Saratoga Springs Democratic Committee Chair Person Otis Maxwell
The Saratoga Springs Democratic Committee seems to have decided to take a page out of Donald Trump’s playbook in designing their campaign to fill the Public Works Commissioner vacancy. While happy to condemn Trump’s “Stop the Steal” campaign and his frequent, often intemperate criticism of judicial actions that go against him, the local Committee and its candidates have no problem sounding the same themes.
I don’t know how else to describe their repeated ongoing allegations that a conspiracy involving the Saratoga Springs Republican Committee, the Saratoga County Republican Committee, the Saratoga County Republican Commissioner of the Board of Elections, and a local Supreme Court Judge all kept the Democrats from having a candidate on the ballot.
The SSDC has not provided any documentation as to how the Republican cabal pulled any of this off.
It is worth noting that Cassandra Bagramian, the Democratic Commissioner of the Board of Elections, could have appealed the judge’s decision that the election go forward after the Dems failed to file to get a candidate on the ballot, but did not. I wrote to Commissioner Bagramian, asking her why she did not initiate an appeal. She has not yet responded, but I will post her answer if she does. I suspect she did not initiate an appeal because she knew such an appeal would be fruitless as the judge had simply followed the law.
As a registered Democrat, I find the behavior of my local party abhorrent. They apparently believe, like Trump, that throwing red meat, no matter how tainted and inedible, will fool and motivate their base to support Kuczynski.
This city will never return to normalcy if the Democrats continue to use these kinds of cynical tactics rather than supporting its candidates on their merits.
Saratoga Springs Politics 
It insults the intelligence of Saratogians, their pathetic attempt to blame this on the GOP. What is wrong with the leadership of the Democratic committee? Running with the message of Republicans stealing elections because you’re too embarrassed to admit your own incompetence makes the entire party look bad. Not to mention with our future president about to take office, the GOP may well be trying to steal an election again in the future, so why don’t we save these accusations for when it actually matters – because it’s actually happened. Not because you’re trying to save face.
I recently tried to describe the state of politics in our small upstate city to an out-of-town friend – and how there seems to be very little correlation between the commonly held ideologies of those in the Democratic Party, myself included, and the actions taken by our local Democratic committee. They seem to be a group of vengeful, arrogant and dysfunctional people with little interest in the successful operation and leadership of our city. I continue to ask myself where someone who is actually a Democrat and operates like a Democrat can exist in this local political landscape – because everywhere I look, all I see is crazy. Why can’t we get this right?
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Well said.
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Vote Republican in local races! I promise our candidates are vetted to be the best people for the job regardless of party affiliation.
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This is a good description of the Democratic Committee. That said, I’d like to point out that, unfortunately, they do not represent many of the Democrats in the city. Rather, the more logical and centrist Democrats have been run out of the committee in what I imagine is a planned and plotted agenda. This is demonstrated when a long time Democrat requests support in an election and they are not even allowed to present. I’m afraid this has become more prevalent in the last several years.
Several years ago a bunch of citizens, myself included, chose to create a separate line on the ballot – One Saratoga. This included both Democrats and Republicans who were qualified candidates. They all won that year and with the exception of perhaps one, I was proud to support and work for their elections.
So, Democrats that recognize that the current committee and their minions on the Council are not only unproductive but also often counter-productive need to speak up – LOUDLY! Find ways to insist that the responsible Democrats in Saratoga Springs (there are many) are heard and counted. Just as nationally, this is no time to be quite or complain without action.
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It is important for readers to know that the Saratoga Springs Democratic Committee and their Public Works candidate could have filed a motion to intervene in the litigation involving the Board of Elections. Such motions are routinely granted as of right under the Civil Practice Law and Rules to parties who are not named in the lawsuit but “when the representation of the person’s interests by the parties is or may be inadequate and the person is or may be bound by the judgment” (CPLR 1012[a][2]). Such intervention would have given the Committee, the candidate or both the right to appeal the adverse determination by Justice Walsh. That appeal would have been heard by a five-Judge panel of the Appellate Division, Third Department, the vast majority of whom are Democrats. Thus, the question of whether Justice Walsh’s decision was an erroneous determination based merely on partisan politics could have been adjudicated in a forum which the Committee would not see as hostile to their interests. Why they chose to sit back and do nothing and then claim victim status may never be known. Yet the fact remains that the Democrats are poised to cede control of the City Council to the Republicans without a real fight.
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