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The announced purpose of the July 14, 2021, protest was to secure an apology from Assistant Police Chief John Catone for some unfortunate remarks he made at a press conference on June 28. His conciliatory statement issued on July 14 was deemed insufficient by the leaders of Black Lives Matter. I don’t think anyone expected Catone to actually issue an apology. The ostensible goal of the demonstration was then to educate the public regarding Catone’s original remarks in order to show proof that the Saratoga Springs Police Department is a racist institution.

I spent an hour viewing the “civil disobedience” training done by Saratoga Black Lives Matter on the evening of July 13. I spent some two and a half hours the evening of July 14 observing the actual demonstration. The following are some thoughts on what I saw.

The “Training” in Civil Disobedience

I have previously written a post that contrasted the training and execution of non-violent civil disobedience that the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) used to do during the civil rights movement in the sixties with local BLM leader Lexis Figuereo’s approach.

The SNCC training and actions involved meticulous planning for their actions along with rigorous training to prepare those committed to participation. The idea was to try to minimize the potential for violence and injury and to insure that those who decided to participate would be thoroughly informed on not only how to act but most importantly, about the risk of what they would be doing.

The July 13 BLM training bore no relationship to SNCC’s preparations.

Approximately 20 people participated in the Zoom event. The event included some power point screens with lists of dos and don’ts:

Do follow the instructions from the leadership.

Do write the telephone number for the Lawyers’ Guild telephone number on your arm.

Don’t wear long earrings and jewelry that can be grabbed.

Don’t wear sunscreen because irritants such as tear gas can get under it and be hard to remove.

Don’t resist arrest.

The verbal training presentation by Figuereo, however, was a rambling affair that conspicuously did not address the most obvious question.

I asked what the plan was for how participants in the demonstration should respond to the police should the police designate the protest an illegal assembly and threaten arrests.

In the case of SNCC, this is what most of their training focuses on.

Figuereo responded that the decision was up to each individual. He was not going to dictate to anyone what they should do. He did say, at another point, that people “should not resist” the police as that would risk serious consequences.

He and the other trainer also told those present that they should not engage with hecklers.

Someone asked Figuereo how they were going to end the event. Figuereo gave a rambling non-answer.

The reality is that Figuereo had no real plan. He wanted the liberty to lead the protesters on the following night to wherever he decided to go. He wanted to disrupt the downtown and play cat and mouse with the police which is what he did. The idea that he would bear any responsibility for what might happen to the people he was urging to follow him was simply not a factor for him. This was under the guise of “empowering” his followers to make their own decisions.

Of course since most of the people who would be demonstrating on the following night did not participate in this training and as participation in the training was not a requirement for participating in the action, this was not a serious effort to prepare for a civil disobedience action.

This Video Is Of A Protester Threatens Police

I would ask the readers of this blog to try to think practically about what this means. Let’s assume you have a crowd of people with no structure (each person was supposed to decide for themselves how to deal with an order from the police) at some intersection downtown. Assuming the police require that the intersection be cleared, how would that transpire? How were the police supposed to physically deal with a crowd where the police have no idea how anyone is going to respond? Are the police going to wade into such a crowd attempting to arrest individuals? This is an invitation to chaos and chaos breeds violence.

Two Worlds Collide

The evening’s conflicts yet again exposed how wide the gap has become between the demonstrators and our city’s government.

Our city government and in particular, our city police, recognize the right of people to peacefully protest. The city views its responsibility to be to protect the demonstrators, bystanders, and the police. The city also sees itself as responsible for the orderly conduct of city operations.

The demonstrators believe that the death of Darryl Mount involved the murder of a person of color by the police and a coverup of the crime. They believe violence and racism are rampant in our police department. As their chants on July 14 made clear, they see the police as a malevolent force poisoning our community and point to Assistant Police Chief Catone’s comments on June 28 as further proof of the viscous threat people of color are subjected to in Saratoga Springs.

They see themselves on a crusade to free this city from this evil.

They also see themselves as valiant soldiers for social justice who have a right and responsibility to violate the city’s laws in order to further their cause. They see themselves as non-violent because they are not armed (in contrast to past demonstrations, the demonstrators ‘security’ people did not carry small baseball bats on July 14) and because they are only interrupting traffic and they are not initiating any violence against the police.

On July 14 the two cultures collided in downtown Saratoga Springs.

An Emblematic Incident

I observed an incident on Caroline Street that documented this divide.

Two police cars were driving up Caroline Street. Three protesters walked in front of the lead car and blocked its passage. The police cars just stopped. No officer got out of their car to confront the demonstrators. They simply sat in their car and waited. A few minutes later two mounted police arrived.

One of the police used his horse to push the demonstrators out of the way. These horses are quite large and they are intimidating. One demonstrator did her best to resist. The horse banged into her several times and eventually forced her out of the street. She was outraged. She yelled at the police officer that the horse bumping her had hurt. She continued to yell at the mounted officer for his use of force against her.

