Saratoga Springs Accounts Commissioner Dillon Moran has inserted himself into the news stories on the charges against ex-Public Works Commissioner Jason Golub and Department of Public Works Deputy Joe O’Neill III. Following the disclosure of the charges for Official Misconduct, a Class A misdemeanor, Moran contacted the media to attempt damage control on behalf of his friend, Jason Golub.
Neither Moran nor Golub’s lawyer denies that public employees did work on the Commissioner’s private home. Moran’s strategy is to simply belittle the fact that Golub, rather than spend money like the rest of us to hire a plumber to fix a plugged-up sink, had employees under him make two visits to his home when he was present to solve his problem. Moran then attempts to divert attention from this misconduct by making wild accusations against Public Safety Commissioner Tim Coll and the Saratoga Springs Police.
Moran tries to confuse the public and divert attention from the charges against Golub by claiming that Coll and the SSPD had some dark ulterior desire to destroy Golub. His narrative conveniently ignores that the investigation was prompted not by Coll or the police but by the New York State Comptroller, who referred it to the State Police. Moran also ignores that Coll has no authority to direct the police to bring charges or make an arrest. It is curious that Moran focuses only on Golub and doesn’t even try to explain the similar charges against O’Neill
Commissioner Moran’s Attacks on Coll and SSPD:
“It should be deeply troubling to everyone that the Public Safety Commissioner Coll and the Saratoga Springs Police Department intend to charge former city Commissioner Jason Golub with a crime based on a jug of Drano and a clogged sink,” Moran said. “This is more about the city’s law enforcement priorities and suspect motivations. We have reached a new low in the city.”
Times Union November 7, 2024
I have to admit, Mike Brandi’s obsession with me is flattering. Unfortunately what we are dealing with is a pattern of attacks on former Commissioner Golub by Tim Coll the citizen and Tim Coll the DPS Commissioner.
“No further comment” isn’t an acceptable response to the intentional personal destruction he is causing. [JK: It is inappropriate for public officials to engage in public comment in an ongoing investigation. A lesson that Commissioner Moran has never learned.]
We need to ask, why are you attacking this man for a second time?
Moran’s Facebook Page
City Accounts Commissioner Dillon Moran also issued a statement on the matter calling it “deeply troubling” that Public Safety Commissioner Tim Coll and the police department intend to charge Golub with a crime based on this.
“This is more about the City’s law enforcement priorities and suspect motivations. We have reached a new low in the City.”
“It is my understanding that the AG is already aware of and looking into this,” he added.
Channel 13 News
Abuse Is Abuse
I ran the federally funded Saratoga County Economic Opportunity Council (now LifeWorks Community Action) for sixteen years. I fully understood that as the chief executive, I could not cross a line by using employees under me to do any work for me personally.
Apparently, Moran has no such inhibitions. If he feels it was OK for his fellow Commissioner to use public employees to do work on his private home, one has to ask, what “minor” uses of public resources does Moran feel he is eligible for?
It is unconscionable for Moran to use the reasonable application of the law in the case of Golub and O’Neill for acts Moran does not dispute happened to try to smear Commissioner Coll and the police by alleging that they have some unnamed, nefarious agenda.
As a registered Democrat, I find it even more troubling that the Saratoga Springs Democratic Committee promotes Moran’s narrative on their Facebook page. When did my party decide that it is perfectly ok for elected officials to have their employees perform personal services for them? Are there no committee members willing to insist on a re-examination of this decline in ethics?
Saratoga Springs Politics 
I agree with John Kaufmann. It would be better for everyone if the police carried out their investigation so that all the facts can come out. It is especially important that City officials not try to taint the efforts of the police.
If the allegations are true regarding having DPW employees called to Commissioner Golub’s house for a clogged drain or having them repair the sink of a family member of Deputy Commissioner O’Neill, both the Commissioner and the Deputy Commissioner should be considered at the very least guilty of exercising very poor judgement.
This is not the first time that allegations have surfaced regarding a member of the City Council using City employees and/or City equipment for their personal property improvements. But this time, there is an official investigation, a major step in the right direction. Let the process play out.
Chris Mathiesen
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It’s important to note that Wendy Liberatore’s coverage in the TU is parroting Dillon’s version of this scandal and referencing the AG’s criticism of the City’s response to BLM as a counterpoint.
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