As noted in a previous post I have been trying to get some basic questions about the proposed charter answered with little success. I have offered the charter supporters the opportunity to write a guest post for this blog to answer my questions, but to date I have had no response.
Recently I did get two comments on the It’s Time Saratoga Facebook.
Transitional Costs For New Government
If adopted, the new charter would require the establishment and funding of two task forces. One is to restructure the management staffing of the city under the new government and the other is to draw boundaries of the proposed wards in light of the 2020 census results.
The proposed charter requires that the city provide these committees with all necessary resources which would include legal support and general staffing.
There would be yet another cost to changing governments. The City Council would be responsible for hiring the new city manager. If Watertown is representative of how city managers are hired, the city will have to employ an executive search firm to provide them with candidates. Executive search firms charge between 25% and 30% of the salary. So if the city manager were to be paid $150,000.00 a year the cost to the city would be $37,500.00 to $45,000.00.
The moderator of It’s Time posted two comments.
Additionally you requested possible fees for attorney services during transition. The answer is ZERO. The City of Saratoga Springs has two (2) long tenured competent attorney on staff for such an occasion.
Moderator of It’s Time Saratoga
This is not an unreasonable answer. I am not sure how much time supporting these proposed task forces would entail, but it seems possible that the city’s attorneys could provide support. The charter, however, explicitly leaves the selection of who is retained as counsel solely up to the discretion of the Task Force.
This does not, however, address the other expenses of these task forces. This tendency to selectively chose what they want to answer only further under cuts their credibility for people who take the time to read their materials.
The moderator also offered the following comment which I found difficult to understand. I responded by asking him/her to please rewrite the comment to make it clearer. It has been several days and nothing more has appeared.
John Kaufmann Regarding the second part of salary, your question… “I would think you would respect your readers enough to know that “commensurate” is simply not an answer to a legitimate question”. That position ( mayor) will be paid a 31.25 per hour. The selection process ( commensurate experience) is solely in the hands of the 19,000 registered voters of Saratoga Springs to decide. This process has been in effect since 1915.
It’s Time Moderator
The moderator asserts that the proposed mayor will be paid $31.25 per hour. The problem is that in an earlier post, this same author admitted that the proposed charter did not require that the mayor be full time. As we therefore do not know how many hours the proposed mayor will work, there is no way to determine how to calculate the hourly rate for the $65,000.00 annual salary.
I really do not know what they are trying to say with the rest of their comment.
This lack of rigor seems endemic to their campaign.
The proposed 2021 budget totals $41.9 million which represents a reduction of $6.8 million from this year’s $48.7 million budget. Among the items is a 10% salary reduction for all full time employees. This will require the voluntary support of the city’s staff as most are covered by existing union contracts. In addition to this, the budget calls for further reductions in the line items for the staff of the Public Works Department and the Public Safety Department.
The budget also calls for a 6% rise in tax rates.
This is the release from Commissioner Madigan that lays out all the proposed cuts and increases in taxes.
[JK: The groups campaigning on both sides of the charter vote are required to report both who they receive donations from and what they use the money for. They report to the New York State Board of Elections. These are the most recent reports. The date range for the reports I used was for the last twelve months. Saratoga Works filed their report on Friday, and their full report has not yet been posted by the NYS Board of Elections . I will put it up on this blog as soon as it is available.]
