On May 22, 2025, Courtney DeLeonardis, chair of One Saratoga, filed petitions with the Saratoga County Board of Elections to get a ballot line for its endorsed candidates to run in the upcoming November city elections. The following day, May 23, 2025, Otis Maxwell, chair of the Saratoga Springs Democratic Committee, filed a general objections form, challenging the validity of One Saratoga’s petitions. Maxwell had six days to register specific challenges to individual petitions. Dillon Moran began telephoning people who had and signed or witnessed One Saratoga petitions questioning them in an attempt to uncover fraud. He failed. On May 29, Ms. DeLeonardis was advised by the Saratoga County Board of Elections that no challenges to individual petitions had been filed. One Saratoga’s seven candidates would be on the ballot.
Gathering Petition Signatures Is Not Easy
Gathering signatures has become increasingly difficult every year. Ring doorbells and the general degrading of civil society has meant that citizens are increasingly reluctant to open their doors. [Full disclosure I participated in gathering signatures, and I can testify to how many doorbells one must ring to get a signature, so the success of One Saratoga is truly extraordinary.]
Here are the total number of signatures collected by the city’s two major political parties and those collected by One Saratoga.
Democrat 641
Republican 375
One Saratoga 1,156
So, One Saratoga’s fifty volunteers gathered more signatures than the two main parties combined. This is further proof of One Saratoga’s strength and commitment.
Press Release From One Saratoga
For Immediate Release
June 2, 2025
Courtney DeLeonardis
One Saratoga Secures an Independent Line on November Ballot
One Saratoga chair Courtney DeLeonardis announced that more than 50 volunteers from all political persuasions gathered nearly 1,200 signatures to successfully secure an independent line on the November 2025 ballot for the Saratoga Springs city elections. The number of signatures gathered far exceeds the 631 required to secure the line and was more than that obtained by the major political parties in the city combined.
Since its formation in 2019, One Saratoga has always endorsed the best qualified individuals to govern Saratoga Springs, regardless of their party affiliation. With their non-partisan line on the ballot, they seek to provide an alternative for those who may be discouraged by the divisiveness and rancor of partisan politics.
One Saratoga has always held firm to the idea of “City before Party” and their endorsed candidates include Democrats, Republicans, and a candidate with no party affiliation.
DeLeonardis said, “It is not because of their political affiliation that we chose them but, instead, because they are the best individuals to lead, and because they will always put service to our great City before any political party.”
One Saratoga’s endorsed candidates are:
John Safford for Mayor;
JoAnne Kiernan for Commissioner of Finance;
Jessica Troisi for Commissioner of Accounts;
Chuck Marshall for Commissioner of Public Works;
Tim Coll for Commissioner of Public Safety;
Sarah Burger for County Supervisor; and
George Ehinger for County Supervisor.
More information about One Saratoga’s endorsed candidates can be found at realonesaratoga.org.
I would like to acknowledge the courage of two Saratoga Springs Department of Public Works employees who dared to be whistleblowers about corruption in the department.
Truly Stunning And Brazen Corruption
In the summer of 2024, Department of Public Works Supervisor J.J. Nichols supervised the paving of Grand Avenue and a few connecting streets. Funding for this was to come from the federal C.H.I.P.S. program. During this project, Mr. Nichols abused his position by directing city employees to do work on his own driveway. This is not in dispute. In addition, he did work on two other private driveways at a cost of thousands of dollars. The improper work done on these two driveways appears to have been conveniently ignored by the Department of Public Works, which was under Commissioner Jason Golub at the time. Any work done by city employees on private property requires a signed contract with the city. There are no contracts for these ghost houses. One improperly paved house is not even located on the streets designated for the grant.
The city police began investigating Nichols, but the investigation was halted when the city’s Human Resources Department advised that the situation had been investigated and that the responsible individual had been disciplined.
In fact, based on city documents obtained under FOIL, there are no records in the Department of Public Works of any investigation being carried out. In addition, then acting Public Works Commissioner Hank Kuczynski’s “discipline” of Nichols was a painless gesture whose main impact was to allow the police to consider the matter dealt with. The result was that the events, including the established wrongdoing by Nichols, remained hidden from the public.
This blog is meant to report on what has occurred and document the many serious, outstanding questions that remain unanswered today.
Kuczynski Stonewalls
Several months ago, following his temporary appointment as DPW Commissioner, I texted Hank Kuczynski to inquire about his plans to address Nichols’ misuse of city personnel and materials to work on private property in the city. I referred him to an earlier post on the issue.
He did not respond.
