiencies in performance.”According to Boyle, Garabedian approached the Town Manager and the Board of Selectmen to offer $200,000 of SCTS funds to the town, did not keep accurate payroll records and did not file the proper non-profit paperwork with the state.”Accurate records were not kept for (former employee) Laura Toomey,” said Boyle. “When asked to explain a $2,800 check, he could not explain but said she worked extra time. Mr. Garabedian could not account for what days were worked. Failure to maintain records of this sort and failure to pay employees promptly each week ? is not in accordance (with law).”Boyle also said Garabedian didn’t use SCTS’ sales tax identification number for purchasing $500,000 worth of equipment under its former non-profit status, which he said resulted in as much as $30,000 in unnecessary tax payments.”He acknowledged he didn’t use it, saying he wasn’t paying attention,” said Boyle.Boyle also alleged that $6,000 paid to Garabedian’s ex-wife to keep him on her insurance plan was not properly reported and Garabedian recently told the mother of two daughters that he could not provide training because of budget and staffing issues, despite it being part of his job.”There is no budget or staffing issues,” said Boyle.After Boyle finished reading from his file, a motion was made to go into executive session to make a decision, but Garabedian requested the meeting remain open.”I know the information he received was not all correct,” said Garabedian, who also noted he was notified of the meeting Friday and did not have enough notice.”I don’t see how you can make any decisions without accurate information.””There was sufficient notice for you to have an attorney with you,” replied Peatridge.Garabedian defended himself briefly, saying it was a “minute” amount paid in taxes and not for the $500,000 in equipment. He also said the $2,800 paid to Toomey was agreed on by the previous board because she was doing accounting work as well and noted he offered the money to the town for upgrades in infrastructure such as fiber optics.When the meeting adjourned, tempers flared as those in attendance spoke out against the decision.”You people should be ashamed of yourself,” yelled resident Chet Stentiford. “This is a hatchet job if I ever saw one.””How can you even hold your heads up and look at people tonight?” asked Selectmen Vice Chairman Steve Castinetti.After the meeting, Castinetti said he was “outraged” by the “unprofessional and reckless actions” of the board in dealing with “a guy that has done so much for this town over the years.””This has been an apparently orchestrated attempt to remove Richard Garabedian since this board was formed a year ago,” he said. “Every move they made has been apparent that this was the ultimate goal of this board.”Peatridge, who asked for the video tape recording of the meeting after the board adjourned, declined to comment when leaving the public safety building.Matt Tempesta can be reached at [email protected].