Contributions to Support Charter Change: It’s Time Saratoga
UNITEMIZED
50
,
ALDRICH, PHYLLIS W
100
49 GRANITE STREET
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
ALDRICH, PHYLLIS
200
49 GRANITE STREET
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
ALTAMARI, JEFFREY
6,000.00
10 VICTORIA LANE
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
ALTAMARI, JEFFREY
1,250.00
10 VICTORIA LN
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
ALTAMARI, JEFFREY
300
10 VICTORIA LANE
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
ALTAMARI, JEFFREY
500
10 VICTORIA LN
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
ALTAMARI, JEFFREY
500
10 VICTORIA LANE
SARATOGASPRINGS, NY 12866
ALTIMARI, JEFFREY
200
10 VICTORIA LANE
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
ALTIMARI, JEFFREY AND JANET
3,000.00
10 VICTORIA LANE
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
AMYOT, AMEJO
100
67 FIFTH AVE
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
BALTZ, LISA
25
16 CONVER DRIVE
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
BEAL, ELLEN
25
103 ELM STREET
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
BOYD, GORDON M
10,000.00
90 STATE STREET
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
BULLOCK, ANN C
500
86 LINCOLN AVENUE
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
BULLOCK, ANN C
10
86 LINCOLN AVENUE
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
BULLOCK, ANN AND ROBERT
500
86 LINCOLN AVENUE
SARATOGASPRINGS, NY 12866
CHODOS, LAURA B
50
768 NORTH BROADWAY
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
CROCKER, HEATHER
50
12 PINEWOOD AVENUE
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
DAKE, PERNILLE A
100
17 TENSPRINGS DRIVE
SARATOGASPRINGS, NY 12866
DANA, LEZLIE
50
170 SPRINGS STREET
SARATOGASPRINGS, NY 12866
EGGER-AIMONE, ELLEN
100
106 ELM STREET
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
FARLEY, DESIREE
50
4158A SILVER BEACH ROAD
MALTA, NY 12020
FENTON, RICHARD
100
23 LEFFERTS STREET
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
FRISONE, GRACE
25
38 CENTRAL AVENUE
SARATOGASPRINGS, NY 12866
GLASER, BARBARA
500
100 SPRING STREET
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
HART, SALLY
100
177 SPRING STREET
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
HASBROUCK, PATTY
250
1 MADISON AVENUE
SARATOGASPRINGS, NY 12866
HERNANDEZ, DARREN
250
26507 MISTLETOE COURT
SANTA CLARITA, CA 91355
HOLMBERG, JULIE
50
21 SUMMERFIELD LANE
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
KANE, PATRICK
19.2
19 MARION PL
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
KERAMATI, BAHRAM
100
27 GRANITE STREET
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
KERAMATI, BAHRAM
100
27 GRANITE STREET
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
KIM, RONALD
500
PO BOX 318
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
KIM, RONALD
100
PO BOX 318
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
KIRWIN, JOHN D
100
94 LINCOLN AVENUE
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
KRACKELER, TONY
500
UE190 LAKE AVEN
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
LAKHTAKIA, NATALYA
25
21 MICHAEL DRIVE
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
LEE, BRIAN
100
18 DIVISION STREET SUITE 102
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
LETENDRE, LINDA
10
34 GREENFIELD AVENUE
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
MAXWELL, OTIS
100
158 LAKE AVENUE
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
MCTYGUE, THOMAS G
100
251 COUNTY RTE 68
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
MCTYGUE, THOMAS
100
251 COUNTY ROUTE 68
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
MCTYGUE, WILLIAM J
250
15 YORK STREET
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
MORRISON, CHARLES C
500
88 COURT STREET
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
NCOLO, ROBERT
25
12 MARTIN AVENUE
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
PARDON, JACQUELINE YAEGER
50
11 TEN SPRINGS DRIVE
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
PINGEL, MARK
3
1 VICTORIA LANE
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
PINGEL, MARK
500
1 VICTORIA LANE
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
POST, LIBBY
50
PO BOX 1115
ALBANY, NY 12201
ROWEN, BETH
50
31 PEPPER LANE
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
SCHULTZ, FRANK
500
18 PINEWOOD AVE
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
SENFT, DEXTER E
2,500.00
37 HENRY STREET NO 403
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
SPENCE, CINDY A
200
89 NELSON AVENUE
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
STROHL, MARTHA
100
65 SARAZEN STREET
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
TAUB, LEWIS E
25
121 FIFTH AVENUE
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
TAYLOR, MARCELLINE E
50
49 DOTEN STREET
SARATOGASPRINGS, NY 12866
THOMAS, BARB
100
P.O. BOX 964