Killing The Police Investigation
On December 10, the Saratoga Springs Police Department began investigating the improper work by interviewing a DPW worker who had delivered the paving material to one of the private residences.
On February 4, Police Department Lieutenant Paul Veitch reported that he had met with Kuczynski and Human Resources Director Christy Spadoro and had agreed to pause the Police investigation pending an internal city investigation, as that would lead to quicker results.
Veitch’s report indicates that on January 15, Human Resources advised him that the matter “was investigated and discipline meted out.” Veitch then communicated this to the Assistant District Attorney, who decided not to pursue the case further.
The problem is that there was no formal investigation that would have involved all the properties that Nichols illegally did.
HR’s Communication To Veitch Claiming The Matter Had Already Been Investigated Is Not Supported By Documents Released Under FOIL.
The FOIL documents I received included forms, affidavits, and an actual summary showing that the Police had begun what a reasonable person would characterize as an actual “investigation.” In contrast, according to the FOIL request, no such documents were available from the Department of Public Works. (See the FOIL documents provided at the end of this post)
The city FOIL produced:
A memo listing the city codes violated by Nichols sent by the Human Resources Department
a disciplinary agreement between the city, the union representing Nichols, and Nichols
An affidavit from a DPW employee who delivered paving materials to the private job sites from the police department
An interview by Police Officer Steven Childs with an employee who delivered paving materials to the private job sites
A report written by Lieutenant Paul Veitch on the aborted police investigation.
What’s missing are records of who did the work on the three driveways, the amount of time devoted to this work, or the amount of city-owned and federal grant-funded materials used. In addition, the city could not produce any contract authorizing the work. Without this information, it is difficult to determine precisely how much public money was improperly expended.
Based on the city’s $20.00 per square foot standard for paving, my rough calculations show that the cost of this work could be north of $25,000.00, not including Nichols’ driveway. This dramatically surpasses the $1,000.00 minimum required to raise this to a felony level.
In the entire investigation of this incident, there is evidence that only one person was interviewed, the employee whom the Police interviewed who drove a truck that delivered some of the paving material to the private homes. There is no record of the police or anybody else questioning the whistleblowers, the homeowners, or even Mr. Nichols.
So, the SSPD and the Saratoga DA’s office halted investigations based on Kuczynski and the Human Resources Department’s false assurance that the matter had been fully investigated.
The Curse of the Missing Contracts
The Department of Public Works can perform work on private property. For example, a homeowner can contract with the city to put in sidewalks and adjust where their driveway meets the street. If the city is culpable for damage to private property, the homeowner may not be charged.
However, any work the city does on privately owned property requires a contract with the owner. This contract minimizes the city’s liability and establishes a clear record of what the city has agreed to do.
The following is a sample page from another contract. This contract page spells out the cost and scope of work. According to this document, the city currently charges $20.00 per square foot for paving.
So, why are there no contracts for Nichols’ driveway and the two additional private properties Nichols had paved?
If the work was really required to address problems on the homeowners’ properties caused by the city paving, why didn’t Nichols request the mandatory contracts? It’s simple enough to do.
Nichols, who has worked for the city for decades and has risen to a supervisory position, had to know why contracts were required and how simple it would be to comply.
In the meantime, who is responsible for paying for this work? What were the owners of these properties told as to why the city was paving their driveways? There are no records that any of this was pursued.
Who Knew And When Did They Know?
Judging by my discussions with the whistleblowers, Nichols’s improper work was widely known within the department. A key question is who, if anyone, in management beyond Nichols was aware of this?
Would Any Reasonable Observer Consider The “Discipline” Imposed By Kuczynski An Actual Discipline?
According to the documents I received, Nichols was found to be violating, among other policies, multiple sections of the city’s Ethics Code. In an agreement reached by Kuczynski with Nichols, Nichols admits that he “purposefully directed city employees…to use blacktop to patch potholes in his own private driveway on city time using city resources…” The City’s Human Resources Handbook states that an employee found to have committed these actions is subject to “corrective action, up to and including termination of employment.” Kuczynski punished Nichols by docking him one day’s pay ($330.00) and $75.45 “to reimburse the city for the cost of misused materials.”
Even here, Kuczynski cut a corner for Nichols. A ton of the paving materials cost $75.45, but Kuczynski conveniently forgot that it had to be delivered by a heavy dump truck. If you need a ton of paving materials delivered to your driveway, it will cost you more than $75.45.
More Stonewalling
On February 16, 2025, I emailed Commissioner Kuczynski asking how he arrived at Nichols’s punishment. He never acknowledged my email.
