SAUGUS — The defeat of Question 1 at the polls Tuesday night — by a margin of roughly 200 votes — may not spell the end of efforts to change the town’s charter.
While Anthony Cogliano, who spearheaded the charter effort and finished fourth in the race for Board of Selectmen, said he would not launch another petition drive to get a question on the ballot, other town officials — namely new Selectmen Chair Debra Panetta and fellow Board member Michael Serino — said they would like to see Town Meeting create a committee to review the town’s governing document. Panetta and Serino were both staunch opponents of the ballot initiative led by Cogliano but both ran to serve on the Charter Commission that would have been created if the question passed.
In fact, Panetta was the top vote-getter in the charter race, where only Cogliano and Town Meeting member Peter Rossetti would have won seats from the “yes” side. The remaining seats on the commission would have been filled largely with opponents of significant changes — Serino, Peter Manoogian, Jeannie Meredith, Bob Long, Vincent Serino, and Ryan Fisher.
Cogliano said that the result was symbolic of the supposed scare tactics launched by opponents paying off.
“You gotta give it to them,” he said. “Sometimes you have to give the devil their due. They got what they wanted. They won, but I don’t think the people won,” Cogliano said.
He added he was skeptical any charter change would be enacted.
“No one’s going to do anything. It’s a rigged game,” Cogliano said. “No one knew it was to have a conversation.”
That defeat proved costly for Cogliano and the Moving Saugus Forward Committee created to back the “yes” vote.
The committee, chaired by Lori Gallivan, reported more than $13,000 in expenses in a campaign finance report filed eight days prior to the election Tuesday. Cogliano spent $2,444 on signs, while other pro-change candidates like Anthony Speziale, Robert Camuso, and Peter Rossetti also reported expenses in excess of $500. On the other side, few candidates poured large sums of money into their campaigns — Panetta, for example, reported just more than $1,000 in expenses for her charter campaign. Meredith reported spending slightly more than $700. Manoogian, Long, Vincent Serino, and Fisher all reported no expenses.
Should a charter commission be formed by Town Meeting, Cogliano said he would not want to be a part, adding that he was skeptical any changes would be made.
While Tuesday’s results clearly indicated residents have a favorable opinion of the town’s current governmental structures — and the status quo at large — Cogliano lamented Saugus’ present state.
“I don’t look at Saugus and say things are great,” he said.
Panetta said she already had a list of changes she would like to see made, which she dubbed “low-hanging fruit.”
She said any charter process would involve input from the residents about what changes to the town’s governing document they would like to see.
Serino said the relative closeness of the vote indicated there was some appetite for change in town and said the “other side” — Cogliano and his supporters — deserved to see some changes made.
He called for creating a standing charter committee that would convene every three to five years to examine the town’s governing document and suggest changes.
One change he proposed Tuesday night was one many other towns in Massachusetts have already enacted — changing the name of the Board of Selectmen to Select Board.
