SAUGUS – While other boards and committees took a breather for the holidays, the Charter Commission plowed on through meeting with past and present Town Managers.Just days after Christmas the committee sat down with former managers Norman Hansen and Richard Cardillo and one week later met with current manager Andrew Bisignani.According to Commission Chairman Peter Manoogian’s report, each had quite a different view of the job at hand.Hansen said he believed the Town Manager should be a resident while Cardillo indicated a residency requirement should not be an important factor.Several town officials have questioned the policy that it takes four votes of the Board of Selectmen to both hire and fire a manger. Cardillo said he thought the policy should be maintained but Hansen said he felt three votes to hire and fire would be sufficient.Bisignani sided with Cardillo on both residency and hiring/firing issues.As for communicating with board members, Hansen said he shared his agenda through the chairman of the board. Cardillo said he tended to contact each selectman and presented his information to them directly.Bisignani had the Jan. 3 meeting all to himself and his perspective was slightly more intense. And Manoogian was quick to point out that the commissioner’s charge was to focus on the position and not the individual.Bisignani, who is entering his fifth year with the town, said to compare mangers past and present is difficult essentially because times have changed. Previous town managers had more resources and been faced with scenarios that differ from those Bisignani has faced.He also continued to insist that the town’s current situation is not an expense problem but a revenue problem. Bisignani argued that if the town wasn’t in a financial crisis it’s more than likely there would be no charter commission.His largest concern, however, was the process of appropriating funds. Manoogian’s report indicated Bisignani is frustrated with the procedure that includes calling for a Town Meeting, presenting an article to the Finance Committee and then bringing it to the floor of Town Meeting for a vote. He said his job would be a lot simpler if the town took more of a citified route where a financial transfer request is brought before a council and voted on with little fanfare.The report also stated that Bisignani felt the Finance Committee meetings, particularly last year’s, had grown contentious. Bisignani said he does not support abolishing Town Meeting but thought it would be helpful if there were a sub-committee that could deal with a certain level of appropriation with only 48-hour notice.Manoogian said Bisignani also said he felt he worked well with the selectmen and believed there could be more checks and balances within town departments but the town didn’t have the resources.Lastly, according to Manoogian, when asked if he felt there was a need for ongoing financial oversight of the budget Bisignani said he did not want to create overkill and have “too many cooks in the kitchen.”The commission’s next three meetings will include conversations with former selectmen including Susan Raiche, Anthony Cogliano, Richard Barry, Janice Jarosz and Robert Long on the 17th, Janette Fasano, Michael Serino, Maureen Dever, Jon Bernard and Dr. Frederick Wagner on the 24th and the current board on the 31st.Former Town Manager Steven Angelo has also been invited to speak on his perspectives but he has yet to be scheduled for a meeting.Thursday the commission will meet with Assistant Attorney General Robert Ritchie and Marilyn Contreas, who is a Senior Policy Analyst for the Massachusetts Department of Communities and Development. Manoogian said both state officials have been and will continue to work closely with the Saugus Charter Commission through 2009.