A “Punishment” That Can Disappear
As though the punishment was not weak in the first place, it includes language that if Nichols avoids any future disciplinary actions for the following six months, the record for his malfeasance will be expunged, and his actions in this matter cannot be used to determine future discipline. This clause displays how casually Kuczynski took Nichols’s theft of city resources and how much he protected him.
Apparently, if Nichols did this again after six months under Kuczynski, Kuczynski could issue another minor slap on the hand because he would have to pretend that this second violation of the city trust had no precedent.
No Further Remedy By The City
Unfortunately, the charter gives Commissioners broad authority to discipline employees in their departments; therefore, Kuczynski’s mishandling of this corruption does not violate the city charter. Given the formal agreement sanctioned by Nichols’ union, it appears the punishment for his improper work on his own driveway cannot be reconsidered. It is unclear, though, whether the additional two houses can be considered for further action against Nichols.
Sending The Wrong Message
Kuczynski’s failure to thoroughly investigate Nichols’s actions, culminating in basically no punishment, sent a chilling message to the Public Works Department employees, in general, and, in particular, to the two whistleblowers. That message is that if you enjoy the right status, you can ignore the city’s basic policies and procedures and use city resources for your own private gain or those of others who may be your friends or relatives without fear of significant consequences.
More Than Good Neighbors
There is an interesting link between Nichols and one of the homes whose driveway he did. The fortunate homeowner grew up living next door to the Nichols family.
A Dubious Explanation That Begs Credibility
The report by Lieutenant Paul Veitch included in the FOIL documents, offers a dubious defense for the paving of at least one of the private driveways.
“During the investigation, I spoke with supervisors in DPW that stated the work done on the [dedacted] driveway was needed to repair a sidewalk issue that was caused by workdone by DPW on the sidewalk. The reason that work would have been done on the [redacted] direveway was to account for the change in the roadway and having a water pooling issue if not corrected. [emphasis added]”
Bear in mind that there is no existing contract to do work on any of the properties that would establish the “reason” offered by DPW and accepted by Veitch. Notwithstanding what the police were told, there are no records regarding why or what work was done on the additional two houses. One of the houses was not even on a street to be paved.
The poverty of Veitch’s review is disheartening. He conveniently accepted the assurances without any skepticism. What adds to the questions surrounding this ugly business is that Paul Veitch is the brother of Mike Veitch, the highest-ranking full-time employee in the Department of Public Works. One must wonder whether he spoke of his brother when he wrote, “I spoke with supervisors in DPW. “
The Strange Case Of The Flooded Driveway
A picture from Google Earth (below) was taken of one of the driveways back in 2007. It documents that the driveway had severe drainage problems then. Was the paving ordered by Nichols to correct an issue that is possibly at least seventeen years old?
As noted earlier, if the city is responsible for damage to private property, it is liable for the repair. It is important to note that work done paving a street can create problems with the fringes of driveways where they intersect with the street, in which case, there is a legitimate reason for the city to correct them. For example, new paving could cause cars entering a driveway to bottom out.
But if this was a legitimate issue, why didn’t Nichols apply for a contract to fix it? Unfortunately, there are no records of the work done on these driveways, nor a formal explanation for why they were paved. It is important to remember that the city can legitimately do necessary work, but there needs to be a contract with the homeowner approved by the City Council. There is no record of a contract for this work.
The Houses (Not Including Nichols’s)
House #1
Here is the Google Earth Image of one of the driveways and a photograph this blogger took of the other.
Below is a photo taken by Google Earth back in 2007. It documents that this driveway had drainage problems seventeen years ago. How is it that the city is addressing a problem that is at least seventeen years old?
The area that was paved roughly measured 36′ by 21′.
At $20.00 per square foot, the cost would be $ 15,120.00.
More Than Neighborly
The owner of this house is a person whose family lived next door to the Nichols family. Nichols is roughly the same age as this person.
House #2
This is the house that is not on a street to be paved, displaying the new driveway surface and new sidewalk. There is no record of the city having a contract to perform this work.
As the road in front of the house was not to be paved, it is nonsensical to attribute faulty road work to explain the need to do the driveway.
Putting that aside, there is absolutely no way to explain why the city paved the area of the driveway above the sidewalk. How could the paving of the street (that was not to be paved) have had any impact on that area?
As documented earlier in this post, the city charges private property owners $20.00 per square foot for working on driveways.
A surveyor would be required to calculate the paved area accurately. This blogger did a rough calculation of the driveway. Regarding House #2, the apron in front of the walk, I estimated it at 12′ by 12′. At $20.00 per square foot, the cost would be $2,880.00.
