Locals saw the good, the bad and the ugly in 1998
Published on December 30th, 1998
STONEHAM, MA - 1998 has been quite a year. As a nation, we've faced ups and downs, from Viagra and the stock market to the impeachment of the president and the stock market. Closer to home, Stoneham has also had its share of ups and downs, some fairly routine in small town government, and others bordering on the extraordinary. Here is a recap of what the town has experienced in the first six months of 1998:
January
• Controversy surrounding the appointment of Fire Chief Lawrence Lamey, the first non-resident to assume the department's top position, kicked off the new year.
At a January Board of Selectmen meeting, former Fire Chief William Abbott was vocal in his opposition of the hiring process through which Town Administrator Jeffrey Nutting made the appointment, the salary at which Lamey was hired.He also made it known that he disagreed with the special act, voted in by Town Meeting three years earlier, that disallowed a simple majority vote of the board to reject Nutting 's appointment. At an October meeting of the Board of Selectmen, members voted 3-2 against the appointment, but could not attain the necessary 4/5 vote to carry out the rejection.
Abbott charged Nutting with using the process to his own advantage when he rejected what Abbott considered qualified, in-house candidates in lieu of an out-of-towner.
• "They are a nice organization, but they have grown so large they are destroying the flavor of the our neighborhood," noted Beacon Street resident Alexander Janko in January, summing up the sentiment of Beacon Street residents and igniting the firestorm concerning the Visiting Nurses Association's future in the former East School.
Local attorney Stephen Columbus was hired by a group of Beacon Street residents and vowed to investigate whether the association violated conditions of Zoning Board of Appeals approval which allowed the use fifteen years earlier. Stay tuned.
• Former State Representative for Stoneham and Melrose Patrick Guerriero was sworn in as Mayor of Melrose on January 5, earning him the distinction of being the state's youngest mayor in addition to being the youngest state legislature in the House of Representative at his induction five years earlier. Guerriero pledged to serve in a dual capacity until House deliberation of the fiscal year 1999 budget was completed.
• Stoneham Police were notified by the state sex offender registry that a level three sex offender was residing in the town. 32-year-old Brian Nagle, of 99 Franklin Street, Apartment 1, was convicted six times, from 1987 to 1996 for either open and gross lewdness or indecent assault and battery on a child.
According to Stoneham Police Lieutenant Greg O'Keefe, state law requires sex offenders to register in the community where they live or work. Of the 11 registered in Stoneham, O'Keefe stated that eight or nine were residents. He also described a level three offender as one who is most likely to commit a sex crime again.
• Citing personal and family obligations, highly respected Superintendent of Schools Dr. Ellen Bueschel announced her resignation from the Stoneham School Department, effective the first of March. A saddened School Committee accepted the resignation with regret at its January 15 meeting and praised Bueschel for nearly eleven years of service to the school system, eight as assistant superintendent and the last three as superintendent.
During Bueschel's tenure, the Stoneham School System was named one of Money Magazine's "100 Best Value School Districts" in the country, and she was instrumental in pushing for state funding to renovate the town's four public elementary schools.
February
• Robert Barbarisi of Foxboro was the School Committee's unanimous choice for interim replacement for outgoing school superintendent. Barbarisi's extensive experience, including serving as superintendent of schools in Mansfield and in the Provincetown/Truro School District, as well as consulting work he has provided to school systems since 1991, earned him the position. School Committee Chairman Stephen Gucciardi highlighted Barbarisi's knowledge of budget development and school building construction as particularly appropriate for the Stoneham position.
• Stoneham Town Hall hosted a public hearing with the state Attorney General's office as local officials, including State Senator Richard Tisei and Selectman Cosmo Ciccarello, voiced their support of the proposed merger of Boston Regional Medical Center (BRMC) and the Arizona-based Doctors Corporation of America (DCA).
BRMC President and CEO Dr. Charles Ricks called the partnership an important one for the town, the hospital and the community it serves. Ricks was charged, in 1997, with finding a partner for the financially ailing institution that would help it continue to compete in the increasingly volatile healthcare marketplace, while maintaining the hospital's Adventist mission and culture.
The plan outlined the purchase by DCA of 80 percent of BRMC for just over $52 million. That plan has yet to come to fruition.
• The Board of Selectmen appointed members to the new Spot Pond Committee, recently formed to assert and protect Stoneham's interests in future development of the local resource, by the MDC as a passive recreational area. The pond began serving as an emergency back-up water supply only following earlier MWRA action to take the pond off-line.
• The School Department began gearing up for the much-publicized Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) tests that would be administered to fourth, eighth and tenth graders in May.
March
• An oil spill at the North School proved nightmarish for the town and School Department as the state Department of Environmental Protection led the clean-up effort which eventually cost the town a total of $300,000.
The spill was traced to a small hole in the lower portion of the underground oil tank but contamination was widespread on the property due to the heavy rains that the area experienced. Pre-school, Kindergarten and Special Education classes, housed at the school, were moved. The town's Fire Department and DPW were instrumental in assisting in the clean-up and the incident was among the first major challenges to newcomers Fire Chief Lawrence Lamey and interim School Superintendent Robert Barbarisi.
