Neighbors of the Presbyterian-New England Congregational Church on Circular Street met with Commissioner of Finance Michele Madigan, Mayor Meg Kelly, and candidate for Finance Commissioner Patty Morrison on the evening of June 23 to discuss their concerns about the proposal to house Code Blue on the church’s property. Here is a recording of that meeting with presentations by each of the invited guests followed by Q and A.
The recording is about an hour long but the differences in the thoughtfulness of the responses and the depth of knowledge of the three speakers about the issue of homelessness in Saratoga Springs is quite dramatic and well worth listening to.
Saratoga Springs Politics 
Why was Patty Morrison there? Does she have a connection to the Church? She has nothing to do with Code Blue & attending that meeting as a candidate seems totally inappropriate to me.
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I’m trying really hard not to be overly critical yet is Ms. Morrison capable of complete sentences? She is so hard to follow.
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Why was Patty Morrison there? Does she have a connection to the church? She has nothing to do with Code Blue, attending that meeting as a candidate seeking political office seems totally inappropriate to me.
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She was an invited guest.
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Did I really hear Ms. Morrison say she wouldn’t want Code Blue in her neighborhood and later suggest the hospital neighborhood could be a good place for it? Wow
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I put it right in the middle of the Lake Ave neighborhood. #progress
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Yes, she also said she’d like to keep Code Blue in the city, but not in a neighborhood. But she doesn’t know if we have that and if there is no location then it has to go outside of the city, that it’s very black and white. She says she is very new to this conversation, doesn’t have all the answers, but her strong advice is to not involve attorneys.
As someone who has been a supporter, volunteer and neighbor of Code Blue (for the last 3 winters) I am just one of a much larger group of people who have spent countless hours meeting, discussing and trying to find a permanent location for Code Blue. Patty Morrison’s ignorance on the subject is stunning and offends me to my core. To not have spent a few minutes to at least familiarize herself with the history of Code Blue in Saratoga is an insult to SOS, that audience, the Mayor and demonstrates how little she has cared about helping the homeless in her city. Shame on you Patty.
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Ms. Morrison’s Svengali handlers did an extremely crappy job of programming her.
In retrospect, her performance as an empty chair in the recent ‘debate’ looks fantastic by comparison.
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Listening to this makes me disappointed all over again that Ms. Morrison did not or would not find time to debate Commissioner Madigan. The public would have benefitted from the opportunity to hear both candidates address issues at the same time as at this meeting.
The contrast for me between the two is quite dramatic. Ms. Morrison’s knowledge of the situation seems quite limited and her solutions vague i.e. “keep the lawyers out of it” and she wants to “bring people together around the table” but is uncertain as to who those people might actually be. This was in stark contrast to Commissioner Madigan’s very specific history of Code Blue in Saratoga Springs and concrete account of what has been tried that she has been involved with (her attempt to initiate an ambassador program like Schenectady and other cities have for instance) and what she proposes to pursue along with Mayor Kelly going forward.
It would have been helpful to have had Ms. Morrison at least make a public appearance as Commissioner Madigan did where voters would have had the opportunity to question her directly and see what she had to say beyond her misleading campaign materials and social media presence.
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Beats me how Skidmore professors (especially the English Dept) support this dangling participle.
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The idea to locate the Code Blue shelter near Saratoga Hospital in an effort to find a long-term home for Code Blue is indeed an interesting concept.
Saratoga Hospital has a long-standing relationship with Shelters of Saratoga and the good work they have and continue to accomplish. We are well aware of the challenges the City and our community have confronted in efforts to find a permanent home for Code Blue, including legal challenges to proposed sites for the shelter. As our community’s hospital, we understand the needs of providing for an underserved population and, as always, we stand ready to help identify a solution.
With this latest idea being proposed, Saratoga Hospital would like to know more about the options being contemplated for a location near us and we would certainly like to be a part of the conversation to find an answer to this lingering question in the community.
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