Wendy Liberatore and the Times Union have once again done a disservice to the public by this time publishing inaccurate information surrounding the removal from the Council chamber and arrest of a woman at the April 2, 2024, Saratoga Springs City Council meeting. In an article in the April 4, 2024 edition of the Times Union Liberatore claimed that Mayor John Safford “could not keep the atmosphere calm” and erroneously reported that he asked the police to remove a woman who was being disruptive. This is not an accurate description of what occurred. Arrest at Council Meeting Highlights Changes ..read more

Readers may recall the controversy that arose at the March 19 Saratoga Springs City Council meeting over an item on Finance Commissioner Minita Sanghvi’s agenda to set aside enough money to fund a whole year of more on-Call pay for Deputy Accounts Commissioner Stacy Connors.[LINK] At the time, neither Sanghvi nor Accounts Commissioner Dillon Moran could explain how that request for $6,520 got on the agenda. With a little sleuthing, I am happy to report that I can now explain to them exactly how this happened. Documents acquired through the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) clearly show Deputy ..read more

[JK: Former Public Safety Commissioner Lew Benton explores the history of the city’s traffic issues ..read more

In his March 25, 2024 column, Daily Gazette writer Andrew Waite took Mayor John Safford to task, claiming Safford had failed to deliver on his campaign promise to bring civility to City Council meetings because of the audience behavior at the March 19 Saratoga Springs City Council meeting. The problem, according to Waite, is the “mayor’s failure to establish meaningful dialog with outspoken members of the community as well as missteps by the Mayor and Public Safety Commissioner Coll…” Most of us are familiar with the “Uncle Henry” syndrome. “Uncle Henry” is the family member who must be invit ..read more

[JK: I received this from Ed Lindner of Bikeatoga] Hi All:  Now that we’re done digging out from the big snowstorm, we can go right back to thinking about getting out on our bikes and urging city officials to make Saratoga Springs a more bike-friendly community!  One point that’s often overlooked when we talk about building good quality sidewalks and bike lanes is that these investments in Complete Streets are an investment in public health – particularly for seniors.  As AARP says, “a bike-friendly community is an age-friendly community.”   If you’re lo ..read more

The image below was taken from Finance Commissioner Minita Sanghvi’s agenda for the March 19, 2024, Saratoga Springs City Council meeting. It documents her attempt to inappropriately fund on-call pay for the Deputy Accounts Commissioner for all of 2024. I have written extensively about former Mayor Kim, Accounts Commissioner Dillon Moran and Finance Commissioner Sanghvi inappropriately signing off on payments to their deputies in 2023 for so-called “on call” duties. “On Call” pay, readers will recall, was intended to recompense deputies in departments with “24/7 response requirements” who we ..read more

The controversy over extra on-call pay for city Deputies that surfaced earlier this year will be back in front of the City Council at their Tuesday, March 19 meeting. Saratoga Springs Commissioner of Accounts Dillon Moran has submitted a budget transfer request to Finance Commissioner Minita Sanghvi to move $6,250.00 to a line to cover on-call payroll expenses for his Deputy Stacy Connors for all of 2024. The funds would be enough to pay Connors for a full year of on-call duty, including retroactive pay for January, February, and the first half of March. Sanghvi has approved Moran’s request ..read more

New York State Law does not require municipalities to allow the public to comment at meetings. In contrast, Saratoga Springs’s government’s commitment to listening to the public is enshrined in its charter, which requires a public comment period to be included at all Council meetings. The current administration’s policy limits speakers to three minutes each during the Council’s public comment period. The policy of having time limits for individual speakers goes back many years. Until the arrival of Saratoga Black Lives Matter, it was an accepted and noncontroversial policy routinely adhered t ..read more

Two Scary People Director of Religious and Spiritual Life Protects Students From Jane Weihe Saratoga Black Lives Matter organized what they called a “teach-in” at Skidmore College on Friday, March 1. The meeting’s purpose was stated as “How Students Start a Movement from Palestine and Cop City to Saratoga Springs”. Approximately twenty students, along with the college Director of Religious and Spiritual Life (apparently the title of what maybe used to be called a chaplain) and someone who identified themselves as being I think with the Office of Student Diversity. Samira Sangare of Black Live ..read more

[JK:I received this release from the Saratoga Springs Rental Rights Alliance, raising concerns regarding the initiative for managing the city’s short-term rentals. It includes a petition to sign.] We, the undersigned residents and concerned citizens of Saratoga Springs, NY, hereby express our strong opposition to rushed legislation aimed at restricting or regulating short-term rentals within our community. The text of the petition Link to petition Dear John, Saratoga Springs Rental Rights Alliance Calls for ‘Caution and Common Sense’ as the City Addresses Short-Term Rentals. The Saratoga Spr ..read more