Author: John Kaufmann

Filling The DPW Vacancy-Sanghvi and Moran have a plan but is it legal?

At the Saratoga Springs City Council meeting on September 3, 2024, Finance Commissioners Minita Sanghvi and Accounts Commissioner Dillon Moran both tried to pass resolutions setting a date for a special election to fill the Commissioner of Public Works vacancy created when Jason Golub vacated the position. Notwithstanding their claims that their resolutions were based on alleged research and that they were following the city charter, both Sanghvi’s resolution and the modified one presented later by Moran were seriously flawed. Both resolutions failed. The issue was raised again at the September 17 meeting. More on that in the next post. For now-here is Round 1.

Sanghvi’s Resolution

Here is the resolution Commissioner Sanghvi put on her agenda for the September 3 City Council meeting:

A casual reading reveals the first problem with Commissioner Sanghvi’s resolution. It requests a special election, but there is no indication of who this request is being directed to. It’s kind of like “to whom it may concern.” As it turns out, there was confusion between Sanghvi and Moran as who this resolution was supposed to go to.

During the two discussions (more on that later), Moran and Sanghvi offered several explanations as to whom their request for an election would be directed. At one point, it was to the Saratoga County Board of Elections (Sanghvi), and at another, it was to the Governor (Moran), sometimes it was the Attorney General, sometimes it was the New York State Board of Elections.

Sanghvi’s resolution also set the date for the special election to coincide with the upcoming November 5 general election. She argued that doing so would save money and that, as it was a national election, it would draw the most voters.

While her arguments were valid, she seemed to have conveniently forgotten or chose just to ignore that the November 5 option had been off the table for some time. Jason Golub would have had to leave office by August 5 to allow for the 90-day window required to schedule a special election on November 5. I am told the city Democrats put considerable pressure on Golub to leave office by that date but were unsuccessful. Sanghvi had to be aware of all this.

Mayor John Safford and Public Safety Commissioner Tim Coll explained that to adopt a resolution like this that sets a specific date for a special election, the city attorneys would first need to properly research the law and provide the Council with a clarifying memorandum to ensure that they would be requesting an election that was indeed legally allowable.

Sanghvi claimed that David Harper, the City Attorney, had approved her resolution and that sending this resolution to the Saratoga County Board of Elections would somehow initiate the election. Sanghvi asserted that it was the only way to determine what procedure should be followed. Why someone couldn’t just pick up the phone and ask this question without passing a resolution requesting an election be held on a particular date was never explained by Sanghvi.

Harper was called to the microphone and told the Council members that he had simply approved the resolution’s format, not its content. He told the Council he had no expertise in election law to determine whether the resolution was consistent with city and state law. He observed that further research should be initiated.

A Pointless And Acrimonious Deliberation

It was crystal clear that neither Coll nor Safford would support a resolution adopting a date for a special election without further clarification as to the legality of the request. This did not restrain Moran and Sanghvi from offering contradictory arguments or scurrilously and falsely implying and, at times, stating outright that Coll and Safford opposed holding any election to fill the vacancy.

Commissioner Coll responded to Sanghvi by noting that he had contacted the Saratoga County Board of Elections and was told that any date selected for a special election would, at a minimum, have to allow at least a ninety-day window so that members of the armed forces could receive ballots and return them. Coll noted that an election on November 5 would not allow for this, and so while he supported having an election, this date was a non-starter for him, and he could not vote for her resolution.

Sanghvi had repeatedly justified her resolution by stating that the city charter required a special election be held to fill a vacancy when it occurs on the Council.

While section 2.4 of the charter does call for a special election to fill a vacancy under certain circumstances, Coll noted to Sanghvi that her citations from the city charter did not include Section 12.2, which requires the city to adhere to state election law. Coll argued that while he supported having a special election, it was precipitous to schedule one before the city’s attorneys could properly research state election law and advise the Council on what the legal options were.

What Does the City Charter Say About Special Elections?

The charter has conflicting sections on elections. At one point, it authorizes the Council to set a date and to run special elections to fill vacancies. In another section, it says that state election law establishes the terms the city must adhere to.

City Attorney Izzo explained to the Council that the conflict arose due to the city’s history. In 1915, the city held its own elections, including the design of ballots and the timing of all elections.

Subsequently, the New York State legislature established the terms and conditions of elections. Commissioner Sanghvi chose to focus on the language from the old charter and ignored the revision related to state election law.

City attorney Tony Izzo had informed the council that state law supersedes the section of the law continually referenced by Sanghvi and Moran, but the two simply ignored his admonishment.

This is the key section from the charter she did not cite. It reads:

12.2Primaries and municipal elections.

Provisions of the Election Law of the State of New York shall apply to all municipal elections and special elections of the City of Saratoga Springs and shall guide in all matters not provided in the Charter.

A primary election shall be held in accordance with Election Law of the State of New York in each odd-numbered year during the hours 12:00 noon until 9:00 p.m.

City Charter

The general municipal election shall be held on Tuesday succeeding the first Monday in each odd-numbered year, in accordance with Election Law of the State of New York.

