Page 18 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – Friday, January 3, 2020 THE SOUNDS OF SAUGUS By Mark Vogler H ere are a few tidbits that you might want to know about this week in Saugus. Happy New Decade If you like numbers, this is going to be an interesting year. It’s the start of a new decade. It’s also a presidential election year. And, in case you are interested, the Massachusetts Presidential Primary is set for March 3 – just a couple of months from now. And for those of us who graduated from High School in 1970, it’s also a class reunion year. So, a few of us will be celebrating their 50th. I’m a member of the Joseph Case High School Class of 1970. We had about 160 members in our class. Case was a small school back then, which set by the Swansea Dam in Swansea, Mass. Swansea was and still is a small town of under 16,000 people located in Bristol County in southeastern Massachusetts near Fall River and about a dozen miles southeast of Providence, R.I. As I recall – though my graduating class was a small one – we were on double sessions during my last two years. Eventually, the town got a new high school and Case High became Joseph Case Junior High School. I for one, along with a lot of other Swansea natives, think the Junior High School is a better building than the high school that it replaced. I’m on a roll this morning about Case after getting an email reminding me that 2020 is a reunion year for the Class of 1970. But I was also reminded that it was up to each class to plan and organize its own event. And at the moment, there is no reunion scheduled for the Joseph Case High Class of 1970. And from what I understand, there probably won’t be one. But if there were one, I’d be interested in going back and seeing how my classmates made out. The last time I went to a reunion was 30 years ago. “The Year in Review” This week’s edition of The Saugus Advocate is devoted to a look back at 2019 and some of the major events that happened over the last 12 months. In the course of my journalism career, I always found it a lot of fun to assemble a “Year in Review” edition, particularly for a weekly newspaper. This is my fourth “Year in Review” issue for The Saugus Advocate. I find it interesting to leaf through 52 newspapers and select the top stories and photos that chronicle a year of life in a community. Of course, it’s a lot of work and takes a considerable commitment of time to look through each of the week’s papers. And that’s the only way to determine what the major stories were, which ones were the most important, the most interesting and the most entertaining over a year’s time. This year, there is no question which Saugus story tops them all – the case of the 21 custodians who were replaced by a private Lynn company. The letters-to-the-editor opining on the issue whether the school district is better off with them or without them began trickling in in March. And we got more letters on the custodians than on any other topic. We ran more “Advocate Asks” interviews on privatization of custodial services than on any other issue. Overall, there were far more stories – particularly front-page stories – than on any other subject we covered in The Saugus Advocate during the year. There were other education stories – like MCAS results and the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s District Review Report – that were far more significant to our readers than the custodians issue. And also the ongoing construction of the new Saugus Middle-High School, which is due to open this year (spring for the middle school and the fall for the high school). But none of those hit home and on the same humane level as the plight of the custodians, who are truly the unsung heroes who work for the betterment of the schools. The Saugus Public Schools custodians getting the shaft from the school administration in a way that truly lacked transparency was a story that everyone can relate to: young kids, teenagers, college kids, parents and senior citizens. And depending on what happens with the pending and multiple Open Meeting Law (OML) complaints, Saugus residents could be talking about it for months to come. As an outsider coming into Saugus several days a week, I observed that what happened to the school custodians really stuck in the average Saugonian’s craw. As Peter Manoogian put it in an interview shortly after the election: “It’s not so much that it was done, but how it was done. I believe the people of Saugus have a fundamental fairness. You don’t treat people that way – the way they were treated at the June meeting.” Agreed. Had the School Committee held public discussions on the privatization of custodial services instead of being so secretive and adopting “a public-be-damned” attitude, the discourse would have been more civil. The process would have been fair, and anyone who wanted to talk about the issue would have had the opportunity Instead, the custodians didn’t receive a fair shake. The voters, for the most part, understood this well. And there was payback at the ballot box. Open Meeting Law determinations overdue As far as the Open Meeting Law complaints filed by The Saugus Advocate and others alleging violations by the School Committee in their decision to privatize the custodians, the time for determinations by the state Attorney General’s Division of Open Government is ridiculously late. We’re into the seventh month now. That’s way too long And the cynical side of me wonders whether the Division of Open Government even cares about