THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, JULY 23, 2021 Page 17 SELECTMEN | FROM PAGE 15 FRANK’S Housepainting (781) 289-0698 • Exterior • Ceiling Dr. • Power Wash • Paper Removal • Carpentry FREE ESTIMATES — Fully Insured “Proper prep makes all the difference” – F. Ferrera • Interior to the Town achieving a AA+/ Stable rating under S&P Global Ratings. For me, this is the single most important thing that occurred under Scott’s watch. “When I became a Selectman almost 10 years ago, there was talk about going into receivership. There was discussion about closing the Library, the Senior Center, and Youth and Rec. The Essex Street Fire Station was continuously being closed due to lack of funds. Per Standard & Poor’s, Saugus now has a ‘very strong economy, strong management, strong budgetary fl exibility, and very strong liquidity.’ This is a complete 180 from where we were when I fi rst got elected. “The Town continues to benefit from our AA+ bond rating where we just refi nanced $2,015,000 of bonds issued 3/3/11 which resulted in a gross budgetary savings of $343,752. “We have approximately $10M in our stabilization fund, which is our ‘rainy day’ fund. By the Town being in good fi - nancial shape, we have saved millions in dollars in borrowing – where we can continue to save money & invest in our community.” Master Plan “Scott has hired the MAPC (Metropolitan Area Planning Council) to help develop the Goals & Vision for Saugus over the next 15 years. Public meetings have been held to engage the public on what direction they want Saugus to take. With so many accomplishments, I feel that an extension of Scott’s contract is deserved. Scott loves Saugus, and it is evident with the decisions that he makes for our community. Congratulations Scott.” Selectman Michael Serino “We did look at 13 communities and I was shocked about the salaries. They were in the $180,000 range – the average. I know when I hired Scott back in 2012, we gave him what the previous town manager was getting. And that was like $120,000. That was low, so I was kind of surprised by that [comparison to other communities], so that’s why at the end of his contract, which expires next August, his base salary will be about $183,000. So he was in range with the other 13 communities, and that’s why we decided not to give an increase right now and only give 1.5 percent COLA increase vs. a 3 percent increase.... “On the performance review, Jeff [Cicolini] was right on the money. We decided that if we’re going to increase the COLA or give the manager a bonus, it should be based on performance skills and not be an automatic increase. “There’s no manager that’s perfect. The Board of Selectmen – I’ve been through three; as a Town Meeting member, I’ve probably been through 10. There’s no manager that’s perfect. They have their good side and they have their shortfalls. And, you know, there might be some shortfalls in this manager. We’ll look at that in January. “But on the upswing, we have a $10 million stabilization fund. We have $4 million in free cash. We have a construction of a new Middle-High School and an update in the Belmonte School and in the Veterans School. And we have completed our state mandated ACO [Administrative Consent Order], and he had to bring us through the COVID crisis, which was difficult on some members who didn’t want to stay on “Zoom” [remote video conferencing] many months. “We did have some disagreement over the years of the contract, but we ended up with a three-year extension. And I think we went in with less than that – I know I did – but we all came to an agreement of three years. So, I want to congratulate the manager. And as always, we’ll work together. Thank you.” n
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