Charter Panel Adopts Public-Hearing Requirement

Other Committee · Meeting of October 28, 2026

SAUGUS — The Saugus Charter Review Committee voted unanimously to require public hearings before finalizing any charter proposals for town meeting. Members Mike Serino and Liz Marchese led debate over qualification standards for appointees to boards including Planning, Health and Cemetery Commissioners, with Marchese saying she wants applicants to say "these are my qualifications" publicly before appointment. Committee member Frank said the charter lets the town manager hire unqualified staff with "no checks and balances to then remove that person." The committee also approved a resident survey on charter priorities and flagged that the charter never mentions a police chief, setting that up as new business for a future meeting.

In the full story:

• Introductions and Meeting Framing
• Minutes Correction and Approval
• Town Manager's Powers: Property, Procurement and Litigation (Article 2, Sections 13g-13l)
• Investigations by the Town Manager (Section 14)
• Planning Board Appointments and Qualification Standards (Section 15)
• Repealed Section 16
• Board of Health, Youth and Recreation Commission, and Cemetery Commissioners (Sections 17-19)
• Fire Chief, Assessors, Town Clerk, Treasurer and Collector (Sections 20-24)
• Town Accountant and the Accountability Gap (Section 25)
• DPW Superintendent, Tree Warden and Town Counsel (Sections 26-28)
• Public Hearing Requirement for Charter Proposals
• Resident Survey and Distribution Plan
• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report: 3,858 words

Source: the Other Committee meeting of October 28, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript. It was corrected where it differed.