Author: John Kaufmann

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A Little Background

According to an April 2 article in the Times Union, John Witt “chopped down a forest in Greenfield for his Old Stone Ridge subdivision to provide views of the Green Mountains. But the site plans approved by the Greenfield Planning Board did not show clear cutting. By the time the code enforcement got a stop-work order, the trees were gone.”

The Current Controversy

Statement From President of Saratoga Lake Association President:

The Saratoga Lake Association took the first steps to stop clear cutting of forested lands above Saratoga Lake. On March 31^st  Charles Malcomb, a partner at the Hodgson Russ law firm, issued the attached demand letter to the Town of Saratoga to stop the clearing at the proposed Cedar Bluff Subdivision. In the letter Malcomb states the current actions by Witt Construction are without any required approvals and are being done in order to sidestep the review process. He further points out that the actions “are in flagrant violation of the Zoning Regulations, the Town’s subdivision laws and SEQRA” (the State Environmental Quality Review Act).  The Town has ten days to respond to the Lake Association’s demands.

SLA President, Eliot Cresswell, issued the following statement to the association membership announcing this initiative. Thus far the membership response has been positive and supportive.

MEMBERSHIP EMAIL

I’m reaching out to inform you of an action that the SLA Board of Directors has recently taken. On behalf of its membership and in fulfillment of our mission, the SLA board unanimously approved the Hodgson Russ law firm to draft and transmit a demand letter to the Town of Saratoga. The letter, which was transmitted today (attached for your reference), demands that the Town stop the tree clearing at the proposed Cedar Bluff Subdivision. The letter states that the current actions by Witt Construction are without any required approvals and are being done in order to sidestep the review process. The letter further points out that the actions are in “violation of the Zoning Regulations, the Town’s subdivision laws and SEQRA” (the State Environmental Quality Review Act). The Town has ten days to respond to the Lake Association’s demands.

As you have hopefully observed, the SLA board has made it a priority to foster engagement with all relevant localities on issues of development, environmental safeguards, watershed stewardship, and information sharing. In many respects, we have been encouraged by the response to our outreach. We are building relationships with partners who share our desire to protect the lake’s health and to find ways to work together. At the same time, we have struggled to find common cause with other partners and as such are exploring other approaches to elevate our concerns. This demand letter is one such approach.

The SLA board takes our mission and our responsibility to our members very seriously. We listen to feedback and questions we receive from you and strive to make sure our actions reflect your views and goals. The SLA board does not blindly oppose development or fail to consider the rights of landowners and business interests. What we seek is for the short- and long-term health of Saratoga Lake to be a top priority for the localities around the lake and for land-use and lake-related decision making to be done in a transparent and environmentally principled way.

I encourage you to familiarize yourself with this matter and with other issues that have an impact on the short- and long-term health of Saratoga Lake. The more curious, informed, and engaged we all are, the more likely we’ll be to find solutions with shared benefit.

As always, you can share your feedback and questions with us by emailing sla@saratogalake.org.

Thank you for your membership and your on-going trust,

Eliot Cresswell

President, SLA Board of Directors

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On March 27, 2021, MLK Saratoga and Elz Figuereo organized a demonstration downtown in support of the fifty recommendations from the Saratoga Springs Police Reform and Reimagine Task Force.

The lack of safety precautions for the people attracted to this event was deeply troubling.  Mr. Figuereo has a history of this kind of behavior, but I was disappointed that my friends at MLK Saratoga would be complicit in this.  In their defense, they perhaps did not really think all of this through.

Most of the demonstrators were teenagers and young adults motivated by their laudable desire to somehow bring an end to racism and the national epidemic of police violence epitomized by the death of George Floyd.

After gathering in Congress Park, the participants marched down Henry Street to Lake Avenue and then up Lake Avenue to the steps of City Hall.  Following the speeches, they poured out onto Broadway.  At least one car speeding through the intersection nearly hit someone.  They marched up Broadway heading back to Congress Park.  The rear of the march was exposed to any potential reckless or malicious driver.  At Division Street, a city police patrol car and a sheriff patrol car moved in behind them to offer protection until they reached the park.

During the entire demonstration there were no uniformed police to be seen, with the exception of the two patrol cars.

Three demonstrators who I assumed to be the “security” for the march stood in the street while the demonstrators were on the City Hall steps. At least one of these people had two baseball bats in their backpack.  I presume that the weapons were there to defend the group from any counter protesters. 

There had been no communication with the police department regarding the coordination of this event in the interest of safety. 

Fortunately for the people demonstrating there was no disturbed person in a car to run them down as has happened in other cities and there were no armed counter protesters who might shoot someone as occurred in Seattle.

I invite the leadership of MLK Saratoga to enter into a conversation about the issue of safety at their demonstrations.  While Martin Luther King took great risks in the demonstrations he organized he was steeped in the tradition of Mahatma Gandhi.  The idea of having someone armed with a baseball bat participating would be anathema to him. 

