Month: August 2024

At the August 20, 2024, Saratoga Springs City Council meeting, Accounts Commissioner Dillon Moran presented the Department of Public Works agenda as the Commissioner of Public Works position is now vacant with the departure of Jason Golub for a position with the State of New York. I’m not sure exactly why Moran is playing this role. Nevertheless, Moran was the one to move the item on the Public Works agenda for the city to pay the attorney fees of Jason Golub and his former Executive Assistant Brooke Van Buskirk. They had incurred the fees using Oscar Schreiber as their counsel for interviews by the New York State Police regarding the ongoing criminal investigation into the on-call scandal.

The ensuing discussion about paying the bills for Golub and VanBuskirk was tortured. I have included the full video of that conversation at the end of this post for readers willing to endure the entirety of Moran and Sanghvi’s dubious arguments.

Key to all this is the lawsuit, which is still awaiting the judge’s decision, brought by Mike Brandi, the city Republican chairman. Brandi challenged the Council’s 3-2 decision on July 2, 2024, to pay the legal bills for Dillon Moran and Stacy Connors amounting to $60,000. Brandi argued several reasons why the Council should not have approved these bills. The most relevant one is Brandi’s contention that the city code for indemnification is too broad and conflicts with New York State law. I discussed this in an earlier post, but the basic issue is that while the city code allows for indemnification in civil and criminal matters, the state only provides coverage in a criminal case if the city employee/official is found innocent or the prosecution drops the case. Bills incurred in criminal cases are to be paid upfront by the defendants. They can then be reimbursed if they are cleared of the charges. The bills Moran and Connors incurred were related to the investigation of the on-call pay scandal, which is a criminal case. The bills put forth for Golub and Van Buskirk are for representation in the same criminal investigation.

Moran Rants, Sanghvi Pontificates, Coll Reasons

The evening’s discussion on Moran’s motion involved the usual rants by Moran, dubious legal advice from Finance Commissioner Minita Sanghvi, and repeated patient attempts by Public Safety Commissioner Tim Coll to explain to them the legal issues involved.

At one point, Moran attacked Coll, demanding to know how he knew the lawyers’ bills were related to a criminal matter. Coll’s reply to Moran was simple: This is a NY State Police investigation, and they only investigate criminal matters.

Moran then launched into a rant denouncing Mike Brandi and his lawyer, Chris Obstarczyk, for suing the city, calling them “grifters” and inaccurately describing a previous lawsuit they won against the city.

Commissioner Sanghvi offered her own skewed legal theory about the city’s obligation to pay the lawyers’ bills by claiming that, notwithstanding the ongoing state police investigation and the seating of a grand jury over the on-call scandal, the matter can only be categorized as criminal once someone is charged. Coll attempted, without success, to explain to Sanghvi that this was not the case. Sanghvi continued to repeat this incorrect piece of information as if saying it more than once could somehow make it true.

In another piece of magical thinking, Sanghvi and Moran also dismissed the idea that Brandi might sue the city again if the Council voted to pay Golub’s and Van Buskirk’s bills. Moran opined that he did not operate in a world of hypotheticals. Sanghvi was similarly skeptical but insisted that if Brandi sued successfully, the city could claw back the money, not from the lawyers but from the city employees who hired the lawyers. She actually said that should the city lose, she would just go over to DPW and get the money from the two employees (I am not exaggerating, as the video documents). Even if Golub and Van Buskirk still worked for the city, which they do not, there is every reason to expect they would not simply acquiesce to Sanghvi’s request, and that this would lead to more lawsuits this time with the unappealing scenario of the city suing its own employees.

Coll’s Amendment

Commissioner Coll was the voice of reason. He tried to repeatedly explain that the main issue before the court in the case of Moran and Connors’ bills was whether or not the city could legally pay upfront for lawyers for city officials/employees in criminal cases. This same issue applied to Golub’s and Van Buskirk’s bills. A decision in the Moran/Connors case would give the Council guidance on how to deal with the new bills. Coll offered an amendment indicating that he thought Schreiber’s bills were reasonable and that he should be paid, but only pending a favorable decision for the city in Brandi’s most recent action re Moran and Connors bills.

