Kuczynski and Moran Team up to Kill Mayor’s Plan to Fix FOIL Backlog

Despite Saratoga Springs City Attorney Tony Izzo telling the City Council that the city urgently needed help with the city’s FOIL (Freedom of Information Law) backlog, Accounts Commissioner Dillon Moran and acting Public Works Commissioner Hank Kuczynski blocked Mayor John Safford’s attempt to address this crisis. It wasn’t pretty.

FOIL is a New York state law that grants citizens the right to request and receive government documents unless specific exemptions apply, like personal privacy or national security concerns.

As documented extensively in this blog, the number of FOIL requests the city has received has ballooned in the last two or three years, and the city has been plagued by an inability to meet the demand. Making matters worse, attacks by Dillon Moran and Finance Commissioner Minita Sanghvi (now echoed indirectly by Kuczynski) on Robin McFee, who had been responsible for handling FOIL, resulted in her resigning and taking a job with another public institution. Her last day was December 31, 2024. Her absence has acutely worsened a bad situation. Until a replacement can be hired, the city lacks someone dedicated to handling these requests.

At the January 21, 2025, Council meeting, Mayor John Safford introduced a resolution that would have provided some immediate relief by contracting with Garnet River to assist in processing FOIL until a replacement for McFee can be hired. Garnet River, in addition to helping in processing FOIL requests, has also offered to provide guidance on how AI (artificial intelligence) might automate some processes to ease the problem.

In This Video, Attorney Izzo Attempts To Explain The Urgent Need For Help With FOILs

In This Video, Mayor Safford Echos Izzo Offering A Plan To Mitigate The FOIL Crisis

Moran Launches Attack On Safford With Wild Accusations

In this clip, Moran, who has constantly criticized the Mayor’s handling of FOILs, makes clear that he would never approve any action crafted by Mayor Safford to improve the process. Moran engages yet again in another rambling recital of alleged wrongs against him and conspiracy theories, all of which are hard, if not impossible, to follow.

Kuczynski Votes To Kill Safford’s Effort

The Mayor’s proposal needed three votes to pass. Finance Commissioner Minta Sanghvi was absent from yet another meeting. Moran voted no, and Kuczynski joined him in killing the Mayor’s proposal by abstaining, which had the same effect as a “no” vote.

Moran repeatedly used the word “we” in his ramble before the vote, saying, “We’re not going to let you fix this.” It was unclear whether he was referring to himself and Kuczynski.

In explaining why he would not support the Mayor’s proposal, Mr. Kuczynski echoed many of the attitudes towards FOIL we have been hearing from Commissioners Moran and Finance Commissioner Minita Sanghvi.

Instead of seeing FOIL as a vehicle to make government more transparent and accountable, Kuczynski joins Moran and Sanghvi in characterizing the use of FOILs as somehow being a threat that the city needs to be protected from. He describes FOIL requests as being “thrown against the city” and says:

“I think we need a much more robust FOIL review and FOIL protection.” (JK: Protection from what?)

“We need to protect the institution of the city, and I don’t think we have adequately done that.” (JK: How has the city been failing to protect itself?)

He worries, “… I do know that if I am successful at the write-in election on the 28th, the people who file these FOIL requests will be FOILing me and my department, so therefore, I can’t support this at this time because we need a much more comprehensive and robust answer to this problem.”

Why does Kuczynski feel the need for more protection for himself and his department from citizens seeking public information?

And most alarming, why not support a measure that would begin to address the immediate problem of clearing up a backlog of FOIL requests while working towards broader solutions to address whatever other problems he feels exist?

Kuczynski’s Ignorance As To FOIL Violation Charges Against Moran?

Apparently, some of Kuczynski’s fear of FOIL comes from what he feels was the inexplicable “arrest” of a City Council member regarding something related to the FOIL process. He says:

“I’ve seen a city council member arrested in terms of a foil process which I don’t really understand how that happened.”

First, anyone who knows Commissioner Kuczynski knows that he prides himself on being the “inside guy” who knows all the latest political news. It begs credibility that he is ignorant of the charges against Moran and what prompted them.

There is an earlier blog that goes through the issues of why Moran was charged (not arrested). The issues are quite simple. On three occasions, Robin McFee, the FOIL officer, requested that he produce any documents relevant to FOIL requests by Mike Brandi. Moran claimed to have no documents relevant to the request. Brandi then exercised his right to have Moran certify his claim to have nothing. The following is one of the three documents for three different FOIL requests that Moran signed under oath and had notarized which were false.

As it turned out, documents did exist. Moran was charged because he withheld documents in his possession and signed false, notarized documents claiming he did not have them.

The agenda was published on Friday, and the meeting was held on Tuesday. Kuczynski had plenty of time to understand how all this happened (assuming he did not know). His claim of ignorance is simply not credible.

Reckless, Crazy, and a Disservice

The Mayor’s proposal was modest. We have an immediate and serious problem: the city is struggling to comply with FOIL. I applaud the idea of doing a serious evaluation of how the city can better respond to FOIL, but while we lack even one staff person to handle this, it is disingenuous for Moran and Kuczynski to claim mitigating action was somehow inappropriate until a complete study is done.

Watching this video should be a disturbing wake-up call. Moran and Kuczynski are far more concerned about delaying and impeding FOIL requests than expediting the public’s right to know what happens in city hall. Moran has been plagued by FOILs that have produced damaging information, so it is small wonder that he wants to find a way to limit them.

The Full, Unedited Video