Saratoga Springs Supervisors Gaston and Veitch Rise To The Demands Of Crisis

There is nothing like a crisis to bring out the best and the worst in people. In the case of our two County Supervisors, Tara Gaston and Matthew Veitch, it has brought out the best.

The Saratoga County Board of Supervisors has for years atrophied from a relatively responsive institution into a clumsy organization fraught with cronyism and nepotism. It was only a matter of time before the county government would finally do something so ugly and self serving that it could no longer be hidden. The COVID-19 crisis has finally produced that event.

I would have liked to have included in this post clips from the April 21, 2020, meeting with the thoughtful remarks made by Supervisor Gaston. Unfortunately the recordings of the county meetings, unlike the city of Saratoga Springs Council meetings, are not made available to the public. Even if they were, the poor quality of the audio would have rendered them useless.

Fortunately, the two Supervisors addressed the City Council the evening of the county meeting and I was able to edit the video to share it with this blog’s readers.

These brief clips are very much worth listening to. Not only do they illuminate what happened at the county meeting but they reflect the willingness of our Supervisors to take on the reforms needed at the Board of Supervisors.

Supervisor Veitch Explains Why He Voted Not To Ratify April 17 Meeting
Supervisor Veitch Discusses What Happened At The April 21 Meeting
Supervisor Veitch Talks About His Hope For The Future Of County Government
Tara Gaston Analysis #1
Gaston Analysis #2
Tara Gaston Analysis #3
Testing Fiasco In Malta #1
Testing Fiasco In Malta #2
Commissioner Dalton and Supervisor Veitch Discuss County #1
Commissioners Madigan and Dalton Discuss County With Supervisor Veitch

7 thoughts on “Saratoga Springs Supervisors Gaston and Veitch Rise To The Demands Of Crisis”

  1. Zoom?

    Isn’t ZOOM a communist chinese based enterprise?
    Shouldn’t Saratoga County be using a secure, local server?
    (IE: Something akin to the one in the basement of the Adirondack Trust.)

    Trusting in “the cloud” might be the reason America is in the fix it’s in.
    Imagine a whole nation totally exposed.

    Why would the county allow foreign agents access to our local affairs?
    “Transparency only works for those with their drawers on.”
    (-?)

    But, what do i know?

    -JC 😐

    Like

    Reply

    1. If you have issues with foreign software or hardware being used in the U.S., wait till I tell you where your smartphone, tablet, laptop or desktop come from. Even if the device is “made in the USA”, many of the components will come from elsewhere. Zoom is an American company based out of California, but has had some security issues based on how calls are being routed and encrypted, to say nothing for people jumping into meetings they weren’t invited. They recently pushed out an update, but it’s not perfect.

      All that being said, how does using a cloud based application the cause of “the fix” we’re in? Did the Zoom meeting I attended in January cause the pandemic? “Why would the county allow foreign agents access to our local affairs” sure sounds xenophobic at best, and downright racist at worst.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. Hey Andrew,

        You wrote:
        “…sure sounds xenophobic at best, and downright racist at worst.”

        Xenowhatnik?
        And racist! Zoomie is a real live boy, eh?
        Am I missing something?

        And how Zoom could possibly cause a pandemic is funny in itself.
        I’d love to meet this kid; Zoomie.
        We all got a good laugh from your comment.

        Keep them coming.
        Jumpin’ Jiminey!

        -JC 😉

        Like

      2. Hey Andy,

        You also said:
        “…wait till I tell you where your smartphone, tablet, laptop or desktop come from”

        Funny.
        Forgot to tell you:
        I do not own a smart phone, tablet or laptop.

        My workstation is so old, it’s made in USA (Intel processors but–yes! with some “mixed” components!).
        I’m too old for such silliness.
        But your assumptions make me laugh.

        Thanks JK!
        Baruch Ha’Shem,

        -JC

        Like

    2. You said “Why would the county allow foreign agents access to our local affairs?”. It’s an American company, and similar logic about “others” can get twisted very easily into racist attacks against Asian Americans across the country, which is what is happening:

      https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/asian-americans-describe-gut-punch-of-racist-attacks-during-coronavirus-pandemic

      I don’t follow “And how Zoom could possibly cause a pandemic is funny in itself.” In your first comment you said “Trusting in “the cloud” might be the reason America is in the fix it’s in.” What does “the fix it’s in” mean if not the pandemic?

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  3. Where’s the county attorney Stephen Dorsey been in all this? At the very least the blogger made him aware that the special committee that did the salary raises was meeting illegally in violation of the Open Meetings Law.
    Did he offer advice that wasn’t taken? Was he not consulted or informed? If not, why not?

    Like

    Reply

Leave a comment