During the discussion, city attorney David Harper would only say that it would be legal to pay the bill. That is really not the central question. Strictly speaking, paying the bill on the evening of the Council meeting was legal as it was not at that moment being challenged in court. It would have been helpful, however, if Harper had volunteered what problems paying the bill might precipitate if the court should rule against the city and/or Brandi sued over paying the new bill.

The real question was whether paying the Golub/Van Buskirk bills was prudent until the judge determined whether such a payment is lawful.

It will be a mess if the city pays the bill and Judge Freestone determines that state law overrules our code.

While Mayor Safford voted for Coll’s amendment, he turned around and voted to pay the bill when the amendment failed to pass. The motion to pay Schreiber’s bill passed with Moran, Sanghvi, and Safford voting in favor. Coll abstained, citing that he did not have enough information. It was troubling that Safford appeared so focused on the fact that Schreiber’s bill was reasonable (which it was) that he appeared oblivious to the broader legal issues.

Yet Another TRO

On August 26, 2024, Brandi’s attorney, Chris Obstarczyk, successfully sought a temporary restraining order blocking the city from paying Schrieber’s bill, pending a decision on many of the issues he asserted in the Moran/Connors lawsuit.

In the August 27, 2024, edition of the Times Union, reporter Wendy Liberatore wrote:

Commissioner of Finance Minita Sanghvi, who voted to pay Golub and Moran’s bills, said the city is obligated to pay their specialized attorneys, regardless of who they defend.

“If we hire somebody we have to pay them and that’s important,” Sanghvi said. “You can’t be making it political.”

She also said that not paying vendors can affect the city’s credit. Before the second suit was filed, she also assured the council that the city could claw back the funds from Golub and VanBuskirk if a judge deemed the city should not have paid Schreiber. Either way, she said Schreiber should be paid and that they can’t function by speculating if a second lawsuit would be filed.

Liberatore August 27, 2024

I couldn’t agree more with Sanghvi that if the city hires someone, the person should be paid, but there are some important caveats that she has ignored.

First, the city did not hire Oscar Schreiber. He was employed by Golub and VanBuskirk.

Secondly, there is the issue of what is legal. Hiring someone for some purpose must meet the legal obligations of the city and the state of New York. Whether Golub and VanBuskirk have a right to an attorney in a criminal matter is currently before a judge. Commissioner Sanghvi continues to deny that legitimate legal questions exist regarding the eligibility of Golub and VanBuskirk to counsel paid for by the city.

Consider that Commissioner Sanghvi’s job is to scrutinize all bills to ensure they comply with the laws of the city and the state. She seems to want to dismiss legitimate arguments about the wisdom and legality of paying these bills by falsely suggesting any opposition or even hesitation is “political.”

In fact, it is highly questionable that declining to pay an illegal bill would damage the city with credit agencies, but paying such a bill would do little to help the city maintain the credibility and trust of its insurance carrier.

Commissioner Sanghvi also improperly reduced the situation to whether or not to pay Schreiber when the amendment offered by Coll was that Schreiber’s bills should be paid if Judge Freestone determined that they fell within the law. No one at the Council table argued simply that the bills should not be paid. How Commissioner Sanghvi arrived at that understanding raises serious questions about her competence or just as troubling that she was attempting to “politicize” the issue herself.

Sanghvi Gets A Lawyer

Sanghvi announced at the Council meeting that the State Police have contacted her to schedule an interview related to the on-call scandal and that she has gone ahead and secured legal representation at $525.00 an hour [Readers may recall that Sanghvi has consistently dismissed the on-call issues as frivolous]. This is a higher rate than Robin Dalton’s and Meg Kelly’s attorneys, whose bills Sanghvi continually complains about. She went on at some length that, at the request of the City Attorney, she has provided the hourly rate and scope of work even though she was not required to since Moran, Connors, Golub, and Van Buskirk had not provided that information. Despite Commissioner Coll’s attempts to explain to her that since it was a criminal matter, it was unclear whether the city could legally pay her bills, she seemed unable to grasp the concept.