making a determination at this point. I was told back in late October that it would probably be December by the time the complaint was reviewed because of a backlog of cases. I called the division a couple of weeks ago and left a message, but got no response back. I will withhold judgment on the division’s thoroughness and quality of work until I see the written determination. But it sure does seem like the OML was in better hands when each county’s District Attorney’s Office had a prosecutor who specialized in OML complaints. I remember the Essex County District Attorney’s Office having a prosecutor named Bender who was highly efficient in dispensing these cases. Bender could determine within weeks if not days whether there was a violation. Now we’re talking months and half years to get the job done. If the Attorney General is so interested in Open Government, she needs to spend more time making sure that it works. Early primary voting This just in from Town Clerk Ellen Schena: There will be Early Voting for five days only for the upcoming March 3, 2020, Presidential Primary Election. The dates for Early Voting are Monday, February 24 through Friday, February 28. Early Voting will take place in the Town Clerk’s Office during regular Town Hall hours: Monday: 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday: 8:15 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Friday: 8:15 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Absentee Voting will remain the same as in all past elections. A “shout-out” for Ruth Berg I got an email this week from Ruth Berg, one of the founders of the North Shore Computer Society. Ruth sent me an email with a flyer attached titled “The Second Coming...of Santa.” “‘Santa’ will tell you how to save money on your Comcast bill, as well as answer your questions. Santa already helped one customer save $60 per month, and in addition provided Netflix for free!” according to the flyer. “Presented by the North Shore Computer Society, a 501(c)(7) nonprofit. Find out more at: www.northshorecomputer.org, call 978-977-2618, or email: info@northshorecomputer.org” If you want to find out about it firsthand, go listen to the presentation of Comcast Service Representative Richard Mireault at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 9 at the Peabody Municipal Light Plant at 201 Warren St., Ext., Peabody. Oh, by the way, Ruth tells me she is the one who got $60 shaved off her monthly Comcast bill. It’s worth checking out. A shout-out for David Silipigni Joseph Silipigni tells us that is brother David did a masterful job in launching a holiday Toys for Tots Drive in memory of Joe’s son, Alan Joseph Silipigni, the 14-year-old Saugus High School student who died unexpectedly in late November. Joe said the drive raised $12,670. “Alan’s memory sure did help many kids in need this Holiday Season,” Joe said of his late son. Want to “shout-out” a fellow Saugonian? This is an opportunity for our paper’s readers to single out – in a brief mention – remarkable acts or achievements by Saugus residents, or an act of kindness or a nice gesture. Just send an email (mvoge@comcast.net) with the mention in the subject line of “An Extra Shout-Out” – no more than a paragraph – anything longer might lend itself to a story and/or photo. Volunteer civic opportunities galore If you didn’t get elected to public office this fall or wish you ran, there’s plenty of opportunities for you to get involved in public service to Saugus. You can still help the town out in a constructive fashion. You don’t have to get elected to perform some public service. Become a part of the town’s future. Here’s a few opportunities you might want to check out. The Saugus Town Manager is accepting resumes/applications from Saugus residents for several volunteer positions on the following Boards or Commissions: Board of Assessors: The responsibility of this Board is to annually determine the full and fair market value of all real estate in the town. Guidelines are set by the Dept. of Revenue, Bureau of Local Assessment. Board of Health: They are responsible for protecting and serving the citizens in health areas, such as food sanitation, restaurants, markets and compliance with the state sanitary and other health codes as well as emergency preparedness. Medical degree or physicians preferred. Boats and Waterways Commission: The responsibilities of these positions are to provide a clear, effective and professional policy, that will ensure the interests of commercial, fishing and recreational boating and that the waterways will be accessible to all citizens. One position requires that the person be a waterway-abutting homeowner with no commercial interest in waterways or adjacent lands. One position requires that the person be a Saugus Town Meeting Member. Commission on Disabilities: The responsibilities of these positions are to answer questions and provide referral guidance regarding disability-related issues in accordance with the Mass. General Laws. Conservation Commission: The Commission’s responsibility is to preserve the natural resources of Saugus and to protect the remaining open spaces, wildlife, salt marshes, and ponds, and to restore streams and the Saugus River to their natural state. Historical Commission: The Commission’s responsibility is to preserve and register all historical sites in Saugus. Planning Board: The Board’s responsibilities are to hear, review and vote on the applicaSOUNDS | SEE PAGE 19
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