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
VAN METER, MARGIE H
300
175 WASHINGTON STREET
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
WALBRIDGE-ALLEN, CATHERINE
50
56 FOREST AVENUE
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
WOOD, PHIL
50
102C DIVISION STREET
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
WRIGHT, ROBERT
100
37 CLARK STREET
SARATOGASPRINGS, NY 12866
Total Contributions:
32,192.20
Expenditures to Support Charter Change: It’s Time Saratoga
BELMONTE AND SONE TENT AND RENTALS
61.79
804 MIDDLELINE ROAD
BALLSTON SPA, NY 12020
DONOR BOX
22.3
5 THIRD STREET SUITE 900
SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103
DONOR BOX
9.1
5 THIRD STREET SUITE 900
SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103
DONOR BOX
4.7
5 THIRD STREET SUITE 900
CA FRANCISCO, CA 94103
EVISION DIGITAL MARKETING
141
356 CLENDON BROOK RD
QUEENSBURY, NY 12804
EVISION DIGITAL MARKETING
71.25
356 CLENDON BROOK ROAD
QUEENSBURY, NY 12804
EVISIONS DIGITAL MARKETING
47.5
356 CLARENDON BROOK ROAD
QUEENSBURY, NY 12804
MICHAEL REMILARD
500
48 ARCH STREET
GREEN ISLAND, NY 12183
PATRICK KANE
827.83
19 MARION PL
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
PATRICK KANE
19.2
19 MARION PL
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
PEERLY INC
1,998.00
303 WILLIAMS AVE SW SUITE 821
HUNTSVILLE, AL 35801-6085
PROGRESSIVE ELECTIONS LLC (Libby Post)
3,000.00
P.O. BOX 1115
ALBANY, NY 12201
PROGRESSIVE ELECTIONS LLC (Libby Post)
3,000.00
P. O. BOX 1115
ALBANY, NY 12201
PROGRESSIVE ELECTIONS LLC (Libby Post)
3,000.00
PO BOX 1115
ALBANY, NY 12201
RICHARD FENTON
278.57
23 LEFFERTS STREET
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
SARATOGA NATIONAL BANK
20
171 SOUTH BROADWAY
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
SRIPE
4.7
510 TOWNSEND STREET
SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103
STRIPE
22.3
510 TOWNSEND STREET
SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103
STRIPE
22.3
510 TOWNSEND STREET
SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103
STRIPE
22.3
510 TOWNSEND STREET
SAND FRANCISCO, CA 94103
STRIPE
11.3
510 TOWNSEND STREET
SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103
STRIPE
11.3
510 TOWNSEND STREET
SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103
STRIPE
4.7
510 TOWNSEND STREET
SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103
STRIPE
4.7
510 TOWNSEND STREET
SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103
STRIPE
4.7
510 TOWNSEND STREET
SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103
STRIPE
4.7
510 TOWNSEND STREET
SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103
STRIPE
4.7
510 TOWNSEND STREET
SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103
STRIPE
4.7
510 TOWNSEND STREET
SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103
STRIPE
4.7
510 TWONSEND STREET
SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103
STRIPE
4.7
510 TOWNSEND STREET
SAN FRRANCISCO, CA 94103
STRIPE
4.7
510 TOWNSEND STREET
SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103
STRIPE
2.5
510 TOWNSEND STREET
SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103
STRIPE
2.5
540 TOWNSEND STREET
SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103
STRIPE
2.5
510 TOWNSEND STREET
SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103
STRIPE
2.5
510 TOWNSEND STREET
SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103
STRIPE
2.5
541 TOWNSEND STREET
SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103
STRIPE
2.5
510 TOWNSEND STREET
SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103
STRIPE
2.5
510 TOWNSEND STREET
SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103
STRIPE
1.41
510 TOWNSEND STREET
SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103
STRIPE
1.41
510 TOWNSEND STREET
SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103
STRIPE
1.41
510 TOWNSEND STREET
SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103
STRIPE
1.41
510 TOWNSEND STREET
SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103
STRIPE
1.41
510 TOWNSEND STREET
SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103
STRIPE
1.18
510 TOWNSEND STREET
SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103
UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE
59
475 BROADWAY, SUITE 1
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
US POSTAL SERVICE
53
475 BROADWAY, SUITE 1
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
US POSTAL SERVICE
53
475 BROADWAY
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
US POSTMASTER
8,707.27
475 L’ENFANT PLAZA SW
WSHINGTON, DC 20260-2200
US POSTMASTER GENERAL
194.96
475 L’ENFANT PLAZA SW
WASHINGTON, DC 20260-2200
Total Expenses
22,230.70
Contributions to Oppose Charter Change
SUCCESS:
SARATOGA COUNTY INDEPENDENCE PARTY
250
102 LUDLOW ST
SARATOGA SPRINGS NY, NY 12866
ALLERDICE, WALLACE W
1,000.00
150 EXCELSIOR AVE
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