Commissioner Coll Promotes Having The City Attorneys Research The Laws Before Any Action

Sanghvi And Moran Ignore Coll And Insist On A Vote (It Fails)

Sanghvi and Moran insisted that the Council adopt her resolution. As the discussion devolves, it becomes clear that the resolution has been crafted without the required research.

Sanghvi Agrees To Have The City Attorneys Research The Law And Advise The Council

Moran Insists His Colleagues Pass A Revised Resolution

Moran has somehow appropriated the authority to present the Department of Public Works agenda to the Council in the absence of a DPW Commissioner.

Despite Sanghvi’s resolution’s failure, he tweaked it, changed the date from November 5 to December 31 (New Year’s Eve), and moved to add this new version to the DPW agenda.

This was an outrageous abuse of the dubious role he had adopted in presenting the DPW business, and I am sorry the mayor did not rule him out of order.

Moran attacked Coll and Safford and insisted on a vote. Despite Sanghvi’s earlier agreement to accept having the City Attorneys research the issue, she seconded Moran’s motion.

His resolution was also defeated, and Sanghvi reverted back to supporting the City Attorneys’ research on the issue.

Moran Never Gives Up

It is worth noting that the agenda for the next Council meeting on September 16 included the exact same resolution by Moran for setting a date for a special election by December 31 twice. It appeared as part of his Accounts Department agenda and part of the DPW agenda. The next blog will explore what happened with his resolution.

Good Government Process

This dispute is the most recent unpleasant occurrence at the Council table arising from Dillon Moran’s repeated introduction of resolutions he knows will not pass.

There is a history of how governments effectively function.

An elected official who wants to pass legislation first engages his/her colleagues in private discussions, seeking their support. This is not backroom dealing, as the body must adopt legislation in a public process. If the official cannot gather a majority to support a resolution, the general course of events is that they accept that it cannot be passed and desist from pursuing it.

There are four good reasons for this.

• If a member has questions or reservations, the proponent can respond directly to the concerns or agree to find answers to the questions raised.
• If the legislation is doomed, it avoids unnecessary conflict at the table.
• If it is doomed, it avoids wasting the time of his/her colleagues by not unnecessarily prolonging their meeting.
• It has the courtesy of not prompting citizens who may oppose or support the legislation from wasting their time attending the meeting and voicing their concerns.

Of course, there are legitimate exceptions. A legislator may believe raising a doomed resolution will help inform the public. This should, however, be the exception. To chronically submit doomed legislation will, as we have observed over the last two and a half years, contribute to a toxic atmosphere that places performance over substance.

In Moran’s case, the purpose of many of his resolutions is not that they are passed but that they serve as foils for conflict and drama at the Council table.

[Lew Benton, former Commissioner of Public Safety, documents the extensive violations at the heart of the On-Call scandal]

Saratoga Springs Accounts Commissioner Dillon Moran has been unsuccessfully trying for months to get the city to allow him to have his own attorney rather than rely on the city’s attorney. At the September 16, 2024, pre-agenda meeting, he insisted that he had the right to have his own attorney. When Mayor Safford indicated he could not support this, Moran announced that he and his staff would stop processing contracts for a month.

It is hard to believe that he will follow through on this threat, which would violate his oath of office as the Commissioner of Accounts.

The following video documents his threat.

At the August 20, 2024, Saratoga Springs City Council meeting, Accounts Commissioner Dillon Moran presented the Department of Public Works agenda as the Commissioner of Public Works position is now vacant with the departure of Jason Golub for a position with the State of New York. I’m not sure exactly why Moran is playing this role. Nevertheless, Moran was the one to move the item on the Public Works agenda for the city to pay the attorney fees of Jason Golub and his former Executive Assistant Brooke Van Buskirk. They had incurred the fees using Oscar Schreiber as their counsel for interviews by the New York State Police regarding the ongoing criminal investigation into the on-call scandal.

The ensuing discussion about paying the bills for Golub and VanBuskirk was tortured. I have included the full video of that conversation at the end of this post for readers willing to endure the entirety of Moran and Sanghvi’s dubious arguments.

Key to all this is the lawsuit, which is still awaiting the judge’s decision, brought by Mike Brandi, the city Republican chairman. Brandi challenged the Council’s 3-2 decision on July 2, 2024, to pay the legal bills for Dillon Moran and Stacy Connors amounting to $60,000. Brandi argued several reasons why the Council should not have approved these bills. The most relevant one is Brandi’s contention that the city code for indemnification is too broad and conflicts with New York State law. I discussed this in an earlier post, but the basic issue is that while the city code allows for indemnification in civil and criminal matters, the state only provides coverage in a criminal case if the city employee/official is found innocent or the prosecution drops the case. Bills incurred in criminal cases are to be paid upfront by the defendants. They can then be reimbursed if they are cleared of the charges. The bills Moran and Connors incurred were related to the investigation of the on-call pay scandal, which is a criminal case. The bills put forth for Golub and Van Buskirk are for representation in the same criminal investigation.

Moran Rants, Sanghvi Pontificates, Coll Reasons

The evening’s discussion on Moran’s motion involved the usual rants by Moran, dubious legal advice from Finance Commissioner Minita Sanghvi, and repeated patient attempts by Public Safety Commissioner Tim Coll to explain to them the legal issues involved.

