The Charter Review Commission has promoted a narrative that the city manager model is widely used as a form of city government.  In addition they have promoted the narrative that the $40,000.00 salary they have put in the charter for the mayor is modest in light of the fact that the average salary for a mayor in New York is $50,000.00.

All of this appeared credible to me.  A review of the data they used, however, shows a very different picture.

The data the Charter Commission distributed in February and May regarding the salaries, populations, and executive positions for cities in New York came from the New York Conference of Mayors.  The most recent information was from 2015.  Interestingly the data is for 49 municipalities while according to Wikipedia there are 62 in New York State.  I guess either some cities did not respond to the survey or are not members of the conference.

Of the 49 cities reported on by NYCOM actually only 14 have city managers.  Apparently  only a small minority of cities in New York share the passion for city manager that our Commission does.

In the June 28 editions of the Saratogian, the Gazette, and the Times Union, Charter Commission chair Bob Turner refers to the NYCOM report to justify putting a $40,000 salary for mayor in their proposed charter. “We reviewed the New York State Conference of Mayors City Salary  Data from 49 cities and found that the average salary is $50,000 for mayors…,” he stated.  While the average salary for mayors in New York State is indeed $50,000, it seems far more relevant to look just at the salaries of mayors in municipalities that have city managers.  After all, the city manager absorbs many of the duties traditionally the responsibilities of mayors.  If  one looks at salaries for mayors in municipalities that have city managers the average salary is not $50,000.00 but $22,000.00.

More telling the median salary is only $12,000.00.  Interestingly after Niagara Falls (Population 51,193/Salary $78,000.00) and New Rochelle (Population 77,062/Salary $89,000) the next highest salary is $25,000.00 (see chart below).

The Charter Review Commission also rigorously promoted four year terms for the mayor and council by focusing attention on data they claimed showed most mayors and council members in New York serve for four years.  Here again, this obscures other important data.  While a significant majority of municipalities have 4 year terms for mayor, the data for council members’ terms is less definitive. As it turns out, the data shows that of the 47 municipalities listed as having councils, 25 municipalities have four year terms for council members. 22 reported two year terms. So technically do most municipalities have 4 year council terms? Obviously the answer is “yes”  but the Commission leaves unmentioned what a slim majority that  is.

Here is the data they used in May:

City	City Manager?	Mayor’s Salary
Auburn	Y	$11,000
Beacon	Y	$25,000
Canandaigua	Y	$7,000
Corning	Y	$9,000
Geneva	Y	$8,000
New Rochelle	Y	$89,000
Newburgh	Y	$9,000
Niagara Falls	Y	$78,000
Ogdensburg	Y	$7,000
Oneonta	Y	$12,000
Peekskill	Y	$13,000
Sherrill	Y	$2,000
Watertown	Y	$18,000
Watervliet	Y	$14,000
Average		$22,000
City	City Manager?	Mayor’s Salary
Sherrill	Y	$2,000
Canandaigua	Y	$7,000
Ogdensburg	Y	$7,000
Geneva	Y	$8,000
Corning	Y	$9,000
Newburgh	Y	$9,000
Auburn	Y	$11,000
Oneonta	Y	$12,000
Peekskill	Y	$13,000
Watervliet	Y	$14,000
Watertown	Y	$18,000
Beacon	Y	$25,000
Niagara Falls	Y	$78,000
New Rochelle	Y	$89,000
Medium		$12,000

 

The data used in February is even less favorable.

Based on Different Handout: 2/9/2017
Corning	Y	9
Geneva	Y	8
New Rochelle	Y	89
Newburgh	Y	9
Ogdensburg	Y	7
Peekskill	Y	13
Salamanca	Y	13
Sherrill	Y	2
Watertown	Y	18
Watervliet	Y	14
Average		18
Based on Different Handout: 2/9/2017
Sherrill	Y	2
Ogdensburg	Y	7
Geneva	Y	8
Corning	Y	9
Newburgh	Y	9
Peekskill	Y	13
Salamanca	Y	13
Watervliet	Y	14
Watertown	Y	18
New Rochelle	Y	89
Median		11

 

I emailed Meg Kelly who is the Democratic party’s endorsed candidate for mayor, seeking to interview her about her candidacy for this blog.  Rather than hearing from her, I received an email from a Mr. Rick Landry who identified himself as her campaign manager.  He asked what I wanted to interview her about.  I wrote back that I wanted to hear her ideas about issues facing the city.

Mr. Landry emailed me and advised that Ms. Kelly was not available at this time.

I am amused that I must go through an intermediary rather than deal with her directly.

