Town Meeting creates charter, zoning review panels
Saugus Town Meeting created two new review committees and banned cryptocurrency ATMs during a lengthy May 18 session. Members voted 41-6 to establish a Town Meeting Charter Review Committee and 42-5 to form a committee studying a possible rewrite of the town's roughly 150-page zoning bylaws.
Town Meeting · Meeting of May 18, 2026
Saugus Town Meeting created two new review committees and banned cryptocurrency ATMs during a lengthy May 18 session. Members voted 41-6 to establish a Town Meeting Charter Review Committee and 42-5 to form a committee studying a possible rewrite of the town's roughly 150-page zoning bylaws. A proposed charter amendment requiring town manager candidates to have municipal experience was referred back to sponsor Peter Manoogian on a narrow 24-23 vote after critics said the new charter committee should handle it instead.
Members unanimously banned cryptocurrency ATMs, with sponsor Matthew Pallante citing FBI data showing more than $388 million in nationwide kiosk-fraud losses in 2025. A separate Pallante push for town meeting access to state financial databases was indefinitely postponed, 31-16, after town counsel warned it exceeded town meeting's authority.
In the full story:
- The complete report — 1,052 words
Source: the Town Meeting meeting of May 18, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.
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