Cover Stories of 2025

By Mark E. Vogler

Stories about the biennial town election made the front page of The Saugus Advocate 13 times during 2025 – dominating the local town news more than any other story. Coverage of a busy Annual Town Meeting garnered six front-page stories. Stories about Saugus Public Schools made the cover four times. Stories about WIN Waste Innovations and its trash-to-energy plant on Route 1 – usually the topic that gets the most cover stories in any given year – was on the cover just three times this year. There were eight other topics that made the front page two times. They included the proposed third fire station for the west end of town (which has been broadened into a public safety building), change in the Veteran Services director at Town Hall, the hiring of a new executive director for the Saugus Housing Authority, ongoing concerns about the future town marijuana business, the dog park proposed for the Stocker Playground, adjustments to the town’s overlay district on Route 1, concerns about the Jughandle traffic light on Route 1 in Peabody, and this year’s budget season leading in to the Annual Town Meeting.

Here is a month-to-month review of the front-page stories that appeared in The Saugus Advocate over the past year.

JANUARY

Board of Health Chair Maria Tamagna urged representatives of WIN Waste Innovations to participate in the proceedings of the Ash Landfill Closure Committee instead of avoiding discussion about a situation that’s inevitable. The 2026 fiscal year spending plan proposed by Superintendent Michael C. Hashem is nearly $2.5 million more than the $33.8 million operating budget approved at last May’s Annual Town Meeting. Selectmen voted unanimously to approve a Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) loan totaling $900,000 to make major improvements in the town’s water system. The Conservation Commission prepared to begin its review of the potential impact of the proposed Stocker Field Dog Park on the area’s wetlands after Town Manager Scott C. Crabtree’s Office announced that it had filed a Notice of Intent (NOI) with the commission.

FEBRUARY

More than a year after falling one vote short of obtaining a special permit to operate a retail marijuana dispensary on Route 1 in Saugus, Uma Flowers prevailed on a second chance before selectmen, becoming the second pot business to obtain a permit to locate on Route 1. Just two days before a Conservation Commission public hearing related to a proposed dog park at Stocker Playground, Town Counsel John Vasapolli issued a legal opinion that the dog park is a permitted use. Opponents of the dog park maintained that the project would violate the deed restriction that was filed when the town acquired the Frederick Stocker Playground parcel in 1930. An arbitrator ruled that the Saugus School Committee fired Ex-Supt. Erin McMahon without proper cause. The arbitrator awarded McMahon substantial lost wages and benefits to make her whole. Town Manager Scott C. Crabtree recommended $34.3 million for the School Department for the 2026 Fiscal Year that begins July 1 – an increase of $500,000 over the Fiscal Year 2025 budget approved last spring by the Annual Town Meeting. That’s $2 million less than the proposed Saugus Public Schools budget recommended by Supt. Michael Hashem and approved by the School Committee earlier this year.

MARCH

The Town announced that it would be calling on residents and businesses to make appointments to replace their water meters as the town begins a new technological age of water metering operations that will allow customers to monitor their water usage and receive an alert when they have a water leak or burst pipe that could prove costly. St. Patrick’s Day marks the 10-year-anniversary of the day the town voted to oust four selectmen who fired Town Manager Scott C. Crabtree. The new board members soon after voted with Selectman Debra Panetta to hire back Crabtree, who continues to serve as the administrative leader of town government. Selectman Corinne Riley got unanimous support from her colleagues on the Board of Selectmen in calling for a meeting with local state legislators to address traffic backups caused by the Route 1 North traffic light in Peabody. Selectman Corinne Riley announced that she will not seek a fourth two-year term on the Board of Selectmen, adding that she planned to stay active in community affairs while pursuing other interests outside of politics.