[Emails To Meg Kelly]

From:    John Kaufmann[]

Sent:     Wednesday, June 28, 2017 6:03 PM

To:          ‘Meg.Kelly

Subject:   Interview

Are you available for an interview about your candidacy?

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From: Rick Landry < >

Date: June 29, 2017 at 1:31:54 PM EDT

To: John.kaufmann

Subject: Meg Kelly’s campaign

Greetings John,

My name is Rick Landry, and I am Meg Kelly’s campaign manager. Meg does not use her city hall address for political correspondences, and I am coordinating that side of things for her. What are you interested in talking to her about?

Best,

Rick Landry

Meg Kelly for Mayor

Campaign Manager

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From: John Kaufmann < >

Date: June 29, 2017 at 1:37:28 PM EDT

To: Rick Landry < >

Subject: Re: Meg Kelly’s campaign

A general discussion of the issues facing the city.  How should I contact her in the future?

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From:    John Kaufmann []

Sent:     Saturday, July 01, 2017 12:17 PM

To:          Rick Landry ()

Subject:  Status

What is the status of my request for an interview?

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From:    Rick Landry []

Sent:     Saturday, July 01, 2017 4:00 PM

To:          John Kaufmann

Subject:               Re: Status

Hi John. My apologies, I got to town recently and we are just starting to set up the campaign.

Perhaps Meg can do an interview down the road but I would like to hold off on that for now.

I personally am a follower of your blog and I think it is a great resource for analysis and debate of issues facing Saratoga. Best of luck moving forward.

– Rick

In a previous blog, I reported on the proposal to build a shelter for Code Blue.  Link To Earlier Post.  The Zoning Board of Appeals recently approved the required variances for the project.  Subsequently, homeowners in the neighborhood decided to appeal the decision and turned out to a ZBA meeting.  The ZBA denied hearing their appeal citing that they would have had to make the appeal within 60 days of the determination by the building inspector.   The neighbors’ attorney unsuccessfully challenged this arguing that the determination by the board should have triggered the clock.

Mayoral Candidate Mark Baker issued a press release critical of the Mayor.  The Gazette quoted Mr. Baker as follows:

‘Baker went on to say that past approaches to the city’s homelessness problem and “lack of public input and thoughtfulness” from the mayor’s office has led to “real community problems of vagrancy, aggressive panhandling and encouraging the presence of homeless individuals downtown.”’

I thought accusing the mayor of “encouraging the presence of homeless individuals downtown” seemed rather harsh so I sent him an email asking him:

What actions has the mayor taken that has contributed to this?

What actions would you take to address this if you were mayor?

To Mark’s credit he both called me to discuss the issue and at my request sent me the original press release along with a response to my questions.  While I support the construction of the shelter I have sympathy for the concerns of the neighbors and I thought that Mark’s concerns were more thoughtful after reading his entire release.

Many of the neighbors complained that they had been unaware of the project until after the ZBA had approved it.  In seeking a variance or in submitting an appeal of a Zoning Board of Appeals decision the neighbors within one hundred feet are required to be notified.  Given the controversial nature of this project it would seem prudent to have reached out further.  A more systemic approach to this problem would be to widen the area to be notified by amending the city’s zoning ordinances.

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The following are Mark’s response to my questions and his press release.

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From: Mark Baker

Date: July 2, 2017 at 2:21:00 PM EDT

To: John Kaufmann

Subject: Homeless

The Mayor’s office should be the first to engage the community and any specific neighborhoods when a significant action or project is being discussed or proposed.  The Mayor’s role should always be to listen, inform, educate and build consensus.  With a project with such high visibility and interest as a permanent home for Code Blue, it would have been prudent and productive for the Mayor to bring together the entire impacted neighborhood, not just those within 100 ft.

Lacking transparency, public input, and engagement​ by the community leads to suspicion, misunderstanding and discord which all too often leads to expensive litigation.

The lack of leadership from the Mayor’s office may have contributed to continued concerns  of homelessness​, vagrancy and panhandling impacting neighborhood​s and downtown.

This complex human service issue and potential solutions must be understood by the public, impacted neighborhoods, and neighboring towns to be truly successful.

As Saratoga Springs Mayor, I will put all Saratogian’s first in seeking solid first step solutions by working in partnership with all involved agencies, the faith community, and residents.