The area above the walk is roughly 15′ by 25′, costing $7,500.
This would put the total for this job at roughly $10,380.00.
It is unclear when the walk that crosses the new paving was done. As recently as 2024, there was no sidewalk. If Nichols also did the sidewalk, that would add to the total.
The arrows mark the beginning and end of the new sidewalk.
So, when was this new sidewalk installed, and who paid for it? The documents I received do not provide any information.
The city spent roughly $25,500.00 on these two houses, plus whatever it cost to do Nichols’s driveway.
A Need For Action
Regrettably, it is more than likely that if the two whistleblowers had not exposed Nichols, nothing would have happened to him, and this kind of corruption would simply continue.
This does not reflect badly on the many city workers who keep our streets clean and our water running. The failure was in leadership.
With charges also brought against former Public Works Commissioner Jason Golub for misusing city employees, there appears to be a culture of tolerance for abuse.
The people of this city deserve the truth about what happened. The facts need to be reinvestigated thoroughly and transparently, and individuals responsible for any malfeasance held accountable.
The bulk of this post was completed several weeks ago. Below are some recent developments.
Potential For City Liability
As it turns out, while the city performed the work on Grand Avenue and St Charles Place back in July of 2024, they have yet to submit a claim for reimbursement. The CHIPS program is federal money, but it is managed in New York by the New York State Department of Transportation. The city still has an eighteen-month window to seek reimbursement, so plenty of time remains. The question to consider is, if these properties were improperly done using CHIPS money, how would this impact the city’s eligibility for funds in the future?
Public Works Commissioner Responds
I spoke with current Public Works Commissioner Chuck Marshall several times about this. Commissioner Marshall has been both available and transparent. He looked at the issue of the two houses that were done in addition to Nichols’s.
He acknowledged that there were no contracts for the work done on these driveways, and they were not included in DPW’s original investigation. He told me that it was essential that the city determine how much was spent on the driveways and ensure that these costs are not included when the city applies for the CHIPS money.
An Anecdote To Amuse
I sent a release to Wendy Liberatore at the Times Union, including this post’s text. She responded,
“I spoke to my editors.
We will not pursue as it happened nearly a year ago and no one, but you, seems overly concerned by the resolution.”
Of course, it’s an old story because it was successfully hidden from the public and never pursued by the press in all this time.
Michele Madigan’s campaign for Mayor of Saratoga Springs has focused on a narrative that Mayor John Safford wants to imprison the homeless rather than work with RISE and other groups to address their condition.
In an email blast, Madigan wrote, “…our email that went out today calling out Mayor Safford for believing incarceration is the best cure for our homeless.”
This is a stunning allegation for which Madigan has been unable to provide any documentation.
When pressed by this blogger to substantiate this very serious accusation, the best she could do was to text me a reference to a Wendy Liberatore article from the May 8, 2025, Times Union. She wrote:
You are deliberately being obtuse on this issue. Here is the quote from the Times Union and I know you’ve had this corroborate off the record,but that’s not good enough for you.
Times Union May 8: “On Tuesday, however, the mayor said at the City Council meeting that he was only in favor of incarceration if an unhoused person was not willing to get help from RISE after appearing in homeless court.”
Text from Madigan
The homeless court referred to is the Outreach Court presided over by Judge Francine Vero. This court exclusively deals with homeless persons who have committed some kind of violation or crime. The court’s goal is to link the defendants with RISE services rather than send them to jail. Unfortunately, it is not always possible for RISE to assist defendants. In a case on the day I observed the proceedings, the RISE representative told Judge Vero that her organization had tried to work with a person but without success, and therefore, a referral to them was not possible. Judge Vero then had no choice but to sentence the person to jail. The defendant has the right to refuse to work with RISE, but that would mean Judge Vero sentencing them to jail.
So Madigan’s claim that the TU reference she cites proves Mayor Safford believes that “incarceration is the best cure for our homeless ” is just bizarre and doesn’t make sense. Is Madigan critical of Judge Vero for resorting to sending people to jail who have committed some kind of crime, who, for some reason, RISE cannot help because this is exactly the process the TU quotes the Mayor being in favor of?
I don’t see how you get from the Times Union quote to the idea that Safford wants to just put all the homeless in jail. This quote does not support her claim that Safford is a heartless official who just wants to punish the homeless, yet this is the only evidence they have produced to support the theme being repeated by Madigan and her campaign.
For me, the best response to Madigan’s campaign came from her fellow Democratic Committee member, Patty Morisson.
