Author: John Kaufmann

Before we are able to vaccinate our community one of the only tools to protect out citizens is through contact tracing. South Korea is an excellent example of how aggressive tracing can stem the spread of the virus and thus bring back some normalcy to their citizens while saving lives.

Given the explosive spread of the disease and the adverse publicity in television news reports and newspapers about the lack of contact tracing by Saratoga county, one would have assumed this would be a dominant topic at their meetings. Regrettably this is not the case. In reviewing the minutes of the various committees of the Saratoga County Board of Supervisors the silence on this issue is eerie.

In the case of Tara Gaston’s Facebook page, she reports extensively and regularly about the current statistics of the progress of the disease but not a single word about the troubled contact tracing program.

On January 4, 2020 I wrote to the two Saratoga Springs Supervisors with a series of questions regarding the contact tracing program. As my representatives to the Board of Supervisors I was hoping that they would seek answers to these.

The full set of questions can be found below but to give the readers of this blog a flavor for what I was seeking here are several:

1. How many full and part time contact tracers does the county currently have?
2. Why does the county require applicants for the jobs to mail in their resumes rather than allow the use of fax, email, or a county portal?
3. How does the county measure the success of its contact tracing program and how do its efforts measure up currently?

My letter was respectful and I hope the readers of this blog share my own belief that it was reasonable for an elected representative to attempt to get answers for me.

A Primer On How Politicians Don’t Answer Questions

I am a veteran of asking questions of people in government without success. As a blogger I lack the status and reach of newspapers like the Times Union and the Daily Gazette.

Anyway, these are the three standard ways I get non-answers.

1. Don’t Acknowledge Or Respond At All

This is the simple one. Emails are not answered and telephone calls not answered.

2. Be Gracious And Say Nothing

The standard way politicians avoid answering questions they do not like is to write a pleasant note acknowledging the constituent’s inquiry and ignoring the questions.

This was the approach used by Supervisor Veitch.

Hi John-

A lot of your questions require answers from someone other than me.  I would assume that the County has hired qualified and trained, Contact tracers legally and that they are working in accordance with all proper regulations.

The Board of Supervisors has authorized 75 contact tracing positions and my expectation in voting for that resolution is that all those positions will be filled as soon as possible, and we get those people doing the job of contact tracing.

Thanks-

Matthew E. Veitch

Email January 5, 2021

3. Respond In An Unpleasant Way Meant To Discourage Any Further Inquiries

In this approach the official responds in a way that is meant to discourage you from any future inquiries. The best purveyors of this approach slightly mask their hostility. They want to communicate to you the fact that they know they are not answering your question and that they know you know they are not answering their questions. They are communicating to you that they have no intention of answering your questions now or in the future. They want you to be aware that they are in a position of power (however modest that power may be) and that you are are of little consequence.

This is the option that Supervisor Tara Gaston chose.

Mr. Kaufmann,

As I posted publicly, on December 30 I suffered a head injury and was limited in work. As such, I did not review your questions after my last response to you. However, prior to this email today I checked in and confirmed that this position was reviewed and approved by the previous County Attorney, employment counsel, and the Department of Labor. All contracts are FOILable, and I have also CC’d the County Attorney and Director of Human Resources on this call in the event that they have any additional information they wish to provide at this time. 

Thank you for your engagement with Saratoga County government,  Supervisor Tara N. Gaston | she/her

Emailed January 4, 2021

To appreciate Superisor Gaston’s answer it needs to be put in context. In a previous email to her I had asked about the apparent abuse by the county of the use of contracting to hire contact tracers. I had asked her to please find out the extent to which the time of contract tracers was controlled by the county. I have discussed why this is important in a previous post. Rather than answer me at the time, she advised me that the county attorney had told her that it was all legal. I had pointed out to her the extremely problematic role his legal advice had played in the COVID 19 bonus pay debacle. This explains my my most recent email to her spelling out as clearly as I could the answers I was seeking.

Even assuming that the county’s use of contracting for work is legal, Supervisor Gaston does not address the more pressing issues about the current level of staffing and the current effectiveness of the county’s contract tracing.

Supervisor Gaston Assures Her Colleagues At The Board of Supervisors that She Is A Loyal Member of the Team

The most interesting thing about Supervisor Gaston’s response was that she cc’ed both the Director of Human Resources, Margaret McNamara, and the acting county attorney, Hugh Burk. Mr. Burk had been the assistant county attorney prior to the retirement last week of county attorney Stephen Dorsey.

The readers of this blog may remember Ms. McNamara as one of the key architects of the county’s disastrous COVID bonus scandal. Mr. Burk was Dorsey’s assistance during this episode. The county attorney’s office did not fair well in the report by the independent investigation of that sorry business.

Supervisor Gaston’s suggestion that either Ms. McNamara or Mr. Burk might offer insight in the tracer issue has as much credibility as me getting a place on next year’s New York Knicks line up. Needless to say, to date I have heard nothing from McNamara or Burk.

Comrades, I Am One of You

Supervisor Veitch as both a Republican and as a long time veteran with the county enjoys the trust of his colleagues.