At one point, Moran attacked Coll, demanding to know how he knew the lawyers’ bills were related to a criminal matter. Coll’s reply to Moran was simple: This is a NY State Police investigation, and they only investigate criminal matters.

Moran then launched into a rant denouncing Mike Brandi and his lawyer, Chris Obstarczyk, for suing the city, calling them “grifters” and inaccurately describing a previous lawsuit they won against the city.

Commissioner Sanghvi offered her own skewed legal theory about the city’s obligation to pay the lawyers’ bills by claiming that, notwithstanding the ongoing state police investigation and the seating of a grand jury over the on-call scandal, the matter can only be categorized as criminal once someone is charged. Coll attempted, without success, to explain to Sanghvi that this was not the case. Sanghvi continued to repeat this incorrect piece of information as if saying it more than once could somehow make it true.

In another piece of magical thinking, Sanghvi and Moran also dismissed the idea that Brandi might sue the city again if the Council voted to pay Golub’s and Van Buskirk’s bills. Moran opined that he did not operate in a world of hypotheticals. Sanghvi was similarly skeptical but insisted that if Brandi sued successfully, the city could claw back the money, not from the lawyers but from the city employees who hired the lawyers. She actually said that should the city lose, she would just go over to DPW and get the money from the two employees (I am not exaggerating, as the video documents). Even if Golub and Van Buskirk still worked for the city, which they do not, there is every reason to expect they would not simply acquiesce to Sanghvi’s request, and that this would lead to more lawsuits this time with the unappealing scenario of the city suing its own employees.

Coll’s Amendment

Commissioner Coll was the voice of reason. He tried to repeatedly explain that the main issue before the court in the case of Moran and Connors’ bills was whether or not the city could legally pay upfront for lawyers for city officials/employees in criminal cases. This same issue applied to Golub’s and Van Buskirk’s bills. A decision in the Moran/Connors case would give the Council guidance on how to deal with the new bills. Coll offered an amendment indicating that he thought Schreiber’s bills were reasonable and that he should be paid, but only pending a favorable decision for the city in Brandi’s most recent action re Moran and Connors bills.

During the discussion, city attorney David Harper would only say that it would be legal to pay the bill. That is really not the central question. Strictly speaking, paying the bill on the evening of the Council meeting was legal as it was not at that moment being challenged in court. It would have been helpful, however, if Harper had volunteered what problems paying the bill might precipitate if the court should rule against the city and/or Brandi sued over paying the new bill.

The real question was whether paying the Golub/Van Buskirk bills was prudent until the judge determined whether such a payment is lawful.

It will be a mess if the city pays the bill and Judge Freestone determines that state law overrules our code.

While Mayor Safford voted for Coll’s amendment, he turned around and voted to pay the bill when the amendment failed to pass. The motion to pay Schreiber’s bill passed with Moran, Sanghvi, and Safford voting in favor. Coll abstained, citing that he did not have enough information. It was troubling that Safford appeared so focused on the fact that Schreiber’s bill was reasonable (which it was) that he appeared oblivious to the broader legal issues.

Yet Another TRO

On August 26, 2024, Brandi’s attorney, Chris Obstarczyk, successfully sought a temporary restraining order blocking the city from paying Schrieber’s bill, pending a decision on many of the issues he asserted in the Moran/Connors lawsuit.

In the August 27, 2024, edition of the Times Union, reporter Wendy Liberatore wrote:

Commissioner of Finance Minita Sanghvi, who voted to pay Golub and Moran’s bills, said the city is obligated to pay their specialized attorneys, regardless of who they defend.

“If we hire somebody we have to pay them and that’s important,” Sanghvi said. “You can’t be making it political.”

She also said that not paying vendors can affect the city’s credit. Before the second suit was filed, she also assured the council that the city could claw back the funds from Golub and VanBuskirk if a judge deemed the city should not have paid Schreiber. Either way, she said Schreiber should be paid and that they can’t function by speculating if a second lawsuit would be filed.

Liberatore August 27, 2024

I couldn’t agree more with Sanghvi that if the city hires someone, the person should be paid, but there are some important caveats that she has ignored.

First, the city did not hire Oscar Schreiber. He was employed by Golub and VanBuskirk.

Secondly, there is the issue of what is legal. Hiring someone for some purpose must meet the legal obligations of the city and the state of New York. Whether Golub and VanBuskirk have a right to an attorney in a criminal matter is currently before a judge. Commissioner Sanghvi continues to deny that legitimate legal questions exist regarding the eligibility of Golub and VanBuskirk to counsel paid for by the city.

Consider that Commissioner Sanghvi’s job is to scrutinize all bills to ensure they comply with the laws of the city and the state. She seems to want to dismiss legitimate arguments about the wisdom and legality of paying these bills by falsely suggesting any opposition or even hesitation is “political.”

In fact, it is highly questionable that declining to pay an illegal bill would damage the city with credit agencies, but paying such a bill would do little to help the city maintain the credibility and trust of its insurance carrier.

Commissioner Sanghvi also improperly reduced the situation to whether or not to pay Schreiber when the amendment offered by Coll was that Schreiber’s bills should be paid if Judge Freestone determined that they fell within the law. No one at the Council table argued simply that the bills should not be paid. How Commissioner Sanghvi arrived at that understanding raises serious questions about her competence or just as troubling that she was attempting to “politicize” the issue herself.