BOCCHI, AMERIGO
50
4 ALFRED COURT
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
BROPHY, JOHN T
100
10 FOX RUN
E SANDWICH, MA 02537-1545
D’ANDREA, ROBERT A
100
523 CRESCENT AVE
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
FEINSTEIN, EDWARD D
25
59 RAILROAD PL
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
GRANDE, JAMES J
100
34 STORAGE LANE
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
HEALY, WILLIAM J
200
5 VICTORIA LANE
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
HENDRICKSON, JOHN
5,000.00
40 GEYSAR RD
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
KLEIN, PHILIP W
100
29 WALTER DR
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
KLOTZ, KEN
25
232 MAPLE AVE
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
KOSS, DAVID
50
160 KAYDEROSS PARK RD
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
KUCZYNSKI, HENRY J
100
153 SPRING ST
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
MARTIN, RANDY
200
24 UNDERWOOD DR
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
MILLER, EDWARD
250
102 LUDLOW ST
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
POKOIK, LEE
300
1 WALL ST
NEW YORK, NY 10286
POKOIK, LEE
300
1 WALL ST
NEW YORK, NY 10286
PORTER, THOMAS M
50
236 CAROLINE ST
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
PORTER, THOMAS
50
236 CAROLINE ST
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
SELLERS, RICHARD
300
P.O. BOX 789
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
SWICK, EILEEN
50
24 JOSUHA RD
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
VEITCH, MICHAEL
100
201 CIRCULAR ST
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
WAIT, CHARLES V
3,000.00
658 NORTH BROADWAY
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
WEIHE, MARTHA
100
44 WHITE ST
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
WROBEL, GREGORY
100
24 CLARK ST
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866
Total Contributions:
11,900.00
Saratoga Works
CAIN, GEORGE $150 6 ROUNDTABLE RD. SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866 PARTRIDGE, JANICE E $59 2 MAGNOLIA DRIVE SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866 SELLERS, BONITA $400 P.O. BOX 789 SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866 SELLERS, RICHARD $450 P.O. BOX 789 SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866 WOYTOWICH, MICHAEL $500 105 ELM STREET SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866 Total Contributions: $1,559.00
There Is No Report Posted Yet On Expenditures By SUCCESS.
There Is No Report Posted Yet On Expenditures By Saratoga Works
As noted in an earlier post I have been trying to get answers to questions regarding the proposed charter.
Most recently I have been trying to find out how the charter change proponents arrived at the salary of $65,000.00 for their proposed mayor who would have significantly fewer responsibilities than the mayor under our current charter who makes $14,500.
Here are the answers to that question I have gotten so far:
From Ron Kim, co-chair of Common Sense Saratoga: “It’s in the charter” (There is no explanation in the charter.).
From the moderator for the It’s Time Saratoga Facebook page: “It’s “commensurate” with the proposed mayor’s duties” (What does this mean?Most reasonable people would characterize this as a non-answer).
So I tried asking my question again this time trying to appeal to them to live up to their slogan of transparency and accountability by providing a real answer.
After several days of radio silence, they responded with a comment from Rick Thompson (see screenshot below)
Rick Thompson : “You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink”
[JK: Until now I have found it very difficult to get answers about the proposed charter from the advocates of charter change.
It is to the credit of the moderator of the It’s Time Saratoga Facebook page that he/she was willing to address my questions. However problematic I may find the answers, any civil exchange over an issue as important as a new charter is a good thing.
Whatever the outcome in the upcoming election, the more we can learn from each other about how best to organize our city, the more we will all benefit in addressing the ever changing character of Saratoga Springs.]
The Proponents Of Charter Change Have Repeatedly Told Saratogians That With Their Charter They Will Get A Full Time Mayor
They promised this three years ago:
Benefits would remain intact for the mayor, whose job would become full time under the final draft approved by the city’s Charter Review Commission on Monday.
Professor Robert Turner, Daily Gazette, June 27, 2017
and Bob Turner renewed that claim on the Saratoga Flash News Website on September 13, 2020:
Saratoga Flash News September 13, 2020
Here it is again in their “Projected Budget For First Year Of New Government” on their Common Sense Saratoga Website
This is from the Common Sense Saratoga Webssite.