In contrast, Supervisor Gaston carries quite a bit of baggage. Foremost, she is a Democrat in an institution that is thoroughly dominated by the Republican Party. She is also a woman. Finally, she represents Saratoga Springs. Our city has always had an uneasy relationship with the county.

I have observed Supervisor Gaston over the last years maneuvering to build up trust and creds with her colleagues. This is to be expected. As with any institution to have an impact one needs the trust and respect of your colleagues. The problem is that our county is so badly managed that the pursuit of trust can come at a great cost.

Unfortunately, this appears to be a cost that Supervisor Gaston is willing to pay. The reality is that the real purpose of copying McNamara and Burk was to send a message to her colleagues that she is a loyal part of the team. She is communicating to them that they do not have to worry that she will be indiscreet and ask questions that might embarrass the county.

Don’t Expect Your Supervisor To Stand Up Against Their Colleagues Over Contact Tracing

It requires a special person to speak truth’s that your colleagues do not want to hear. While there is an insurgency against the current county leadership this may have as much to do with issues of power as to actual differences on policy. Both Supervisors Gaston and Veitch are part of this “reform” effort. One has to ask, what difference a change in leadership will make if an issue as urgent as effective contact tracing is swept under the proverbial rug?

My Email To Veitch and Gaston

To: Tara Gaston and Matthew Veitch

Date: January 4, 2021

The record so far for the county’s contact tracing program has been abysmal.  Much of the problem seems to be associated with the failure to effectively staff the project.  This is no arcane, technical issue.  The rate of COVID infection has radically increased and the recent holidays will only escalate the problem.  The recent discovery of the presence of an even  more virulent strain in Saratoga County adds urgency to the need to do whatever possible to contain the spread of this virus. Sadly, the failure to effectively deploy enough tracers does not appear to be an issue for the Board of Supervisors.

It appears that the county is contracting for tracers rather than hiring them as temporary employees.  The burden of paying their own minimum benefits (social security, Medicare) reduces the net income for the jobs.  The burden of dealing with tax withholding and other administrative requirements as independent contractors appears to be a likely deterrent for seeking positions.  With that in mind, I am asking you to assist me and the readers of my blog with answers to the following questions:

How many full and part time tracers does the county currently employ?

Does the county have some metric for determining the success of its effort to do contact tracing?  If so, what is that metric and to what extent is the county meeting its goals?

Does the county provide any training for its contact tracers beyond taking the Johns Hopkins course?

Are the tracers required to do their work at a county facility?

Do the contact tracers use county equipment such as computers, software, telephones?  If so, what county equipment do they use?

Does the county maintain some method of measuring the productivity of the tracers?

Are the tracers paid for items beyond the contract such as reimbursement for mileage?  If so, what is paid for?

Can you provide me with a copy of the contract the county uses with these tracers?

Why does the county require applicants to be tracers to submit their application by mail rather than by portal, email, or fax?

Why doesn’t the county provide a telephone number for applicants in case they have questions?

Given the urgency of the situation I am hoping that you share my concerns and that you will assist me in quickly securing answers to these questions.

Thank you

JK

[JK: This post has been edited to correct an error. I reported that four people were infected by the new strain of the COVID virus. Only one person tested positive for this new strain and that person is recovering.]

Area and national newspapers and TV stations are reporting that an employee of N. Fox Jewelers on Broadway in Saratoga Springs is the first person in New York to show a positive test result for the new, more virulent form of the Covid virus. Three more employees of the jeweler tested positive for the virus but there is no record that these employees were infected by the new strain.

The Times Union report quoted Governor Andrew Cuomo regarding the development that “It’s about contact tracing. This U.K. strain is reported to be 70 percent more contagious.”

Public Safety Commissioner Robin Dalton is quoted in the article as saying “We are at the mercy of the county. We work well with them. We are following all of the New York state regulations. We are following the governor very closely and making sure we are following every safety protocol.”

Unfortunately, the TU also reported that “On Monday afternoon, Saratoga County officials had not said what their plans are, if any, to contain the new strain of the virus.”

According to the Times Union, “The county also has the region’s second-highest positivity rate at 11 percent.” 

Saratoga County appears to be violating state and federal laws in its COVID contact tracing program as they are contracting with workers rather than hiring them as county employees. Due to the overlapping of jurisdictions, I have submitted formal complaints to the New York State Department of Labor, the Joint Task Force on Worker Exploitation and Employee Misclassification (JTFWEEM), the New York State Public Employee Relations Board, and the United States Internal Revenue Service. The JTFWEEM was established to better coordinate the overlapping nature of the violations.

It is illegal to “contract” with an individual rather than hire them as an employee to do work if the purpose is to circumvent payment of benefits (social security, Medicare, etc.) and/or to deny the individual the protections of the minimum wage and health and safety regulations.

At the end of this post, I lay out the criteria for categorizing workers as employees vs contract workers.

One of the challenges of pursuing this issue is the opaque nature of Saratoga County’s government. I believe that the case against the county is strong based on the available information on the county website but my efforts to further investigate this have been frustrated by my limited rights as a citizen to information.

The Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) is a very slow process. In effect, the county can legally put off providing FOIL requested information for roughly a month.