Mark E Baker

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For Immediate Release

June 26, 2017

Contact: Nick Wilock, 518-878-6568

BAKER: HOMELESS SHELTER SOLUTION MUST BE RESPECTFUL & REALISTIC

Statement from Mark Baker, candidate for Saratoga Springs Mayor, ahead of Zoning Board meeting to discuss proposal to build 61 bed homeless shelter in residential section of city

“I trust and expect the Saratoga Springs Zoning Broad will be realistic and objective when they evaluate the merits and challenges of approving a “Code Blue” facility in the heart of one of Saratoga Springs’ historic and most densely populated residential areas. “As a community we have a moral obligation and responsibility to show compassion and to be responsive to those already in our city who are in need and homeless, especially children.  I am personally committed to finding a solution to this issue that is sensitive to those in need but is also responsible to our neighborhoods, schools and residents.

“The first step in finding a resolution and mutually acceptable solution is for city leaders, particularly the mayor, to listen and gather public input and guidance. “The current proposal before the Zoning Board is not sufficient in how it will serve the homeless and it does not adequately respect our neighborhoods and current residents. A better solution needs to be investigated. “It may in fact create an even greater need, by attracting additional folks in need to the community versus Saratoga Springs embracing those who are in the city already needing a helping hand. “The past approach to these pressing questions and lack of public input, planning and thoughtfulness from the mayor’s office has led to real community problems of vagrancy, aggressive panhandling and encouraging the presence of homeless individuals’ downtown. In a tourist destination city, with a vibrant downtown residential community, these are problems for tourism, downtown business and public safety management of our community. “The goal is to be responsive and compassionate to those who are homeless. The solution needs to be respectful and realistic. The current Zoning Board proposal is not the ‘best practice’ approach to addressing the question of how to help people to find shelter.”

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Rental Rates In Saratoga County Stabilizing

The Albany Business Review reported that the monthly cost of rentals for Saratoga County was up 1.5% over the same period last spring.  It increased 10.6% during the same period in 2015 and 5.6% in 2016.

In a comparison of rental costs the ABR reported:

“Average asking monthly rents in the other counties were $1,438 in Saratoga County ($1.34 per square foot); $1,265 in Rensselaer County ($1.05 per square foot); and $1,156 in Schenectady County ($1.09 per square foot).”

More On Condo To Be Built Near Four Seasons Market

I wrote earlier on this upscale project but the Saratogian article has an interesting interview with the developer.

http://www.saratogian.com/general-news/20170626/new-condominium-planned-for-fall-2018

 

 

May I be excused for being confused?

I received an email from Bob Turner, Charter Review Commissioner Chairman, in which he corrects a statement I made in an earlier post that the Commission had made the mayor’s position fulltime in their proposed charter. His correction is as follows:

“For the record, the Charter Review Commission did NOT establish a full time Mayor.  No city charter uses those terms and neither does ours.  Those words are not in our charter.”  (The full text of his email is below).

Questions about the scope of the mayor’s job under the proposed charter arose at a forum put on by the Charter Review Commission way back in March.  In an email to me at the time, Mr. Turner, referring to the discussion at the forum wrote, “I said I thought that we needed a fulltime mayor and that a reasonable salary was in the $40-60,000 range…”    At the time, however, the members of the Commission told the public that if the charter were adopted, it would be the City Council elected in 2017 that would decide the issue of whether the mayor would be part or full time by setting the salary for the mayor.

The Charter Commission apparently decided not to trust a future council to determine the salary, though, and voted at their meeting on June 26th to amend their proposed charter to incorporate a salary for the mayor of $40,000.00 plus benefits.

It is not surprising then that both the Gazette reporter who wrote a story on the commission’s last meeting and I assumed that by adopting a salary of $40,000.00+ that the Commission was anticipating a full time mayor.

The fact that if this new charter is adopted the future mayor will be paid $40,000.00 plus roughly $22,000.00 in benefits but according to Mr. Turner will be allowed to determine for themselves how much time to devote to the job caused me to look more carefully at this issue.

In his email to me Mr. Turner offered the following:

“There is no correct number, but $40,000 seemed like a reasonable amount.  To put the $40,000 in context, we looked at the average and median household income for Saratoga Springs from the Census.”

Average Household Income	$86,757
Median Household Income	$61,518

 

I simply do not understand this explanation.  “Reasonable” amount for what?  What is the relationship between the household income chart and the $40,000.00?

So What Will The New Mayor Be Required To Do?

I assumed that the mayor would have significantly more responsibilities and duties than council  members and so it seemed reasonable that the mayor would be paid more. When I actually reviewed the proposed charter regarding the specific duties of the mayor, though, I was dismayed by what the Commission had crafted.  I reprint the list at the bottom of this post but I would draw the readers’ attention to two items.