Well It Turns Out All Of This Is Not True
I had previously submitted questions about these full time mayor claims to charter change co-chairs Ron Kim and Julie Cuneo. As reported in my earlier post I did not hear back from Julie Cuneo and Ron Kim’s responses were really non-answers.
I decided to post my questions on the charter proponents’ Facebook pages. The site moderator of one of their pages, Common Sense Saratoga, ignored my questions. It’s Time Saratoga’s moderator, however, to their credit did address the questions I submitted to that site.
One of my questions dealt with the repeated statements by the advocates for charter change that the mayor would be full time. I pointed out that there was nothing in the charter that supported this claim.
The moderator of this website responded:
The charter does not require a full time commitment for Mayor. She or he can choose to maintain another job or business if they want. If they choose to devote full or nearly full time to the Mayor’s job, they will make better than the slave wages provided under the present charter.
See Post Below
The moderator has admitted that the truth is, in spite of all their pronouncements, the position of mayor is not a full time position.
This screen shot is from the It’s Time Saratoga website in which someone identified as “the author” responded to my questions.
Next Question: So How Did They Arrive At the $65,000.00 Salary?
I asked how they decided on a salary of $65,000.00 for this mayor’s position . Here is the response to that question:
Initial salary was set to be commensurate with leadership responsibilities.
It’s Time Saratoga Website (see above)
This is the second time I have gotten a non-answer to this question from this group. Previously Ron Kim, one of the co-chairs of Common Sense Saratoga, gave me a similar response.
As the meetings in which the authors (we don’t know who they were) arrived at this number were not public and there are no records of the meetings’ discussions, we have no idea what the logic or rationale was. This is even more problematic since we now know that there is no requirement that this mayor work full time.
The Myth That The Mayor Will Oversee The City Manager
I asked It’s Time:
You say the proposed mayor will oversee the city manager. I can find no where in your charter where you establish this. It appears the mayor has no more role in overseeing the city manager than anyone else on the council. Where in the charter is the mayor empowered to oversee the city manager?
My question
Their response:
See Article III, 3.01, 3.02, 3.04 “responsible to the City Council…,” 3.04 subparagraphs 6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14. Article IV,4.01 B,C,4.04,4.05 appointments with advice and consent. Those are just some examples.
Wherever the CM [JK: City Manager] is involved with the Council, it should be remembered that the Mayor will be presiding over that interaction, whether a report, appointment or Meeting. Mayor is also chair of the Finance Committee, so is involved in reviewing the CM’s budget.
Their Answer
The charter change proponents single out the mayor repeatedly in their materials. An innocent member of the public might conclude that the mayor plays some kind of unique leadership and oversight role vis a vis the rest of the council. This is not supported by a careful reading of the charter.
I have studiously gone through their list of charter references and here is what I have found.
With few exceptions, the mayor is given no greater authority or role than any of the other six members of the council. Rather than repeat myself in responding to the articles of the charter referred to above, I will simply note whether the mayor is even referenced in the article cited or whether it simply refers to the council. Oddly one section they site specifically as evidence of the mayor’s power is #6 in Article III, section 3.04 which reads: [The city manager shall…]attend all City Council meetings. The City Manager shall have the right to take part in discussions but shall not vote.”
Article III
3.01 Not exclusive power of the mayor, shared equally with council
3.02: No mention of mayor. Council function.
3.04: This section lists seventeen “powers and duties” of the city manager. The only reference to the mayor in this list is that the mayor signs contracts and that the city manager will provide staff support services to the mayor and the city council. In the case of the other fifteen, the mayor is not mentioned.
Article IV
4.01B: No mention of the mayor. Council function.
4.01C: No mention of the mayor. Council function.
4.04: No mention of the mayor. Council function.
4.05: No mention of the mayor. Council function.
The mayor does chair the finance committee which among its duties is to review the budget prepared by the city manager but the responsibility for oversight of the budget is shared by the committee. The charter does not provide any additional powers to the chair of the committee. He/she simply acts as chair.
In effect, the list the moderator of It’s Time Saratoga offers actually reaffirms that the mayor enjoys no greater authority over the city manager than anyone else on the council.
Why A Four Year Term?
Given how weak the proposed mayor’s position is the obvious question to ask is why did they grant this position a four year term while holding the other members of the council to two?
It seems quite possible that a mayor elected under this system could glide for four years doing little more than going to council meetings and cutting ribbons. An unhappy public would have to wait four years to remove such a person.