Getting a response from employees at the county is limited because outside of FOIL, they do not have to respond.

I have tried to get information through Supervisor Tara Gaston but this has proved to be challenging. Granted, it is the holiday season, but so far the result of multiple emails to her has been her eventually advising me that the Saratoga County Attorney assured her that the county’s use of contracting is completely legal. She writes that she will look into the matter further.

The readers of this blog will recall that this is the same County Attorney who claimed that the COVID committee was not subject to the Open Meetings Law. This, in spite of the fact that I had written to him regarding the New York State Open Meetings Commission determination that the COVID Committee was subject to the law. Eventually, the law firm that investigated the county’s COVID bonus debacle confirmed the violation.

I had asked Supervisor Gaston in my emails to help me answer a simple question (discussed later) which was important in determining the county’s violation. For whatever reason she apparently did not inquire about this with the County Attorney when she spoke to him, and her email to me simply ignored my question.

How The Use Of Contracting Has Exacerbated The Problem Of Hiring Tracers

The county has been subject to embarrassing coverage by area television and newspapers about their failure to provide sufficient contact tracing. Anecdotally, as recently as this week I am aware of a number of people who have contracted COVID or were in contact with someone who contracted the disease and have heard nothing from any tracer even though the county was aware of these cases.

In May the county authorized the hiring of fifty tracers. According to the Daily Gazette, as of December the county had only been able to hire the equivalency of ten tracers since some were part time.

I reviewed the minutes of both the Health Committee and the Human Resources and Insurance Committee of the Board of Supervisors for December, and there is nothing in the minutes about the fact that hiring of tracers has been an utter failure.

Tara Gaston is a member of the HR subcommittee and was present at the December meeting but apparently did not raise any concerns about this situation nor did any other members of the committee.

Putting aside legal and ethical issues, the county’s use of contracting has to be a major obstacle for getting people to apply to be contact tracers.

The county solicitation for contact tracers says they will be paid $25.00 per hour but this is misleading. Those contracted with will have to pay what would normally be the employer’s share for Social Security and Medicare in addition to the employee share (normally deducted from their check). This represents a reduction in pay of at least 7.5%. This does not include other potential items like unemployment insurance. What is probably even more of a problem is that these tracers will have to deal with how much to withhold for both state and federal taxes along with needing to find out how to report these to the respective government bodies. They will probably have to hire an accountant to assist them.

As a further indication of how indifferent the county appears to be to the need to hire people, applicants are told that they must submit their application by mail. So much for modern technology. The county’s website does not provide a contact number for any questions the applicant might have.

Understanding The Legal Limits of “Contracting”

The Internal Revenue Service and the New York State Department of Labor use a number of criteria to determine whether an employer is properly categorizing someone as a contractor.

The following is taken from the New York State Department of Labor website:

Misclassification of Workers

Misclassification occurs if an employer treats people as independent contractors when they are employees. Some employers use this tactic to avoid compliance with: 

Unemployment insurance (UI)

Workers’ Compensation

Social Security

Tax withholding

Temporary disability

Minimum wage and overtime laws that protect workers

NYS Department of Labor

Briefly, a contractor is supposed to work independently to complete some task. In general, their hours, their equipment, and their training is supposed to be their own. Think Uber drivers.

The IRS is involved because employers are supposed to handle withholding and to pay taxes such as those associated with social security and Medicare.

To understand the issues in more depth I offer the following from the IRS website. They use three criteria to determine if a worker is appropriately categorized as an employee or a contract worker.

Behavioral: A worker is an employee when the business has the right to direct and control the work performed by the worker, even if that right is not exercised.

• Type of instructions given, such as when and where to work, what tools to use or where to purchase supplies and services. Receiving the types of instructions in these examples may indicate a worker is an employee.
• Degree of instruction, more detailed instructions may indicate that the worker is an employee.  Less detailed instructions reflects less control, indicating that the worker is more likely an independent contractor.
• Evaluation systems to measure the details of how the work is done points to an employee. Evaluation systems measuring just the end result point to either an independent contractor or an employee.
• Training a worker on how to do the job — or periodic or on-going training about procedures and methods — is strong evidence that the worker is an employee. Independent contractors ordinarily use their own methods.

Financial Control: Does the business have a right to direct or control the financial and business aspects of the worker’s job? Consider:

• Significant investment in the equipment the worker uses in working for someone else.
• Unreimbursed expenses, independent contractors are more likely to incur unreimbursed expenses than employees.
• Opportunity for profit or loss is often an indicator of an independent contractor.
• Services available to the market. Independent contractors are generally free to seek out business opportunities.
• Method of payment. An employee is generally guaranteed a regular wage amount for an hourly, weekly, or other period of time even when supplemented by a commission. However, independent contractors are most often paid for the job by a flat fee.