Commissioner Sanghvi is in a dicey situation. As the Commissioner of Finance, it is her department’s responsibility to protect the city by scrutinizing all bills. She also has broad authority over whether to pay bills submitted to her office. Strictly speaking, this whole scandal could have been avoided had her office rejected the bills submitted by three deputies who were clearly not eligible to be paid for being on-call. What her legal culpability is in this matter remains to be seen.

At $525.00 per hour, she could encumber quite a bill, which may or may not be covered depending on Judge Freestone’s decision.

Judging by her remarks and demeanor during the discussion, she appears oblivious to her situation.

Sanghvi Lawyers Up

Schreiber Bill

The Times Union has run a story on the city hiring an attorney to represent it in dealing with the New York State Attorney General’s demands on Saratoga Springs following her office’s investigation and report on the city’s conflicts with the local Black Lives Matter group.

After rehashing the legal expenses the city has been enduring, reporter Wendy Liberatore notes that the Council is united on the need to hire outside counsel to respond to the AG. She then provides Accounts Commissioner Dillon Moran a platform to attack fellow Public Safety Commissioner Tim Coll.

Moran said he is skeptical about Coll’s sincerity to collaborate. He believes Coll and the police will fight the attorney general on proposed reforms such as training police on de-escalation, bias and community policing.

Times Union August 23, 2024

Moran goes on to make further accusations:

“We are cognizant of the fact we do not have enough legal talent nor appropriate legal talent to engage in the negotiation with the attorney general,” Moran said. “That we all agree on. … The problem is that (Coll) wants to fight the attorney general … His (requests for quotes) is written like somebody who doesn’t want to collaborate with the attorney general, but like somebody who wants to argue over every word in the (proposed attorney general) document [JK:Emphasis added]. … This could harm the city for years going forward.”

Times Union August 23, 2024

Unfortunately for Moran, it was not Coll who drafted the “request for quotes,” but the City Attorney, and Coll has invited all members of the City Council to participate in the interviews of the attorneys who respond to the RFQ.

Moran (and Ms. Liberatore) apparently did not bother to check the facts on this or his other allegations. The city police force, for instance, is already routinely being trained in “de-escalation, bias, and community policing,” so there will be no fight over those reforms as they have already been implemented.

I am in Chicago having participated in the march on Monday opposing my country’s funding of the genocide in Gaza.

I am a Jew and I grew up in a home where when my parents said never again they were not talking about only Jews but the slaughter of innocents of any nationality or race.

I know my gesture of marching is a small one but the images of Palestinians carrying maimed children is simply more than I can bear.

This war will not only devastate the people of the West Bank and Gaza but in the end will threaten the long term future of Israel.

Back in April, Saratoga Springs Accounts Commissioner Dillon Moran published a Request for Proposals that would fund attorneys for his Accounts Department along with the Finance Department, and the Department of Public Works. I described his power move in some detail that month.

I had assumed he had dropped the idea but recently he received responses from a number of law firms. He has selected the firm Harris Beach. The award of a contract was put on his agenda for the August 20, 2024, meeting. His proposal was met with intense questioning from Mayor Safford at this morning’s (August 19,2024) pre-agenda meeting. Safford was concerned that Dillon’s proposal lacked any specific guidelines as to when and how the Harris Beach firm would be used by the three departments. Moran bizarrely argued that the guidelines could be figured out after the firm was hired. In the end it was clear that Moran did not have the votes to accept this contract and withdrew that item from his agenda.

If Moran is eventually successful, the toxic environment at Council meetings would then include dueling lawyers at who knows what cost to the city.