April

An attorney representing a Lynn business near the site of the state’s Belden Bly Bridge replacement project threatened to seek a judge’s order to stop the project over a marina building he alleged was damaged by the bridge work. WIN Waste Innovations received high praise for compliance in the annual air monitoring report compiled by an environmental consultant hired by the Saugus Board of Health. WIN complied fully with federal and state air quality standards related to the operation of its trash-to-energy plant and the adjacent ash landfill on Route 107 last year, according to the town consultant. Saugus residents received a PowerPoint presentation on an all-encompassing public safety facility designed to improve police, fire and ambulance service to the town. This project expands on the four-decades-old pursuit of a third fire station to cover the west side of town. Town Meeting members prepared to tackle three Special Town Meetings before they begin the Annual Town Meeting on May 5.

MAY

Town Meeting members surveyed by The Saugus Advocate cited fiscal stability with a well-managed town government as their top priority as they prepared for the Annual Town Meeting. Members voted unanimously in support of an article to spend $825,000 on a feasibility study for the West Side Public Safety and EMS Response Facility during a Special Town Meeting. Precinct 10 Town Meeting Member Peter Manoogian questioned whether the School Department had made the most of the Supplemental Student Support Reserve Fund after noting that the department had only spent a quarter of about $4 million it had available in a fund created three years ago to help students who are behind because of COVID-19 pandemic-related issues. The Annual Town Meeting voted unanimously in favor of a zoning article that would limit the number of marijuana establishments within the Business Highway Sustainable District to two businesses – one on each side of Route 1. Members prepared for a Special Town Meeting to consider a warrant article to amend the town’s zoning bylaws to add an MBTA Communities Multi-family Overlay District (MCMOD).

JUNE

Members voted 35-2 at a Special Town Meeting in support of the multifamily overlay district article to comply with state law requiring communities served by the MBTA to have at least one reasonably sized zoning district where multifamily housing can be built. Representatives from Sanctuary Medicinals, one of two companies licensed to run an adult-use marijuana business in Saugus, scheduled a community meeting so the public can ask the company questions about its proposed retail marijuana business. Precinct 7 Town Meeting Member Frank Federico launched an early campaign for a Board of Selectmen seat – weeks before the Sept. 16 deadline for filing nomination papers to be on the Nov. 4 town election ballot. Shutting off the Peabody jughandle light during rush hour topped the selectmen’s wish list in a special discussion with the three state legislators who represent Saugus.

JULY

Just as the 2025 Fiscal Year ended, Town Manager Scott C. Crabtree announced that the town had changed its solid waste and recycling hauling services from Republic Services to Capitol Waste Services, Inc. The switch was timely and beneficial to the town, as Republic Services employees went on strike. Saugus Town Meeting Member Robert Palleschi passed away at age 79, leaving several vacant seats in Saugus Town government. The man once credited with helping to keep the Saugus Public Library open during a town budget crisis was finishing up his fourth two-year term representing residents of Precinct 7. He also served on the Saugus Housing Authority and the Council on Aging. Precinct 1 Town Meeting Member Stacey Herman-Dorant declared her candidacy for a seat on the Board of Selectmen in announcing an early campaign. Former Selectman Jennifer E. D’Eon announced her plans to run for the Board of Selectmen six years after she lost her seat.

AUGUST

Saugus Sachems Track Camp, led by Coach Chris Tarantino, celebrated the team finishing third among 15 teams competing in the Fifth Annual CLCF Summer Showdown in Cranston, R.I. For the second time in 18 months, the Saugus Housing Authority approved the hiring of a candidate to succeed longtime veteran Housing Authority Executive Director Laura Glynn. The authority voted 4-0 to approve the contract of Joseph A. Hart – a public housing professional with more than a decade of administrative experience working for three different housing authorities, including nearly eight years as the executive director of the Haverhill Housing Authority, In addition, he worked more than 13 years for the state Department of Housing and Urban Development. Belmonte STEAM Academy’s new Principal, Christopher Blair, began his new job with small town administration and teaching experience across the country. Saugus Public Schools revised its admission policy on the legal advice of the state Attorney General’s Office over the concerns that some students were being denied an education. The Developer of Essex Landing – owner of the iconic 20-foot-tall orange dinosaur on Route 1 – filed a $25 million federal lawsuit against the Town of Saugus and Town Manager Scott C. Crabtree.