Relationship: The type of relationship depends upon how the worker and business perceive their interaction with one another. This includes:

• Written contracts which describe the relationship the parties intend to create. Although a contract stating the worker is an employee or an independent contractor is not sufficient to determine the worker’s status.
• Benefits. Businesses providing employee-type benefits, such as insurance, a pension plan, vacation pay or sick pay have employees. Businesses generally do not grant these benefits to independent contractors.
• The permanency of the relationship is important. An expectation that the relationship will continue indefinitely, rather than for a specific project or period, is generally seen as evidence that the intent was to create an employer-employee relationship.
• Services provided which are a key activity of the business. The extent to which services performed by the worker are seen as a key aspect of the regular business of the company.

Appealing To Supervisor Gaston

Why am I pressing Supervisor Tara Gaston on this issue? Supervisor Gaston is both a Democrat and a self described progressive. If anyone would share concerns about these issues I would expect it would be she.

In my original email I had asked her whether the county was reserving the right to determine what hours the contact workers would be working since this would be one of the factors used to determine whether a worker was properly classified. I am still hoping that she will get an answer.

I still hope that she will find her voice and help drive reform at the county regarding contact tracing in general and pursuing the question of illegal contracting of tracers in particular.

Here is my last email to Supervisor Gaston.

I was disappointed by your response of December 29, 2020.  As you may recall, I specifically asked you whether the contact tracers’ hours were subject to control by the county.  The answer to this is important in helping to determine if the contact tracers are appropriately classified as contract workers.  Informing me that the County Attorney has advised you that all requirements have been met is not reassuring given that this is the same County Attorney who assured the Board of Supervisors that the meetings of the special COVID group were not covered by the Open Meetings Law when it was subsequently confirmed that they were.

The posting of the positions on the county website strongly implies that the county has the authority to determine their hours.  The posting states:  

“Weekend and evening hours may be required depending on established schedule and the needs of the County.” The IRS suggests that instructing workers “when and where to work…may indicate that the worker is an employee.”

https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/understanding-employee-vs-contractor-designation

It is important to resolve this issue for many reasons. The classification of these workers as contract workers may not only be illegal but may also be contributing to the failure of the county to hire enough staff to do effective tracing. Equally important is the fair treatment of those who sign on to do this important work.

I know that you share my sense of social justice and I appreciate the fact that you have responded promptly to my emails. To date, however,  your emails have not provided any clarification on these issues. I am looking forward to hearing more from you.

Best wishes for a healthy 2021.

Email From John Kaufmann To Tara Gaston

[JK: Following the publishing of this piece, the story has had additional developments. The story about the “sleepover” had previously received coverage from several television news programs. This evening, Channel 10 news ran a story. Their story reported that Warren County had contacted the Saratoga County Sheriff’s Department about the party. Channel 10 contacted Saratoga County Sheriff Michael Zurlo who told them that his office “…is now investigating.”]

Our new Saratoga County Public Health Commissioner seems to be following the tradition of our county government in terms of opacity and dubious management. This is deeply troubling for a job in which informing the public is critical to both maintaining credibility in general and effectively implementing programs to control the spread of COVID-19.

An Email Goes Unanswered

On December 18 I wrote to both Human Resources Director Margaret (“Marcy”) McNamara and Public Health Commissioner Daniel Kuhles asking why the county had been having such difficulty in hiring contact tracers.

Ms. McNamara promptly responded with an email saying that she was referring my question to Dr. Kuhles and copied Dr. Kuhles.

Dr. Kuhles has not responded nor even acknowledged my email.

Multiple Violations Of COVID Restrictions? In Saratoga County apparently no one cares.

In the December 29 edition of the Daily Gazette there was a story about an “underage drinking party and sleepover…that drew more than 50 or more travelers, one of whom was infected.” The party apparently happened in Wilton.

Warren County reported that its health workers had documented at least 10 new cases that “appear to stem” from the party. Apparently Warren County does contract tracing.

According to the Gazette:

Saratoga County officials have given no public indication they are looking into any such party — which would be in direct violation of the state’s 10-person limit on such gatherings as well as alcohol consumption laws — or looking at its potential impact on public health.

December 29 edition of the Daily Gazette

The Gazette reported that when they inquired about the party, an unnamed spokesperson for the county “provided a general quote from county Health Commissioner Dr. Daniel Kuhles on the importance of personal hygiene…” The spokesperson claimed “further comment was impossible because law enforcement is involved in the investigation.”

But Sheriff Zurlo May Not Be Doing COVID Enforcement…

The problem with this explanation is that Sheriff Michael Zurlo told Channel 6 News in November that he was not going to enforce Governor Cuomo’s executive order on limiting gatherings regarding Thanksgiving.

“I can’t see how devoting our resources to counting cars in citizens’ driveways or investigating how much turkey and dressing they’ve purchased is for the public good.”

Sheriff Michael Zurlo November 16

Sheriff Zurlo’s contemptuous reference to “how much turkey and dressing” does not inspire confidence that he took the threat of the virus very seriously. It does not inspire confidence that his department is responsible for enforcing COVID-19 restrictions.

So it is unclear, not withstanding Dr. Kuhles explanation, that law enforcement is actually involved. I am not a fan of Governor Andrew Cuomo but I do enjoy his straight talk about people who violate COVID restrictions. It would seem that this would have been an opportunity for Dr. Kuhles to have said something forceful rather than issue a call for people to wash their hands.