Social change is about engagement, dialogue, and education.  I offer MLK Saratoga an invitation to write a post for this site explaining why they chose not to coordinate their event with the police to maximize the safety of the people they were leading.

Democratic voters are in the majority in the city, but this year’s slate of the party’s candidates for local offices has yet to be announced. The Republicans announced a full slate of candidates weeks ago.

Once upon a time there was an overwhelming Republican majority that held power in this town for decades. As the city grew and the demographics changed, Republican influence declined. In recent years they have not been mounting a full slate of candidates, and control of the Council has been in Democratic hands.

Just two years ago, Democrats won four of the five City Council seats and had consistently been running full slates in city elections. That was then.

This is now:

*Two Democratic incumbents, Mayor Meg Kelly and Commissioner of Finance Michele Madigan, decided not to run for re-election.

*The Democrats first choice to run for Mayor , Jason Golub, withdrew. A second candidate interested in running, David Snyder, has disappeared from the political scene. Ron Kim is now filling that slot.

. *After a long, fruitless search for a Finance Commissioner candidate, Democratic Committee Chair Sarah Burger put herself forward for the office. She has now taken herself off the ballot with no replacement in sight.

*Commissioner of Accounts John Franck, a 16 year incumbent who was running again, has now also just taken himself off the ballot.

*Dillon Moran, Democratic candidate for Commissioner of Public Works, has taken himself off the ballot. Mr. Moran was an unsuccessful candidate for this office in 2019.

It is possible that the Democrats will come up with new candidates to fill these three now vacant positions, but that must happen by this Friday, April 2.

Rumor has it that city Democratic Chair Sarah Burger will be stepping down at the committee’s April meeting.

I sent a text to Ms. Burger to call me for comment, but I have not yet heard from her. I will post whatever she has to say.

The City Council passed the resolution on the Police Task Force recommendations by a vote of four to one with John Franck dissenting. I will be posting more on this.

Here is a link to the latest City Council proposed resolution adopting police reform recommendations. It will be voted on tonight (March 31, 2021) at a special Council meeting.

http://agenda.saratoga-springs.org/agendainternal/AttachmentViewer.ashx?AttachmentID=16685&ItemID=17120

If you want to comment for this Zoom meeting you must register on the City’s website.

The only change from the previous version that my brief scan found was that the “independent advisory committee” that will be charged with overseeing the implementation of the resolution will be appointed by the Mayor rather than the Commissioner of Public Safety.

Seven of the thirteen members of the Saratoga Springs Police Reform and Reimagine Task Force have written to the City Council condemning Police Chief Shane Crooks for his recent letter, report, and questionnaire to “stakeholders.” They assert that he has intentionally misrepresented the work of the Task Force in order to undermine their work. They write that the “Cover letter seems like an attempt to undermine a majority Black Task Force.” All seven of the signatories are Black.

I have previously posted the full version of the chief’s letter, report, and responses to his questionnaire.

I think this letter (see below) makes some points in criticizing the chief’s letter but an exploration of their allegations is impossible without an environment in which the issues can be thoughtfully explored.

Attacking someone for bad faith is the end of any discussion.

What makes me sad is that at a time when this community most needs to enter into a thoughtful discussion of policing and racism, our ability to have a dialogue seems now even more remote.

In this world, only the powerful benefit when there is a culture of anger and unbridled suspicion. In such a world money and force are the currency of action. Not reason. We cannot afford this.

Chief Crooks is not the enemy nor are the signatories of the letter.

This is a link to the PDF version of the letter:

[JK: I have tried to incorporate pages from Chief Crooks report and questionnaire into this post. Due to technical issues, I could not manage the type size of the text so these pages may be difficult to read, depending upon the device you use. With that in mind, I have provided a link to the full report.]

Saratoga Springs Police Chief Shane Crooks has written to the City Council expressing his concern about the lack of adequate outreach to “stakeholders” by the Saratoga Springs Police Review and Reinvention Task Force (SSPRRTF).

In his letter he highlights text from Governor Cuomo’s Executive Order 203 in support of his concern.

In his letter he asserts “…that the task force declined to meet with key stakeholders defined in the governor’s executive order such as the DA’s office or the Public Defender’s office stating that the Council can do it. I took it upon myself to reach out to the DA’s office, the Public Defender’s office and members of our downtown area community.” Chief Crooks writes that he identified thirty stakeholder groups from whom he sought responses. He notes that while some responded fully in writing, others spoke to him, while others did not respond at all. His cover letter, his report, and the responses to his questionnaires can be found here.

The letter identifies a number of items where the responses to his survey conflicted with the findings in the SSPRRTF report.