Sanghvi Gets A Lawyer

Sanghvi announced at the Council meeting that the State Police have contacted her to schedule an interview related to the on-call scandal and that she has gone ahead and secured legal representation at $525.00 an hour [Readers may recall that Sanghvi has consistently dismissed the on-call issues as frivolous]. This is a higher rate than Robin Dalton’s and Meg Kelly’s attorneys, whose bills Sanghvi continually complains about. She went on at some length that, at the request of the City Attorney, she has provided the hourly rate and scope of work even though she was not required to since Moran, Connors, Golub, and Van Buskirk had not provided that information. Despite Commissioner Coll’s attempts to explain to her that since it was a criminal matter, it was unclear whether the city could legally pay her bills, she seemed unable to grasp the concept.

Commissioner Sanghvi is in a dicey situation. As the Commissioner of Finance, it is her department’s responsibility to protect the city by scrutinizing all bills. She also has broad authority over whether to pay bills submitted to her office. Strictly speaking, this whole scandal could have been avoided had her office rejected the bills submitted by three deputies who were clearly not eligible to be paid for being on-call. What her legal culpability is in this matter remains to be seen.

At $525.00 per hour, she could encumber quite a bill, which may or may not be covered depending on Judge Freestone’s decision.

Judging by her remarks and demeanor during the discussion, she appears oblivious to her situation.

Sanghvi Lawyers Up

Schreiber Bill

The Times Union has run a story on the city hiring an attorney to represent it in dealing with the New York State Attorney General’s demands on Saratoga Springs following her office’s investigation and report on the city’s conflicts with the local Black Lives Matter group.

After rehashing the legal expenses the city has been enduring, reporter Wendy Liberatore notes that the Council is united on the need to hire outside counsel to respond to the AG. She then provides Accounts Commissioner Dillon Moran a platform to attack fellow Public Safety Commissioner Tim Coll.

Moran said he is skeptical about Coll’s sincerity to collaborate. He believes Coll and the police will fight the attorney general on proposed reforms such as training police on de-escalation, bias and community policing.

Times Union August 23, 2024

Moran goes on to make further accusations:

“We are cognizant of the fact we do not have enough legal talent nor appropriate legal talent to engage in the negotiation with the attorney general,” Moran said. “That we all agree on. … The problem is that (Coll) wants to fight the attorney general … His (requests for quotes) is written like somebody who doesn’t want to collaborate with the attorney general, but like somebody who wants to argue over every word in the (proposed attorney general) document [JK:Emphasis added]. … This could harm the city for years going forward.”

Times Union August 23, 2024

Unfortunately for Moran, it was not Coll who drafted the “request for quotes,” but the City Attorney, and Coll has invited all members of the City Council to participate in the interviews of the attorneys who respond to the RFQ.

Moran (and Ms. Liberatore) apparently did not bother to check the facts on this or his other allegations. The city police force, for instance, is already routinely being trained in “de-escalation, bias, and community policing,” so there will be no fight over those reforms as they have already been implemented.

I am in Chicago having participated in the march on Monday opposing my country’s funding of the genocide in Gaza.

I am a Jew and I grew up in a home where when my parents said never again they were not talking about only Jews but the slaughter of innocents of any nationality or race.

I know my gesture of marching is a small one but the images of Palestinians carrying maimed children is simply more than I can bear.

This war will not only devastate the people of the West Bank and Gaza but in the end will threaten the long term future of Israel.

Back in April, Saratoga Springs Accounts Commissioner Dillon Moran published a Request for Proposals that would fund attorneys for his Accounts Department along with the Finance Department, and the Department of Public Works. I described his power move in some detail that month.

I had assumed he had dropped the idea but recently he received responses from a number of law firms. He has selected the firm Harris Beach. The award of a contract was put on his agenda for the August 20, 2024, meeting. His proposal was met with intense questioning from Mayor Safford at this morning’s (August 19,2024) pre-agenda meeting. Safford was concerned that Dillon’s proposal lacked any specific guidelines as to when and how the Harris Beach firm would be used by the three departments. Moran bizarrely argued that the guidelines could be figured out after the firm was hired. In the end it was clear that Moran did not have the votes to accept this contract and withdrew that item from his agenda.

If Moran is eventually successful, the toxic environment at Council meetings would then include dueling lawyers at who knows what cost to the city.

It is worth noting that at a Council meeting on October 18, 2022, Finance Commissioner Minita Sanghvi sided with then Mayor Ron Kim in opposing a similar proposal by Moran to have the city fund an attorney for him. Here is the record of that discussion:

At the time Kim and Moran were feuding and Sanghvi was Kim’s ally. Sanghvi has been silent on Moran’s latest foray and was not at this morning’s Pre-Agenda meeting

Comments

I sent requests to the three candidates that I am currently aware of seeking to fill the DPW Commissioner vacancy. I asked them to review Moran’s proposal and offer their thoughts. Sara Burger and Michael Ladd did not respond. The following is the response from Chuck Marshall:

“Commissioner Moran’s pattern of alleged mistreatment of staff, increasing litigation, and propensity for shifting responsibilities away from himself, has proven problematic for the city.  During this period of mounting legal bills – already burdening taxpayers – it doesn’t seem fiscally responsible to contract for separate attorneys for Accounts, Finance, and Public Works.”

