The Saratoga Springs Democratic Committee, now led by Ron Kim, issued a white paper on their Facebook page attacking the current Charter Commission’s work the day before the Commission’s proposals were to come before the City Council for a vote. The problem is that it is manifestly obvious from their criticisms that they never bothered to actually read the proposed changes. The Democrats remoteness from reality regarding the actual contents of the unanimously adopted charter changes is simply stunning. (Their entire paper is at the end of this post.)
Here, for example, is item #4 from their attack.
The problem is that due to sloppy wording in the charter, audits actually were not required to be conducted by the Finance Department under the charter. Vincent DeLeonardis, who served two administrations as City Attorney and chairs the Charter Commission, patiently walks the Council and members of the public through what little relationship the Democratic Committee’s criticism had to what was actually being proposed. One has to wonder how Kim and the other unknown authors could have written this.
[JK:This video is 2 minutes and three seconds long]
The following is an excerpt from the Saratoga Springs Democratic Committee’s attack regarding Assessments.
7. Say hello to the MAGA-fication of the Assessment Review Board. Under the proposed changes, the Board of Assessment Review loses its mandate to ensure “equity and fairness,” and non-resident property owners lose their guaranteed notice-and-hearing rights related to property assessments — both removed with no explanation.
Saratoga Springs Democratic Committee
Here DeLeonardis again exposes the ignorance of the authors.
[JK: This video is 1 minute and 22 seconds long]
Peter Martin’s Memory Problems
Earlier in the evening, during the public hearing on the proposed charter changes, Peter Martin spoke in support of the Democratic Committee’s claim that the new language about “supervisors” endangers our representation in county government. Martin had been the Commissioner of Public Safety and also at one time represented Saratoga Springs at the Saratoga County Board of Supervisors.
Martin offered remarks that were lawyerly in the worst sense of the word. While Martin was considerably more adroit in his remarks than the Democratic Committee’s white paper, they were just as disingenuous.
The real clincher in Martin’s remarks came when DeLeonardis observed that he had served with Martin on the 2018 Charter Commission. In that role, Martin had voted for the very language he now opposes as did Gordon Boyd who is also curiously now a vocal opponent of the proposed change in charter language.
For a refresher on Gordon Boyd’s Kafka arguments regarding the supervisor controversy, [check out this link.]
All the Democratic Committee’s Claims Were False
All the claims of some kind of MAGA conspiracy, as asserted by Kim, Boyd, et al in the Saratoga Springs Democratic Committee in their paper, are of similar inauthenticity. The Saratoga Springs Democratic Committee newsletter urged people to attend the Council meeting at which the charter changes were to be adopted. I believe five of the usual committee members showed up. They were fervent in their attack on the proposed charter changes. It appeared they all unfortunately relied on the veracity of the claims made by Kim and whoever helped him write the piece.
The Following Is The Complete Statement From the Saratoga Springs Democratic Committee From Their Facebook Page
ON TUESDAY, JUNE 16TH, the Saratoga Springs City Council is poised to approve sweeping Charter changes that ignore state law, weaken the city’s financial controls, sidestep voter input, and disenfranchise all of us.
Mayor Safford’s Charter Review Commission is proposing seismic shifts in the balance of power in Saratoga Springs, curtailing citizens’ rights in order for city leadership to shirk accountability. Our City Charter is like the U.S. Constitution, it’s the foundation of our government. The Mayor wants to change it without fully disclosing or even calculating how these changes will impact City functions and what it will cost.
We can’t let the Mayor do this. Please join us at Tuesday’s City Council meeting and speak out!
**City Council Regular Meeting**
Tuesday, June 16, 7:00pm
474 Broadway, City Council Room
Saratoga Springs, NY 12866
11 REASONS TO SPEAK OUT AGAINST THE CHARTER CHANGES
1. Saratogians have no say. There are many, many proposed changes–every section of the Charter has been changed, yet there have only been two public hearings before the City Council (the bare minimum), no independent legal review or budgetary analysis of how these changes will impact our City, and what these changes will cost taxpayers. Every proposed change should go before voters.
2. Saratogians will lose power within the county. Our current charter guarantees the city two County Supervisors, but this proposal opens the door for the City to lose one Supervisor. That means Saratoga Springs could have the same level of representation as towns 1/30th our size! And according to the State’s Municipal Home Rule Law, altering the structure or method of electing an elective office generally requires a public vote. The city could easily have a lawsuit on their hands by sidestepping state law.
3. We have no idea how much this will cost. These are YOUR tax dollars and YOUR representatives, yet the city has made no attempt to produce a full, independent review of what these changes will cost and how they’ll impact the city’s budget and operations.
4. Yet, financial oversight will be gutted. Under the current charter, our Commissioner of Finance is required to produce annual internal audits. Under the proposed changes, these audits become optional and an annual review of the City’s investment policy is eliminated entirely!
5. And city-wide reassessments could jack up your taxes. By changing assessor duties and eliminating the Commissioner of Accounts’ ability to manage assessments, the City would open the door to full citywide property reassessments for the first time in over 20 years! Could a citywide reassessment shift the property tax burden from corporations to residents? Without a proper analysis, we’re all in the dark–and on the hook.
6. Say goodbye to real accountability for police misconduct. While the charter codifies the City’s Civilian Review Board, the body charged with increasing police accountability and credibility with the public, a companion local law would strip the Board’s subpoena power at the same time — shredding prior reforms and leaving police misconduct investigations up to the police themselves.
7. Say hello to the MAGA-fication of the Assessment Review Board. Under the proposed changes, the Board of Assessment Review loses its mandate to ensure “equity and fairness,” and non-resident property owners lose their guaranteed notice-and-hearing rights related to property assessments — both removed with no explanation.
8. Opening the door to rigged bids for City contracts that cost you more. The proposed changes weaken the City’s competitive bidding protections by significantly raising bid thresholds ($20K→$35K and $10K→$20K) and eliminating current language that requires the City to seek the “lowest responsible bidder.” Competitive bidding ensures transparency, prevents conflicts of interest, and saves taxpayer dollars – so why is Saratoga Springs looking to gut these protections?
9. Rolling back City planning while development pressures grow. The proposed changes would cut the frequency with which our City’s Comprehensive Plan needs to be reviewed (from 5 years to 10 years), even as the city faces increasingly serious development pressures and an affordable housing crisis. Plus, the duties of some of the planning boards we rely on to keep the City on track are reduced with no rationale whatsoever.
10. Charter Review Commission members cash out–and you lose. At least one Charter Commission member will get a new paid position out of the proposed Charter changes as the City Historian–at exactly the same time as our Finance Commissioner looks to institute a hiring freeze. Plus, it’s rumored that the Chair of the Commission will soon be given a cushy City Court judgeship as thanks for his work on these sweeping changes.
11. The City’s own Attorney says voters should have a say. At the Agenda Meeting this morning, our own City Attorney stated on the record that these changes should be approved by the voters in a referendum.
…And this isn’t even the half of it! Join us at Tuesday’s City Council meeting (6/16) to make your voice heard, and please share with neighbors!
Saratoga Springs Politics 