Conclusion
The overwhelming impression in scrutinizing the proposed charter is that no one really thought through the design and that the campaign is a continuation of this indifference to clarity and structure.
[JK: Due to a software issue I have had to re-publish this post.]
After combing through the latest iteration of the proposed charter what stands out to me is how poorly crafted it is. It has the feeling of “don’t worry, we’ll work out the details later.”
Who Wrote This?
The previous charter proposal was written by an official charter commission. As required by law, the process was quite transparent. Their meetings were open to the public. Video recordings were made of all of their meetings.
We have no idea who wrote this charter. As there is no public documentation of their meetings or who was at them there is no record as to what the thinking was that went into the crafting of it. The poverty of the document demonstrates the value of feedback that this charter proposal would have benefitted from.
Full Time Mayor?
According to Professor Bob Turner, the Mayor will be “Full Time.” In order for the mayor to be a full time employee there would need to be something in the charter that precluded him/her from other employment. There is nothing in the charter that even states that he/she will be full time let alone language that would preclude outside work.
There is also the fact that while the charter specifically provides the mayor with medical/health/dental/vision insurance there is nothing stipulating what sick, personal, and vacation time they would receive. This raises the question as to whether this was an oversight. If it was an oversight this would be just another example of the lack of thoroughness in the document. It is unfortunately possible that in spite of the publicity, the position is not actually meant to be full time.
Unlike the mayor proposed by the charter advocates, the demands of the current office are considerable and traditionally our city mayors have worked many hours. The current mayor administers the planning and development office and is responsible for negotiating contracts with the city’s unions, among other duties. In addition, the city attorney’s office is under the Mayor although he/she reports to the whole Council.
If adopted, other than making appointments to boards, chairing Council meetings, signing contracts, and dealing with “intergovernmental duties (more on this later)” the proposed mayor will have virtually no administrative responsibilities as clearly stated in their charter [section 2.04].
Why A Salary of $65,000.00?
The proposed charter is quite clear that all administrative duties have been stripped from the mayor’s responsibilities and given to the city manager. This is in keeping with their theme that an administrator, somehow insulated from politics and with a degree in management, will be the sole person managing the city.
With such minimal responsibilities it is not at all clear to me why they propose raising the salary for mayor from the current $14,500.00 to $65,000.00 plus medical/health/dental/vision insurance and extending the term for the mayor to four years.
How the advocates for this new charter arrived at the $65,000.00 is unknown.
Ron Kim and Julie Cuneo are the co-chairs of the group campaigning for the charter. I wrote to Mr. Kim asking how they determined the salary. As noted in an earlier post, I was unable to get an answer from him and Julie Cuneo never replied.
I have also posted the same questions on Common Sense Saratoga and It’s Time Facebook pages but so far there has been no answer.
It is instructive to look at the debate over the mayor’s salary that the charter commission had in 2017. It is important to note when reading this that the duties assigned to the mayor in the currently proposed charter are exactly the same as in the earlier, unsuccessful charter and many of the members of that commission are identified as members of the current charter change campaign committee.
Here are the minutes from the 2017 Charter Commission on how much to pay the mayor.
Jeff Altamari said he had read through NYCOM data and the average salary of a Mayor with the City Manager was $19,000. Robert Turner said the data he had reviewed showed the median salary at $40,000.
Barbara Lombardo, audience member, asked why the City would give the Mayor free health insurance.
Robert Turner said there are quite a few expectations for the Mayor and there should be some benefit of being Mayor.
Beth Wurtmann asked if anyone thought that not having health benefits would discourage someone from running.
Gordon Boyd said people running for these kinds of offices are not running for health benefits.
Rob Kuczynski said he too looked at the NYCOM data and if we were to toss out New Rochelle, the next highest Mayor was earning $17,000. He said that $40,000 was too high for the Mayor’s position. He reminded everyone that we will have a City Manager to do the work.
Jeff Altamari said there are a lot of ceremonial duties for the Mayor to tend to.
Rob Kuczynski said again, that he believed that $40,000 was too high.
Elio DelSette said we would be going from a Mayor who currently puts in 70 or more hours a week to a Mayor who will likely put in less hours because there is a City Manager.
