Author: John Kaufmann

Getting a letter to the editor published in the New York Times is quite an achievement and Gordon Boyd did it today, June 11, in the Sunday edition no less. 

I have known Gordon and his wife Sharon for over forty years beginning in the 1970’s when he ran the city’s first health food store on Caroline Street.

Gordon is currently a consultant for EnergyNext .  He has an extensive civic history in Saratoga Springs.  He ran for County Supervisor in the 70’s and unsuccessfully ran in a Democratic primary for Mayor against Valerie Keehn.  He was also a leader of the county Independence Party at one point. 

Gordon has also given generously of his time and money in a variety of social causes.  He worked as a volunteer with prisoners at the Mount McGregor Correctional Facility before it closed.  He also was instrumental in restoring an important historic organ at the prison.

He has been playing a key role in Bethesda Episcopal Church’s ambitious project to build a new parish house and community center.

Gordon’s energy and dedication to community is really extraordinary.  While working on the Bethesda project and maintaining a full schedule as a consultant for EnergyNext, he has put in countless hours as a member of the Saratoga Springs Charter Review Commission.

Here is his letter to the editor:

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To the Editor:

When it comes to the United States’ withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement, not all of the roots of American unease stem from a denial of climate science. Some can be attributed to overreach by environmentalists.

The controversy over natural gas extraction from shale — hydraulic fracturing, or fracking — is an example. It was obvious to nearly everyone in the energy business more than a decade ago that natural gas could displace coal for both environmental and economic reasons, and it has done so, decisively.

But environmentalists and some governmental regulators who opposed fracking alienated local business leaders and landowners whose hopes were hanging on a resurgence of energy development in places like the Southern Tier of New York, Pennsylvania and the Appalachian states.

If opponents had embraced shale-sourced natural gas as a bridge to a carbon-free future, the economic and political base for agreements like Paris would have expanded. Instead, anti-fracking groups alienated the political-economic backbone of rural and small-town areas, and many residents climbed on the climate-denial bandwagon and voted for Donald Trump. The environmental community allowed the perfect to become the enemy of the good.

GORDON BOYD SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.

The writer is a consultant for EnergyNext.

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While I congratulate Gordon on his many achievements including the publication of this letter,  I have several problems with what he has written.

There is little doubt that the explosion of availability of natural gas resulting from fracking has had a devastating impact on the coal industry.  Natural gas is unquestionably less environmentally destructive than coal.  But less is a relative term. The failure of our country to aggressively embrace clean, renewable energy technologies as a strategy to reduce greenhouse gases leads to an apocalyptic future. Subsitituting  natural gas for coal only means perhaps a slight delay. 

In addition there are  the immediate problems of earthquakes induced by fracking (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-11-08/why-oklahoma-can-t-turn-off-its-earthquakes) along with the extensive pollution associated with a poorly policed industry.

Gordon’s contempt for the “environmentalists” is regrettable.  He invokes the “perfect is the enemy of the good” saw.  I would argue  that those who present themselves as the “realists” in the case of climate change are the ones who are myopic.  It seems every month climate scientists are being forced to reassess their projections in light of new data that shows their estimates are too conservative.

Finally, it simply begs credibility that opposition to fracking was instrumental in the election of Donald Trump and the withdrawal of the U.S. from the Paris Treaty.  If fracking had not existed as a controversial energy extraction technique the outcome of the presidential election would have been the same.  There have been many theories offered as to why Donald Trump won but Gordon is the first person I know of to offer opposition to fracking as the Trump card.

 

Tara Gaston, who is running for Supervisor, has her website up.

http://gastonforsupervisor.com/

At their June 8^th meeting the Saratoga Springs Democratic Committee endorsed Meg Kelly for Mayor.  Currently Ms. Kelly serves as the deputy mayor.  I am linking to an article on this from the Saratogian.

Link To Article

Ms. Kelly offered the same vague generalities about being for open space, downtown business, good management, etc.  Hopefully Ms. Kelly will be willing to be more specific on these questions in the future.

 

Unnamed Person Plans To Primary Skip Scirocco for the Republican line for  Commissioner of Public Works.

A member of the Charter Review Commission picked up blank petitions this week at the Board of elections. These petitions are the ones used by candidates wanting to run for local  office in Saratoga Springs.  While the Commission member declined to identify the candidate whose name will go on the petitions, he confirmed  the person would be running against Skip Scirocco seeking the Republican line for Commissioner of Public Works.

Large Condo Project Proposed For Downtown

According to the Albany Business Review, Robert Bucher, Jr. of Design Logic Architects PC has announced plans to build a $21 million dollar condo project at 128 Henry Street.  The project includes roof top terraces and an art gallery on the first floor.  Design Logic Architects is based in Albany.  The project will have 30 condos ranging in price from $599,000.00 to $840,000.00.  The proposed lot at 128 Henry Street is currently owned by Frank Parillo who has extensive property interests in the area including the Hampton Inn. 