So from her perspective she had the right to obstruct the police car because it demonstrated her righteous effort to combat racism. For her, the horse pushing her out of the way was proof of the excessive use of force routinely visited upon people of color in our city.

There is of course another narrative.

She was blocking a police car trying to reach the top of Caroline Street to be able to monitor the demonstration. She was interfering with a police officer trying to carry out his duty.

She was breaking the law.

Fortunately for her, the police opted not to arrest her but to simply try to move her out of the way in a manner that would minimize injury both to her and to the police. It can be viewed as an example of the effort by the police to try to clear a street without hurting anyone.

Readers should consider that the march went on for approximately an hour and twenty minutes without a direct action to stop the protest or arrest anyone. The police redirected much of the traffic on the main thoroughfare to minimize the risk of a car striking a demonstrator. They blocked off Spring Street where Putnam Street enters Spring Street. Similarly they blocked off Lake Avenue at Putnam. This would reflect the tolerance of the city to try to accommodate the protest to the extent possible.

For the demonstrators, the very presence of the police was a form of intimidation and threat. They believed that all they were doing was obstructing some traffic and exercising their right to speak and to assemble. They would dismiss the idea that there was any need for the police to be involved even in redirecting traffic.

They viewed their use of bullhorns to berate the diners in front of the Adelphi about the diners’ ignorance regarding racism as nothing compared to the violence and racism inflicted on people of color here in the city.

The fact that the city had allowed them to block traffic and exchange taunts with hecklers without interference for an hour and twenty minutes was of no significance in the eyes of the demonstrators.

They viewed their berating diners and the police with expletives as simply reflecting their righteous and well deserved anger at a city and at a police force bent on the oppression of people of color. They see Saratoga as a city built on white privilege and have been very clear that one of their goals is to bring down the city’s economy.

In contrast, the city leadership felt the handling of the demonstration reflected the respect the city has for the right to protest. The protesters had refused to get a permit or communicate their intentions to police yet had been permitted to march through the downtown, obstruct traffic, berate the police and bystanders unobstructed for almost an hour and a half.

The discipline the police showed in resisting the provocation of aggressive taunts and actions on the part of the demonstrators reflected well on the training of the police force. There was pride and relief that the police had once again handled a difficult and challenging situation without any injuries to anyone involved.

Potential For Violence

I observed some very ugly exchanges between the “security” personnel of the demonstration and hecklers. One particularly nasty incident occurred on Phila Street. Most of the demonstrators had passed on when a demonstrator/security person got into a verbal exchange with someone yelling out of the second floor of a building. The “security” person and the heckler verbally abused each other with epithets and insults. The “security” person challenged the heckler to come down and face him in the street. (this of course was a violation of the admonition from the training about not talking to hecklers).

This “security” person clearly felt that he had the right to use violence to respond to what he viewed as a racist heckler.

The view of this demonstrator and others at this event seemed to be that passive and dignified resistance is a relic of a failed civil rights past. Social Justice is for warriors ready to stand up with violence if necessary to forward the cause of ending racism.

The Arrests

Things came to a head when demonstrators occupied the intersection of Broadway and Caroline. After the group had occupied the intersection for about ten minutes, the police, using the sound system in a patrol car, attempted to issue a warning that the assemblage was illegal and that they had five minutes to clear the area.

I say “tried” because the demonstrators used the siren feature on their bullhorns to try to drown out the police warning. It was impossible to hear what the police were saying because of this.

Of the approximately seventy people who participated in the initial march, about twenty-five people remained in the intersection.

Up the street at Broadway and Lake Avenue a phalanx of officers carrying shields had formed.

They marched in a line up to Caroline Street where the demonstrators stood. There was a confusing mele during which most of the demonstrators retreated to Broadway and Division Street.

Five persons were arrested:

Adam Walker, age 32, Albany, NY
Arlo P. Zwicker, age 18, Saratoga Springs
Anthony Brown-Davis, age 32, Albany, NY
Michael D. Janidlo, age 36, Clifton Park, NY
Derek C. VanDermark, age 46, Ballston Spa, NY

All were charged with disorderly conduct (a violation). Mr. VanDermark was also charged with Obstructing Governmental Administration in the Second Degree (a misdemeanor).

All were later released on appearance tickets that night and will have to appear in city court at some later date.

Excessive Force ?

I spoke with one of the legal observers about the arrests. He showed me some video of the event. In the video you could see three groupings of police on top of three demonstrators. In each case the demonstrator was under at least three police officers.

The legal observer told me that this was an example of excessive force.

With respect, I told him that it was unclear from the videos whether there had been excessive force.

As he did not have video of the initial contact it was unclear what kind of resistance the demonstrators had put up.

