~ Letter-to-the-Editor ~

The March 17, 2015 recall had a positive impact on the Town of Saugus

Dear Editor:

March 17, 2025 marks the 10th anniversary of the Saugus recall election that changed the trajectory of the town in a very positive way. Prior to that historic election Saugus was plagued with the revolving door in the back office with the average town manager tenure being two years since February 16, 1948. That was the year that Saugus adopted the town manager form of government Plan E. The Boston Globe once dubbed Saugus “the land of 1000 town managers”. This was referring to the Saugus reputation of having a very tumultuous relationship with its town managers. This would wreak major havoc on long-term planning. The consequences kept Saugus a time warp as other communities would go on to second and third level renovations and even a renaissance such as the city of Peabody during the 1980s. This curse would be broken on March 17th, 2015, with the citizens of town having the final say in the judicating of their decision on the Crabtree Administration after his brief exile on Baker hill. Mr. Crabtree was hired in 2012 after former Town manager Andrew Bisignani’s contract was not extended. Mr. Bisignani would later be indicted as town manager of Nahant for his actions in Saugus and in the small community of Nahant. During the 2013 Saugus election a majority of the indicted town manager cronies gained control of the Saugus Board by a margin of 4-1 and fired the new time manager in retaliation of Saugus not supporting Mr. Bisignani. Debra Panetta was the lone supporter of Mr. Crabtree during those dark days.

Al DiNardo

Plymouth

  Editor’s Note: Al DiNardo is a second-generation native of Saugus. He attended all public Saugus schools and was an elected Town Meeting member from 1988 to 2020. He moved to Plymouth to help care for his 90-year-old mother-in-law. He is currently serving as an elected Town Meeting member in Plymouth.