Moran’s Empire

With the resignation of Jason Golub, Moran has taken it on himself to represent DPW at the Council table thus expanding his presence.

[JK: I received a text this evening (08/21/24) from Michael Ladd. He indicated that my text had gone to his spam folder which is why he did not respond. He observed that Moran had withdrawn it to amend it.]

In a front-page story in the August 6, 2024, edition of the Daily Gazette, Sara Burger announced her candidacy to replace Saratoga Springs Public Works Commissioner Jason Golub, who is leaving this position to take a job with the state. On the very same day, she apparently emailed the executive committee of the Saratoga Springs Democratic Committee, withdrawing from the race. Then, apparently, she reversed her decision again, reaffirming her intention to campaign to replace Golub.

According to a story in the August 7, 2024, edition of the Times Union, the Saratoga Springs Democratic Committee had selected Burger over Gordon Boyd, who also sought the position.

I texted Burger on August 7, 2024, and asked for clarification.

Ms. Burger never replied.

I then emailed Otis Maxwell, the chair of the Saratoga Springs Democratic Committee, asking if I could have a copy of her email. He never replied.

It is reasonable to assume that Ms. Burger mysteriously withdrew from the race and then re-entered it.

I think it is reasonable for Ms. Burger to directly address the incident and, assuming she did withdraw and re-engage, explain her decisions.

The Word Partisan Doesn’t Work

Accounts Commissioner Dillon Moran has asserted that because the number of registered Democrats is greater than the number of Republicans in the city, that the person selected by the Democratic Committee should be Golub’s replacement.

It is important to understand that for the group currently in control of the Democratic Committee, being a Democrat is not enough. As we saw in the last election cycle when the Committee refused to let three Democrats interested in running for City Council even address the full Committee, any candidate they will even consider, let alone endorse for this current vacancy, must be loyal to the current faction in control of the committee and a fan of Moran and Finance Commissioner Sanghvi.

In contrast, outgoing Commissioner Golub told the Times Union:

‘…his replacement should not be a partisan pick, but one who would work well with the staff. He also told the mayor he would be happy to chair the committee [a committee that would vet and recommend a candidate].”

Times Union August 7, 2024

The Democratic Committee quickly announced on Facebook that they “would like to assist in identifying candidates for the DPW position” and that anyone interested in the position should contact them. When Otis Maxwell, the Democratic chair, however, was contacted by a registered Republican who was and still is interested in the position and has qualifications for the job and a history of working well with city officials and residents of all political persuasions, he was told that the Democratic Committee was only interviewing Democrats.

Ironically, Otis Maxwell, the Democratic chair, had told the Daily Gazette

“we are looking for the strongest candidate, and it would be great if we found somebody who was somewhat apolitical and just had great qualifications and wanted the job and that might help the other side approve them.”

-Daily Gazette July 26,2024

The committee then went ahead and endorsed Sarah Burger, a former Democratic chair who is highly partisan and who has no qualifications. So much for looking for the strongest candidate who might help the “other side” approve them. Note also that Public Safety Commissioner Tim Coll is a registered Democrat but has automatically been delegated to be on the “other side.”

In ironic contrast to the hyper-tribalism of the Democrats who view being a Republican as being the personification of evil, it is the local Republicans who have demonstrated tolerance and the willingness to look beyond party registration in considering who to support to fill Golub’s position. Readers will recall that they endorsed Tim Coll, a registered Democrat who successfully ran for Public Safety Commissioner in the last election.

Mike Brandi, chair of the Saratoga Springs Republican Party, told the Times Union that he is:

“available to speak with anyone interested in the position to discuss my committee’s priorities for the Department of Public Works. … While the local Democratic Party has refused to interview independents and Republicans for their recommendation to fill the position, our priority is what is best for the city.” 

Times Union August 7, 2024

Probable Grid Lock

There is currently controversy and confusion over when an election to fill Golub’s position can take place. Moran claims that he will make it happen on October 29, 2024. Without going too far into the weeds, this is highly unlikely. It remains unclear when a special election will be held.

In the meantime, the only way to fill the position, pending an election, would be for a majority of the Council to vote for a candidate to serve as Commissioner until a special election can be held. This would require three votes, and with Golub gone and the two Democrats supported by the Committee, Moran and Sanghvi, committed to Sarah Burger, this seems unlikely.

A number of people have expressed interest in potentially filling Golub’s position. They are either independents or Republicans with little history in the scrum of city politics. Given the public stance of the city Democratic committee, though, it is highly unlikely that Moran and Sanghvi would consider any of these candidates and, therefore, that a majority can be found.

Only time will tell.

There is a tentative plan for RISE Housing and Support Services to lease the building owned by the city of Saratoga Springs at 5 Williams Street that was used for many years as the city’s Senior Center. RISE hopes to locate its administrative offices there while Bonacio Construction renovates RISE’s office facility at 127 Union Street. Following the renovation, which is estimated to take six months to a year, RISE will relinquish the former Senior Center building and move back to their previous location.