The fact that a group of officers had subdued each person does not in itself indicate excessive force. Subduing someone is not easy. Subduing someone quickly and safely can involve more than one police officer.

Early reports are that no one required medical treatment. If this ends up being the case, it would seem that the police used only enough force necessary to subdue the people.

Here again we have the divide. The fact that three or more officers were involved in subduing each person is proof to the demonstrators that excessive force was used. For the city, the fact that the persons were subdued without harm shows that the police used restraint and exercised only enough force to safely arrest them.

Taunting and Provoking The Police

As the demonstrators retreated they continually stopped and occupied intersections. They continued to taunt and heckle the police. At one point, in a reference to an earlier incident that involved Lexis Figuereo, they chanted “Suck My D…”

The police again formed a phalanx and marched forward and the demonstrators retreated.

The result was that the demonstrators were herded back into Congress Park. Even then the demonstrators took to the street in front of the park several more times and taunted the police only to retreat to the sidewalk again as soon as the phalanx started to move. This happened several more times before the demonstrators finally retreated into Congress Park itself, and the demonstration ended.

The demonstrators believed they had every reason to taunt the police. To them the police are a malevolent group that normally operates with impunity. For the demonstrators this was pay back time. The demonstrators viewed their taunts as a way to humiliate and punish the police.

To the city, the police showed great professional restraint by refraining from being drawn into a further melee that would have required chasing the protesters, surrounding them, and arresting them all.

The Times Union reported that SSPD Lt. Robert Jillson told the paper “that the department tries to balance the protesters’ First Amendment rights with the safety of the whole community, and that it agreed with their fight against racism and bias.

“Their message is legitimate,” he said. “We share their concerns.”

Blogger’s Summary

As should be apparent, I am relieved that again, the city has handled yet another demonstration, in spite of extreme provocation, with professionalism such that no one was hurt. Even the resulting charges from the arrests are quite modest. No one threw the book at them. The city simply worked to maintain order with limited force and with limited legal action.

I have to admit to a feeling of frustration as regards the media. This demonstration was a major news event and should be reported on. What troubles me is that the media fails badly in acknowledging the care our city’s police have shown in handling this conflict with restraint and professionalism.

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Addendum

I am not much of a videographer. In this video some “security” people break from the main body and approach the police at the corner of Broadway and Division. In the background you can hear one of the leaders of the main group directing comments at the diners sitting outside of the Adelphi.

Two of the protesters’ “security” people become agitated when the police officer in charge of the intersection asks them to move to the sidewalk. A young woman in the group (she is wearing a yellow shirt) intervenes and convinces the two to back off.

The main body then marches by led by Lexis Figuereo. At one point he taunts some diners about enjoying their drinks.

At approximately 7:00 PM about seventy Black Lives Matters demonstrators left Congress Park and took to the streets of Saratoga Springs. They marched up Broadway and stopped in front of the Adelphi Hotel where people were having dinner in front of Morrisey’s. For approximately fifteen minutes one of the leaders with a bullhorn berated the diners.

They then proceeded up Broadway toward City Hall. There were many, many Saratoga Springs Police and Saratoga County Sheriff’s Department cars lining the east side of Broadway and the southbound lane of Broadway was blocked off at Broadway and Lake Avenue.

The demonstrators turned right on Lake Avenue and marched down to Henry Street where they turned right. They marched up Henry Street to Spring Street and turned right. From there they turned on to Putnam. They gathered in the parking lot half way up the hill. Some speeches were given, and they then marched up the hill to Broadway and then turned left. At Spring Street they turned again and marched down to Putnam where they took a left. At Caroline Street they took a left. They gathered at the intersection of Caroline Street and Broadway. Some stragglers blocked two police cars driving up Caroline Street. A mounted policeman used his horse to force them away from the front of the lead vehicle.

The police cars proceeded up the hill and stopped at the entrance to Broadway. The lead car, using a speaker system, began reading an order giving them five minutes to free the intersection. At this point the demonstrators had been marching for about an hour and twenty minutes. I could not hear all that was being said because several demonstrators, among them Lexis Figuereo, used their megaphones to generate a loud siren sound to interfere with the order.

A demonstrator got in front of the lead car and challenged them. He told them that this was not a nineteen fifties event and that if they attacked the group he and others would take care of them.

Approximately thirty people stayed in the intersection.

At this point a phalanx of sheriffs appeared at the intersection of Broadway and Lake Avenue with shields. They marched to the intersection behind their shields. As they approached the demonstrators, most of them fled but five ended up being wrestled to the ground and arrested. My understanding is that no one was “hurt.” By that I mean that no one required medical attention.

The group that had fled reorganized at the intersection of Division and Broadway. They continued to taunt the police.

What followed was a series of cat and mouse movements. The sheriffs would move forward and the demonstrators would retreat only to reform and continue their taunts.

The demonstrators ended up on the Broadway sidewalk in front of Congress Park. They would go into the street and taunt the police and as the police would start to approach they would retreat to the sidewalk.

