Judge Rules City Violated Open Meetings Law; Moran Acts Out Of Course

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Saratoga County Supreme Court Justice Dianne Freestone has ruled that the previous Saratoga Springs City Council violated the New York State Open Meetings Law (OML) by conducting city business by email. Saratoga Springs Accounts Commissioner Dillon Moran rejected the judge’s decision when he spoke to the Saratogian in an excellent article by Emma Ralls in the November 15, 2024, edition:

Moran stated to the Saratogian. “I did nothing wrong. The judge stated I did nothing wrong and the judgment reflects it.”

Dillon Moran To The Saratogian

I don’t know what opinion Moran read, but it was not the one issued by Judge Freestone on November 11. The opinion states several times that the city’s use of emails to transact business violated OML. What is not to understand about this statement:

“The court finds the respondents [JK:The city] violated the open meetings law”

Judge Dianne Fresstone’s Ruling

The Events

Last year, on October 3rd, Governor Kathy Hochul issued an edict allowing licensed liquor establishments to serve patrons early on Sunday morning to watch a special Buffalo Bills game in London, England.

In response, the previous city administration (Mayor Ron Kim, Commissioners Moran, Sanghvi, Golub, and Montagnino) used emails to authorize the local bars to open early rather than convene a special meeting.

The Council Had Conceded Back in 2023 that They Violated The Open Meetings Law

At the December 5, 2023, City Council meeting almost a year ago, there was general acknowledgment that the city had violated the Open Meetings Law in approving the early bar openings. Here, Mayor Kim concedes that they violated the OML.

Even Moran conceded it at the time:

The Lawsuit

In October of 2023, Saratoga Springs Republican Chair Mike Brandi sued the city, arguing that the city’s use of email violated the New York State Open Meetings Law. He had previously sought an opinion from the New York State Committee on Open Government (COOG). The COOG opinion confirmed the violation:

“In our opinion, a vote should have ocurred at an open meeting in compliance with the OML.”

COOG October 23, 2023

Brandi offered to withdraw his lawsuit to avoid litigation if the Council members underwent an hour and a half of training conducted by the COOG. All the other Council members agreed to the training except for Moran. His petty response necessitated the City Attorneys defending the city in New York Supreme Court. As noted earlier, the Council had already admitted to the violation, so Moran’s response was particularly belligerent, foolish, and wasteful of the taxpayers’ money.

Not An Isolated Violation

The email addressed in the lawsuit was not an isolated event. The FOIL that unearthed that violation also produced numerous other similar violations of voting done by email. Unfortunately, the other violations were exempt from litigation due to the statute of limitations.

The FOIL also revealed hundreds of texts in group messages prohibited by the Open Meetings Law. Carrying on a group text among Council members is just another example of, at a minimum, denying the public knowledge of deliberations by elected officials.

Due to the statute of limitations, Brandi could not bring these to Judge Freestone’s attention.

The Decision

In her decision, Judge Freestone agreed that the city had violated the OML but noted that their action was “unintentional, immaterial and wholly unprejudicial.” I am not a lawyer, but I think the judge meant that the Council had not intentionally violated the OML and that the action was for a minor, non-controversial issue. The Council was not trying to hide its actions from the public, which somehow mitigated their violation.

With respect to Judge Freestone, I am afraid she had her dates wrong. Governor Hochul issued her special waiver for bars on October 3, 2023. The Council began emailing about taking action on October 4. That meant that they had three days to schedule a meeting, and, in fact, they could have had their meeting on Saturday, so they actually had four days, not one day, as stated in Judge Freestone’s decision. All they needed was three Council members to convene for a few minutes.

The fundamental point remains. They did not meet the OML law requirements because they were ignorant that they were violating it, not because they did not have time.

Having been advised back in 2023 that they had violated the OML and having acknowledged their error, the real question is why Moran refused the easy solution of participating in a short course on OML, which would have resulted in Brandi agreeing to drop the lawsuit.

Dillon Moran Acts Out

Moran’s response to the Saratogian Newspaper reporter Emma Ralls demonstrates that if anyone on the Council needs training on OML, it is he.

“I find it absolutely disgusting that me doing my job and helping small businesses is somehow the subject matter of this frivolous lawsuit.”

Moran to the Saratogian

“Frankly, I was simply doing my ministerial duty and letting my peers know that I was doing it. For that, the city got a lawsuit, who knows how many wasted hours of court time,” Moran said. “When he (Brandi) continues to point fingers and say that we’re responsible for costing taxpayers money, he is wrong. I reject that because he, himself, is the cause.”

“He is the person who’s trying to criminalize our personal behavior over politics and it’s disgusting. We’re above this, or we should be above this as a community.”

Moran To Saratogian

How blind and ignorant does he think the public is? He violated the OML and refused to accept Brandi’s offer to withdraw his lawsuit if the City Council participated in a mere hour and a half of training. He then blames Brandi for the cost of litigation. He also makes a strange accusation about Brandi trying to “criminalize our personal behavior over politics.” What criminal behavior is he talking about? The OML issue is civil, not criminal.