Former Mayor Ron Kim’s history of trying to make the Senior Center into a twenty-four/seven, low-barrier homeless shelter has complicated the process for RISE. Given the Center’s proximity to the Saratoga Central Catholic School, Kim’s plan produced visceral opposition from parents whose children attended the school. This history has bred an atmosphere of fear and suspicion towards the current proposal for RISE to now use the facility.

The plan is now for the City Council to vote on a lease of the Senior Center at their August 6, 2024, meeting.

Regrettably, the agenda published on Friday, August 2, did not include an item authorizing the lease, nor was there a copy of what was being proposed.

How To Create A Toxic Environment

Normally the Commissioner of Public Works would be responsible for bringing a lease like this to the table as this office is responsible for the city’s buildings and facilities. For whatever reason, Jason Golub, the current Public Works Commissioner, has declined to play this role, although he has told people that he plans to vote to approve the lease.

Instead Golub has handed off this responsibility to Accounts Commissioner Dillon Moran. While we are told that Moran plans to put a proposed lease up for a Council vote Tuesday (August 6, 2024) this item does not appear on his agenda nor has any document been posted anywhere on the city website for public review.

Unconfirmed rumors of what will be in this proposed lease abound.

There are reports that at least three versions of the lease are circulating.

Moran has told people that the reason that the lease was not on the published agenda was that it needed further work.

As both Moran and Golub refuse to respond to my emails, I have been unable to find out why Golub has refused to sponsor the resolution or what changes Moran thinks are required.

One source claims that Moran has said that there will not be time to make the changes before the pre-agenda meeting on Monday morning, August 5. This means that neither the Council members nor the public will have seen the proposal prior to Moran asking the Council to take action on Tuesday night.

Golub’s Troubling Behavior

Discussions about this plan began last fall so there has been plenty of time to craft a lease and to properly inform the public of its contents and meet with citizens to hear their concerns. That responsibility rested clearly on Golub’s shoulders as DPW Commissioner. Why he has abrogated that responsibility and allowed Moran to take over is unknown.

The Need For A Special Meeting

I have repeatedly written about the Faction’s (Moran/Sanghvi/Golub) indifference to the need to inform the public in a timely way about actions the Council plans to take. Rather than publish proposed resolutions in the agenda, which is posted on Friday nights, they regularly prefer to wait until the Tuesday nights of Council meetings to share what they plan to do.

It is no wonder that the Catholic school community is skeptical about the lease’s terms.

The only solution is to table Moran’s proposal, hold a special Council meeting to consider it and publish the proposal prior to that meeting at a time that will ensure the community has time to consider it and address the Council with their concerns.

Have you ever wondered what it is like to work in Saratoga Springs city hall for Accounts Commissioner Dillon Moran and his Deputy, Stacy Connors? A lawsuit brought by a longtime and well-respected Accounts Department employee, Lisa Ribis, gives some chilling insights.

Ribis filed her complaint on June 18, 2024, accusing Moran of “wanton, reckless, malicious, and/or intentional….actions…” which violated New York Civil Service Law. Lisa Ribis is now the second Accounts Department employee to sue the city and Moran over his treatment of employees in his department.

Among the charges Ribis makes in her suit against Moran and Connors is that she was the subject of ethnic slurs made by Moran. This is alleged to have occurred at an office meeting on September 15, 2023, at which Moran, his deputy Stacy Connors, assistant clerk Barbara Brindisi, and assistant purchasing agent Stefanie Richards were present as well as Ms. Ribis. During the course of this meeting, Moran referred to Italians as “guinea WOPS.” Ms. Ribis was the only person present of Italian heritage.

Ribis’ complaint also alleges that Moran made a number of false accusations about her. One of the more bizarre accusations Moran is said to have made is to claim that Ms. Ribis spit on activist protesters. Anyone who knows Ms. Ribis would know that this is totally unbelievable and out of character. Should there be any doubt in anyone’s mind, one need only recall the distance between the protesters and where Ms. Ribis sat when she was taking Council meeting minutes and ponder what would have been the reaction of protesters had this occurred. Are we to believe that Commissioner Moran was the only person to have noticed this miraculous act of long-distance targeted spitting at a public meeting?

As disturbing is the lawsuit’s listing of the number of times Moran told individuals that Ms. Ribis was to blame for the changes in the On-Call pay document that led to the District Attorney’s investigation and the subsequent $61,000 attorney bill submitted by Moran and Connors.

Some Background

On April 15, 2024, Saratoga Springs Commissioner of Accounts Dillon Moran suspended Lisa Ribis from her position as Secretary of the City Council in an attempt to terminate her. As Ms. Ribis’ job was protected under the city and state civil service laws, Moran lacked the authority to fire her. Instead, she suffered one month without pay and subsequently was barred by Moran from returning to her job while receiving full pay until a hearing can be convened before an arbitrator to judge the merits of Moran’s action.

Moran issued the first and only formal, written criticism of Ribis when he suspended her. For those not familiar with what is required to terminate an employee, barring some egregious event, there needs to be a clear and thoroughly documented record establishing that the proposed termination is based on a chronic history of violations.

