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Page 2 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FriDAy, DECEmbEr 29, 2023 TOP STORIES | FROM PAGE 1 charge to change our charter in 2023 and finally become a city,” Cogliano said. “It’s time, our form of government is outdated and, in my opinion, we can and should be doing better. If all goes well, we could have a question on the November ballot to change the charter and form a charter commission,” he said. “Should everything go to plan, we could have our first election for Mayor in 2025, which also goes along with the expiration of the current Managers Contract. I believe the top official in Saugus should be elected by the people and not simply reappointed by 3 members of the Board of Selectmen. I would imagine a Mayoral race in Saugus would be quite interesting.... something I would definitely be interested in.” Based on the headline count on the front pages of our newspaper and the significance the story played in the lives of Saugus residents, we ranked the campaign to change Saugus governance and the School Committee’s decision to fire its first woman superintendent as the top stories in Saugus during 2023. Here’s is the list of what we consider the town’s most significant news stories over the past year 1) A campaign to change Saugus governance The town engaged in a yearlong debate initiated by Board of Selectmen Chair Anthony Cogliano on whether to change the Saugus Town Charter. Cogliano initially suggested that Saugus should consider switching to a city with a mayoral form of government. He also said he could support having an elected town manager if Saugus didn’t want to turn into a city. Cogliano spearheaded a petition drive that obtained 3,305 certified voter signatures – more than enough to guarantee a ballot question would be put before voters. At the same time, voters would be asked to elect a nine-member Charter Commission. The race for a seat on the Charter Commission drew interest from 27 candidates, whose names were listed on the ballot, along with the question: “Shall a commission be elected to revise the Charter of the Town of Saugus?” In the November town election, Saugus rejected that ballot question by 193 votes. 2 A) Firing Saugus’ first woman education leader The dismissal of Saugus Superintendent of Schools Erin McMahon over alleged misconduct involving ethical and conflict of interest-related issues drew significant attention for Saugus Public Schools – from January, when the School Committee placed her on paid administrative leave – until early November, when the members voted to fire her. McMahon, the first woman superintendent in the history of Saugus Public Schools, said she believes that the allegations that eventually led to her firing were motivated by gender discrimination. But the lengthy report that details the specific reasons for McMahon’s termination identifies the source of the initial complaints as a high-level woman administrator – Deputy Superintendent Margaret Ferrick Our 51st Anniversary Dan - 1972 We Sell Cigars & Accessories! ALL MAJOR BRANDS Singles * Tins * Bundles * Boxes * Travel Humidors * Desk Top Humidors * Many Types of Lighters * Ash Trays * Juuls * Vapes * Glass Pipes * Rewards Program * CBD Infused Products * GIFTS UNDER $30 - GIFT CERTIFICATES TAKE ADVANTAGE OF OUR STOREWIDE PRICE REDUCTIONS! Closed Christmas Day * Reg. Hours New Year’s Eve * Open New Year’s Day 10AM-3 PM STORE HOURS: Sun. - Wed.: 9AM - 6PM / Thurs. - Sat. 9AM - 7PM R.Y.O. TOBACCO & TUBES ON SALE! WE MAKE HOUSE KEYS! -------------------WE HAVE GIFT CARDS! Green Label Cigar Sale! Buy 2 Cigars, Get One FREE! A.B.C. CIGAR 170 REVERE ST., REVERE (781) 289-4959 Chris - 2023 – whom McMahon had hired to be her number two person. The allegations of wrongdoing against McMahon focused on potential conflicts of interest involving the superintendent’s working relationship with a consultant, fraudulent activity in the payment of invoices to a certain professional development provider for the School District, inappropriately used grant funds and questions about the significant amount of time she was spending out of the School District. McMahon was halfway through a five-year, million-dollar contract at the time she was placed on administrative leave in January. This marked the first time in the history of Saugus Public Schools that the School Committee approved a five-year contract to the leader of the town’s public education system. School Committee members were optimistic that McMahon could make good on her five-year mission to move the school district from the bottom 10 percent in the state to the top 10 percent. But the investment failed. Happy Holidays! 2 B) Hiring a Saugonian to replace McMahon Committee members immediately found a silver lining in a year of turmoil when they offered the superintendent’s job to longtime Saugus educator and former High School Principal Michael Hashem, who had been serving as acting superintendent during the nine and a half months that McMahon had been on administrative leave. Hashem agreed to sign a three-year contract that will keep him as superintendent through June 30, 2027. In a year of turmoil, school officials looked upon the Saugus native as a stabilizing force who could oversee plans to turn around one of the state’s lowest performing school districts. Hashem, 56, is a Saugus native and a product of the town’s education system – a 1985 Saugus High School graduate. He has spent three decades of his professional career as a teacher and administrator in Saugus Public Schools. He started out as a high school math teacher in 1991. He was in his third year as principal of Saugus High School in 2016 when he offered to accept the role of interim superintendent and later acting superintendent back in March. He later returned to Saugus High School as principal in July of 2016. After eight years as principal of Saugus High School, Hashem gave up his administrative job for the classroom as a mathematics teacher in June of 2021. School Committee members lauded Hashem’s leadership, particularly for overseeing the school district’s move from the old Saugus High School to the new Saugus Middle-High School Complex in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. 3) The 2023 Town Election The defeat of a ballot question to create a nine-member Charter Commission drew most of the attention, as voters had to simultaneously consider who to select from 27 candidates in the event that the question passed. It was a good year for newcomers to run for Town Meeting seats. Thirteen of 19 candidates who challenged incumbents running for reelection in the Town Meeting races were elected. Ten of the 47 Town Meeting members seeking reelection lost their seats. Voters decided to stick with the five selectmen for a third consecutive two-year term (Debra Panetta, Jeffrey Cicolini, Michael Serino, Anthony Cogliano and Corinne Riley). But two of the incumbent School Committee members – Leigh M. Gerow and Joseph Dennis Gould – lost their seats. Former School Committee Member Thomas Richard Whittredge and newcomer Stephanie Lauren Mastrocola replaced them. School Committee Chair Vincent Serino beat out Whittredge, a former School Committee chair, by 20 votes in the race for committee leadership. School Committee Members Ryan Fisher and John Hatch were each elected to their third consecutive two-year-term. 4) The pot business comes to Saugus The Board of Selectmen voted to issue a special permit to only one of seven applicants seeking to locate a retail marijuana dispensary on Route 1 in Saugus. Selectmen could have issued up to three S-2 permits. But with Selectman Jeffrey Cicolini abstaining from the proceedings because of a potential conflict of interest, it was difficult to achieve a consensus vote on any of the permits. The process became a contentious and polarizing one when Board of Selectmen Chair Anthony Cogliano criticized the findings of the Marijuana Establishment Review Committee and disparaged the committee’s choice of Uma Flowers – the unanimous selection of the seven-member committee, achieving a perfect score of 140 total points based on an “exceptional” rating by each TOP STORIES | SEE PAGE 4

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