Gordon Boyd said we do not know what the demand will be on the Mayor’s position. He said someone who is self-employed and puts in a larger number of hours as Mayor is taking away from their own business. He said adding the benefit of health insurance was reasonable for the time that the Mayor may put in.
Pat Kane reminded everyone that minimum wage continues to rise.
June 26, 2017 Charter Commission Minutes
Conspicuously absent in this extract is any discussion of a salary greater than $40,000.00 and that figure did not draw any enthusiasm.
A Fundamental Design Flaw
The advocates for charter change have a vision.
In listening to the many stakeholders what we heard was that we need a full time mayor to provide political leadership for the city and a vision for the city. Having an executive and legislature provides checks and balances and a separation of powers, just like the U.S. Constitution or the New York State Constitution. Checks and balances is the best solution to (SIC) providing transparency and accountability in city government.
From the website Common Sense Saratoga
Unfortunately, on multiple levels the actual charter they have produced is at odds with that vision.
As Lew Benton has pointed out, in spite of the charter advocates claim that there will be a separation of powers, under this charter there would be no executive position. The nature of the authority of a city manager is simply not the same as the Governor of New York or the President of the United States. The President of the United States and the Governor of New York are true executives. They do not operate under the direction of the Congress or the New York State legislature respectively. They are independently elected by their respective citizenry and are neither hired by their legislatures nor can they be fired by their legislatures. The city manager will serve at the whim of the city council and report not to just the mayor but to the entire council. This is similar to the Saratoga County Board of Supervisors where the County Administrator reports to the full board. I think most thoughtful people would agree that the current Saratoga County Board of Supervisors is nothing to emulate.
The proposed charter makes crystal clear that the city manager serves at the pleasure of the council as a whole and that the mayor enjoys no unique oversight role regarding the city manager.
The advocates for this charter put forth a narrative that is not supported by their charter. In an email I received from co-chair, Ron Kim, he echoed the quote above from Common Sense Saratoga, asserting that “Under the new Charter, the Mayor will both chair the City Council and oversee the City Manager.” There is simply nothing in the charter that empowers the mayor to “oversee” the city manager.
A Built In Conflict
Another aspect of the problematic mayor’s role in their charter:
[The Mayor will] represent the City in intergovernmental relationships;
Section 2.04
During the early years when I was executive director of the Saratoga County Economic Opportunity Council I regrettably found myself in conflict with the chairman of my board. In his enthusiasm, he began contacting state agencies that were funding the SCEOC as well as state agencies that the SCEOC was seeking grants from. I began receiving calls from these agencies initially asking me who he was and then asking who was authorized to represent SCEOC to them. In the end, the SCEOC board adopted a resolution stating clearly that the executive director was CEO of the agency and as such was the authorized representative in intergovernmental affairs. My board chairperson resigned. It was a painful period because this board president was a very fine person and it severely damaged a friendship that had meant a lot to me. I learned a difficult lesson about the need for clarity in an agency’s organization.
I can assure the readers of this blog that many issues will regularly emerge related to questions of compliance with contracts between the state and the city. Will the state deal with the administration of the funds they have allocated to the city through the mayor or the city manager? There needs to be a clear chain of authority in dealing with the state as well as other entities that contract with the city. This is no frivolous nitpicking. When disagreements arise between the city and the state there needs to be one voice and one strategy in addressing compliance.
We may be fortunate. The city may elect a mayor and hire a city manager whose social skills and egos will rise to the task. It is, however, a potential for confusion and conflict that is worrisome.
Debunking the Vision Thing
The advocates for this charter offer an appealing vision that the position of the mayor will “…provide political leadership for the city and a vision for the city.” Other than the title, however, there is nothing in the charter that actually empowers the mayor to “provide a vision” for the city other than making an annual state of the city address. As regards any strategic plan for the city, the power to craft such a plan is distributed to the entire council of which the mayor is only one member. The mayor enjoys no special authority.
Consider the nature of the mayor’s role in chairing council meetings. Those experienced in the always thorny problem of running efficient and productive meetings know that the chair needs to proceed with great care. They need to restrain the pursuit of their own agenda and run a meeting that treats every participant equally in order to help, if not create a consensus, then allow a majority to emerge to pass resolutions. Granted, an effective mayor with leadership skills would work with the other members of the council outside of the meetings to create a majority but the same role could be adopted by any member of the council.