It is a testament to Moran’s impetuous and inept management that he would presume that he could prevail in his effort to fire Ms. Ribis, who has no documented history of complaints about her job performance. A darker possibility is that he is willing to waste public money to indulge in reckless, vindictive behavior.

Ms. Ribis has faithfully served the city for nineteen years, during which time she has received no criticism for her work. In fact, she has enjoyed wide respect and affection from her colleagues throughout the city.

Commissioner Moran’s campaign to terminate Ms. Ribis goes back to 2022. It all began following public comments made by her husband, Joe Ribis, at the Council meeting on February 1, 2022, during which he criticized the Council. On February 15, Ms. Ribis was removed from her duties of taking Council meeting minutes. She believes this was because of the comments her husband made. By May, Moran was requiring her to check in with Deputy Commissioner Connors every morning to find out what Connors wanted her to do that day. Ribis was the only employee in the Accounts Department required to do this. As Connors did not come to work at a regular time in the morning, this made Ribis’ work day challenging, to say the least.

As apparent retribution, Moran also refused to compensate Ms. Ribis for overtime related to her role in taking the minutes of the Council meetings. Ms. Ribis had been receiving this compensation routinely for years. In January 2023, Ribis won a grievance against Moran over his refusal to allow her to accrue compensatory time that she was contractually entitled to. His arbitrary decision to deny her compensation for overtime made no sense outside of harassment.

Moran’s False Standard For Removing Ms. Ribis

Moran’s campaign to terminate Ms. Ribis was based on alleged problems with the minutes of Council meetings she took as the Council secretary. It is interesting to note that while multiple sources report Moran accusing Ribis of altering the documents related to on-call pay, this was not cited by Moran as a reason for the firing in his suspension memo.

It is also worth considering the performance of the person he replaced Ms. Ribis with.

Under the New York State Open Meetings Law, the city is required to post the minutes of meetings publicly within two weeks. During the years Ms. Ribis was responsible for this, she scrupulously met this requirement.

Before Ms. Ribis’ suspension, Moran insisted that Deputy Connors review the draft of the minutes before allowing Ribis to upload them to the city’s website. Connors frequently ignored the required timeline in returning the minutes to Ribis for posting. This tardiness resulted in the violation of the state’s two-week requirement.

The person appointed to replace Ms. Ribis no longer has her work reviewed by Deputy Connors but routinely posts the minutes late in violation of the New York State Open Meetings Law.

In fact, the quality of Ribis’ successor’s minutes has been seriously problematic. The minutes contain many errors in punctuation and incomplete sentences. Some have the wrong dates, and most refer to Supervisor Matt Veitch as Mike Veitch.

In an especially troubling incident, Ribis’ successor misrecorded a statement Lew Benton made during the Council’s public comment period. Benton’s remarks cited Moran’s mishandling of the procedures to pay his $61,000.00 legal bill, arguing that he had violated the city’s purchasing policies. This blogger recalls Moran’s body language during Benton’s remarks. He was not happy.

Somehow, Ms. Ribis’ successor inverted Benton’s remarks in the minutes. Instead of citing Moran’s failure to adhere to city requirements, her minutes had Lew supporting the manner in which the bill was to be paid.

It is hard to understand how she could have made such an egregious error. Benton wrote to Moran (see the email at the end of this post) asking that the record be corrected. Rather than having the courtesy of responding directly to Benton, Moran had Ribis’ successor email Benton, agreeing to correct the record. The minutes have never been corrected. [Revised July 26, 2024, The minutes were revised but the revision still was not correct.]

Rather than suffering Ms. Ribis’s fate for allegedly failing to properly manage the minutes of Council meetings, her successor has not only been promoted and enjoyed an increase in salary, but Moran got civil service to upgrade her position, resulting in a further rise in pay.