During all of this Lexis Figuereo kept up expletive loaded rants with his bullhorn.

At approximately 9:30PM the demonstrators gathered in the park to finish their march.

The most important thing is that apparently the police and sheriffs were able to avoid hurting anyone.

I will have much more on this in a future post but wanted to get this out this evening.

I received the following document from Assistant Police Chief John Catone:

It is like watching a train wreck in slow motion here in Saratoga Springs. The rhetoric, denunciations, and demands for apologies have a certain hyperbolic quality.

Any action is cast in its worst possible light with little concern for accuracy.

Mayor Kelly has now been accused of editing the recording of a City Council meeting to allegedly hide events from the public and of racist behavior when she temporarily adjourned the City Council meeting of July 6 following the audience’s disregard for her order that the public remain quiet while speakers addressed the Council. Prominent among those in the audience who refused to refrain from talking were Black Lives Matter leader Lexis Figuereo and BLM protesters.

Anyone who has attended a City Council meeting during Mayor Kelly’s tenure knows that she runs a very “tight” meeting. She has always rigorously enforced the two minute limit for speakers during the public comment period and has a history of cautioning the public for noise no matter who is in the audience.

Whether or not you believe that her style is appropriate, attributing this recent cautioning of the audience containing BLM protesters to racism and raising her actions to the level that it requires an apology has more to do with the culture wars and serves to increase the poisonous atmosphere that seems endemic to today’s politics both here and nationally.

As to the accusation that the taping of the meeting was altered, Commissioner Madigan is responsible for IT which includes the posting of videos of meetings. She confirmed that the Mayor had nothing to do with editing out the recess that occurred. It has been standard practice to record and post City Council meetings and to leave out recesses such as for executive sessions and any other hiatus of the public aspect of the meetings.

Assuming that Commissioner Madigan is able to recover the missing video the public is going to be very disappointed. The Mayor, Commissioners Dalton and Scirocco get up and leave. After a brief pause, the Mayor and the two Commissioners return and sit down.

What Was Missing From The News Coverage Of The Council Meeting

While the media and the public focused on the events that occurred prior to the Council’s business agenda, they overlooked items that were addressed during the rest of the meeting such as the report from Jason Golub who had chaired the Police Reform Task Force and is part of the three member committee the Mayor has appointed to work on the implementation of their recommendations. I repeatedly see comments in the media and from the pubic claiming that the Council rejected the Task Force recommendation for a civilian review board. This is not the case. Mr. Golub reported to the council on their progress so far.

“Our role is to provide the council with research that will allow you to confidently implement a CRB (Civilian Review Board) that makes sense. ; What I do not want for our city is a CRB in name only that ultimately does not meet the goals for which it is intended. CRB’s can protect civilians and members of the police force… it is critical we get this right for our community and this is where our focus will be.”

“”The totality of our research will be provide to the city ouncil and the public. It will then be up to the city council to determine what to do (with) the finding.”

Jason Golub, July 6, 2021

Golub’s committee will provide monthly updates and a full report in October. It will lay out the powers of the CRB and a budget for a two year pilot program.

Unfortunately, the actual work that is being done to advance police reform was drowned out in the media coverage by the bitter recriminations during the public comment period.

Much More Ominous

The campaign BLM leader Lexis Figuereo is carrying out seems to be a mindless expression of his anger rather than a thoughtful organized drive to engage the wider community in a struggle against racism.

I cannot think of a more effective way to alienate this city than to:

1. Post videos of himself yelling expletive laden insults at police officers passively asking for people to wait to attend the city council meeting.
2. Announcing plans to disrupt downtown as a way to undermine the city’s economy when businesses are trying to recover from COVID.

Lexis Figuereo seems to be on a campaign to provoke the police into living up to his claims of their racism and brutality. However unfortunate Assistant Police Chief Catone’s emotional outburst was at the press conference last week, Figuereo’s disturbing behavior promises to eventually bring about a confrontation that not only endangers his own safety but the safety of the young people he attracts to his actions along with the police.

To date, no one has been hurt. I sincerely hope I am wrong, but things appear to be devolving and coming to a head.

The Daily Gazette editorial on July 10 claimed that city police “appeared to give them [Black Lives Matter leader Lexis Figuereo and protesters] a hard time about getting into the [City Council] meeting” the evening of July 6. It is unfortunate that the Gazette and other commentators made this erroneous assumption without first investigating and confirming that this is what was actually going on.

The assumption that Figuereo and protesters were singled out to be held back by police at the Lake Avenue entrance to City Hall is based on video and commentary posted by Figuereo on social media. Mr. Figuereo, the police, and others can be seen at the bottom of the stairs located at the Lake Avenue doors to City Hall waiting to be allowed up to the City Council meeting. In the video you can see up the stairwell where Mr. Figuereo and others were waiting. People who had apparently entered from Broadway can be seen at the top of the stairs walking to the City Hall chambers leading to the appearance that Figuereo and the protesters were unfairly being held back while others were allowed to enter.