It is worth noting that at a Council meeting on October 18, 2022, Finance Commissioner Minita Sanghvi sided with then Mayor Ron Kim in opposing a similar proposal by Moran to have the city fund an attorney for him. Here is the record of that discussion:

At the time Kim and Moran were feuding and Sanghvi was Kim’s ally. Sanghvi has been silent on Moran’s latest foray and was not at this morning’s Pre-Agenda meeting

Comments

I sent requests to the three candidates that I am currently aware of seeking to fill the DPW Commissioner vacancy. I asked them to review Moran’s proposal and offer their thoughts. Sara Burger and Michael Ladd did not respond. The following is the response from Chuck Marshall:

“Commissioner Moran’s pattern of alleged mistreatment of staff, increasing litigation, and propensity for shifting responsibilities away from himself, has proven problematic for the city.  During this period of mounting legal bills – already burdening taxpayers – it doesn’t seem fiscally responsible to contract for separate attorneys for Accounts, Finance, and Public Works.”

Moran’s Empire

With the resignation of Jason Golub, Moran has taken it on himself to represent DPW at the Council table thus expanding his presence.

[JK: I received a text this evening (08/21/24) from Michael Ladd. He indicated that my text had gone to his spam folder which is why he did not respond. He observed that Moran had withdrawn it to amend it.]

In a front-page story in the August 6, 2024, edition of the Daily Gazette, Sara Burger announced her candidacy to replace Saratoga Springs Public Works Commissioner Jason Golub, who is leaving this position to take a job with the state. On the very same day, she apparently emailed the executive committee of the Saratoga Springs Democratic Committee, withdrawing from the race. Then, apparently, she reversed her decision again, reaffirming her intention to campaign to replace Golub.

According to a story in the August 7, 2024, edition of the Times Union, the Saratoga Springs Democratic Committee had selected Burger over Gordon Boyd, who also sought the position.

I texted Burger on August 7, 2024, and asked for clarification.

Ms. Burger never replied.

I then emailed Otis Maxwell, the chair of the Saratoga Springs Democratic Committee, asking if I could have a copy of her email. He never replied.

It is reasonable to assume that Ms. Burger mysteriously withdrew from the race and then re-entered it.

I think it is reasonable for Ms. Burger to directly address the incident and, assuming she did withdraw and re-engage, explain her decisions.

The Word Partisan Doesn’t Work

Accounts Commissioner Dillon Moran has asserted that because the number of registered Democrats is greater than the number of Republicans in the city, that the person selected by the Democratic Committee should be Golub’s replacement.

It is important to understand that for the group currently in control of the Democratic Committee, being a Democrat is not enough. As we saw in the last election cycle when the Committee refused to let three Democrats interested in running for City Council even address the full Committee, any candidate they will even consider, let alone endorse for this current vacancy, must be loyal to the current faction in control of the committee and a fan of Moran and Finance Commissioner Sanghvi.

In contrast, outgoing Commissioner Golub told the Times Union:

‘…his replacement should not be a partisan pick, but one who would work well with the staff. He also told the mayor he would be happy to chair the committee [a committee that would vet and recommend a candidate].”

Times Union August 7, 2024

The Democratic Committee quickly announced on Facebook that they “would like to assist in identifying candidates for the DPW position” and that anyone interested in the position should contact them. When Otis Maxwell, the Democratic chair, however, was contacted by a registered Republican who was and still is interested in the position and has qualifications for the job and a history of working well with city officials and residents of all political persuasions, he was told that the Democratic Committee was only interviewing Democrats.

Ironically, Otis Maxwell, the Democratic chair, had told the Daily Gazette

“we are looking for the strongest candidate, and it would be great if we found somebody who was somewhat apolitical and just had great qualifications and wanted the job and that might help the other side approve them.”

-Daily Gazette July 26,2024

The committee then went ahead and endorsed Sarah Burger, a former Democratic chair who is highly partisan and who has no qualifications. So much for looking for the strongest candidate who might help the “other side” approve them. Note also that Public Safety Commissioner Tim Coll is a registered Democrat but has automatically been delegated to be on the “other side.”

In ironic contrast to the hyper-tribalism of the Democrats who view being a Republican as being the personification of evil, it is the local Republicans who have demonstrated tolerance and the willingness to look beyond party registration in considering who to support to fill Golub’s position. Readers will recall that they endorsed Tim Coll, a registered Democrat who successfully ran for Public Safety Commissioner in the last election.

