C. F. Nelson Pratt

Pratt served on the Saugus School Board from 1916 to 1919.

In 1919, Pratt was elected to the Board of Selectmen where he would later serve as chairman. In 1925, he made headlines for his plan to arm 100 hand-picked citizens in order to deter bandits from operating in Saugus.[6] Pratt dropped his proposal for a "vigilance committee" at the next meeting.[7]

On August 4, 1935, Pratt was 15 minutes late to a Selectmen's meeting. When he arrived, he found that the other two members had voted to remove him as chairman of the board and replace him with John J. Mullen.[8] That October, Pratt accused Mullen of coercing Works Progress Administration workers by threatening to have them fired if they did not vote for President Franklin D. Roosevelt and telling them they were expected to attend a Democratic Party rally at Saugus Town Hall.[9] Mullen later accused Pratt of assaulting him, but the charges were not pressed due to lack of evidence. Mullen issued himself a permit for a .38-caliber pistol for protection against Pratt. After it was learned that Mullen had issued himself a gun permit, a group of citizens stoned his home.[10] Both Pratt and Mullen were defeated in the 1937 election.[11]

Pratt was the leading opponent of the Plan E form of government in Saugus. Plan E would create the office of Town Manager, expand the Board of Selectmen from three members to five, change the electoral system for town elections to Single transferable vote, and change a number of elected positions to appointed positions.[12][13] The Plan E form of government was adopted following a June 2, 1947, referendum in which the proposed form of government was supported 3,252 votes to 816.[14]

Pratt was also a leading opponent of rezoning part of the old Town Farm property so a shopping mall (the New England Shopping Center) could be built there. Town Meeting approved the rezoning 42 to 1.[15]

On April 11, 1955, Town Moderator Paul A. Haley had Police Chief Roland E. Mansfield eject Pratt from a town meeting and lock him in the Town Clerk's office until the meeting ended. Haley had Pratt removed after Haley determined that Pratt, who was not a town meeting member, was out of order for suggesting a town meeting member support an article. Pratt eventually agreed to sit down, but after a few seconds demanded to be heard on a point of parliamentary procedure and was then ejected.[16]

Pratt was elected to Town Meeting in the next election and on December 13, 1955, he was elected Town Moderator with 23 votes to William H. Robinson's 19.[17]

On April 25, 1960, Pratt attempted to eject Augustine Gannon following a controversial vote. However, before a police officer could reach Gannon, all 35 present town meeting members walked out.[18]

In 1928, Pratt was charged with attempted felonious assault. Catherine Sullivan, a friend and former coworker of Pratt's, testified that she met him on May 20, 1928, at the State House after he offered her a chance to work there. After visiting the Civil Service Commission and Income Tax Department, Pratt was unable to attain Sullivan a job and he offered to drive her home. During the trip, Sullivan noticed that she and Pratt were on the wrong road. Pratt later stopped the car in a wooded area in Middleton, Massachusetts, where he dragged her into the back seat and attempt to assault her.[23] She escaped and he pursued her. He caught her and threw her to the ground, but she escaped again and ran to a house in the woods, where the woman who resided there took her in.[24]

Pratt testified that it was Sullivan's idea to have him drive her home and her idea to stop in the woods. When they stopped, Sullivan got in the back seat and he followed. Pratt admitted to mutual petting, but when she put her arm around his shoulder, he then ceased and never laid a hand on her.[25][26] He also told the court that he had heard a couple days before the incident that his political enemies were "out to get him" and would trap him by planting a woman in his car.[25]

Pratt was found guilty of simple assault on October 25, 1928.[26] On October 31, a judge fined him $100, but opted not to impose a prison sentence.[27]