I’ve been very quiet on this issue, sitting back and watching the misinformation. I did myself the favor of picking up the phone and asking Mayor Stafford his position as the word on the street is Mayor Stafford aligned with incarceration.
In our conversation I learned nothing could be further from the truth. In fact he wants to see more services available for those who are incarcerated for short intervals. They need help when they get out.
I’m not here to pick sides. I’m commenting because I don’t like when I know the truth and it’s not reported correctly. Call me principled, but the facts and truth matters to me.
The mayor is committed to providing housing and services that support long-term stability for our most vulnerable residents.
If you have any doubt please do us all a favor and call the Mayor yourself, and stop politicizing this topic. Thank you.
Patti Morrison responding to Michele Madigan and Gordon Boyd on Boyd’s Facebook Page
Text Exchange Between Madigan and Blogger
Blogger: You have repeatedly made accusations like this: “…our email that went out today calling out Mayor Safford for believing incarceration is the best cure for our homeless.” Can you cite where Safford has advocated jail over RISE or other services? And you wrote: “I mean I’m not the one who believes homeless should be incarcerated for at least thirty days so they’re forced into the county substance-abuse program, that would be Safford.” Could you cite supporting evidence that Safford advocated this?
Michele: Yes, the Times Union. You may also wanna call RISE. I have nothing more to say on the topic. It’s true he believes incarceration is the right way forward for our homeless. Thank you. Goodbye.
Blogger: Where in the Times Union? Please identify the date of the article. Do you have some document from RISE?
Michele: On Tuesday, however, the mayor said at the city council meeting that he was only in favor of incarceration if an unhoused person was not willing to get help from RISE after appearing in homeless court. RISE sent a letter to all elected officials about elected official believing incarceration of the homeless is the answer.
Blogger: There is nothing in the Times Union that says the mayor believes “incarderation is the best solution for the homeless.” No where in the RISE letter is this claim made. The mayor did observe that if a defendant in Vero’s court declines RISE services she will, if appropriate, sentence them to jail. This is a fact. This has nothing to do with promoting jail time over RISE.
Michele: That’s your opinion, thank you. What he s says is clear. You can talk to RISE for more info and ask them for the letter they sent to council. Wanting to lock people up because they refuse services also isn’t the answer.
I have long admired the work of Rise Housing and Supportive Services in addressing the needs of the most vulnerable in our community. I was stunned when Sybil Newell, the executive director of RISE, issued an ultimatum to the city on April 29, stating that unless the city committed to funding them in 2026, they would shutter their shelter on June 3. This is despite its contract with the city that runs until the end of 2025 and requires a sixty-day cancellation notice. Of course, June 3 is the day before the “Belmont Stakes Festival” begins in Saratoga Springs.
As observed by a May 10, 2025, Daily Gazette editorial, RISE was, in effect, weaponizing its clients. They also stumbled into a partisan mess, as evidenced by how Mayoral candidate Michele Madigan grabbed and abused the issue. (Madigan’s involvement in this matter will be covered in a future post)
Ms. Newell was not shy about why she chose June 3 to abruptly close the RISE shelter.
“…Newell said, deciding on a June 3 closure date was intentional in part because it wouldn’t potentially leave unhoused individuals scrambling during the winter months, but also because of the proximity to the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival and coverage of the event.”
Daily Gazette May 8, 2025
The optics of this are bad enough, but worse, it entangled RISE in Michele Madigan’s campaign for Mayor. Madigan has gone over the top, falsely attacking her opponent, current Mayor John Safford, through social media, accusing him of prioritizing jail rather than services for the homeless. Madigan’s intemperate and outlandish representations will damage her credibility and the mud-generated splatters on RISE.
As if all of this were not bad enough, RISE seemed oblivious to the city’s requirements set forth by its charter and procurement policies. These provisions guaranteed that their threat would fail to achieve their goal of obtaining a commitment from the city to fund them through 2026.
A Demand the City Cannot Meet
As Department of Public Works Commissioner Chuck Marshall observed, any pledge the city might make now to fund RISE in 2026 will not be enforceable.
The city charter requires that the city identify the funding for any item before it can be purchased or contracted for. This process is typically done through the budgeting process for the following year.
Section 4.4.13 of the city charter reads:
Payments prohibited.
It shall not be lawful for any City employee to incur or contract any expense or liability for or on behalf of the City, unless the Council has made an appropriation concerning such expenses. No payment shall be made or obligation incurred against any allotment or appropriation except and unless the Commissioner of Finance first certifies that sufficient funds are or will be available to cover the claim or meet the obligation when it becomes due and payable. Any authorization of payment or incurring of obligation in violation of the provisions of the Charter shall be void.