Saratogian To Move

The Saratogian sold its current office building to Frank Parillo in 2012 and has been leasing the space they are in since then.  In the paper’s June 6 edition they announced plans to move to new offices at 7 Wells Street.  The Saratogian has resided at their current site on Lake Avenue for some 80 years.  Their current location has 14,000 square feet of space.  Their new location will have 3,700 square feet.  I think this downsizing is symbolic for a newspaper that has been in distress for a number of years.

 

Recently Suzanne Kwasniewski submitted a comment that noted my past criticisms of the city’s Democratic Party for its failure to take concrete positions on any of the controversies that have faced the city in recent memory.  She asked that I share what sort of positions the party took during Jane Weihe, my wife’s tenure as its chair.  She said she wanted to compare them.

Below I include both a reprint of Ms. Kwasniewski’s comment along with Jane’s response.

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May 22, 2017 at 12:35 pm Edit

John, Your source wasn’t all that well-informed, since she couldn’t tell you the name of both supervisor candidates. Since complaining about the SSDC platform is a favorite activity of yours, how about sharing the SSDC platform developed under Jane’s leadership so we can compare? Thanks.

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Suzanne-

I apologize for not responding sooner to your inquiry about Democratic platforms when I was chair. I am only back in Saratoga for a couple of days and I was hoping I could quickly put my hands on some of the campaign literature we put together and post it. Unfortunately it was not as easy to find this stuff as I had assumed—too many boxes and files accumulated over the years! So the best I can do until I can get back to the boxes is to tell you some of the positions we took as a committee and that our candidates campaigned on.

For one thing we took a strong stand against introducing casino gambling to Saratoga when it was proposed in the early 1990’s, something I was surprised the current committee was silent on. We also took stands against specific development projects we thought were inappropriate for the greenbelt such as the Anderson proposal to put an office park at Exit 14. Again I was surprised that the committee did not take a position on SNGC’s expansion proposal that clearly violated the zoning in the outer district.  Only Chris Mathiesen articulated a position that I would have thought the whole committee should have supported.

We took a stand against the adoption of the1987 Master Plan (as it was called then) that called for rezoning major areas of the city for greater density. We called for a new master plan that would preserve low density development in the outer district and direct new development downtown.   This was the campaign where then Skidmore professor and committee member Ron Edsforth coined the phrase “Keep Saratoga Springs a small city in the country” to describe our vision of how we thought Saratoga should develop in contrast to what the Republicans at the time were proposing in their Master Plan.  Interestingly enough in that campaign we also called for an EMT station to serve the eastern plateau where development was just beginning to accelerate.

All and all we aimed to be concrete not just theoretical in our positions. It’s easy to be for Saratoga being “a city in the country” these days.  Who in town isn’t ready now to mouth that phrase? What should distinguish candidates and parties is where they land on actual proposals that threaten this concept.

Jane Weihe

[This is a release from Sustainable Saratoga]

City Council to Vote on SPA Housing Ordinance

Join us at City Hall on Tuesday, June 6 at 7:00 p.m. to show your support for affordable housing and to witness this historic vote!

Following a lengthy period of community outreach, stakeholder engagement and public comment, the Saratoga Springs City Council appears ready to vote on the “Saratoga Places for All” (SPA) Housing Ordinance at its June 6th meeting. We need to make sure our elected officials understand that this is a major concern and that we need to address this NOW! The goal of this zoning amendment is to create more diverse and affordable housing options for middle-income people who live or work in Saratoga Springs. Increasing access to workforce housing is critical to ensuring sustainable growth and our City’s long-term vitality. To learn more about how the ordinance will make neighborhoods across the City more inclusive, review the resources on our SPA Housing webpage.

Ok.  The blogger goes far afield with an article on Foreign Policy.

Andrew Bacevich is a Professor Emeritus of International Relations and History at the Boston University Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies.^[1] He is also a retired career officer in the Armor Branch of the United States Army, retiring with the rank of Colonel. He is a former director of Boston University’s Center for International Relations (from 1998 to 2005), now part of the Pardee School of Global Studies.

His son, Andrew Bacevich Jr. was killed in the Iraq war.

This is a link to an article he wrote for the American Conservative about a position paper issued by the Brookings Institute which he savages.  The article was a collective piece written by the whose who of the foreign policy players in Washington.

Link To Article

 

Hank Kuczynski sent the following email to Democratic Chair Charlie Brown stating that he will not be seeking the Democratic Committee nomination for the office of Mayor of Saratoga Springs.