Item #2 reads “Represent the city in intergovernmental relationships.”  While it would be unfair to exaggerate this issue, it would be unwise to underestimate its potential problems.  One expects that the City Manager will be working similarly with “intergovernmental relationships.”   I assume that in the case of the mayor, this will have more to do with advocating on behalf of the city with other institutions in general and the governor and legislature in particular but unlike our current charter this is not made clear here.  Again, given the right personalities, the vagueness of this would not be a problem but my experience in the real world of egos and power tells me there is the potential for mischief and conflict.

Far more serious is item #10 that reads “Perform other duties as may be specified by the City Council.”  So apparently, the mayor will, in effect, work for the city council.  Supposedly the council will pass resolutions directing the activity of the mayor.  I find this something of a stunner.  Even the most casual observer of what goes on every other Tuesday night at the city council will have to question the viability of this.  Remember, the Charter Commission has been promising us that their plan will result in greater comity in city government.  Here is a simple question, what will happen if the mayor refuses to do something that the council votes for the mayor to do?  Can anyone who has endured some of our less dignified council meetings really say that this could never happen?  Could the readers imagine a meeting in which the council stipulates some project for the mayor and the mayor responds that he/she, for $40,000.00 does not have time to take on the task?

Which brings me to my final point. With the exception of this last, dangerously nebulous item, all the other duties listed are quite modest.  According to the charter, the mayor has no other identified responsibilities that would seem to require he/she spend substantially more time on the job than the council members.  I am not the only one who is going to be troubled by the fact that we do not know what we are paying for when we raise the salary as anticipated in the charter.   It is one thing when the mayor is paid a very modest stipend as is currently the case.  Everyone knows that the amount paid is more a gesture than serious recompense given the mayoral duties under the current charter.  The commission’s plan is to reduce the responsibilities of the mayor under the existing charterand substantially raise the salary. There needs to be far greater clarity as to what is expected from the mayor in the proposed charter to justify the $62,000 for wages and benefits.  For the commission to say that they are leaving it to the elected person as to how much time they will devote to the job is not sufficient.

The mantra of the charter review commission is that the city needs better management.  Good management means that when a person accepts a job the scope of their duties are carefully spelled out so they know what is expected of them.  The Charter Review Commission struggled with the idea that the new position of mayor would be bigger than just running meetings and appointing boards.  Unfortunately, they were never able to find a consensus with clarity so they punted and simply raised the salary assuming that somehow it will all work out.

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List Of Mayoral Duties From Proposed Charter

1. 1. Be a voting member of the City Council and shall attend and preside at meetings of the City Council.
   2. Represent the city in intergovernmental relationships. (One wonders how to untangle which relations the city manager will handle as compared to the mayor).
   3. Execute any and all contracts for which City Council approval has been granted.
   4. Appoint with the advice and consent of the city council the members of all regulatory boards and commissions…
   5. Present an annual State of the City message.
   6. Appoint Members and officers of City Council standing committees…
   7. Assign, subject to the consent of the City Council, agenda items…
   8. Create such advisor committees and appoint members…
   9. Chair the Finance Committee of the City Council.
   10. Appoint a Charter Review Commission…
   11. Perform other duties as may be specified by the City Council (Wow!!!! The mayor apparently works for the city council? The mayor must perform any duties assigned by the council? What if the council does not exercise this authority? What will the mayor do?

 

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From: Robert Turner (Government) [bturner@skidmore.edu]
Sent: Wednesday, June 28, 2017 2:28 PM
To: John Kaufmann
Subject: RE: Compensation

Hi John,

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you.

NY State law establishes the rules governing a City Council’s ability to raise its salaries.
According to Tony Izzo, a Council can do it one of 2 ways.

1.     They can vote to increase their salaries immediately.  A public referendum is held for voters to decide whether to approve the changes or not.
2.     They can vote to increase the salaries of a future City Council.  There has to be an
election between when a council member votes and the salary increases go into effect.
So if the City Council voted to increase their salaries in 2020, it would not go into effect
until after the 2021 election for half of them or 2023 for the other half.  According to
NYCOM, what usually happens is City Council delay pay increases going into effect until
the entire City Council is eligible.

According to the ICMA Municipal Form of Government, 2011 survey of local governments, 85%
of city council elections are staggered.  So, we don’t believe this is a problem.

Personally, I believe that the current provision of a medical plan with no deductibles,
premiums, or copays for part time City Council members is excessive.  To put their
compensation in perspective, the cost of their benefits ($18,000) and salaries ($14,500) of
$32,500 is higher than the legislative salaries of 30 state legislators.  (see
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/how-much-should-state-legislators-get-paid/)   And the provision of lifetime health benefits to City Council members after 10 years to service is unheard of in the public or private sector.