As is so often the case, however, all is not as it appears.

For security reasons public entrance to City Hall after the regular business hours is limited to the Lake Avenue entrance. This is also the public entrance to the Police Department. On the evening of July 6 the main doors facing Broadway (protected by the two lion statues) had been locked as usual, and a notice had been posted directing the public to the Lake Avenue entrance.

So in fact, the people being asked by the police to wait to get into the meeting that night were not just Mr. Figuereo but other people unrelated to his group who had read the sign on the Broadway entrance. Included, for instance, in those waiting was Joanne Kiernan, the Republican candidate for Commissioner of Finance. Mr. Figuereo and the protesters had not been singled out.

In the meantime someone from city hall opened the other door on Broadway which provides handicapped accessibility to the building (there is a ramp and an elevator). People arriving at city hall, seeing this door open, used it.

It is an unfortunate sign of the times and of the degree of suspicion that has been generated that rather than ask a few easily answered questions about access to the City Council meeting that night, the media and others embraced and disseminated a worst case scenario narrative that only contributed to the distrust and divisiveness that is all too pervasive in our community.

This latest video of Black Lives Matter leader Lexis Figuereo is from an event on Tuesday July 6, 2021. The City Council was about to meet and Mr. Figuereo was apparently being asked to wait before being allowed up the stairs of city hall to the meeting. The officer was waiting for his supervisor’s instructions to let him pass.

At one point in this video, Figuereo tells the officer repeatedly to “Suck my black d…”

When asked by the Times Union why he said this he responded that he has no respect for the police.

“I’m not going to stand there and have police laugh and smile at me while I’m trying to get into a meeting. And playing dumb. When I asked what door to go to for the City Council meeting. I have no idea. I’m not a rated -G person. At the time, I was angry and I said that. I don’t apologize.”

Lexis Figuereo, Times Union July 7, 2021

One of the disturbing aspects of this video is that Mr. Figuereo put this up on the web himself. He wasn’t caught acting this way, he apparently is proud of it. It simply demonstrates again how troubled this man is.

The irony is that the three police officers demonstrated their training and discipline by maintaining a calm and professional demeanor in spite of the abuse being heaped on them.

Imagine if the police had addressed him in a similar manner. What would the coverage of the incident been like?

In an earlier post I noted that a number of major players with interests in the city’s greenbelt could be expected to try to move projects forward that have been rejected in the past. A recent letter sent to the Planning Board by Commissioner of Finance Michele Madigan regarding a Saratoga National Golf Club (SNGC) proposal seems to prove that is the case.

Commissioner Madigan sent a letter to the city’s Planning Board asking them, as part of their review of the Unified Development Ordinance, to look at the “Saratoga National Golf Course Project, including the definition of a golf course associated clubhouse” that was proposed by SNGC in 2015. The proposal, that was unsuccessful in 2015, would have allowed for an ambitious expansion of SNGC.

The only document that I have seen that reopens the expansion question is the letter from Commissioner Madigan. The city maintains a website dedicated to the UDO. It includes the records of the many public comments that the city has received. I may have missed it, but I can find no comments submitted by SNGC regarding amending the UDO.

I have also FOILed the city seeking any correspondence from SNGC regarding the UDO. Inquiries I have made suggest there is no such correspondence, but if my FOIL should result in any I will post them on this blog.

Commissioner Madigan’s letter to the Planning Board does not just ask the Planning Board to review the SNGC issue, she goes on to advocate for the proposal asserting that were the expansion approved it would result in millions of dollars in tax revenue for the city and create some two hundred and sixty jobs.

I have attempted to find out from Commissioner Madigan how she arrived at these numbers. She refers to some “notes” as the source but my inquiry of the source of these notes has so far not been addressed. I have also asked what prompted her to write to the Planning Board regarding SNGC.

While we have exchanged quite a few emails and texts I have, to date, been unable to get answers to my questions.

The Troubling Record of Saratoga National Golf Course

Saratoga National Golf Course is a beautifully designed and maintained venue. It is an asset to the city. Beyond the pleasure it provides to local golfers who can afford its fees, it draws people from outside of Saratoga Springs to our city.

Having acknowledged their benefit, their history includes some troubling moves they have made over the years.

In previous posts I have identified a number of actions taken by SNGC that I have found problematic.

In their approved site plan they committed to creating two nature trails for the public. In an earlier post I documented the difficulty I had in locating one of these trails. At the time there was a map located adjacent to Route 9P showing the locations of these trails. One of these trail maps lays out a path that does not exist. My attempt to locate the mystery trail was rather a comic episode. For the full story of my adventure/journey in search of the mystery trail here is the link. More on the magical trail.

