Michele Madigan’s Regrettable Remarks

Several speakers came to the to the microphone during the public comment period at the August 5, 2025, Saratoga Springs City Council meeting to weigh in on the proposal Accounts Commissioner Dillon Moran had on his agenda to have the city pay his and former Public Works Commissioner Jason Golub’s legal bills for criminal cases.

Among the speakers was Mayoral candidate Michele Madigan who addressed the Council in a hyper-partisan attack that is emblematic of her campaign. In response to criticism of her remarks, she issued an additional unfortunate statement on her Facebook page.

Madigan used both platforms to repeatedly claim without any evidence that criminal charges against former Public Works Commissioner Jason Golub were “baseless and politically motivated”. In addition Ms. Madigan went even further to make the hyperbolic claim that the city was falling victim to some kind of “dangerous pattern of political retaliation” by Republicans verging on authoritarianism. In the course of her 3 minutes at the microphone she managed to also attack the city’s police department, her fellow Democrat, Public Safety Commissioner Tim Coll, and Supreme Court Judge James Walsh, as well as make numerous inaccurate statements about the city’s indemnification policy and decisions made by City Court Judge Jeffrey Wait.

Her performance at this Council meeting and her continued inappropriate and inaccurate postings on social media raise serious questions about her suitability for the office of Mayor.

Madigan’s Misstatements in Defense of Jason Golub

In this clip from her speech before the City Council, Madigan characterizes the charges brought against Jason Golub as baseless and politically driven. This is an accusation she repeated in her Facebook post the next day, where she claimed “his case was a politically motivated attack, fueled by John Kaufmann, the local GOP, and their allies, not by any legitimate concern for public safety or the law.” She goes on to claim incorrectly that “…the charges were thrown out.”

Ms. Madigan’s harsh accusation that Jason Golub was the victim of a “politically motivated attack” does not survive scrutiny. Readers will recall that two DPW workers visited Golub’s private home on two occasions to do plumbing work. The investigation that led to the misdemeanor charges was prompted by two whistleblowers who worked under Golub at the Department of Public Works and reported the incident to the police.

The facts are not in dispute. Golub himself never denied that this happened. His own Deputy, Joe O’Neil, pleaded guilty to similar charges involving this and another incident.

For Madigan to also characterize the resolution of Golub’s case as “the charges were thrown out” is particularly troubling. It suggests that the court somehow cleared Golub when, in fact, this was not the case.

In fact, City Court Judge Jeffrey Wait dismissed the charges because the charging document did not address whether Golub knew that the employees worked for the city and were doing work on his home during city time. Specifically, the dismissal was “without prejudice,” meaning that the prosecution could amend their charge and proceed to trial. There is nothing here that supports Golub’s innocence.

It is hard to believe that Mr. Golub, who holds a law degree from Columbia University, was oblivious to the fact that having his employees work on his private residence during work hours was, at the very least, potentially inappropriate. To dismiss charges that Jason Golub’s foolish and potentially criminal use of city employees was simply “baseless and politically motivated” raises questions about Madigan’s judgment.

That Ms. Madigan, who is seeking to be Mayor of this city, chooses to repeat the false narrative that Golub was the victim of a racist, vindictive attack by the Saratoga Springs Police Department and Commissioner Coll is deeply troubling.

Did Madigan Flip-Flop on Paying Moran’s Legal Bill?

In my previous blog, I wrote that Madigan’s support for paying Dillon Moran’s attorney fees at the August 5 Council meeting represented a change from her earlier position when she had opposed this.

In her Facebook post entitled “Setting the Record Straight: What I Said–and Did Not Say–on August 5,” Madigan stated:

“Let me be clear on my own record:

*I did not support the City Council’s 4-1 vote that created on-call pay

*I have not spoken in favor of indemnifying Dillon Moran.”

I don’t know of anyone, including myself, who ever suggested that then Supervisor Madigan supported on-call pay, so I’m not quite sure why she felt she had to mention this and include a video of her remarks at that January 2024 meeting when the then Democratic majority approved that controversial pay increase to Deputies’ salaries.