SEPTEMBER

New Executive Director Joseph A. Hart arrived to oversee 300-plus public housing homes in Saugus. School Committee Chair Vincent Serino plans to run for the Board of Selectmen as candidates get their final chance to pull nomination papers to get on the ballot for the Nov. 4 town election. Saugus veterans call for the reinstatement of former Veterans Services Officer Paul J. Cancelliere in an emotionally charged selectmen’s meeting. A group of residents from Saugus, Revere and Lynn who oppose any expansion of the ash landfill at the WIN Waste Innovations trash-to-energy plant on Route 107 bolstered their stand by including a new weapon known as Environmental Justice in their fight. Current state environmental regulations do not allow expansion of the ash landfill at the plant.

OCTOBER

Town Manager Scott C. Crabtree offered high praise for SueAnn Cheung, the woman Marine Corps veteran he hired to become Saugus’s first full-time Veterans’ Service Officer (VSO). This marked the first time in a decade since the town had a woman VSO – Alicia Marie Reddin worked part-time while serving Saugus and Wakefield. Candidates learned their places on the Nov. 4 Town Election ballot after their names were drawn from a wooden hexagonal cylinder. Candidates running for the Board of Selectmen shared their environmental vision at a forum sponsored by Saugus Action Volunteers for the Environment (SAVE). Four of nine candidates running for the Board of Selectmen – including three incumbent selectmen – cited in their environmental vision statements their opposition to expansion of WIN’s ash landfill. Saugus voters are invited to watch a candidates’ forum for the Board of Selectmen, organized by a group of Saugus citizens and The Saugus Advocate. Saugus prepares for its biennial election, offering each voter a chance to choose up to 16 candidates – 11 of them in townwide races.

NOVEMBER

Town Election Day in Saugus turned out to be a mixed bag: The voter turnout was terrible – only 18.5 percent of registered voters. But there were a lot of new faces participating in the election – and they did well. Fourteen newcomers got elected to the 50-member Town Meeting. Three newcomers got elected to the School Committee. One newcomer was elected to join four incumbents on the Board of Selectmen. One newcomer was elected to fill the vacant seat on the Saugus Housing Authority. Selectmen and School Committee members elected their chairs and vice chairs for the next two years. The Town Clerk’s Office scheduled a recount of the Nov. 4 Town Election for the Precinct 5 Town Meeting race. Former Town Meeting Member Karli McConaghy Brazis requested the recount after losing by just two votes to veteran Town Meeting Member Ronald M. Wallace for the fifth and final seat in Precinct 5. The recount confirmed results of the Precinct 5 Town Meeting race: Wallace was reelected by two votes over Brazis for the fifth seat.

DECEMBER

The owner of an average single-family home in Saugus valued at $683,849 will pay $7,126 in taxes next year – $279 more than this year. Meanwhile, the tax bill for an average commercial property, valued at $2,201,281, will be $46,843 – a decrease of $572 over this year. Those scenarios will take effect as a result of the new tax rates for the 2026 fiscal year approved unanimously by the Board of Selectmen, pending approval by the state Department of Revenue (DOR). Saugus town, school and public safety officials launched a community campaign to protect kids and the general public from the dangers of electric bikes and their unsafe use on town streets and the bike trail. The state Office on Disability has awarded the Town of Saugus $167,750 through the Municipal Americans with Disabilities Act Improvement Grant Program for capital improvements to modify sidewalks and entrances to public buildings. The award is actually four grants, which will support construction and installation of new ADA-compliant curb ramps and targeted sidewalk repairs and replacements in and around the Saugus Public Library and along Taylor Street near Town Hall.