SNGC asked for approval for a restaurant that was supposed to simply serve golfers and their friends according to my understanding. This modest project became the huge, high end steak house Prime.

They promised to limit large events to just three a year. The definition as to what was a large event had to do with exceeding the approved parking. The language in the site plan approved by the Planning Board was so poorly worded that according to correspondence I had with Mayor Joanne Yepsen ‘s office at the time it was unenforceable so SNGC routinely exceeds the parking with large weddings and other events.

These are some further links to the magic trail and to the bizarre contortions on how it is the city is unable to control special events at SNGC.

Saratoga National Golf Course stymies effort to locate their alleged nature trail

More Bizarre Stuff with Saratoga National Golf Course: The City Has No Record of Who Would Enforce Compliance With Special Permits

Mayor (Yepsen) Responds To Whether Saratoga National Complies With The Special Permit Requirement

Quiz: Is This A Special Event At Saratoga National Golf Course

The Planning Board

The Planning Board will be taking up the UDO beginning on Thursday, July 8, 2021.

Commissioner Madigan’s letter refers to the fact that in 2015 the City Council referred the SNGC proposal to the Planning Board for an opinion in a three to two vote. Time did not allow me to look up exactly how the Planning Board handled the request, but the fact that nothing came of the SNGC proposal suggests that the Planning Board did not look kindly on it.

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Commissioner Madigan’s letter.

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My Correspondence With Commissioner Madigan

From Kaufmann To Madigan June 28

I have come into possession of an undated letter from you to Mark Torpey in his capacity as chair of the planning board. It includes a request for an opinion that would allow Saratoga National to enjoy a much broader definition of a club house.

In the letter you assert that the granting of this expanded definition would result in additional revenue of $2,000,000.00 and would create 260 new jobs. How did you arrive at these figures?

From Kaufmann To Madigan July 1

Michele, I sent you the email below. Do you plan to respond?

From Madigan To Kaufmann July 2

Sorry John. I’ve been away all week. I sent this to the planning board. They are stats I had from the last time this project came forward regarding job creation and economic impact.

From Kaufmann To Madigan July 2

Where did these stats come from? Why are you soliciting an opinion on this?

From Madigan To Kaufmann July 2

Has the planning board discussed my letter as to date as I’ve heard nothing?

From Madigan To Kaufmann July 3

[JK: I receive an email from Commissioner Madigan with no content. I send her back an email “??”

From Madigan To Kaufmann July 3

Are you not getting my emails? I’m out and about today.

Kaufmann To Madigan July 3

The last email had nothing but the header to/from

Madigan To Kaufmann July 3

It’s probably because I’m on the road. I’ll be home late Monday.

Kaufmann To Madigan July 5

Michele, I don’t believe they have [JK: Responding to her question as to whether the Planning Board had addressed her letter]. Could you please answer my questions?

Could you please explain why you sent the letter to the planning board?

JK

[JK: I include the original text question]. In the letter you assert that the granting of this expanded definition would result in additional revenue of $2,000,000.00 and would create 260 new jobs. How did you arrive at these figures?

Related Text Exchanges

July 3 Kaufmann To Madigan

Did you receive my emails are [on] Saratoga National?

July 3 Madigan To Kaufmann

John. I’m at Cape Cod. I responded this morning to an email I saw.

July 5 Kaufmann To Madigan

Status of your reply?

July 5 Kaufmann To Madigan

Your reply was non-responsive to my questions. I have emailed you again.

July 5 Madigan To Kaufmann

That’s all I’ve got right now. I’m on route home. You asked where I got the stats. I told you from notes back when they first put this forward.

Chamber may have similar. I’m asking for a definition of clubhouse.

An opinion.

July 5 Kaufmann To Madigan

Why are you pursuing this? It was rejected in the last comp plan.

What notes?

What was the source of these notes?

[JK: I received no further communication from Commissioner Madigan]

On 06/28/21 Commissioner Robin Dalton convened a press conference and community meeting to address the recent spike in downtown violence. The panel included Assistant Police Chief John Catone and Lieutenant Robert Jillson. The event has generated a flurry of unflattering news stories including scathing editorials in the Daily Gazette and in the Times Union . The Times Union called for Commissioner Dalton and Assistant Chief Catone to resign.

Assistant Police Chief John Catone Unloads

I have a genuine sympathy for John Catone. Retiring in eight months, he has been a Saratoga Springs police officer for thirty-five years. He has dedicated his life to serving the citizens of this city.

In 2011, in fact, following trouble on Caroline Street, he was the point person for the police who worked with the local bars to better deal with problematic customers.

I also understand his frustration. His organization has been routinely denounced in the local news and social media as white supremacists bent on assaulting and humiliating people of color.