On the other hand, I believe a reasonable person listening to Madigan’s remarks from August 5 might well think that she was defending Dillon Moran’s demand that the city pay his six figure legal bills. Here is the clip for you, the readers, to decide.

This clip also documents Ms. Madigan’s misunderstanding of the city’s indemnification policy, a misunderstanding shared by the chair of the Saratoga Springs Democratic Committee and the 2 or 3 members of the committee, including their Public Works candidate, who also spoke during the public comment period. Like Ms. Madigan, they all shared the misunderstanding that somehow the Council had a choice of whether or not to pay Moran’s and Golub’s bills, as city policy allowed for that. Madigan refers to the city “refusing to indemnify [Jason] even though our city code clearly says he should be.” At another point, she claims that Judge Walsh “overturned a legal Council vote to hire legal counsel.” The problem is that the previous Council’s vote to pay these bills was not legal, as the city code does not cover fees in criminal cases. Judge Walsh confirmed this in his decision. To characterize the city code as “clearly” providing indemnification is representative of her pattern of being careless with her facts.

As pointed out in my last blog, the city code currently covers the legal costs of city officials and employees for civil matters only. Both Moran and Golub were involved in criminal cases. Clearly, neither Madigan nor the other Democrats who passionately spoke had bothered to do their homework first.

I think most people are concerned and leery of the potential for the politicization of our courts. It would be prudent, however, before cavalierly dismissing Judge Walsh’s decision, that Ms. Madigan offer some explanation as to why she believes his decision was flawed. Partisan attacks on the courts that lack supporting analysis only serve to further poison the political environment.

Madigan Goes Mega MAGA

In this clip, Madigan’s remarks verge on hysteria as she claims Saratoga is on the brink of becoming an authoritarian state. Does anyone really believe that Mayor Safford is a tool of Mike Brandi in a plot to install an authoritarian regime in Saratoga Springs? Apparently, Madigan does.

Deciding Who Is A Democrat

In the meantime, Madigan has given herself the authority to decide who is a Democrat and who is not. In this clip, Ms. Madigan expels Tim Coll from the Democratic Party. According to her, there is a Republican majority on the City Council, when in fact there are three registered Democrats who are all running together with her on the Democratic slate. I’m not quite sure what her litmus test is to be a “true” Democrat. I have previously observed the cult nature of the local Saratoga Springs Democratic Committee. Ms. Madigan’s sectarianism is divisive and only further undermines the civil respect that is key to thoughtful Council deliberations.

Changing Indemnification Coverage Already in the Works

I do agree with one of the statements Madigan made on Facebook. She wrote:

If the code can’t protect officials acting in good faith from targeted legal harassment, it’s the code that needs to change.

This change is already moving forward. A proposal to change the city’s policy for indemnification was on Mayor Safford’s agenda last Tuesday night. He has set a pubic hearing for the next Council meeting to hear comments on a proposed resolution to indemnify future officials in criminal cases if the official is determined to be not guilty. Following the hearing, it is expected to be adopted. Unfortunately for Moran and Golub, this is not retroactive. 

Where Are Saratoga Politics Headed?

I believe that most voters are starved for a tempered campaign that eschews drama and partisan extremes. Regrettably, Madigan’s statements are a sorry example of our current convulsive political environment. With a decisive edge in Democratic voter enrollment, her strategy of waving a red “MAGA” hat in the face of voters to exploit their fears is alarming. I found the tone and content of her presentation at the recent Council meeting troubling. I am concerned that the hyper-partisan rhetoric she is employing in her campaign for Mayor reflects an inability or unwillingness to work collegially with fellow Council members with whom she may disagree and to govern the city with dignity, fairly representing its diverse residents with various political opinions and affiliations. I leave it to my readers to decide for themselves.

The full, unedited video of her remarks is included below.

Unedited Video Of Ms. Madigan’s Remarks