SAUGUS — Board of Selectmen Chairman Anthony Cogliano’s intention to both run for a post on the charter commission he is lobbying for the formation of and retain his seat on the board may be over before it could have begun.
Town Counsel John Vasapolli, pointing to two different sections of the town’s charter — Article 2, Section 1A and Article 2, Section 6 — indicated that Cogliano is barred from running for both positions.
Cogliano has spent weeks gathering signatures from residents to get the formation of a charter commission on the ballot in November, part of a broader push to amend the town’s charter to elect a town manager. Should he be successful, nine residents would be elected to the commission this fall.
In Vasapolli’s view, because charter commissioners would be elected to represent the entire town, Cogliano is barred from running for both offices. The sections of the charter Vasapolli pointed to state definitively that “no person’s name may appear on the ballot for more than one major town-wide elective office,” of which selectman is one, and that “a member of the Board of Selectmen… shall, during the term for which he was elected or appointed, be ineligible either by election or appointment to hold any other town office.”
But, Cogliano took issue with Vasapolli’s determination.
“I plan on running for both and hope the voters Saugus will see to it to put me in both,” he said.
Cogliano added that if charter commissioner were classified as a “major town-wide elective office,” the charter would list it as such alongside selectman, School Committee member, and Housing Authority member.
Vasapolli said while he respects Cogliano’s opinion, there is “no gray area” in the writing of the charter. He also pointed to the fact that in 2009, Debra Panetta, who now serves as the vice chair of the Board of Selectmen, opted to run for Charter Commission in lieu of a post on the board because of the very same issue that Cogliano now faces.
Panetta, in an email, said she obtained the necessary signatures to run for both positions but had to choose between the two because of the restrictions laid out in the charter.
“I wanted to run for both, but that was not an option,” she said.