This blog has documented the verbal abuse directed at the police by the leadership of the local chapter of Black Lives Matter. The fact that the police to date have maintained their discipline and professionalism and that no one in any of the demonstrations has been hurt has received little acknowledgement not only by the leaders of the protests but by the media in general.

Police Chief Shane Crooks has set an example of quiet restraint in his public profile. He has refused to be drawn into personal exchanges. Lieutenant Jillson has been the point person for the police at the demonstrations and has been a particular target of invective by the leadership of the protests. Similar to Chief Crooks he has shown the highest level of professionalism in refusing to be provoked.

Let’s also acknowledge the gravity of what the police are trying to deal with. Someone was stabbed and, even more disturbingly, someone discharged a firearm in our downtown. If you are in the leadership of the police and are concerned with the safety of our citizens, you are more than alarmed. The crowds have grown in size and the level of potential violence is there. Small wonder that Catone should feel passionate about addressing the threat.

But Assistant Police Chief Catone, as an executive in his department, is expected to show the quiet command required to effectively lead others. No matter how volatile a situation, a leader sets a standard of quiet discipline. Young inexperienced officers look to their leadership for how they themselves should act. With regret, I do not think that Catone met those very demanding standards at the press conference. Allowing himself to vent his frustrations in a rant is no message to send to the men and women under his command.

He was angry, and he felt he had the right to indulge that anger. In his own words he told those present “I am pissed off.” He had many thoughtful remarks about what his department was doing to address the increasing incidents of violence, but they were overshadowed by his undisguised anger at the unnamed people and institutions that he blamed.

He appeared unaware or possibly unconcerned as to how some of his more challenging statements would appear when published in area newspapers and on television.

He warned the public, “If you continue to push the lies I will in the final eight months of this job pull out every connection my family has made in the last one hundred and thirty years and I will stop your narrative because we are not a racist police department but somebody has got to stand up and stop the lies and disinformation.”

Referring to his “kids,” he told those present “I will not! I will not leave them high and dry! If you are going after them you are going after me and I am going to fight back.”

“If you are not for us you are against us.”

Catone may not have meant these as a threat to anyone in any physical sense, but it contributed fodder to the very narrative he was trying to change. Assistant Chief Catone is a large man and to say he came off as belligerent is an understatement.

He bitterly blamed unnamed politicians both locally running for office and statewide as having “promoted the demonizing of the police while emboldening the criminal with absolutely no consequences.” That kind of hyperbole belies the fact that serious crime still has consequences as hopefully the person who fired a gun in our city will find out.

His remarks suggested that the perpetrators of the stabbing and the gunshot were somehow encouraged and supported by the social justice advocates. With respect to Assistant Chief Catone, the people who shot and stabbed were criminals looking for trouble and to gain status among their peers. They bore no relation to those calling for social justice.

A Plague of Violence and Incivility

It seems sadly apparent that increasingly people feel they have a right to exercise their anger and that cavalier indulgence has created the perfect environment for escalations in violence.

A child is killed in California in a road rage incident.

Airline passengers assault flight attendants over having to wear masks.

Thousands assault police officers who were trying to protect our capital on January 6.

Local girls who are actually on the Saratoga Springs High School cheerleading squad assault a young girl in order to post the violence on TikTok.

These are just a few examples of the arbitrary nature of the current plague of violence.

Catone’s primary point that we as a community need to come together to work on solutions is on the mark, but it begins with a recognition that the sources of our problems are deep and complex. Denouncing Black Lives Matter fails to grasp that it is not a homogeneous movement. It includes people such as myself. I do not attend local Black Lives Matter events because I think they are poorly conceived and counter-productive, but I recognize and am concerned at the reports of excessive force against people of color nationally.

Let’s Not Demonize John Catone

All of us, if we are human and self-aware, have said and done things we later come to regret. I would like to believe that John Catone, who has served this city with distinction for thirty-five years, will in retrospect realize that he should have shown greater care in his remarks. Officer Catone has the opportunity to set an example by acknowledging his excess and in so doing bring out the best in all of us so that we can work as a community to find solutions.

[JK: I received this comment from Chris Mathiesen who was elected as the city’s Public Safety Commissioner for three terms beginning in 2011.]

I did not see the press conference on Monday but I have read a number of news accounts about it, including the story that appeared in the Times Union on Tuesday, June 29 which quoted candidates for City government offices and a local activist. I have also read the Times Union editorial in the Friday, July 2 edition which called for the resignations of both Asst. Chief Catone and Commissioner Dalton.

I am a fan of both Commissioner Dalton and Asst. Chief Catone. Both were trying to be transparent about the recent acts of violence in our City when they held the press briefing on Monday. Asst. Chief Catone’s frustrations should be understood and shared by the community as a whole. The success that our City has achieved over the past 40 years can easily be undermined if our citizens and our visitors don’t feel safe and secure in Saratoga Springs.