Contrast The County Response To Saratoga Springs

Back in March Commissioner Robin Dalton told the Daily Gazette:

“Maintaining social distance and the guidelines put in place by Gov. [Andrew] Cuomo will be key. As a city, we will be enforcing them through warnings, and ticketing and fines if needed, because your actions are that important. Our health and safety depend on them.”

Commissioner Dalton

Here is a link to the story on Saratoga Springs enforcement:

Saratoga Springs to warn, possibly ticket COVID-19 social distance violations

Your County Does Not Have Your Back

Let’s hope that I am wrong about the county and that they step up to their responsibilities regarding the COVID virus. So far not so good.

I attempted to listen to the December 15, 2020, Saratoga County Board of Supervisors meeting. It was an exercise in frustration. Imagine sitting in the second row of a Rolling Stones concert and trying to listen in to what a group of people in the row in front of you were saying. Regrettably, it lacked the benefit of hearing and watching Mick Jagger.

In order to address the danger of contagion, the Governor issued an executive order that waved the requirement under the Open Meetings Law that the public be allowed to attend meetings of elected officials. The order stipulated that the public could be restricted from attending, but it required that the public be able to listen in on the meeting and that a transcript be posted.

Unlike Saratoga Springs city government which provides a live stream video of their meetings, the Board of Supervisors’ meetings are neither live streamed nor do they post videos subsequent of their meetings.

This is consistent with their hostility to public scrutiny. One of the findings of the independent investigation into the COVID pay scandal was that the Supervisors had repeatedly violated the Open Meetings Law.

The lack of video also reflects the failure of the county to develop modern information technology capabilities. Yet another example of the lack of effective management and indifference to the public.

To meet the Governor’s requirements the Supervisors set up a system where people could call a special telephone number to listen to the meetings.

There were two problems with this set up. First of all, apparently at least some of the participants were using Zoom with mixed results. While a few speakers were clear, many were muffled or garbled. At times some of the participants spoke over each other which made it impossible to make out what they were saying.

Worse, speakers rarely identified themselves so one rarely knew who was talking.

This may have technically meet the requirements of the Open Meetings Law during COVID, but it most assuredly did not meet the spirit of the law.

I am not sure who is responsible for the transcript. Given that these meetings can go on for hours, it is a yeoman’s task to write all of this down. I assume it is the responsibility of the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors. If it is she, to her credit she does a very good job but there is a long delay before the minutes are posted. I am writing this on December 27th and the minutes of the December 15th meeting are still not up.

I complained to our Supervisors and received the following responses:

Our meeting went very late last night and sorry for not responding yesterday.  Also apologies for the bad audio at the County.  We are planning on investing a large sum of money next year to make our Board Meeting room state-of-the art with a new audio system that can be integrated into a on-line meeting system, as well as cameras in the board room and committee room that can live-stream our meetings online.  It should have been done years ago.  Until that gets done, it will be difficult.

Supervisor Matthew Veitch, email December 16, 2020

I’m personally thrilled that we were able to include funding for LONG needed tech updates, as well as increase public information funding and placing it under the Board itself to support being more responsive and improving communication with the public – who should always be the priority. 

Tara Gaston email December 16, 2020

According to an article by Wendy Liberatore in the December 17, 2020, edition of the Times Union, the county has yet to decide what action to take regarding its County Administrator, Spencer Hellwig, if any. As the readers may recall, an independent report commissioned by the county documented repeated mismanagement regarding COVID-19 raises.

Liberatore reports that Ballston Supervisor Eric Connolly will be authorized to decide who, if anyone, will be disciplined for the COVID19 bonus debacle.

Connolly is quoted: “The personnel matters that I have been authorized to deal with are internal and therefore must remain confidential,” so we may never know if they do anything.

Connolly did offer that the External Report Review Committee, which he chairs, will be making recommendations to the Board of Supervisors about reforms growing out of the pay raise debacle.

Whatever Connolly should decide, the potential takeover of leadership of the Board of Supervisors in January by representatives of the larger towns in the county puts further doubt on Hellwig’s future. Members of the insurgent supervisor group had pushed earlier this year for his dismissal. There is reason to believe that the change in leadership puts Human Resources Director Margaret (“Marcy”) McNamara’s future in jeopardy as well.

I chose as my profile picture my English Setter, Miss Kate. She is the power behind the thrown. I have trained and hunted English Setters for some forty years…Miss Kate is the best. She is my pal.

As the number of COVID cases continues to climb, Saratoga County fails repeatedly to hire the appropriate number of contact tracers.

According to the December 16, 2020, Daily Gazette, “… [Saratoga} county has seen its number of active cases grow more than five-fold since the middle of November, setting several new daily records for number of cases confirmed.”

On Tuesday, December 15, 2020, the Saratoga County Board of Supervisors authorized the hiring of an additional 25 contract tracers which brings the authorized number to 75. Yet the county has stumbled for months unable to fill the original target of 50 set back in May.

State guidelines require 30 tracers per 100,000 persons. As our county has a population of approximately 269,000, we should have at least 69 tracers.