A List of the Allegations In Ribis Lawsuit

1. At a council meeting on February 1, 2022, Ms. Ribis’s husband, Joe, criticized the council.
2. On February 15, 2022, Ms. Ribis was removed from council meetings and “told to sit at her desk.”
3. On March 16, 2022, Ms. Ribis was told she would no longer receive accrued compensatory time or receive overtime pay after more than thirteen years of doing so.
4. The overtime she accrued for a March 15, 2022, meeting was denied.
5. A fellow employee who took over her meeting responsibilities was granted flex time and/or accrued compensatory time.
6. On May 3, 2022, Ms. Ribis was instructed to inquire every morning of Deputy Connors, what Connors wished for her to do that day. Ms. Ribis was the only employee in the accounts department required to do this.
7. In April of 2022, Moran falsely accused Ms. Ribis of spitting on activist protestors.
8. In January of 2023, Ms. Ribis prevailed in her grievance regarding her right to compensatory time that Moran had denied her.
9. According to the filing, on May 17, 2023, assistant city clerk Barbara Brandisi and another employee in the accounts department told Ms. Ribis that Moran “…was making it seem as if the plaintiff (Ribis) was to blame for various difficulties with the agenda.”
10. On January 10, 2024, Ms. Ribis received an email from Moran requesting that she provide another employee with full access to her password-protected files. On January 12, 2023, Ms. Ribis advised Moran that to do so would violate the policy she signed with the IT department.
11. Following this incident, Ms. Ribis asserts she was”shunned” by Moran and Connors, who refused to speak to her.
12. On February 16, 2024, Moran reassigned a portion of Ms. Ribis’s duties to the Mayor’s secretary.
13. On the evening of February 16,2024, Ms. Ribis received a call from a resident advising her that Moran was accusing her of altering the contents of a city resolution. Ribis responded that this was false.
14. On March 1, 2024, at a meeting convened by Moran with Connors, Executive Assistant to the Finance Commissioner Samantha Clemmy, Deputy Commissioner of Finance Heather Crofcker, and Assistant Purchasing Agency Sefanie Richards of Accounts, Moran asked Connors if the purchasing policy was added to the city council agenda. Connors responded that she “gave it to the secretary (Ribis), but she didn’t load it in time.” Moran responded that “she (Ribis) can’t even do her [expletive] job.”
15. In reference to item #14, Connors gave the document in question to Ms. Ribis at 11:57 a.m., when the cutoff to add items was 12:00 p.m. Ms. Ribis advised Connors at 12:03 p.m. that she tried loading the document, but the system had locked out at noon. Connors responded at the time that she was aware that the system closed promptly at noon.
16. On March 5, 2024, Ms. Ribis met with Mayor Safford and his assistant, Susanna Combs. During the meeting, Ms. Ribis advised the mayor that she believed Moran was accusing her of causing the “on-call” pay issue. Mayor Safford confirmed that Moran was blaming her for the change. The change would have made Connors eligible for the additional pay.
17. On March 20, 2024, Deputy Mayor Joanne Kiernan told Ribis, “you do know Commissioner Moran is blaming you for the ‘on-call’ mess.”
18. On March 21, 2024, Mayor Safford told Ms. Ribis’s husband that Moran planned to fire Ribis for forging a document. (As far as I know, this allegation was never included in the reasons officially stated for Ms. Ribis’s termination).
19. On April 1, 2024, during a pre-agenda meeting, Connors publicly stated that the March 19, 2024, meeting minutes should be pulled from the agenda because they were “hard to follow due to sentence structure, punctuation, and tense – meaning point of view is first, second, and third throughout the minutes. They require edits and adjustments for clarity and context. Once minutes are approved, they are a permanent record of the meeting. It’s important they be accurate.” Since Ms. Ribis’s employment in 2005, this is the first time that the minutes have ever been pulled from the agenda due to errors.

Final Thoughts

It is important to acknowledge that these are allegations made by Ms. Ribis’ lawyer, Philip G. Steck, and this blogger is unaware of a response from whoever is representing Moran, Connors, and the city.

Still, for some of us who have observed Moran, these accusations have the ring of authenticity.

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Lew Benton Email Re Incorrect Statement Attributed To Him In City Council Minutes

From: Lew Benton <lewbenton@gmail.com>
Date: July 1, 2024 at 12:48:55 PM EDT
To: dillion.moran@saratoga-springs.org
Cc: John Safford <john.safford@saratoga-springs.org>, Tim Coll <Tim.Coll@saratoga-springs.org>, minita.sanghvi@saratoga-springs.org, Jason Golub <jason.golub@saratoga-springs.org>
Subject: Correction to Draft June 26, 2024  City Council Meeting

Dear Commissioner Moran,

It has been brought to my attention that the draft minutes of the City Council’s Special June 26 meeting misrepresent my statement during the meeting’s Public Comment period.

The draft minutes attribute the following statement to me.

 PUBLIC COMMENT

“Lew Benton, of Saratoga Springs, commented on the proposed resolution for payment of legal services that had been planned to be presented to the City Council at the June 18, 2024 City Council Meeting and thenwithdrawn. Benton commented he could not find the resolution that enable the use of an assignment for legal liability. Benton commented he may be incorrect in the statement there were no resolutions for a legal liability assignment, and stated that he was unable tofind one. Lew Benton recommended the Council to reference Public Officer Law Section 18 regarding determination ofdefense and indemnification of officers and employees of public entities. Benton commented thatthe prerequisites to a resolution are the City Charter, City Code, and Public Officer’s Laws. Benton commented that the City Attorney’s pay attention to the issues and Benton recommended the assignment of independent council for this issue.”

I have reviewed a transcription of my comments.  I made NO such suggestion that “ …an assignment of independent counsel for this issue.” be made.  Attributing this false statement to me turns one its head the essence of my statement: i .e., that no assignment can be made unless and until a City Council approved contract with the independent counsel has been reviewed and approved.

In significant part the transcription of my remarks included the following: “Thus far I have bot been ale to discover any resolution that was previously adopted by this council that would authorize the assignment of special independent counsel to any member of the council or authorize payment.  The City Charter is clear. No such arrangement can be entered into without benefit of formal contract approved by the City Council.”

I did not recommend assignment but rather informed the Council that it was without authority to adopt the resolution on the finance commissioner’s agenda unless and until a Charter demanded contract was authorized.

Please delete the false statement in the draft minutes and insert “Thus far I have bot been ale to discover any resolution that was previously adopted by this council that would authorize the assignment of special independent counsel to any member of the council or authorize payment.  The City Charter is clear. No such arrangement can be entered into without benefit of formal contract approved by the City Council.”

Thank you.

Lew Benton 

70 Railroad Place

Saratoga Springs