On Monday, May 23, 2022, Saratoga Springs Finance Commissioner Minita Sanghvi arrived at City Hall only to discover someone’s car in her parking space. Her reaction was to call 911. My understanding is that the dispatcher at the Sheriff’s Department who took the call referred her to the Saratoga Springs Police Department. As it turns out, the vehicle in question belongs to Mayor Ron Kim’s wife.
Saratoga Springs Politics 
Children call 911 to report ridiculous emergencies. But a Commissioner? This should be on all the news channels. What an embarrassment.
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Sure, it was a stupid thing to do but it just doesn’t seem to me to be a newsworthy thing to be reporting on? Just a distraction from actual news and information. We already have scarce journalism and local reporting, and to clog it up with something as petty as this is beyond my comprehension.
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I don’t see the point of reporting on this. It just seems petty and unnecessary. What is the purpose of it? How is this newsworthy? Please help me understand.
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It is newsworthy as it is one more example of how this Council members are so out of touch with a sense of power and entitlement. 911? Are you kidding me? That is for emergencies. Report it? Yes? Maybe even have it towed but 911?
And, of course the Mayor’s wife apparently follows his lead in thinking she can take what is not hers.
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See what Sammy Rose says below. There are many citizens who do not really know what 9-1-1 is all about.
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In a related development, the line items concerning funding for parking enforcement have been removed from the City budget, and forwarded to a private firm as a retainer for any future needs: https://www.facebook.com/Johnsons-Auto-Crushers-387532594774848/
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In the age we live in there is no room for exaggeration.
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There is every reason to report on this…who calls 911 because someone is parking in “their” taxpayer sponsored parking space! 911 is for emergencies – PERIOD. I mean walk your little feet a few yards away and talk with the police. I’m sure they could issue a ticket and the issue would be resolved, or search the plate and tell you who was parked there. UNBELIVABLE and it was the Mayor’s wife in the spot. OMG. You cannot make this up. Talk about entitlement.
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This is the same woman who cried crocodile tears after interacting with the police during campaign season. Now she is deliberately availing herself of their services on an emergency basis because her reserved parking space was taken up. Talk about PRIVILEGE!
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You’re talking about the time when police were called to complain about her campaigning door to door like other candidates? Talk about PRIVILEGE!
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While having someone take your parking space is a nuisance, I don’t believe that it is an enforceable parking violation. It is discourteous but hardly something that should result in the use of an emergency call and certainly should not result in a parking ticket.
The 911 phone number should be limited to real emergencies. Those making routine complaints to the SSPD should use the 518 584 1800 phone number.
Chris Mathiesen
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She certainly made a pretty big mistake. (Everyone knows what 911 is for)
If she has integrity, she needs to admit it and apologize and everyone can move on.
As I told my kids, I was interested less in the mistake than how long it took for you to admit, own it and learn from it.
Let’s hope she has integrity and clears this up.
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Just when you think it can’t get any more ridiculous.
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Henry 37–Agreed that many citizens might not know what 911 is for but I don’t think it is unreasonable to expect that a Skidmore professor and elected city official would know.
Gayle–as to the Mayor’s wife– we know it was her car but do we know she was the one who parked it in Minita’s space? Could Mayor Kim have driven his wife’s car to City Hall that day and usurped the Finance Commissioner’s space?
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You are correct though he has his own spot so not sure why he would need to do that. But, I should be more careful about making assumptions.
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Gayle–good point–so maybe Ron could have been the one who parked his wife’s car in Minita’s spot even though he had his own spot because:
A. someone else had parked in his spot so he just took another Council member’s spot
B. he didn’t notice he was parking in the wrong spot
In any case a simple apology from whoever usurped Minita’s parking place and a promise to never to do it again I would hope would be sufficient to restore harmony at the Council table should there be any hard feelings over this.
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Hahaha. Tie up the phone line so someone that actually has an emergency can’t get through .
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HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
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I actually called the police administrative line. No one answered then I called 911. And realized as soon as I called that I made a mistake. I hung up. Walked over to the police department and asked for help. When people park in our spots we can’t get to government business that our city has elected us to do because some of us live far away and can’t find parking here in the summer time and can’t afford to pay for parking in the beautiful parking deck. I also asked the police for their non emergency police numbers which they kindly gave me. And I apologized to them for the trouble. I owe no one else an apology.
John, I’m truly disappointed to see this. Not because it’s about me or it’s you trying to hold this administration accountable. But because it’s not news. I often disagreed with you but felt that you at least had the integrity to write your name and do some research behind every claim. It was interesting news stories. But printing this just makes it no different than that gossip rag on Facebook. Sigh.