According to the minutes of the November 4, 2020, Health and Social Services Committee of the County Board:

Currently they have hired 19 and of that 19, 3 did not work out leaving a total of 16 on staff. 10 of the staff are working part time hours and the other 6 work full time.

November 4, 2020 minutes

Stunningly, in the midst of the pandemic crisis this November we had the equivalency of about 10 full time tracers when we needed 69.

Does Anyone Think There Is A Problem?

The following people were listed as attending the meeting where the lack of tracers was discussed:

Present: Chairman Dick Lucia; Committee Members Todd Kusnierz, Darren O’Connor, Sandra Winney, Benny Zlotnick; Supervisors Tara Gaston, Mo Wright and Chairman of the Board Preston Allen; Chad Cooke, Matt Rose, County Administrator; Steve Dorsey, County Attorney; J. Wes Carr, Youth Bureau; Sandi Cross, Office for the Aging; Cathy Medick, Public Health; Michael
Prezioso, Mental Health & Addiction.

This roster includes the Chair of the Board of Supervisors, seven other Supervisors, the County Attorney, a representative from Public Health, and the Deputy County Administrator.

Not one of these county officials asked the obvious question: Why in over six months are we utterly failing to deploy enough tracers?

Then, on December 2, 2020, the county’s Human Resources Department posted a notice that the county was no longer accepting applications for contract tracers!

Maybe An Effective Solicitation Might Help?

Until this week, the solicitation for applications on the county website was extremely brief. Missing was any information as to the requirements for the position. It simply announced the position and its pay rate and directed people to send in their resume to a person at a county address. That is send as in U.S. Mail.

So I called the county. It was then that I learned that the requirement for the job was the completion of an on-line, seven hour course at the Johns Hopkins University’s website and a flu shot.

I wrote to both Dr. Daniel Kuhles who is the new Saratoga County Commissioner of Public Health and to Margaret (Marcie) McNamara, head of the Department of Human Resources, asking why they thought the county had been unable to fill the positions.

I received a prompt reply from Ms. McNamara informing me that she had referred my question to Dr. Kuhles. I have not heard from Dr. Kuhles.

Coincidentally, yesterday (December 18, 2020) the county posted an updated solicitation which now properly states the qualifications for the job and describes the duties of the position.

Hopefully, posting a proper solicitation (after eight months) on their website will assist in their efforts to recruit people.

Don’t Email That!

Interestingly, the new solicitation indicates, though, that neither email nor fax applications will be accepted. Why the county is requiring hard copies of applications to be mailed is hard to understand. If they want to hire people as quickly as possible, requiring applicants to use the U.S. Postal Service seems like just another impediment.

This is of course the holiday season. I went to the post office two days ago and the line was so long that I gave up trying to buy stamps that day. We have also been repeatedly warned by the media to expect delays in mail deliveries.

In The Middle of a Pandemic, Why Require Everyone To Work On Site?

Another odd thing about the solicitation and about the county’s policies in general is the requirement that people work on site, not remotely.

At the last Supervisors’ meeting Karen Hagen, the County District Attorney, requested approval to allow her staff, at her discretion, to work remotely. She pointed out that there is the risk that if a staff person tested positive for COVID-19 her staff could end up in quarantine unable to deal with arrests of criminals.

The Board ended up approving Ms. Hagen’s request, but when Supervisor Gaston tried to expand the option to other departments, she ran into push back. For those of us who have observed the county for some time, the response was Kafkian. The usual suspects complained that such an action was precipitous without the benefit of carefully crafted policies.

I find this particularly odd because the county already dealt with employees working remotely early on in the pandemic when the Governor required that municipalities limit on site personnel by 50%. This was what precipitated the notorious county COVID bonuses for those who would be required to work on site. Those who follow this blog will remember how these same people routinely violated rules, regulations, and procedures during this period.

Requiring that tracers work on site seems especially bizarre. If they are working in the same space, and one of them tests positive for the virus, the entire team might have to be quarantined.

There is also the obvious question as to why after all of this time, there is no policy to allow remote work. After all, the city of Saratoga Springs successfully addressed the need for remote work months ago.

A Violation of Labor Law?

The job notice describes the contact tracer jobs as contractual and warns that:

“These are “Contract” positions at $25/Hour and do not provide any additional benefits, ie: healthcare, paid time off.”

In addition it states:

“Saratoga County’s Contact Tracing program operates seven (7) days a week between the hours of 8:00 AM and 8:00 PM. Weekend and evening hours may be required depending on established schedule and the needs of the County. [their emphasis].

This limited information raises a number of concerns. Labor law discourages “contract” employment because it can be abused as a way to circumvent the paying of benefits like the employer share for social security and Medicare.

According to this website:

An independent contractor is your status if:

• You supply your own materials or equipment.
• The employer does not give you all the things you need to do the job.
• If you can be let go from a project at the discretion of the employer.
• If you can choose to go to work or not without the worry of being fired as an employee.
• If you control how many hours you work each week. [my emphasis]

So on its face it appears that given what the county is requiring, these positions do not meet the definition of a contract worker.