Hope this answers your question.

Also, Matt Veitch had asked: Is it now that Supervisors have 2 year terms while the rest of the elected officials will have 4 year terms?

Our original proposal, established 4 year terms for County Supervisors, largely because of your input about the position.  However, our drafting attorney, Bob Batson, told us: “It is my opinion that the Charter provision authorizing a term of 4 years for the Supervisors is not valid since it is inconsistent with the cited provision of state law.  Subdivision 2 of Section 2 of the General City Law authorizes a 4 year term for supervisors elected in the City of Geneva. I believe that Saratoga Springs would need either a special act of the State Legislature or a charter law of Saratoga County to give the supervisors 4 year terms.”  Batson is the Government Lawyer in Residence at the Government Law Center of Albany Law School.  Batson has drafted charters
for: Albany, Amsterdam, Cohoes, Glen Cove, Oneonta and Troy, among others.
Batson said that a special act of the state legislature is required to change the term length of supervisors to 4 years.  Evidently, Geneva, I believe, asked for this and it took 4 months to pass the change.  So the term lengths are 2 years until the law changes and then they are 4 years.

The revised language is below.
There are two slight wrinkles on this.
1.      BK Keramati offered an amendment to specify that the first subsequent election shall be the “beauty pageant” format, where the candidate with the most votes gets the 4 year term and the runner up gets the 2 year term.  After that, the supervisor elections will be staggered 4 year terms. Supervisor A would run in 2021, 2025, 205; etc and Supervisor B would run in 2021, 2023, 2027, 2031 etc.
2.      Matt Jones offered an amendment subsequently that each county supervisor position will be contested separately, head to head elections, until the state changes the law to 4 year terms.  His argument was that this increases accountability in elections, based on his time on the Board of Election.

The exact language is below.

Bob

Bob Turner
Associate Professor of Political Science and Environmental Studies and Sciences
Director, Environmental Studies and Sciences Program
Director, Faculty Student Summer Research Program
Skidmore College
Saratoga Springs, NY 12866

From: John Kaufmann [mailto:john.kaufmann21@gmail.com]
Sent: Monday, June 26, 2017 6:29 PM
To: Robert Turner (Government) <bturner@skidmore.edu>
Subject: RE: Compensation

Thanks.   What about:
I am confused how, with staggered terms the council will amend salaries.  Since they will serve overlapping years, if they adopt a budget with salary increases for the following year, some of the council members term will not have ended so they could be voting to increase their own salary.  Is this an issue and if so, how will the commission address this?

With respect, B under ethics is vague to the point of irrelevance.

JK

From: Robert Turner (Government) [mailto:bturner@skidmore.edu]
Sent: Monday, June 26, 2017 4:35 PM
To: John Kaufmann
Subject: RE: Compensation

The commission will consider two amendments tonight.

8.07 (E)  Initial Salary of Mayor and Council Members.
The mayor shall receive an initial annual salary in the amount of $40,000 and medical
insurance paid in full by the city.  Each city council member shall receive an annual salary in the amount of $14,500 with optional medical insurance offered under the city’s plan, with the premium paid in full by Council member.  This compensation shall remain in effect until such amount is changed by the council in accordance with the provisions of this charter and State law.

Stronger Ethnics/Transparency language –

2.08 Code of Ethics

A.    The City Council shall adopt a Code of Ethics to guide the actions of elected and
appointed City officers and employees. The Code of Ethics adopted shall be consistent
with Article 18 of the General Municipal Law of the State of New York. The City Code of
Ethics shall be updated as needed pursuant to § 806 of the General Municipal Law.

B.    It is the policy of the City that the activities of City government should be conducted in public to the greatest extent feasible in order to assure public participation and enhance public accountability.

Bob Turner
Associate Professor of Political Science and Environmental Studies and Sciences
Director, Environmental Studies and Sciences Program
Director, Faculty Student Summer Research Program
Skidmore College
Saratoga Springs, NY 12866

From: John Kaufmann [mailto:john.kaufmann21@gmail.com]
Sent: Monday, June 26, 2017 3:21 PM
To: Robert Turner (Government) <bturner@skidmore.edu>
Subject: Compensation

I see in the TU that the commission has decided to write the compensation for the mayor and the council into the charter.  I understand the proposed charter will be amended tonight to address this.  Could you email me the text?
I am confused how, with staggered terms the council will amend salaries.  Since they will serve overlapping years, if they adopt a budget with salary increases for the following year, some of the council members term will not have ended so they could be voting to increase their own salary.  Is this an issue and if so, how will the commission address this?