What The Petitions Say: They’re Back

I went down to the Saratoga County Board of Elections today to review the petitions for the candidates who were not endorsed by the Republican or Democratic city committees and so circulated petitions independently.  Two of the candidates are seeking to replace members of the Saratoga Springs City Council.  Tim Holmes is seeking to unseat Mayor Meg Kelly and Patricia Morrison is challenging Commissioner of Finance Michele Madigan.

An observant reader will note that a number of people who circulated petitions for more than one of these candidates also served  on the 2017 Charter Commission which advocated for a city manager form of government or were active in the leadership of the campaign to adopt it.

Members of that charter commission who circulated  petitions were Bob Turner (Chairman of the 2017 Charter Review  Commission), Pat Kane (Vice Chairman of the 2017 Commission), Laura Chodos, Ann Bullock, Gordon Boyd, and Minita Sanghvi.

Gordon Boyd, who last time I checked was a member of the Independence Party, is a notary which explains his petitioning for Holmes, a Republican, and the other candidates who are Democrats.  Only individuals who are members of the same party as the candidate on their petition can normally circulate it.  The one exception is a notary.

Active in the leadership of the charter change campaign were Ellen Egger-Aimone, Peter McTygue, Patty Morrison, and Dillon Moran.

As some of the readers of this blog may recall, during the campaign to pass their charter, Vice-Chairman Pat Kane left the following expletive laden message on Commissioner Skip Scirocco’s cell phone.

When pressed by the Saratogian to explain Kane’s message, charter chairman Bob Turner refused to apologize for his behavior but instead used it as an opportunity to repeat the talking points of the pro-charter change campaign.

At the subsequent charter commission meeting, not one person said anything about the behavior of their vice chair let alone advocated for a public apology.

For those of us hoping for some relief from the worst kind of politics this is going to be a long haul.

Following are complete lists of the people who circulated petitions for candidates who were not endorsed by the major parties:

For Mayor, Tim Holmes, Republican:

John Safford

Matt Hogan

Patrick Cromyn (Albany address)

Peter Gemellaro

Sean Cane

Pat Kane

Tim Holmes

John Huppich

David Solovy

Mark Pingel

Gordon Boyd

For Kendall Hicks, Public Safety, Democrat:

Ellen Egger-Aimone

Kendall Hicks

Patricia Morrison

Joy King

Steve Bederian

Alice Smith

Peter McTygue

Ann Bullock

Suzanne Kwasniewski

Shafer Gaston

Gordon Boyd

James Gould

Al Ormsby

Dianne Pedinotti

Otis Maxwell

Dillon Moran

Frank Capone

Molly Gagne

Bob Turner

Minita Sanghvi

Laura Chodos

Meaghan McEntee

For Patty Morrison, Finance, Democrat:

Ellen Egger-Aimone

Kathleen Harder

Alice Smith

Robert Turner

Steve Bederian

Peter McTygue

Ann Bullock

Minita Sanghvi

Kendall Hicks

Tom McTygue

Gordon Boyd

Mable Morrison (East Greenbush address)

Lisa Scerbo (Mechanicville)

Laura Chodos

Pamela Lonegran

Julie Walsh (Stillwater address)

10 thoughts on “What The Petitions Say: They’re Back”

  1. What the petitions say to me is futility has legs….now let us see a united comprehensive platform that says “We the undersigned believe that a bigger and more expensive Government is what will serve our City best”…..all I see is a made up cause with no Rebel…..nothing worse than a bunch of rogue RINOS (too funny).

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  2. Nice list, JK.

    What do all these people have in common?
    What will they gain?

    Do any of them proudly display the flag?
    And which flag at that!

    -Just another Asbury Duke

    (JC)

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  3. Unfortunately, John, I agree with you that it is going to be a long haul. Yes, I realize the vote was very close yet the charter change was voted down. Despite that or perhaps because of that, there is still a good deal of misinformation about the reasons some of those on the City Council were not in favor and have now been labeled “Anti-charter change” as opposed to more simply being opposed to that particular charter change. While I certainly can’t speak for all on the council, I know I’ve had several conversations with Michele Madigan regarding her stance. As the keeper of the finances in our city, she apparently takes her role seriously and she saw this charter proposal and costing the city an unacceptable amount of money in the long run. This was and continues to be the main reason she was in opposition. Now, I’ll admit that math, money, and finances are not my forte yet Michele has proven over the years to do this very well. With flat taxes and reasonable budgets, she knows her stuff. So, when she says it will be expensive, I’m inclined to believe her.