There is also the problem of attracting employees under these terms. If the contract employee must pay their own contribution for social security and Medicare and the amount the employer normally pays it will significantly reduce their pay. Just as problematic will be their need to set up the administrative requirements to withhold some of their income for taxes along with contributing to their social security and Medicare.

Could it Be That The County Leadership Doesn’t Believe There Is A Crisis?

So what I think happened was that one of the early executive orders issued by Governor Cuomo required counties (and other municipalities) to hire contract tracers. The county approved the hiring of fifty tracers in May, but the leadership of the county didn’t really believe in the threat of the pandemic. They went through the motions of approving tracers simply to comply with the executive order. It was only many months later, after WNYT (channel 13) did a story on the gross failure of the county to carry out tracing , that they finally responded to the issue of actually hiring the number of tracers they had approved months before.

Of course there is also the possibility that they simply created the positions and were so incompetent that they were unable to effectively hire people.

One can only hope that in January the Supervisors elect a chair who will clean house at the county and hire people who are competent to serve us.

In a separate post I will be writing about this week’s meeting of the Saratoga County Board of Supervisors (December 15, 2020) but the events at the meeting prompted me to ask Supervisors Tara Gaston and Matt Veitch about reform for Saratoga County.

The tradition at the Saratoga County Board of Supervisors has been to promote the chair of the Law and Finance Committee to the chair of the Board of Supervisors.

This year that would mean promoting Daniel Pemrick (Town of Greenfield) to head the Board. Pemrick has been a loyal member of the “Usual Suspects” who have been responsible for the litany of mismanagement we have all had to suffer through.

If they stay united, the Supervisors representing the largest municipalities have the votes to end this practice and appoint someone who has actually demonstrated the competence to be the chair.

I emailed both Tara Gaston and Matt Veitch to see if they would go on record as supporting change. I asked them “Do you plan to vote for Supervisor Pemrick [for chair of the BOS]? I interpret their responses that they will not be supporting Supervisor Pemrick.

From Tara Gaston:

No. In addition to the failures of current leadership, Pemrick and Allen both refused – several times – to recognize me at the Board when properly seeking to be recognized. While there is (unfortunately) no requirement that they do so in the rules, the behavior is disrespectful to another elected official, harms my ability to act on behalf of my constituents, and – particularly when considered with the failure to control the floor when personal or political debates arise in the course of a meeting – smacks of bias. I have made it clear that past practice (where the succession is also determined in closed caucus) does a disservice to County residents. I will be voting in January for the individual seeking the position who I believe is best positioned to steer the ship away from the rocks and work hard for County residents. Just as we obtain our positions as Supervisors through proving our worth and leadership to voters, so should a Chairperson to the Board.

Email from Supervisor Gaston, December 16, 2020

From Supervisor Veitch

As far as your second question, I am ready to vote for new leadership at the County Board of Supervisors for 2021.  I won’t say anything more on that at this time.

Email from Supervisor Veitch, December 17, 2020

The Saratoga County Prosperity Partnership (SCPP) has had a checkered history and now finds itself in financial trouble.

Prior to the creation of the SCPP, the Saratoga Economic Development Corporation (SEDC) had been set up by the Saratoga County Board of Supervisors to attract businesses to the county and create jobs. Supervisor John Lawler (Waterford) had tried to require the SEDC to add members of the Saratoga County Board of Supervisors to their board. SEDC declined to accept the appointments presumably because they didn’t want to become politicized and get sucked into the minefield that is the Saratoga County Board of Supervisors. Lawler and the usual suspects then created the SCPP and funded it using moneys from the county’s bed tax (a tax levied on hotels/motels).

Things did not go well with SCPP which produced very little in the way of economic development. There was a kind of shotgun marriage between SCPP and SEDC which has been rocky. That sordid story will be left for another time.

Our story is about the debacle in the SCPP funding this year.

The bed tax in Saratoga County has historically produced about $900,000.00 yearly in revenue for the county. The county designated half of that money to annually fund SCPP.

The problem is that COVID has devastated the hospitality industry and the income from the bed tax has plummeted this year

So now we are coming to the end of 2020. Based on the usual $900,000 income the county has paid SCPP $375,000.00 so far with the final payment to be provided in January for another $125,000.00. The problem is that the income from the bed tax is down 67% so SCPP will have spent approximately $300,00.00 more than the actual revenue that has been generated by the bed tax to fund them this year.

So, one might ask, how is it that no one noticed that this was a developing funding problem until this, the final month of 2020? Was no one in the county administration monitoring this? Did the SCPP alert anyone that there was a looming problem? Apparently not.

As if this were not bad enough, next year’s budget crafted by County Administrator Spencer Hellwig continues the magical thinking by projecting another $900,000.00 from the bed tax for next year to fund SCPP.

The minutes from the November 16, 2020 “2021 Budget Workshop” are instructive. Supervisor Phil Barret (Clifton Park) questions County Administrator Spencer Hellwig how the anticipated bed tax figure in the budget for 2021 was arrived at. Hellwig’s utter indifference to the fact that the number he submitted to the Board bore no relationship to reality is shameless.

