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Page 2 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – Friday, November 8, 2019 Payback at the Polls Voters avenge School Committee’s decision to replace school custodians • 100 percent of School Committee incumbents voted out • Half of the Selectmen incumbents defeated • 20 percent of Town Meeting Members ousted By Mark E. Vogler M inutes after the School Committee took a public vote to replace 21 school custodians with a private company, a union official vowed there would be political consequences. Jim Durkin, the legislative director for AFSCME Council 93, predicted that the School Committee members who voted for privatization of custodial services would have difficulty getting reelected in the town’s fall elections. “There are 4,063 union houseOur 80th Year EDUCATION Next Classes DRIVER 2 Week Night Class Nov. 18 1 Week Day Class Dec. 23 (school vacation week) CALL - ENROLL or Register Online 617-387-9121 HENRYSAUTOSCHOOL.COM EVERETT AUTO SCHOOL “Successful Key To Driving” Since 1938 Gift Certificates Available hold members in Saugus,” Durkin told The Saugus Advocate after the June 26 meeting. “We’re going to make sure that every single one of them is aware of what transpired here today ... They will all live to regret it. We’re going to make sure people never forget who owns this,” he said in an interview. As events turned out, Durkin’s threat for political payback became a battle cry for the custodians, local union members and a large network of supporters. During the fall political campaign, they targeted the three incumbent School Committee members who were in the majority of the split 3-2 vote to privatize: Committee Chair Jeanette E. Meredith and Members Linda N. Gaieski and Marc Charles Magliozzi. The custodians and their supporters widened their targets beyond the School Committee. They pointed fingers at the Board of Selectmen and even at Town Meeting, which passed a symbolic non-binding resolution supporting the custodians after Town Meeting Member Ronald Wallace of Precinct 5 was denied the opportunity to introduce the measure. The resolution came too late though, because selectmen didn’t accommodate Selectman Candidate Corinne R. Riley’s request for a Special Town Meeting to be scheduled before the School Committee’s vote. By the time voters went to the polls on Tuesday, the summertime memory of the beloved custodians losing their jobs was very much on their minds. Meredith, the most-veterVOTER OUTRAGE: “Walking door-to-door, listening to the voters, it was crystal clear to me that the voters were angered by the treatment of the custodians,” says new Board of Selectmen Vice Chair Corinne R. Riley (Saugus Advocate Photo by Mark E. Vogler) an member of the committee and its longtime chair, became an Election Day casualty along with members Gaieski and Magliozzi. Meredith, who had topped the field two years ago with 2,252 votes, finished a distant seventh with 1,455 votes. Gaieski finished ninth among 10 candidates, plummeting from 2,124 in 2017 to 1,224 on Tuesday. Magliozzi finished dead last at 1,122 – 799 votes less than when he was first elected two years ago. Impact on selectmen’s race Many local observers of the School Department figured it would be an uphill battle for the three School Committee members. But there would be more political fallout. The Board of Selectmen – which had ridden a popular tide since engineering the successful 2015 recall of the four selectmen responsible for firing Town Manager Scott C. Crabtree, and then rehiring Crabtree – had several casualties. Selectmen Jennifer E. D’Eon and Scott Albert Brazis, who finished third and fourth, respectively, when the entire board was reelected two years ago, both lost badly in Tuesday’s election. D’Eon’s vote total slipped from 1,935 in 2017 to 1,447 this week, a disappointing eighth place finish. Brazis went from 1,905 two years ago to 1,385 on Tuesday. And the Board’s Chair – Debra C. Panetta, who was the top vote-getter two years ago with 2,314 votes – finished fourth on Tuesday (2,033) while Vice Chair Jeffrey V. Cicolini went from second place (2,055) to fifth place (1,803) in this week’s elections. Meanwhile, 10 incumbent Town Meeting members – 20 percent of the 50-member body – were kicked out of office. Several winners and losers in this week’s elections told The Saugus Advocate that they believe the custodian issue resonated loudly with town voters. So why did so many incumbents lose their seats on Town Meeting, School Committee and the Board of Selectmen? “Walking door-to-door, listening to the voters, it was crystal clear to me that the voters were angered by the treatment of the custodians,” concluded Corinne R. Riley, who finished second among selectmen after garnering 2,210 votes on Tuesday. “Moreover, when the whole town made their case to the School Committee, they were ignored. We all need to remember that in our democracy the power rests with the people more than the government or its employees,” she said. Riley organized a petition drive for a Special Town Meeting that allowed Wallace to introduce a nonbinding resolution to support the custodians. She also organized a petition drive for an article that would set up procedures for Town Meeting members to introduce resolutions on short notice. That was later invalidated by the state Attorney General’s Office, which determined that all business coming before Town Meeting needs to be on the warrant. “The voters wielded that power yesterday [Tuesday, Nov. 5] and spoke very clearly,” Riley said of the impact that the custodian issue had on the election results. “I heard them loud and clear, and what I heard was that there will be accountability in Saugus, regardless of who occupies any seat or office – no exceptions. I would not have it any other way; that’s the beauty of our democracy.” Riley finished 14 votes behind fifth-place finisher Mark Mitchell two years ago. Mitchell decided not to run for reelection this year after being indicted for allegedly stealing $1.3 million for the nonprofit Boston Center for Adult Education. It’s clear Riley’s visible support of the custodians helped her election chances. As the second-top vote-getter among selectmen, she will serve as the board’s vice chair for the next two years. “It was like a revolution” Selectman D’Eon, a popular member of the Board of Selectmen over the past five years, was visibly upset with Tuesday’s outcome. In an interview with The Saugus Advocate, D’Eon said she believes she was a casualty of the custodian issue – but unfairly so. “Playing Monday morning quarterback, I can tell you, there were many reasons so many incumbents were not reelected to the Board of Selectmen and School Committee this term,” D’Eon said. “I believe many incumbents, myself included, were targeted by outraged residents for the School Committee’s decision to privatize the custodial staff. The political factions within the town capitalized on the momentum of said custodian elimination in a coordinated effort to overturn the two major Boards in Saugus,” she said. “The custodial issue provided the perfect storm to execute this plan. The amount of people that pulled papers and ran in the election diluted the votes for both boards, further drawing votes from the incumbents. The wave of opposition was insurmountable. It is a testament to their effort that Selectman Cicolini and Selectman Panetta prevailed in such a large group of nominees.” Newly elected Town Meeting Member Peter Z. Manoogian, Sr. of Precinct 10 said he believes the election defeat of so many incumbent candidates in several town-wide offices s is unprecedented during his threeplus decades of involvement in town government. “I’ve never seen it across the board like this,” Manoogian said. “In the 10 at-large seats, you had an opportunity to reelect PAYBACK | SEE PAGE 18

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