Page 18 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – Friday, May 3, 2019 THE SOUNDS OF SAUGUS By Mark Vogler H ere are a few tidbits that you might want to know about this week in Saugus. “Support our custodians” Looks like the rank and file teachers of Saugus Public Schools got the backs of the custodians whose jobs are on the chopping block unless the School Committee backs off consideration of a school administration plan to privatize the janitorial services. “Please support our custodians on Monday night from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.,” the Saugus Education Association posted on its website this week. “They will be at Town Hall providing information to Town Meeting Members as to why privatization is a terrible idea for our schools,” the notice continues. This year’s Annual Town Meeting convenes at 7:30 p.m. on Monday. A Special Town Meeting will take up much of the first night’s business. It will be very interesting to see whether any of the cardcarrying union members will be issuing a resolution on the floor of Town Meeting to support the custodians. It will also be interesting to see how many of the local unions will have representatives out there supporting the custodians who are picketing outside of Town Hall. Stay tuned. Cheers to the man behind the food drive Here’s a shout-out to Dennis Gould, who has been busy this week getting the word out ~ OPEN HOUSE ~ Sunday, May 5 * 12:00 - 1:00 PM 63 HARVARD ST., CHELSEA PRATTVILLE SECTION NEW PRICE: $599,900. around town that the food drive that was postponed at Stop & Shop Saugus last month is back on – for tomorrow (Saturday, May 4) from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Saugus Plaza at 164 Main St. Please see the related story in this week’s edition. Gould is the brains and organizer behind Healthy Students– Healthy Saugus, which is also known as HS2. The Saugus United Parish Food Pantry – together with the Saugus Faith Community, the Saugus School Superintendent and area businesses and organizations – has been collaborating on this special initiative, which focuses on Saugus students with food insecurity during weekends. Launched in October, HS2 currently serves 54 Saugus children with food bags each Friday. “Those of you volunteering at Stop & Shop this coming Saturday, we are requesting you to arrive there between 8:30 and 8:45,” Gould wrote in an email aimed at the volunteers. “If shoppers want to donate Money, checks should be made out to “Saugus Clergy” and “HS2” written on memo line. Cash is also accepted,” Gould said. Gathering food for the less fortunate students of Saugus is a very noble cause that unites Saugonians who care about their community. If you have time on your hand and you want to volunteer to help that cause, email Gould at jdgould1969@aol.com. The silence was deafening I’m not a big social media fan. I seldom go on it. But I heard from a number of avid followers of social media that the allegations of Selectman Mark Mitchell misappropriating more than a half million dollars from the Boston Center for Adult Education were getting a lot of chatter last week – right up to the Board of Selectmen’s meeting held on April 23. People I didn’t even know were emailing me to make sure that I attended that meeting because Mitchell was going to resign. And yes, there was supposed to be a large gathering of angry citizens clamoring for Mitchell to resign in case he didn’t tender his resignation. Well, so much for social media being more reliable than “the fake news” of traditional media. (Yeah, some public officials in town tell me I should get involved in social media if I want to know what’s going on. And some tell me they have more faith in social media than traditional media.) As things turned out, Selectman Mitchell showed up and gave no indication that he was considering resignation. And nobody from the angry citizen crowd showed up to express their dismay about the allegations. In fact, no town residents spoke out during the two public comment periods of the meeting. And none of the five Saugus selectmen – including Mitchell – made any kind of comment during the meeting about the misappropriation allegations. By now, each of the three newspapers that cover Saugus has run a story about the lawsuit filed by Mitchell’s former employer alleging that he had misappropriated at least $515,000 from the nonprofit organization’s bank account over a two-year period when he worked there as its controller. But I was the only reporter who was at the meeting last week. On the next day, I decided to send Mitchell and his four colleagues an email seeking comment on the situation. “There are a lot of comments on social media regarding the lawsuit and allegations against Selectman Mark Mitchell, a number of them calling for his resignation,” I wrote in the email. “Do you have any concerns or comments about Selectman Mitchell’s situation?” Obviously they don’t – at least none that they want to comA RARE GEM: Listed by Sandy. 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I expected to receive comments back saying it was an unfair question to be asking or that it was a question they didn’t feel comfortable in commenting on. But all five selectmen declined to answer my email, which is the first time this has happened during my three-plus years at The Saugus Advocate. I have no regrets for raising the question. Given the circumstance – alleged conduct that would be unbecoming for an elected official on any level of government – it’s a question that needs to be asked until the allegation are cleared. And if Selectman Mitchell decides to run for reelection, political challengers will most certainly raise similar questions about the allegations made by the Boston Center for Adult Education. And, of course, it’s a story that will continue to be covered by the local newspapers, as there are new developments. Tulips and daffodils My brother Wayne recently had put a nice pot of pretty red tulips on my parents’ grave in one of the cemeteries in my homeSOUNDS | SEE PAGE 19
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