In the December 8, 2021 edition of the Times Union, gossip columnist Wendy Liberatore reported that Public Safety Commissioner Robin Dalton had submitted an ethics complaint to the Saratoga Springs City Ethics Board against Mayor Meg Kelly.
The complaint alleged that Mayor Kelly had acted improperly to promote the Charlton School where, at the time, Mayor Kelly had a part-time job.
Background On Charlton School
The Charlton School is a private not-for-profit residential treatment center and special education school for troubled young women. Many come to the school with previous hospitalizations, therapeutic schools, or therapeutic placements. This is a link to their website that describes the school.
Established in 1895 as an orphanage, The Charlton School became a residential treatment center for teens in 1954. Today, Charlton deploys the most modern and evidenced-based treatment and educational approaches available to help students who are struggling to be successful in school and life. We have a maximum capacity of twenty-five residential students and thirty-eight students in Ketchum Grande Memorial School which includes day students from local school districts.
Charlton School website
Applicants are referred to Charlton School by local school districts. The school districts pay for the education while the county where the girls are from pays the other associated residential expenses.
My wife, Jane Weihe, taught at Burnt Hills High School prior to her retirement. Charlton School is located in the Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake School District and where appropriate, some Charlton School girls attended classes at Burnt Hills High School. Jane still remembers being enormously impressed by these young women and by the support provided for them by the Charlton School.
In true Wendy Liberatore style, Ms. Liberatore never discussed who the school served and only referred to it as a “private school”. An uninformed reader might have wrongly assumed it was a boarding school for wealthy privileged young women.
The Complaint
This is a copy of the complaint submitted by Commissioner Dalton.
The Summary Decision As Issued By The City’s Ethics Board
Mayor Meg Kelly’s Statement
Response From Public Safety Commissioner Robin Dalton
I contacted Public Safety Commissioner Robin Dalton seeking a response. After a series of text exchanges, she apparently decided not to respond.
Saratoga Springs Politics 
LOL – Wendy Libratore ‘Gossip Columinst’…
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“Dalton’s Legacy” …..perfect.
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This type of thing is almost an extension of adolescent behavior. Those who hold part-time public office in Saratoga have outside influences that have to be managed, not eliminated. Unless one is independently wealthy, people are trying to earn a living as it is not really possible to live on $14k per year. Even if you are wealthy, there are conflicts of interest associated with investments and maintaining your wealth…
So, these things have to be accounted for and moderated. It looks like Robin Dalton is having a hard time and is out of her element. She is going through a personal bankruptcy, has switched her party allegiance, is not embraced by the opposition party, and is having difficulty with ambiguity. Her leadership of the Department of Public Safety has been sub-par.
Mayor Kelly should not really be so concerned about her reputation as most of the electorate understands mud-slinging and normal human behavior.
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The mayor never promised the city a rose garden. She did on the other hand, roll up her sleeves with some members of her Council to address many issues that had languished for decades and saw them finally to completion. She deserves our thanks and admiration as an independent legislator working across stripes to do the city’s work.
They say one should never consider suicide, political or otherwise, because that’s how they will be remembered. It may be time for some to put away the megaphone and the pom poms and exit with grace.
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