The criticism of John Catone by some of the candidates for office as quoted in the June 29 Times Union story was unfair. Gang activity in our nightclub district has always been a concern. The violence and drug peddling associated with these groups can negatively impact our City in many ways. The SSPD has monitored this threat continuously for reasons that should be very obvious to all given what happened last weekend. This has nothing to do with race or ‘dog whistles’. This is reality.

Another issue raised was the increased violence among youth in our City. Again, it is important to bring up these very real problems so that our community can start to deal with them. I don’t have first-hand knowledge of these incidents but I was stunned to learn that my sister witnessed a knife fight that took place in front of the Casino in Congress Park. For the sake of the teens as well as the community as a whole, we have to deal with drugs and violence as they relate to this age group.

One of the activists quoted in the Times Union described John Catone’s comments as ‘insane’. This is the same activist who continually states that the police ‘murdered Daryl Mount’. For the record, the police did not murder Daryl Mount. To continually state otherwise is very irresponsible. It also can have a detrimental effect on respect for authority.

One of the candidates was quoted as saying that he heard too much ‘blaming going on’. He said that ‘you are not going to solve a problem by pointing fingers’ and that ‘you are going to do it by calmly sitting down with the businesses in the Caroline Street area and working out better security plans’. I couldn’t agree more. Asst. Chief Catone has been doing exactly that for years.

Another candidate stated that the police ‘are blaming people who just want to be treated fairly’. I am not sure what that means. The police are blaming gangs for gang activity and irresponsible rhetoric for undermining authority. Saratoga Springs is not a City of racists. Neither is the SSPD a department of racists. Individuals of all races and cultures are welcome in our City as long as they act responsibly and with respect for others. It is the goal of Asst. Chief Catone, Commissioner Dalton and the community as a whole that everyone be treated fairly at all times.

The July 2 Times Union editorial was unfair. Somehow, it is OK for the TU that Albany Mayor Sheehan to talk about the up-town and down-town gangs in Albany but not for John Catone or Robin Dalton to speak about gang activities in Saratoga Springs. The editorial accused Asst. Chief Catone of ‘delivering a rant filled with racist dog whistles, punctuated by what came off as a threat to summon the collective forces of the City’s historically white power establishment’ to put an end to “a narrative of lies and misinformation”. Strong words! The terms ‘racist dog whistles’ and ‘the City’s historically white power establishment’ make me wonder whether the writer was looking a little too hard for evidence of prejudice in Saratoga Springs. In my opinion, the narrative of lies and misinformation is most definitely a problem in our City and needs to be dealt with directly. Anyone making irresponsible or unfounded statements needs to be corrected; otherwise such falsehoods take on a life of their own and become accepted by some to the detriment of all.

For the Times Union to call for the resignation of Commissioner Dalton and Asst. Chief Catone because of what the editorial writer apparently inferred from their comments on Monday morning is illogical and disturbing. While I agree with that person’s statement that ‘it is not the job of law enforcement to shut down speech they don’t like’, it is the job of government to correct those statements that are not factual and that undermine the public safety of a community.

Chris Mathiesen

Monday, June 28, 2021, Commissioner of Public Safety Robin Dalton and Assistant Police Chief John Catone held a press conference to discuss the recent spike in violence and the city’s plan to respond to it.

Commissioner Dalton discussed the need for the city’s local bars to take more responsibility for public safety. This would include better coordination regarding problematic patrons. Currently a patron denied service due to unruly behavior simply goes to another bar. The local bar owners need to communicate among themselves bout who these people are so that they are denied service at other venues. In an age of technology, such coordination is possible.

Assistant Chief Catone gave an impassioned statement on the need for a broadly coordinated campaign to address the violence. He talked about the work the department is doing to better coordinate with the Saratoga County Sheriff’s Department and the New York State Police.

Here is a story from WNYT news.

Here is a story from WTEN news.

The Times Union story emphasized Catone’s frustration over what he saw as a campaign to fracture the local police from the community.

“As a 35 year veteran of this police department and whose family has been embedded in this community for 13o plus years, you have trusted me with your safety,” said Catone, who is retiring in eight months. “I ask you to listen to my message and trust me one more time. It’s time for the silent majority, we have heard about, to stand up and be heard. … If you continue to push a narrative of lies and misinformation, if you continue to divide this police department and this community because you are trying to push a narrative from a national stage that has no bearing on the city of Saratoga Springs, you are part of the problem. And I will, on my final eight months on the job, pull out every single connection my family has made over the last 130 years and I will stop your narrative. We are not a hateful community, we are not a racist police department.”

Times Union June 28, 2021 edition

The story quoted Catone as attributing the violence as coming from Albany gangs.

Commissioner Dalton discussed the recent incidents involving local high school students in Congress Park. She talked about the need for the school system to assist the city by taking action, where possible, regarding the perpetrators of violence who attend Saratoga Springs High School.

This is a link to the video of the entire event which included questions from members of the public as well as the media.