So, to be clear, the city cannot simply pass a resolution funding RISE for next year. The City Charter requires the Commissioner of Finance to certify that the city will have the funds to pay RISE for whatever amount they seek in 2026. At the May 6, 2025, City Council meeting, Mayor John Safford asked Finance Commissioner Minita Sanghvi if she could provide a guarantee.
At the Council table, Commissioner Sanghvi attempted to confuse the issue by reeling off all the income she thought (hoped?) the city would have next year to cover the cost of what RISE is asking for. Unfortunately for Sanghvi, when pressed by the Mayor on whether she could guarantee that the city would have the money in 2026 to fund RISE and meet the city’s other obligations, she admitted she could not give such an assurance.
Sanghvi’s response, as seen in this video from the meeting, is to oddly try to put words in the Mayor’s mouth, suggesting he doesn’t want to fund RISE in 2026. After admitting that he had said no such thing, she concedes that she will not be making any financial projections until she makes the budget in October.
In this second video, City Attorney Tony Izzo explains the charter provision.
Looking For Support
In her letter on behalf of RISE, Sybil Newell wrote
Despite public declarations that addressing homelessness is a priority, it has since been made clear to RISE that the City either will not or cannot continue funding the Adelphi Street shelter past this year.
Sybil Newell April 29, 2025
I could find no public record of any of the Council members precluding funding for RISE for next year.
I spoke to Mayor Safford about this. He told me that he met with Ms. Newell and conceded that he expressed reservations to her about how much, if any, the city could fund RISE for next year.
Mayor Safford told me he was reluctant to commit for next year outside of the budgeting process because of his concerns. This is consistent with Commissioner Sanghvi’s unwillingness to certify that there is money until the budget for next year can be crafted.
Oh, Yes, There is Also the Problem With The Contract
RISE has a contract with the city that runs through 2025. Unfortunately, the contract has no renewal clause. Without such a clause, city purchasing practices require that when the contract ends, to continue the services, the city must issue a new Request For Proposals (RFP)to select a vendor competitively.
This means that the city cannot commit to RISE until it has published a Request for Proposals (RFP), received proposals from interested vendors, and selected a winner.
RISE’S Precarious Situation
Making matters even more fraught, RISE’s lease for its current shelter location expires on December 31, 2025, and it does not contain a provision for a renewal. In fact, at the May 20 council meeting, Dillon told his colleagues that RISE would be unable to use its existing site next year. It would make no sense for the city to contract with RISE without some assurance that they have a secure location for next year.
RISE’s Threat Makes No Sense
So without:
A lease on a facility for next year,
Commissioner Sanghvi’s certification that the city will have the hundreds of thousands of dollars being requested,
the RFP process being completed to select a vendor for a shelter,
the city cannot agree to RISE’s ultimatum. This blogger cannot understand why Ms. Newell would create this level of controversy and tension when any thoughtful analysis would have made clear her demands could not be met.
Moran’s RFP
At the May 20 Saratoga Springs City Council meeting, Accounts Commissioner Dillon Moran announced that he had issued an RFP for an agency to operate a shelter for 2026. The worst-kept secret in the city is that the RFP is designed for RISE, but because an RFP is supposed to be competitive, Moran plays fast and loose in describing it.
The ten thousand pound guerrilla in the room is that RISE has no location to run a shelter after the end of this year. The RFP says that the city will select a location. Public Works Commissioner Chuck Marshall asks Dillon where this location is. The result of his question is classic Dillon Moran. Moran responds with a series of non-sequiturs and then simply tells Marshall the conversation is over. He never addresses Marshall’s question.
It is important to note that the city’s RFP, which has just been issued, has a response due date of June 10. Without a secured facility beyond December 31, how can RISE calculate the costs of maintaining a future facility? If there is rent, how much would that rent be? If they were to own a building, how much would it cost for electricity, heat, etc.? How can they submit a budget responding to the RFP with so many unknowns?
RISE Tries To Spin All This
At the meeting, the Council members talked about working toward a solution, but no one stated that the city would agree to RISE’s demand to fund them in 2026.
Despite this, RISE claims a victory lap. It told the Saratogian:
“RISE extends our sincere gratitude to the City of Saratoga Springs for hearing our concerns and taking meaningful action at a critical moment,” RISE said in the release. “RISE is also appreciative of the community for standing behind this essential work. Together, we are shaping a more inclusive and compassionate future for all.”