Mike Brandi, chair of the Saratoga Springs Republican Party, told the Times Union that he is:

“available to speak with anyone interested in the position to discuss my committee’s priorities for the Department of Public Works. … While the local Democratic Party has refused to interview independents and Republicans for their recommendation to fill the position, our priority is what is best for the city.” 

Times Union August 7, 2024

Probable Grid Lock

There is currently controversy and confusion over when an election to fill Golub’s position can take place. Moran claims that he will make it happen on October 29, 2024. Without going too far into the weeds, this is highly unlikely. It remains unclear when a special election will be held.

In the meantime, the only way to fill the position, pending an election, would be for a majority of the Council to vote for a candidate to serve as Commissioner until a special election can be held. This would require three votes, and with Golub gone and the two Democrats supported by the Committee, Moran and Sanghvi, committed to Sarah Burger, this seems unlikely.

A number of people have expressed interest in potentially filling Golub’s position. They are either independents or Republicans with little history in the scrum of city politics. Given the public stance of the city Democratic committee, though, it is highly unlikely that Moran and Sanghvi would consider any of these candidates and, therefore, that a majority can be found.

Only time will tell.

There is a tentative plan for RISE Housing and Support Services to lease the building owned by the city of Saratoga Springs at 5 Williams Street that was used for many years as the city’s Senior Center. RISE hopes to locate its administrative offices there while Bonacio Construction renovates RISE’s office facility at 127 Union Street. Following the renovation, which is estimated to take six months to a year, RISE will relinquish the former Senior Center building and move back to their previous location.

Former Mayor Ron Kim’s history of trying to make the Senior Center into a twenty-four/seven, low-barrier homeless shelter has complicated the process for RISE. Given the Center’s proximity to the Saratoga Central Catholic School, Kim’s plan produced visceral opposition from parents whose children attended the school. This history has bred an atmosphere of fear and suspicion towards the current proposal for RISE to now use the facility.

The plan is now for the City Council to vote on a lease of the Senior Center at their August 6, 2024, meeting.

Regrettably, the agenda published on Friday, August 2, did not include an item authorizing the lease, nor was there a copy of what was being proposed.

How To Create A Toxic Environment

Normally the Commissioner of Public Works would be responsible for bringing a lease like this to the table as this office is responsible for the city’s buildings and facilities. For whatever reason, Jason Golub, the current Public Works Commissioner, has declined to play this role, although he has told people that he plans to vote to approve the lease.

Instead Golub has handed off this responsibility to Accounts Commissioner Dillon Moran. While we are told that Moran plans to put a proposed lease up for a Council vote Tuesday (August 6, 2024) this item does not appear on his agenda nor has any document been posted anywhere on the city website for public review.

Unconfirmed rumors of what will be in this proposed lease abound.

There are reports that at least three versions of the lease are circulating.

Moran has told people that the reason that the lease was not on the published agenda was that it needed further work.

As both Moran and Golub refuse to respond to my emails, I have been unable to find out why Golub has refused to sponsor the resolution or what changes Moran thinks are required.

One source claims that Moran has said that there will not be time to make the changes before the pre-agenda meeting on Monday morning, August 5. This means that neither the Council members nor the public will have seen the proposal prior to Moran asking the Council to take action on Tuesday night.

Golub’s Troubling Behavior

Discussions about this plan began last fall so there has been plenty of time to craft a lease and to properly inform the public of its contents and meet with citizens to hear their concerns. That responsibility rested clearly on Golub’s shoulders as DPW Commissioner. Why he has abrogated that responsibility and allowed Moran to take over is unknown.

The Need For A Special Meeting

I have repeatedly written about the Faction’s (Moran/Sanghvi/Golub) indifference to the need to inform the public in a timely way about actions the Council plans to take. Rather than publish proposed resolutions in the agenda, which is posted on Friday nights, they regularly prefer to wait until the Tuesday nights of Council meetings to share what they plan to do.

It is no wonder that the Catholic school community is skeptical about the lease’s terms.

The only solution is to table Moran’s proposal, hold a special Council meeting to consider it and publish the proposal prior to that meeting at a time that will ensure the community has time to consider it and address the Council with their concerns.