Charley:  Hope this finds you well this Memorial Day Weekend.  On the Friday before the Democratic Committee Endorsement Meeting on May 20th, Mayor Yepsen released to the press at the last minute that she would not run for reelection and was Endorsing her Deputy.  I believe everyone was shocked or surprised leaving the Democratic Committee in a difficult position.  On Saturday, May 20th, The Democratic Committee met and did not take any action on this matter as it seemed that the Committee needed time to process this sudden turn of developments.

I ran into a number of citizens who suggested that my expertise and awareness of city issues combined with my ongoing communication with elected officials and Democrats would make me an ideal Mayoral candidate at this time. Not only did I think about this”call to duty” but also about the open process that I know the City Democratic Committee has worked hard to put in effect in recent years.

The lateness of the political calendar as we are approaching June made me think of all the mechanical and organizational aspects of putting together an effective campaign.  TIME is always the one thing you can’t get enough of. 

I have limited state wide consulting in the next few months.  This Friday I became aware the the work I do as,Kuczynski Associates , may require additional assignments during the height of the campaign season.  The Family conversations indicated that it is unrealistic to attempt to do both.  I know that to campaign for Mayor is 24/7.

So reluctantly I am informing you that I will not be seeking an endorsement interview or addressing the full Democratic Committee to seek the nomination for the Office of Mayor for the the City of Saratoga Springs.  I wish all the candidates success.

As I write this on the day we celebrate Memorial  Day I think of the family picnics we had at my Uncle Bill Daley’s house.  I think of my Father, Hank, who served in the Army for 5 years in WW II finishing in the China-Burma-India Theatre.  What they did lets us exercise our political freedoms, something I always remember.

Thank you for your forbearance.

Sincerely, Hank

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Hank Kuczynski
Kuczynski Associates

It will come as no surprise that the Conservative Party has endorsed the Republican slate of candidates for Saratoga Springs city offices.

Below are the two announcements I received for events both in support and opposition to the proposed new charter on May 30.

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[JK:I received this email from Richard Sellers of SUCCESS, the group that supports the commission form of government and is opposing the proposed charter change]:

John, we don’t expect a large turnout at this event for the same reason LookTV, the press, council members and public (in addition to SUCCESS) didn’t want the Charter referendum vote on the first day after the Memorial Day holiday.

While this basically is a get together among long-time commission form of government supporters, I’m sending this to you, hoping you can mention the event.

Richard

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Join SUCCESS at Gaffney’s, 16 Caroline Street on Tuesday, May 30, from 5-7 PM.

We are planning a celebration to mark the election day that isn’t.*

*As you may recall, May 30 is the date the Charter Review Commission wanted Saratogians to vote on their proposal to change Saratoga Springs’ form of government. They actually argued that there would be a bigger turnout only one day after Memorial Day than at a regularly scheduled November election.

SUCCESS didn’t buy this argument nor did area media, City Council members, and the public whose pressure forced the commission to drop their plan for voter suppression.

With the charter change proposal now scheduled to be on the ballot in November, it’s time to pause and celebrate this first victory and plan for the future. Come join us and get the latest update on the charter change proposal and learn how to get involved in educating the public about the benefits of maintaining the Commission form of government in Saratoga Springs.

RSVP is appreciated but not required. Just send a return email or give me a call. Family, friends, and walk-ins are all welcome.

Hope to see you Tuesday, May 30, from 5-7 at Gaffney’s.

 Richard

Richard Sellers

Saratoga Springs, NY

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Below is the event scheduled by the Charter Change Committee for Tuesday, May 30.

Saratoga Springs Charter Review Commission

Invites You To A

CITY CHARTER

Information Open House

 Learn about the PROPOSED CHARTER at this public education event!

Tuesday, May 30

10:00 am – 9:00 pm

Refreshments at 11 am, 4 pm, 7 pm

Saratoga Springs City Center

The final draft of the Proposed Charter will be available in print at the Open House and online.

The purpose of the open house is to showcase the proposed charter that will be voted on November 7, 2017. The open house will feature “Topic based” areas so attendees can seek information according to their interests. The forum will afford attendees as much time as they wish to explore topics they are most interested in.

Guest speakers, Commission members and subject matter experts will be available throughout the day.

The main Topics Include:

1. Saratoga Springs Elected Leadership.  Council and Mayor.  Separation of powers and responsibilities in Council/ Manager Form of Government
2. Professional Management.  City Manager. Administrative responsibilities, qualifications etc.
3. Finance and Accountability.  How the proposed Charter enhances financial accountability.
4. Transition Timeline.  Describing the transition plans in the next two years to prepare for 2020.
5. Research and Findings.  What we learned from our surveys, interviews and research.
6. Saratoga Springs Elections and Participation.  How citizens will engage in City government.

www.saratogacharter.com

Email: saratogaspringscharter@gmail.com