THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2020 Page 9 THE SOUNDS OF SAUGUS By Mark E. Vogler H ere are a few tidbits that you might want to know about this week in Saugus. Numbed by the COVID Numbers The state Department of Public Health has done it again – changed the day of the week and the format for releasing its “COVID-19 Weekly Public Health Report.” Every Wednesday night, for many months now, I have set aside several hours to tap into the state’s website to navigate through various statistics related to how the Coronavirus has been affecting Saugus residents as well as folks in three other cities (Everett, Malden and Revere). In an effort to put the data into context, we showed Saugus (or one of the other three cities) compared to nine other communities nearby. When I went to the state DPH COVID website Wednesday night (Oct. 21), I learned that the city/ town data and map will be released at 4 p.m. on Thursdays – which is way past our deadline. And it would be pointless to report on it for the following week’s paper. So, we will once again have to make adjustments in getting the most current information for our readers. The DPH, in a note posted on this week’s website, promises: “The Weekly Public Health Report includes enhanced, more granular information to be updated on a weekly, or biweekly basis.” That remains to be seen. This is the same agency that in the early weeks of COVID-19 refused to provide basic information on the COVID infection numbers in each community. In other words, they refused to say how many in a particular city or town had been infected. My early read of the situation is that the change of date and the format is just going to confuse people. Then again, maybe the state is doing us all a favor by overwhelming us with numbers that change every day – and numbers which will now be meaningless because they will be outdated by the time we report them. Not a fun election this year Ever since my days as a cub reporter covering local elections for the Portland Press Herald in some tiny towns of the Sebago Lake area of Maine, I got a kick out of interviewing the various candidates running for public office. It was fun, interesting and rewarding to sit down with aspiring politicians or incumbents seeking reelection and ask them what they brought to the table for the betterment of their particular community. The Bridgeton (Maine) Board of Selectmen. The Williamstown (Mass.) Board of Selectmen. The Odessa (Texas) City Council. The Ector County (Texas) Board of County Commissioners. The DeSoto County (Florida) Selectmen and Board of County Commissioners. The Lake County (Florida) County Commissioners and County Sheriff’s race. The Nantucket Island Board of Selectmen and County Commissioners (in a town where a selectman is a county commissioner). The Lawrence (Mass.) City Council and Mayoral races. And more recently, the Saugus Board of Selectmen. And, of course, there have been countless congressional and state legislative races in the various states I have worked – too many to mention over the past 45 years. I have always felt a deep sense of satisfaction and professional fulfillment, while also knowing that aggressive, but fair and honest reporting on the respective races was indeed a public service for the community where I worked. And, in most communities, there was the League of Women Voters, which would organize and sponsor debates and inspire young reporters to go out and do a better job in election coverage. Saugus had one many years ago. As this presidential election year winds down, I still feel election coverage is important stuff – perhaps the most important part of any local reporter’s duties. But it’s not as much fun. And it doesn’t seem to be rewarding. In fact, it’s a thankless task, when you have a U.S. president who daily attacks the integrity of all journalists. And you have a situation where politics on any level has become so polarizing that it breaks families and friendships apart. letter with it. I asked each member to vote if they would like to meet using zoom or a similar system. “Three members felt they supported the legal opinion that holding a ‘zoom’ meeting was not advised for the reasons in the opinion. One member stated he had no opinion, but would support whatever the majority voted. The Chair did not vote since the chair votes only to break ties. Does that answer the question? “This all happened about August. Since then we have been trying to hold meetings, but are still being advised to follow the legal opinion…” Sounds like it’s time for an updated legal opinion. Stay tuned. Be on the PEG Cable Access Board Feel like doing some volunteer work for the Town of Saugus? Well, Wendy Reed, Clerk of the Saugus Board of Selectmen, told us about this opportunity: The Saugus Board of Selectmen is accepting applications for appointment to the PEG Cable Access Board of Directors in the Town of Saugus. These are volunteer / non paid positions for Saugus residents. Those interested may submit letter of interest / resume to: Saugus Board of Selectmen Saugus Town Hall 298 Central St. Saugus For more details, please call Wendy at (781) 231-4124 GUESS WHO GOT SKETCHED? In this week’s edition, we continue our weekly feature where a local artist goes out and mingles with townsfolk and sketches them. Got an idea who this Saugus resident might be? If you do, please email me at mvoge@comcast. net or leave a phone message at 978-683-7773. The first reader to respond between now and Tuesday morning and correctly identify the person sketched is the winner of a $10 gift certificate, compliments of Dunkin’ at the 1204 Broadway Saugus location at Route 1 North. But you have to enter to win! Look for the winner and identification in next week’s “The Sounds of Saugus.” (Courtesy illustration to The Saugus Advocate by a Saugonian who goes by the name of “The Sketch Artist”) I can’t recall at any time in my newspaper career where there’s been so much divisiveness and bitterness. I remember the good old days when there was more respect for people and the democratic process. Nov. 3 couldn’t come fast enough. God help America. A lingering legal opinion There seems to be a lot of finger pointing going on in town government circles about the inactivity of the Planning Board and why they’re not meeting. It’s certainly not a great thing for Saugus residents, knowing that their town’s Planning Board is the only one on the North Shore which hasn’t been meeting – even by electronic means. For what it’s worth, I received an email close to yesterday’s deadline from Planning Board Chair Peter A. Rossetti Jr., which I think would be of interest to everyone concerned about this issue. This was in response to a question I asked him about an informal vote by Planning Board members to decline meeting, because of COVID-19: “I wrote a letter to the Board and sent the long version of [Town Counsel John] Vasapolli opinion A Saugus United 2035 update Quite a few Saugus citizens took the time to opine on what they want their town to be like in 15 years. Christian Brandt, Planner & Community Engagement Specialist for the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC), told us this week that 699 people filled out the town’s Master Plan/Visioning Survey by the end of last Thursday (Oct. 15). Meanwhile, there were only 26 views on YouTube. “Like I said previously, these views are really not a good indication of engagement,” Brandt told us this week. But, on a very positive note, there are close to 700 Saugonians who care enough about the future of their community to fill out a lengthy online survey. Their time will contribute greatly to the development of the town’s Master Plan, according to Brandt. So, what’s next? “In terms of next steps, we are a) completing a draft of the existing conditions and b) synthesizing all of the survey data in order to develop a draft vision,” MAPC Project Manager Christopher Kuschel wrote us in an email this week. “We’ll be working on this over the next month or so. This will then be presented to the community for feedback and we will begin gathering a deeper level of feedback on the various master plan topics. (We don’t have exact timing for this at this point.)” If you didn’t fill out a survey, there is still plenty of opportunity to offer feedback to town officials and MAPC staff as they collaborate on the Master Plan process. Stay tuned, Saugus. Cultural Council seeks funding proposals Attention, creative people! The Saugus Cultural Council is looking for you. Proposals for community-oriented arts, humanities and science programs will be considered for possible grants totaling $7,000. The council has THE SOUNDS OF SAUGUS | SEE PAGE 10
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