April
• The Town Common Commit-tee submitted a plan for phase I of the downtown common and parking project for Board of Selectmen approval, which detailed a 90-space municipal parking lot in Stoneham Square.
• 3,210 voters turned out to cast their ballots in the town elections held on April 7 with close elections in the contested races.
Selectmen Albert Conti and Patrick Jordan held onto their seats, beating out long-time Town Clerk Annamae Arsenault and Seward Road resident Gordon Perks. Conti won his fourth consecutive term and Jordan his second consecutive and third overall.
Marble Street resident Mary Carey and Franklin Street resident Robert Fields also ran a close race for the School Committee seat vacated by Dr. Steven Migliorini. In her second attempt to serve on the Committee, Carey edged out Fields and won the three-year term.
Elm Street resident John Hanright narrowly beat out Broadway contender John Braccioti and former Assistant Town Clerk Kathleen Sullivan for Stoneham Town Clerk.
• Former Stoneham resident Peter Contos went to trial for the murder of his mistress and two children.
Police alleged that, in an attempt to keep the family a secret from his wife in Stoneham, Contos killed 35-year-old Catherine Rice in her Lowell home. The bodies of his two sons, ages 4 and two months were found in his locker at Otis Air Force Base on Cape Cod. Contos was a technical sergeant in the Air National Guard.
• Former Stoneham Firefighter George Sowyrda, convicted of raping an 8-year-old Melrose girl in 1986, was extradited back to Massachusetts where he was awaiting sentencing.
Sowyrda plead guilty to the rape charges and fled the state after being released on $1,000 bail. Sowyrda was tracked down on April 4 in St. Petersburg, Florida. Sowyrda was living in Wakefield at the time of the rape. In August of this year, Sowyrda received a 10-year prison sentence.
May
• Reading resident Edward Donahue was sentenced to life without parole in the murder of his wife Elaine, a nurse at BRMC. Donahue, who denied any involvement in his wife's disappearance, was arrested and charged a month after she was reported missing.
• Brian Nagle, a convicted level three sex offender, who had been registered as living in the town since January, was arrested in Amesbury on May 17 after he was allegedly caught in the act of raping a 6 year-old boy in a Burger King bathroom. Held without bail, Nagle was expected to face charges of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14 and rape of a child with force.
• Town Meeting voted to finance the purchase of three Summer Street properties for incorporation into the South School rebuilding plan, eliminating the need to build a two-story parking garage on the site. The $600,000 that was appropriated for the purchase of 5, 7 and 9 Summer Street, would come out of the $39 million already approved by voters last year for the elementary school rebuilding project.
• Stoneham Savings Bank was robbed at gunpoint on May with an undisclosed amount of money stolen. No arrests have been made.
• The Stoneham Board of Health passes a smoking ban for all restaurants on May 26. The ban was effective on September 30.
• Stoneham tenth graders endured 17, 45-minute periods of MCAS testing, while fourth and eighth graders endured 15 periods of the mandatory state testing.
June
• The state's June 1 deadline was met for submission of documents for rebuilding of Stoneham elementary schools. Following extensive review and hard work by the School Building Committee, document submission was achieved on time as required by the state for eligibility of 63 percent project reimbursement.
• On June 5, Stoneham High School graduated 190 students under picture perfect skies.
• Middle Street resident Paul McDonald was successful in his bid to get a millennium celebration committee formed. The Board of Selectmen approved the request with chairman Al Conti stating "The millennium is coming up and, by god, were not going to see another one so lets do it right."
• Torrential downpours hit the area hard in mid-June, with the heaviest rains falling on Saturday, June 13. Substantial flooding of some areas occurred around town, including the Town Hall Auditorium, DPW headquarters on Pine Street and Montvale Avenue, which had to be shut down.
• In an attempt to preserve quality education in the classroom in a tight fiscal environment, the School Committee voted to eliminate school-funded busing of students for the academic year 1998-1999, resulting in an $85,000 savings in transportation costs.
With the $16.7 million budget for Fiscal Year 1999 significantly under the original School Committee request of over $18 million, cuts in other areas, such as supplies and maintenance were also made.
While the busing cut did not cause much of a stir at the June 11 School Committee meeting, it eventually did as the start of school year neared, with many impassioned pleas by parents to the School Committee for reinstatement of the service.
• The School Committee announced the appointment of Dr. Joseph Connelly to the position of Stoneham School Superintendent on June 11.
Connelly, a Reading resident, came to Stoneham following 12 years as superintendent in the Topsfield, Boxford and Middleton Tri-Town School Union. The School Committee chose Connelly unanimously following an extensive search which yielded a final field of four candidates. He officially began his post in Stoneham on August 1.
• June 19 marked the end of an era for Stoneham's Jewish community as the Temple Shir Tivkah, located at 188 Franklin Street, held its final religious service at the 40 year-old temple.
• Visioning became a (Stoneham) household word as Community Development Director Steve Sadwick launched the idea that it is the residents who should begin to direct the future of Stoneham.
At a meeting on June 24, held with members of various town boards and interested residents, Sadwick described the visioning process as being geared at engaging the public in dialogue regarding their ideas for the town's future with the help of a steering committee comprised of residents and business owners.
Next week's Stoneham Independent will feature a wrap-up of the last six months of 1998.
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