Saratogian May 20, 2025
City Council Members Try To Find A Way Forward
Representatives from the Mayor’s Department and the City Council have been meeting with representatives from RISE and Shelters of Saratoga (SOS) to try to develop a sustainable program for 2026 to meet the complex needs of the homeless. SOS has an agreement to provide emergency housing to the homeless in the winter as part of the Code Blue program. Code Blue was set up by the state following the death of a young woman in Saratoga Springs who died of exposure during a winter some years ago. Saratoga County has purchased land across from Market32 on Ballston Avenue for the SOS shelter. SOS has successfully raised money to build a facility on the land. The county has agreed to fund the operation during the winter using funds received from the state. The hope is to bring these two organizations together to develop a comprehensive solution that the Council can work with.
RISE Needs To Show More Prudence
It pains me to criticize RISE. Their work is enormously important. I want them to continue this important work, especially with Judge Vero’s Outreach Court and their help in embedding peer to peer counselors with the police who interact with the homeless.
I encourage readers to look beyond this unfortunate business and to continue to support RISE. They have helped so many people recover their lives. They provide critical housing to an important population.
This is an excerpt from the May 19, 2025, Saratoga Springs City Council pre-agenda meeting. I don’t believe Accounts Commissioner Dillon Moran or Finance Commissioner Minita Sanghvi were serious about whether the city needs a local police department. This is just an example of how they can wander into the most bizarre stream of consciousness in their rush to question other city officials. It’s the “throw it at the wall and see if it sticks” level of critical discussion.
In this case, their comments were meant to pick at Public Safety Commissioner Tim Coll. Coll as always, never loses his cool and responds courteously.
The non-partisan organization One Saratoga held an event to meet their endorsed candidates for Saratoga Springs city offices at the Principessa Elena Society on Thursday, May 8, 2025 . The turnout was great.
Current Deputy Mayor and Candidate for Finance Commissioner JoAnne Kiernan, Sharon Dominguez, Dan Charleson, Deputy Commissioner of Public Safety
Former City Attorney Vince DeLeonardis , former Public Safety Commissioner Chris Mathiesen, former Mayor Meg Kelly
Chris Mathiesen and Joanna Zangrando
Candidate for Finance Commissioner JoAnne Kiernan addresses the attendees
Candidate for Commissioner of Accounts Jessica Troisi speaks
Jessica Troisi and Commissioner of Public Safety Tim Coll
Carol Joyce, Vince DeLeonardis, John Kaufmann
Commissioner of Public Safety Tim Coll addresses those gathered
One Saratoga treasurer Kathy Wilson and candidate and current Commissioner of Public Works Chuck Marshall
According to their literature, “One Saratoga is a non-partisan coalition that wants the best-qualified people governing Saratoga Springs.” Their motto is “City before Party”. This year they have endorsed three registered Republicans, three registered Democrats, and one independent who is not registered in any party.
Their candidates are:
John Safford for Mayor
Chuck Marshall for Public Works Commissioner
JoAnne Kiernan for Finance Commissioner
Jessica Troisi for Accounts Commissioner
Tim Coll for Public Safety Commissioner
George Ehinger and Sarah Burger for the two County Supervisor seats
They are currently circulating petitions to get their candidates on the November ballot.
If you wish to know more about One Saratoga and their candidates go to their website at https://realonesaratoga.org or their face book page at facebook.com/RealOneSaratoga
For almost two years, Saratoga Springs Finance Commissioner Minita Sanghvi has wasted thousands of city dollars by failing to implement the software the city has purchased that would meet the New York State Attorney General’s key demand that the city properly archive text messages on the phones of city employees and officials.
This blog has covered Sanghvi’s mismanagement of the city’s IT Department extensively. In May of 2024, this blog published a post about Sanghvi’s chronic failure to implement much needed archiving software. Now, a year later, this problem just continues to drag on.
Mayor Ron Kim announced with great fanfare the purchase of software called SMARSH back in 2023. This software would capture all texts from city cell phones and save them in a manner that would make the archive of texts easily searchable. At the time the goal was to help address the city’s Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) requests backlog. The SMARSH software took on additional importance when in February, 2024, Attorney General Letitia James included in her report the recommendation that the city maintain records of city officials’ communications.
It has now been over a year and a half, and Commissioner Sanghvi, who oversees the city’s IT department, has been unable to implement the SMARSH software. That means the city spent $12,942.21 during a year when the software went unused.
At one point Sanghvi informed the Council that deployment of SMARSH was delayed because she was developing procedures and standards for archiving. The question is why would you purchase the software before establishing the standards necessary for its operation especially if that is going to take over a year and a half during which time the software goes unused.