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Welcome to my blog. You are always welcome to comment. Hope to hear from you often.
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“John, I’m truly disappointed to see this. Not because it’s about me or it’s you trying to hold this administration accountable. But because it’s not news. I often disagreed with you but felt that you at least had the integrity to write your name and do some research behind every claim. It was interesting news stories. But printing this just makes it no different than that gossip rag on Facebook. Sigh.”
This^^ yes! 100%. Your perfectly summed up my reaction to this post and I thank you for being the one to call it out.
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This doesn’t really make sense. You couldn’t find another free parking spot on a Monday morning in May? I was downtown on Monday and can recall a number of spots within a couple of blocks of City Hall (one of which I parked in). How long did you look for another spot before calling 911? Was it your intention to have the person in your space arrested? Ticketed? Towed?
Hundreds of people work downtown during the summer who make a whole lot less than your professor salary. Many find a way to afford a dollar an hour in the garage. You’re the Finance Commissioner and now make an extra $14,000/year, you can’t scrape together enough pocket change to pay a dollar an hour in the garage?
This is newsworthy. The police are not there to enforce your right to park in an exclusive spot and the public has the right to be aware of your lapse in judgment in calling emergency services over this.
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Also, “When people park in our spots we can’t get to government business that our city has elected us to do because some of us live far away and can’t find parking here in the summer time and can’t afford to pay for parking in the beautiful parking deck.” is pretty surprising. Aren’t those Monday meetings usually pretty quick? It does seem rather tone deaf to immediately call the police from your car rather than just park a little further away, walk over, and ask in person.
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What is the police administrative line? The non emergency number is 518-584-1800 which I’m surprised as a Commissioner you do not know. 911 is only for emergencies!
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Not news? But you wrote: ”When people park in our spots we can’t get to government business that our city has elected us to do…” You yourself thus elevated having someone in your parking space from being just a nuisance to obstructing your ability to carry out your duties as an elected official, a pretty serious charge and certainly then newsworthy! So the headline could read “Saratoga Springs Finance Commissioner Unable to Conduct City Business Due to
Mayor Kim (or his wife?) Taking Up Her Parking Space”.
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So much for integrity.
She made a mistake, now instead of just owning Minita adds a bunch of nonsense.
“When people park in our spots we can’t get to government business that our city has elected us to do because some of us live far away and can’t find parking here in the summer time and can’t afford to pay for parking in the beautiful parking deck.”
Sad. She was inconvenienced and overreacted. (would be interesting to hear the 911 call she made)
Clearly we need to figure out a way to get people elected that aren’t so self absorbed, or think they are doing all of us a favor doing the job they ran for.
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” When people park in our spots we can’t get to government business that our city has elected us to do because some of us live far away and can’t find parking here in the summer time and can’t afford to pay for parking in the beautiful parking deck.”
Oh, please. I worked in City Hall for several years. I did not have a parking spot and though I was fortunate to be able to walk from home most days when I did need to drive, I found a spot. Having a parking spot is a perk. Other than Commissioners no one in City Hall has one and they all show up for work every day. Talk about privilege!
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And while I’m here let me use your bully pulpit to discuss a news worthy item that it Participatory budgeting. This is a new innovative tool we’re using in Saratoga Springs (the first city in the capital region to apply it). It’s a pilot project that gives residents in our city say over how we should use our budget (project proposals can be individual or organizational). It creates a more inclusive approach to city budgeting. Usually people to city hall with their problems, which we try to resolve. With PB we’re asking people to come to city hall with their solutions. We’ve had presentations over it at city hall during city council meetings and recently announced our PB committee, which includes Republicans and Democrats alike. Please do consider applying for a project. We’ve got some great ones about bike clinics, shredding (for cyclists) and curling. Here are more details: https://www.saratoga-springs.org/2682/Participatory-Budgeting
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Aren’t city council members every year complaining that the city doesn’t have enough funding to hire enough people and buy equipment and vehicles? Now we’re going to let people who have no idea about how the budget demand pet projects that benefit a few (likely well-connected) residents who have time or the platform to drum up support? This sounds like a losing proposal for everyone except for those who complain loud enough, at the expense of city staff and tax payers.
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This council is so out of touch with the citizens of the city. Talk about entitlement – just when you think it can’t get any worse. And her excuse does nothing to help her case, just further proves how out of touch they all are.
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This is actually funny. Anyone who is taking notes on her can add this to her behavioral profile.
– ‘values institutional perks’
– ‘lack of lateral thinking’
– ‘territorial’
I would think in kindergarten she was very precocious and perhaps a bit bossy…
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