THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FriDAy, FEbrUAry 17, 2023 Page 3 Working With WIN Waste Court motion alleges Cogliano “forged” signatures on documents in federal court case By Mark E. Vogler W hen WIN Waste Innovations needed evidence to defend itself in a federal lawsuit, it approached Board of Selectmen Chair Anthony Cogliano last summer for help. WIN asked Cogliano if he could collect signatures from residents who lived near the plant who could testify that they had experienced no odor, dust or other problems related to its trash-to-energy plant on Route 107. After contacting the residents by telephone whom he believed had no problems with WIN, Cogliano said, he filled out the documents and signed them himself instead of having the residents sign them. Later, an attorney representing WIN asked Cogliano to have each of the residents personally sign the declaration, which said they did not experience any problems at the plant. But a motion filed in U.S. District Court in Boston last week on behalf of Brenda Sweetland and others involved in a 2021 class action lawsuit against WIN over noxious odors and other quality of life issues seeks to have the declarations obtained by Cogliano excluded as evidence in the case. “Defendant’s hurried effort to patch up its boondoggle at the last hour did nothing to remedy the confusion and misunderstanding that Defendant’s misguided solicitation campaign had wrought,” the motion alleged. “Defendant’s Supplemental Declarations were obtained through misleading, coercive and abusive means, and they should accordingly be excluded.” A federal judge is expected to rule on the motion and determine whether the signatures obtained by Cogliano can be used as evidence to challenge the claims in the pending court case. In addition to blocking the admission of the declarations as evidence, the motion also seeks $4,304.25 in out-ofpocket expenses which were needed to discover information on what Cogliano did to obtain the signatures. “Plaintiff seeks a very limited, narrowly tailored and completely justified sanction against Wheelabrator for its unacceptable conduct in employing a prominent local politician with conflicts of interest who procured forged signatures, that it attempted to produce as evidence,” the motion stated. In an interview this week with The Saugus Advocate, Cogliano denied any wrongdoing. “I still don’t have a problem with doing this,” Cogliano said. “But if I had to do it over again, I probably would not want to be put in that situation. To me, it all boils down to aggravation I don’t need. But I still don’t think I did anything unethical, and I have no problem with that,” he said. “I didn’t sign anything that I didn’t have permission to sign. And I said I would speak to family and friends. I’m trying to create a partnership and relationship with them [WIN]. This class action lawsuit is a farce.” But the motion filed in Federal District Court last week alleged that the 19 people who later signed the declarations were not fully informed about the ongoing lawsuit, or that Cogliano was seeking their testimony for use in an ongoing civil lawsuit. “Many of the purported Initial Declarants never authorized Mr. Cogliano to sign their name for them, let alone under penalty of perjury,” the motion claimed. “For example, when presented with his Initial Declaration for the first time, John Cooper testified that ‘I didn’t authorize anyone to sign anything like this’,” the motion noted. Craig Serino, a cousin of Saugus Selectman Michael Serino, said he didn’t recall authorizing Cogliano to sign his name to the Initial Declaration. In a deposition related to the recent court motion, Cogliano branded the Sweetland lawsuit as “bogus.” “I’ve lived there my whole life. And outside of the 70’s, I’ve never had any problems with anything from Wheelabrator,” Cogliano said in his court deposition. “In the 70’s, we used to get soot in my pool. They’ve installed scrubbers there in the 80’s and I’ve never had a problem, and I own property close by. I own another piece of property very close to Wheelabrator, but I’ve never had an issue with it,” he said. Cogliano has been lobbying hard for several years to create a special Wheelabrator Subcommittee because he wanted to work with Wheelabrator,” according to court papers. “For years now, as Co-Chair of the Wheelabrator Subcommittee, Mr. Cogliano has been pushing for a host agreement that would allow the town to benefit financially from the operation of the Wheelabrator Facility,” court documents state. It adds that he sees a Host Community Agreement with WIN Waste bringing in “about a million dollars a year plus.” “Despite this obvious conflict of interest between Mr. Cogliano’s role as a public representative of Saugus residents and his support of Wheelabrator, and a new Host Community Agreement that will net the town millions in revenue, Wheelabrator solicited Mr. Cogliano to procure declarations that Wheelabrator intends to use in opposition to this lawsuit,” the court motion alleged. “Jack Walsh, a subcontractor responsible for community outreach for Wheelabrator, approached Mr. Cogliano to ask if he knew anyone who could dispute the claims against Wheelabrator.” Statement From WIN Waste Innovations WIN Waste Innovations issued the following statement to The Saugus Advocate: “In connection with a meritless class action lawsuit, representatives of WIN Waste approached Saugus and Revere WIN WASTE | SEE PAGE 16 425r Broadway, Saugus Located adjacent to Kohls Plaza Route 1 South in Saugus at the intersection of Walnut St. We are on MBTA Bus Route 429 781-231-1111 We are a Skating Rink with Bowling Alleys, Arcade and two TV’s where the ball games are always on! 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