I think that the authors imagined their mayor as being a leader but failed to provide the tools in their charter to realize their “vision.”
The reality is that the proposed mayor, who will no longer have the planning and economic development departments under them, will have less leverage for leadership than mayors who serve under the current charter.
The Ongoing Risk Of Conflict
My sense in reading the promotional material being put out by the advocates of this charter is that they see the mayor as a kind of community organizer who will solicit ideas from the citizens of the city and attempt to mobilize the community to realize these ideas.
To mobilize the community the mayor would need to draw on the resources of the city government but the control over how those resources will be used rests solely with the city manager. In fact, the authors of the charter have included language making it clear that members of the council, including the mayor, can only make requests through the city manager. The charter contains language that bars direct contact between the proposed mayor and any employee other than the city manager. From a management perspective this makes sense. There is a need for a rigorous chain of command but the mayor is not part of that chain.
As further evidence of the diminished position of the mayor, the proposed charter and the projected costs of the new government put forth, do not include any monies for even a secretary for the mayor let alone an office.
While it is possible that the city might elect a mayor and appoint a city manager who could rise above their egos and work harmoniously. Regrettably, a cursory search of the web produces many stories documenting how bitter the conflicts can be.
The Charter Proposal Simply Lacks Rigor And Coherence
The authors of this charter appear to be seeking a strong mayor who will lead while at the same time severing the authority over the resources that would make that leadership possible because they want a “professional” manager to have exclusive control over those resources. This basic contradiction is the rock on which their “vision” flounders.
The proponents of charter change have a theme based on three claims:
Accountability
Real Representation
Transparency
This blogger has been trying for some time to get answers from them about three issues that are central to their proposed charter:
1. You say the proposed mayor will oversee the city manager. I can find nowhere in your charter where you establish this. It appears the mayor has no more role in overseeing the city manager than anyone else on the council. Where in the charter is the mayor empowered to oversee the city manager?
2. How did you arrive at the $65,000.00 salary for the proposed city mayor?
3. You say the mayor is full time but there is nowhere in the charter that either states this nor is there anything in the charter that precludes the mayor from having other employment. Could you please document what in the charter would require the mayor to be full time?
Questions submitted to their websites.
Earlier in the week I put two of these questions up as a comment on the Common Sense Saratoga Facebook page. Having had no response, I have posted the above three questions on the five most recent posts on their two Facebook pages which are Common Sense Saratoga and It’s Time Saratoga.
One would think that in the interest of Accountability and Transparency that they would have jumped at the chance to address these questions. Instead, they have ignored them.
I think that their inability to answer these questions is due to the fundamental problems with their proposed charter. It is also indicative of the ethical problems with their campaign. They are happy to attack the members of the city council for behavior that they themselves exhibit on a regular basis.
Still, I am perfectly prepared to be proven wrong. In that spirit I invite any representative from the proponents of the charter to submit answers to these questions which I will put up prominently as a guest post on my site unedited.
One Saratoga was set up during the 2019 local election as a non-partisan group supporting a bi-partisan slate of candidates. They supported Meg Kelly (D), Michelle Madigan (D), and Robin Dalton (R). During that election the same people who are now advocating for charter change opposed these candidates and created websites with names similar to One Saratoga in order to ambush people seeking information on One Saratoga’s site.
I previously reported about the pro-charter advocates use of websites mimicking the charter opponents’ Success and Saratoga Works sites.
One Saratoga is not involved in the current conflict over charter change. Cynically, the pro-charter people have re-activated their fake One Saratoga Facebook pages to act as vehicles to promote the proposed charter. They are, in effect, hi-jacking One Saratoga once again.
Is this the ethical standard that people who allege themselves to be progressive now embrace? What does it say about these people that they would try to fool people into thinking that One Saratoga is pro-charter?
This is a brief video from Courtney DeLeonardis, who is the former chair of the Saratoga Springs Democratic Committee and the chair of One Saratoga, warning the public about what are in effect Trojan sites.
Saratoga Springs resident Barbara Lombardo, a longtime executive editor of the Saratogian, now teaches journalism at the University at Albany and writes at www.donewithdeadlines.com.
In the past Ms. Lombardo has supported charter change. On her blog today she has posted her opposition to the latest proposal that will appear on the November ballot. The following is a link to the post she has written explaining why she has changed her mind.
Saratoga Springs Politics 