~ Political Announcement ~ Selectman Michael J. Serino seeks reelection

Dear neighbors and voters: My name is Michael Serino, I am a candidate for one of the five seats available for the Board of Selectmen. I am a graduate of Saugus High School and the University of Massachusetts. I am retired from the General Electric Company. As a life-long resident of Saugus, I deeply care about our town. I was born into a family with a rich history of public service to our community. At the age of seventeen, I was a park instructor at the Bristow Street playground. At nineteen years old, I co-founded the Saugus Italian American Club, serving as the first Treasurer / Clerk of the organization. I was first elected as a Town Meeting Member, at the age of twenty-one. Through-out my life, I have dedicated my time to our community. My extensive public service record includes: Town Meeting Member 16 yrs, Conservation Commission 4 yrs and Chairman of the Board of Assessors 6 yrs. Currently, I am finishing up my 16th year as a member of the Board of Selectmen.

By working together, I feel a lot has been accomplished. Financially, Saugus is in great shape. We continue to have yearly balanced budgets, with 30 million dollars in our reserve accounts. Saugus’s bond rating is AA+, the highest in Saugus’s history. We continue to remain a full-service community by providing programs and services for our youth, families, and senior citizens with our Recreational facilities, Library and our beloved Senior Center. We continue to provide a wide range of free municipal services such as trash collection, recycling programs, street sweeping, household hazardous waste drives, leaf pick-ups and our CHARM center, when some other communities charge a separate user fee.

By working together, we have accomplished major infrastructure improvements such as water, sewer and roads. We renovated the Belmonte Steam Academy and constructed a new Middle/High school. Moreover, we have constructed new recreational facilities such as: tennis ball courts, basketball courts, pickle ball courts and a hockey rink. We continue to purchase new DPW equipment, police cruisers, and fire apparatus. Furthermore, we are moving forward towards the goal of constructing a new west-side public safety building. Finally, close to my heart is our popular Rail-Trail. As a Selectman in 2012 our board signed a 99 year lease with the MBTA to construct our rail-trail. As chairman, I oversaw the original construction, which included the removal of the railroad tracks. The state recently paved the entire rail-trail.

I believe that my experience and leadership skills, along with the ability to form working relationships with people, has led to many legislative accomplishments at Town Meeting. I was the main author of several charter changes in 2011 and 2013, which has provided stability and checks and balances in town government. Recently, I authored several zoning changes along Route One that “Reduces” apartments by 50%, and the height of buildings from 90ft to 60 ft. Moreover, I was the author of zoning changes that would “Increase” commercial development and buffer zone setbacks abutting residential property. Town Meeting Members passed these articles (38-6). We should always strive for good development, which will not impact our neighborhoods.

In closing, I am honored to have served our community. I will continue to offer you my dedication, integrity and common sense leadership, so we can take pride in our future together. I ask that you please consider me for one of your five votes on election day, November 4th. Thank you, Mike