    Returning to my initial point, varying ideas and disagreements are fine. What I find frustrating is those who wish to label any candidate based on one aspect and then to continue to put out misinformation with regard to that aspect just to “get back” at someone who didn’t see it their way. We are more than a one-issue city and the educated and open-minded voter will look at each candidate on a broad basis of qualifications and record. To do otherwise is just petty, self-centered and not at all in the best interest of the city.

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  4. This Mayor and Council have been the most civil and the most productive in many years. Yet Bob Turner, Gordon Boyd, Pat Kane et al have chosen to go after the two women who are, I have to say, the real doers on the Council . And to what end? This seems to be more about power and revenge on their part than what’s good for the city.

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  5. Interesting to see these are the same people that are pushing the anti-school safety candidates. Interesting to see what these people want to to do to the City of Saratoga Spring as well as our school district. It is actually quite sad.

    I don’t know if there could be a bette Mayor and Commissioner of finance. Meg and Michelle should win in a land slide for what they do for this city.

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  6. I placed this post on the page of Kendall Hicks, asking him for an explanation for his contradiction to the following statement. He very quickly deleted it rather than respond.

    “Instead of Democrats running against each other, we need to be banding together and fighting for the people of Saratoga Springs,” Kendall Hicks – Candidate for Public Safety Commissioner in Saratoga Springs

    While Mr. Hicks makes this statement in regard to his potential opposition from Eileen Finneran who has withdrawn from the primary race. Yet, he openly carried petitions for and is sharing campaign staff with Patty Morrison (who is seeking to unseat Commissioner Madigan in the June primary. Seems Mr. Hicks stands by this idea when it comes to his candidacy yet not for all.

    Commissioner Madigan has consistently supported the Public Safety Department in Saratoga Springs in her four terms served. She has openly supported the need for a 3rd fire/EMS station, kept taxes stable while increasing funding for more police officers and championed the solar park that is saving the city money right now.

    I’m still quite curious as to why Mr. Hicks believes this works for him yet not for Commissioner Madigan.

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    1. Gayle beware,I can smell smoke and now as it seems to me at least.. Mr Hicks candidacy has it’s genisis in the Mctygue faction of the spoiler party or better know as the “Saratoga Featherbedders”.

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    2. A bit over a week ago, I did finally have a meeting with Mr. Hicks. When he returned from visiting his family in NC due to his father’s illness he asked me to contact Ellen Eigger-Aimonee as she maintains his schedule I had requested to meet with him a Spot Coffee but was informed he would not meet in any public place and was told he would meet me at the Elks Lodge on Beekman Street. When I arrived at the appointed time and found no one there, I again called Ellen who informed me Kendall would be there in just a minute and she was on her way. Now, I did not request to have Ellen in the meeting and did not really want her there. However, I decided not to make a fuss at that point.

      I was able to have a few moments with Kendall before Ellen arrived and we had a civil discussion though I’m still not confident that my question was fully answered. He indicated that I had misinterpreted his intent and that as opposed to referring to saying he was pleased that he would not be primaried as that would make for a more cohesive Democratic party he was referring to his discomfort with the current divisiveness in the party. He went on to say he believed in primaries and giving people a choice.

      As he indicated that the divisiveness in the party was uncomfortable for him I asked him what his take was on that and if he thought that sharing a campaign manager and staff with Patty Morrison, who is challenging Michele Madigan was helpful in dispelling any of that divisiveness. His response was that he was working with those who support him and encouraged him to run. He did indicate that includes the McTygues, Patty Morrison and Joanne Yepsen who have been seen by many as those who are attempting to upend the Democratic Party including some who are endorsed as candidates by the party. Unfortunately, we were unable to complete that conversation when Ellen Eigger-Aimonee arrived.

      From that point on, I had difficulty having a one-one conversation with Kendall. Ellen interjected repeatedly, often answering for him or “correcting’ my viewpoint until I told her I would not be discussing those with her. When I expressed a concern about some of the pejorative or vitriolic behavior by some of Kendall’s “supporters” Ellen responded by deflecting with “whataboutisms” saying the other side was mean and not polite to her. She was particularly defensive about any criticism or concerns regarding Patty Morrison or any of Patty’s supporters. Again, this meeting was not, at any point supposed to be about her. While Kendall pretty much backed up Ellen’s comments he remained non-committal and rather quiet.

      To sum up, this meeting only left me with more questions and ongoing concerns.

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      1. Thanks for trying to reach out to Kendall, Gayle. How disappointing that he did not have the confidence to meet with you without his “handler” Ellen E-A. It does not encourage one to think that he will be able to manage the police and fire departments and handle the give and take of discussions at the Council table as Commissioner of Public Safety.

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