1. He contrasted the SSPRRTF document that asserted “Very worried about over policing in certain (BIPOC and/or lower income) communities – esp. Geyser Crest” with statements from the president of the Southwest Neighborhood Association where Geyser Crest is located, who advocated for “additional patrols including a substation.”
2. He noted that the SSPRRTF included a comment from their survey that advocated for the elimination of mounted police who were characterized as threatening while a response to his questionnaire from the president of the Southwest Neighborhood Association described the same mounted police as enthusiastically embraced by children in her neighborhood.
3. He referenced the SSPRRTF allegation that claimed “…over policing of people of color, youth, and low-income residents (statistical in-city data over multiple years supports this notion).” He noted that the SSPRRTF offered no supporting data and that the police department did not keep records regarding the income status of people arrested.

Taking The Time To Learn About Our Police Department

Chief Crooks has crafted an extensive report exploring a number of key dimensions of the police department. Wherever you stand on the recent controversies, engagement seems key to making better decisions. With that in mind I strongly urge readers to take the time to read his report which begins on page 4 with this:

The report goes into considerable detail describing the different specialties of the city’s police officers (K9, horse, traffic, etc.) along with where, how, and when they are deployed (beginning on page 8). Below I have extracted from the report a number of items but the report, including the appendixes are worth the read.

Use of Force and De-Escalation

Procedural Justice & Bias

This section discusses how complaints regarding police personnel are handled

The Stakeholder Questions

The report includes responses to police chief Crooks’ questionnaire. The responses were not always uncritical.

Terry Diggory is a member of both the Saratoga Immigration Coalition and the Saratoga Springs Police Reform and Reinvention Task Force.

Mr. Diggory is a person of integrity who merits attention.

Mr. Diggory responded to the question, “Do you believe the department should conduct more or less training?” that “The issue is quality, not quantity.”

To “Do you have questions/suggestions about our use of force?” he responded, “Policy should focus more on de-escalation.”

Mr. Diggory had a number of other observations that are worth reading. Most helpful and interesting was input he solicited from LifeWorks (formerly Saratoga County EOC). Christy Nowhitney Hernandez is the deputy director of Lifeworks and works with backstretch workers. The questions she replied to came from Mr. Diggory.

Ms. Hernandez notes that “Based on EOC client reports of interactions with the SSPD, interactions in recent years have been markedly more productive and professional than in previous periods [JK: I expect that the leadership of the current chief of police may have contributed to this].

Ms. Herandez reports on some troubling examples of past interactions with the police regarding immigrants and people of color.

There are additional responses from Paul Ruchames, executive director of BEST (Backstretch Employees Service Team) and Joan Odess, Immigrant Services Manager at EOC. Both of them focused on the need for Spanish speaking translators to assist the police.

Saratoga Casino Hotel On Handling Police Related Issues

The casino questionnaire was quite revealing. They discuss the many difficulties they must deal with given the very large numbers that pass through their facility.

The police do an excellent job in deploying staff to maintain the high standards of safety enjoyed by citizens, businesses, and visitors, but during peak periods of police requests for service, responses are delayed and police time at scene become abreviated leaving bad feelings by those in need.

Questionnaire

The entire questionnaire is quite an eye opener. It makes sense that a casino will face major issues of crime and disorderly behavior. Here is their response:

Summary

It is important to acknowledge the work of the Saratoga Springs Police Reform and Reinvention Task Force. The members of the committee have provided a valuable service to the city in promoting policies that should strengthen our local department. This is particularly noteworthy as they did so with little in the way of professional support services and within a very limited period of time.

It is a testament to the city of Saratoga Springs that it has so many people willing in a variety of ways to demonstrate their concern over the issue of racism and the use of excessive force targeted at people of color in this country.

The struggle for social justice, however, needs to be tempered by a careful, and critical assessment of our own local police.

I am disheartened by the fact that the leadership of the local protests ignores or dismisses the fact that in spite of multiple demonstrations that flaunted the laws of the city to make their point, no one has been injured and I include in that assessment the July 30 event.

The reason that no one has been injured is that Police Chief Shane Crooks actually places the protection of both the protesters, his officers, and the public as the starting point for addressing demonstrations.

A blanket condemnation of our local police only contributes to the excesses and craziness that have erupted across our country.

Police Chief Shane Crooks has demonstrated a willingness to place the use of force in enforcing the law within the context of the basic mission of his department to protect and defend. This kind of leadership should be encouraged if we are to move forward.

This is not to dismiss the merits of a civilian review board (CRB). The design of institutions should not be based on personality. An effectively crafted CRB would contribute to creating a culture of openness and accountability. Currently the public assessment of the police has relied on anecdotal allegations and rumors. All of this has been further tainted by the death of Darryl Mount and the poorly managed investigation following his death.

I am sympathetic to the impatience of many who want to see a CRB approved and implemented today. My fear is that a poorly designed CRB will fail and contribute to greater anger and distrust. As so often is repeated, “the devil is in the details.”

The City Council resolution to adopt a police “reinvention” resolution includes timelines for establishing a committee to research and craft a CRB. This is an important step. I believe that the members of the City Council are operating in good faith in extending the work on a CRB. Time will tell.

Commissioner of Accounts John Franck and Sarah Burger, who was running for Commissioner of Finance, both on the Democratic ticket, have dropped out of the race for city offices.