He [Phil Barret] asked where that number was for next year. Mr. Hellwig said the number is $900,000. Mr. Barrett said it appears for 2020 bed tax is going to be down 67% that’s the estimate from the Treasurer. What was it before Covid, $1.1M?

Mr. Hellwig said the budget was $1.1M.

Mr. Barrett said that was pre-Covid. He said a 67% drop is a significant amount of money. We heard from the Chamber at the Economic Development meeting this month that first quarter will be very difficult with the loss of conventions, weddings and going into the winter which is always the worst quarter of the year anyway. He said the 2021 projection is rather rosy to say the least. Based on everything we have heard he doesn’t know how we would think we would receive $900,000 or anywhere near that. He asked Mr. Hellwig if he was sticking to that projection.

Mr. Hellwig said he put the tentative budget together and this Board makes the final decision. If there is a feeling that it is rosy or that number should be changed, that’s up to this Board to decide.

Mr. Barrett said he thinks there should be a realistic number and a transparent process. If the Board decides to spend $900,000 in the budget which would be all of his [Spencer Hellwig] estimate, he thinks there needs to be a realistic bed tax estimate. Then be honest everything over that amount is Fund Balance [JK: in simple terms the money tucked away in savings.] It’s not going to be bed tax, it will be fund balance if indeed we do indeed decide to spend over a certain amount.

Budget Work Shop Minutes

Supervisor Theodore Kusnierz (Moreau) then pressed Hellwig about the overspending this year. How was it that the county issued a contract for more than the moneys that were approved?

We have heard that the projected bed tax for 2020 is going to be down about 67% and by his calculations that is about $300,000 and the County provided $500,000. He said someone exceeded their authority, he believes. He wants to know how we got to something that was legislatively approved by this body to being more than what we approved. He doesn’t understand this.

Mr. Hellwig said he doesn’t know what else to say. The contract authorized the payments. The payments were made in accordance with the contract.

Mr. Kusnierz said he understands the payments were made in accordance with the contract. The contract doesn’t mirror what the Board approved.

Minutes of 2021 Budget Workshop

Hellwig again simply shrugs off the fact that the contract authorized money that the county tax would not cover.

Supervisor Lawler (one of the usual suspects) appears to be unconcerned that the horse has left the proverbial barn and that the SSPC does not have the money to pay back the county:

There is no way to know what the bed tax will total before the year is over. We have a very unusual year here due to the circumstances. He said what he believes the Administrator did was to follow past practice, to advance funds of $125,000 quarterly, no money has been advanced this quarter as Supervisor Kusnierz has stated it does not appear the sales tax is going to be sufficient to cover the allocations already made.

Minutes of 2021 Workshop

Granted there is no way of knowing precisely how much bed tax will come in by the end of the year, but it begs credibility that in March when the shutdowns in New York began, that the county and SCPP were unaware that they were facing a potential shortfall.

The Saratoga Springs Supervisors

I have written to the Saratoga Springs Supervisors, Matt Veitch and Tara Gaston, asking them to address this mess:

“I am writing both of you regarding recent developments that raise serious concerns over the county’s management:

Item #1:

It is my understanding that the Prosperity Partnership was to be funded from the income collected from the County’s bed tax in 2020.  This year the County had anticipated paying the Partnership $450,000. It appears now that as a result of the pandemic that is approximately $300,000 more than the bed tax is producing.  To cover this deficit the Partnership potentially will not receive a fourth quarter payment from the County and be required to reimburse the County for the balance due. Not surprisingly the Partnership is now hoping the County will cover this deficit.

In light of the scale of the loss, my question is why wasn’t this problem brought up months ago?  Was this a failure by the County administration to monitor the declining revenue?  What responsibility did Prosperity Partnership have in this matter?  They had to be aware of the precipitous decline in the bed tax moneys.  Did they contact the County about the crisis or did they simply keep spending the money knowing the source of their funding was falling short?

As the taxpayers are being asked to bail out the Prosperity Partnership, we deserve to know how all of this happened.

Item #2

According to two news reports on WNYT there have been serious problems in Saratoga County regarding the effective contact tracing of infected COVID-19 persons.  Their stories documented that  a number of people infected with COVID including a nurse and a WNYT reporter were never contacted for tracing even thought the County had been made aware of their infection.

WNYT reported that the standard model for determining how many contact tracers are needed is thirty per one hundred thousand.  As the most recent numbers I have been able to find for the Saratoga County population is 229,863, we should have sixty-nine tracers.  According to the Daily Gazette  as of last week the County had only twenty-three.

I have also been told that the County budgeted for fifty.  If this number is correct and in light of the many warnings of a spike in infections coming after Thanksgiving, why did the County wait until December 2, 2020 to post these jobs?

As COVID-19 is a deadly disease, the failure to properly trace is not some bureaucratic, technical oversight but represents the potential death of people in our county.  People in Saratoga Springs deserve to know how this apparent failure occurred.  Who was responsible for determining when and how many people to hire as tracers and why did they fail to act in a timely manner?  How many tracers is the county planning to hire and what is the plan and timing for making them operational?

As advocates for our city, I hope you will pursue these issues at the budget meeting this coming week and then respond to this email.

Thank you”