Page 14 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FriDAy, SEpTEmbEr 5, 2025 The Sounds of Saugus By Mark E. Vogler Good morning, Saugus Looking back over the years in communities where I covered local elections, the prevailing attitude of civic-minded citizens was always that it is important to field at least two candidates for every office that was up for election. Many of those candidates who ran knew that they would get trounced at the polls. They also knew that they were running for the public good – to make sure that the heavily favored incumbent candidate didn’t get a “free ride” in his or her reelection bid. The motive was to make sure there was some spirited debate about important issues that were at the heart of a particular election. A competitive election at every level fosters good government. A newspaper that is determined to be a force of good in the community provides the readers with thorough and indepth coverage of the candidates and the issues. And quite often, there are candidates out there who run to make the election meaningful. And if you are a civic-minded person who cares deeply about the integrity of your local government, that’s a noble reason to run. And if you keep running, voters are going to take you seriously one day and elect you. I once covered the persistent efforts of a Lawrence politician who ran numerous times before he finally got elected to the City Council. He later ran for mayor and eventually the state Legislature. Marcos Devers became an acting mayor and was later elected to the State House. There’s no reason why Saugus can’t field 10 candidates to run for the Board of Selectmen and another 10 to run for the School Committee. And the same should apply to the 10 precincts who each elect five Town Meeting members every two years to sit on the 50-member local legislative body. All a Town Meeting candidate has to do is obtain the signatures of 10 registered Saugus voters whose signatures are certified. The deadline for pulling nomination papers to run for one of the Town Meeting seats is Sept. 12 – just a week from today (FriSIGN OF THE TIMES: Another long-established Cliftondale business will be leaving town. After more than half a century, Rossetti Insurance will be leaving town soon – moving to Lynnfield. (Courtesy photo to The Saugus Advocate) day, Sept. 5). Then you have until Tuesday, Sept. 16, to file the signed nomination papers with the Town Clerk. Are you up for the challenge, citizens of Saugus? Stay tuned. Running a robust campaign A Precinct 1 Town Meeting Member has stepped up her campaign for a selectmen’s seat. Here’s her latest invitation: “The Committee to Elect Stacey Herman-Dorant for Selectman invites all members of the Saugus Community to attend her meet and greet event on Sunday, September 14th at the Saugus Italian American Club, 1 Beachview Drive, from 4:006:00pm. Stacey is energized to kick-off the campaign season and wants to hear from you! RSVP is appreciated to: staceyhermandorant@gmail.com. We hope you will join us.” Signature events for September There are a couple of Saugus events worth noting that will be coming up this month. Joyce Rodenhiser asked me to put the word out in this column to let our readers know that they should “Save the date – Sept. 13” on their calendar. Joyce passed on this important information: “At noon time, in front of our Town Hall, on Founders Day, the Persons of the Year will be announced! Come, see who has been helping Saugus be a better place because of what they have done voluntarily for Saugonians and organizations. “Founders Day is a great time to see old friends and classmates! It’s a big block party with lots of food, fun, civic organizations and shopping. Join us downtown to see what’s happening!” There’s another signature Saugus event happening in September. Karen Spencer reminded me this week that “The Pumpkin Patch” will reappear at First Congregational Church on the side lawn along Hamilton Street, facing Saugus Town Hall. “Our first delivery of pumpkins will be on Saturday, September 27th at 9 am,” Karen wrote in her email. “We need help to un-load the huge truck that will be parked on Hamilton Street. Please come down to the church and help. High school students will receive community service hours for helping. The second delivery is expected on October 11th where we also need help.” Two great community events that are coming up soon! This week’s “Shout outs” We received several nominations from loyal Advocate readers: · From frequent contributor Janice Jarosz: “A Shout out to two very special employees of the Town of Saugus who retired on August 22. “From the Retirement Board, Ms. Ann Quinlan, who served for over twenty-six years as its Administrator. Ann was always very helpful and dedicated to her position and spent much of her time explaining the ins and outs of the retirement process. “Also Ms. Stephanie Puracchio, who served as both the clerk of the Conservation Commission and the Board of Appeals. Stephanie wore those two hats for most of the 15 years she served. Always helpful to the petitioners in the filing of requests and dealt with the demands of deadlines with ease and a smile. “A special thank you to Ann and Stephanie for their professionalism, expertise, and dedication to the citizens of Saugus. Both will be missed.” · From Precinct 1 Town Meeting Member Mark Bell: “I wanted to give a shout out to all the volunteers who are going to be coaching all of our youth sports and activities for the upcoming school year! These programs don’t run without them and Saugus has a great group of parents and volunteers who do a great job!” · Board of Appeals Member Chris Riley: “I’d like to submit a shout out for next week’s paper. The shout out is for Stephanie Puracchio. Stephanie has been the clerk for the board of appeals and the conservation commission for many years and she’s done a great job. Virtually every applicant that comes to the board of appeals mentions how helpful Stephanie has been for them, and she is already missed by the board. Congratulations to Stephanie on her retirement.” · Precinct 2 Town Meeting Member Peter Rossetti: “I offer Marilyn Carlson a shout-out. I think she deserves it for her efforts to get the clock in the conference [room] taken care of. God knows how many hours people have spent in that room with no clock telling the right time. THE SOUNDS | SEE PAGE 15
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