In any case here, here is Sanghvi in February of 2024 (five months after the city purchased the software), strangely claiming falsely that the city is using the software.
It is unclear if the city renewed the contract with SMARSH when the contract was up last October as there are no public records that I could find regarding a renewal of this software.
If the contract was renewed in October of 2024, the city would have now spent over $20,000.00 so far with still nothing to show for that money.
It is quite extraordinary that Commissioner Sanghvi would allow something that, by her own statements urgently needs to be implemented, sit idle.
You would think Sanghvi would be embarrassed about this failure, but she seems oblivious.
Lisa Ribis, who served the city of Saratoga Springs for twenty years and enjoyed the love and respect of her colleagues, passed away on April 4, 2025, shortly after her retirement. Sadly her boss in City Hall, Accounts Commissioner Dillon Moran, persisted in tormenting and abusing her during her final two years working under him, finally forcing her out of her job pending a hearing on his dubious charges
A Fitting Tribute to Lisa Ribis
At the April 15, 2025, City Council meeting, the room and the hall were packed with Lisa Ribis’ many friends and colleagues. Mayor John Safford offered the following memorial to her. Those gathered applauded.
Former Accounts Commissioner John Franck’s Remembrances Of Lisa Ribis Are a Testimony to What An Asset She Was to the City
Lisa began working for the city in 2005 at the Department of Public Works where she remained until 2008, when she moved to the Accounts Department. As part of her work in the Accounts Department, she took the minutes at City Council meetings.
Lisa began her tenure in the Accounts Department when John Franck was the Commissioner.
I texted him about Lisa, and he wrote back.
“She was extremely smart and knowledgeable. I can’t tell you how many times she would whisper behind, saying they need to redo the motion, it’s not correct, or they need a 4/5ths vote, and she was always spot on.”
“She was everything a civil servant should be. I found her just kind and down to earth.”
John Franck
He also sent me a picture of him and Lisa. She is sitting behind him, taking the minutes.
Drawing Dillon Moran’s Ire
Sadly, the atmosphere within the Accounts Department and at the City Council table changed dramatically when Moran replaced Franck as Accounts Commissioner.
Lisa’s problems with Commissioner Moran began on February 1, 2022, when her husband, Joe Ribis, spoke during the public comment period at a Council meeting. He harshly criticized the Council for its failure to confront the local Black Lives Matter group that had been regularly disrupting City Council meetings.
On February 15, 2022, Moran informed Lisa that she would no longer be taking minutes as the Council’s secretary. In her lawsuit (below), Lisa attributed Moran’s behavior to Joe Ribis’ public remarks.
A Campaign Of Harassment
The following are some of the tactics Moran used to try to harass Lisa into quitting.
On March 15, 2022, Lisa again took minutes for the Council meeting. The following day, Moran told her she would not receive compensatory time or overtime pay for her work the previous night. For the thirteen years before this, Lisa had routinely received this benefit.
This was an act of petty harassment. Moran had to know that his action would not survive a grievance by Lisa, but he did it anyway to create a hostile environment that he hoped would force her to quit. Not surprisingly, in January of 2023, an arbitrator found that Lisa had been improperly denied compensation for her evening work at the Council meeting. She was vindicated as expected.
In April of 2022, Moran falsely accused Lisa of spitting on BLM demonstrators. This gratuitous attack was again meant to humiliate Lisa. On April 6, 2022, Lisa filed a complaint with the city’s Human Resources Department, challenging Moran’s allegation.
Lisa was quiet, soft spoken, and thoughtful. I know that it would have been very painful for her to have such sordid behavior attributed to her. Anyone familiar with Moran knows that he often resorts to boasts and falsehoods like this, which are recklessly meant to hurt or confuse. This accusation was particularly bizarre, not only because it was unimaginable that Lisa would do anything like this, but given the layout of the Music Hall, where the meetings were taking place, it was also physically impossible.
In May, Moran told Lisa that from now on, she was to report to his Deputy, Stacy Connors, every morning and ask her what her work would be for the day. She was the only employee in the department required to do this. Lisa had been in the Accounts Department for many years, whereas Moran and Connors were new to the Department. Nevertheless, Lisa faithfully carried out the directive. As an interesting aside, Lisa told me that Stacy rarely appeared before 10:00 a.m. and frequently arrived after 11:00 a.m. For her own amusement, Lisa kept a log of Connor’s tardy appearances.
On September 13, 2023, at an Accounts Department staff meeting, Moran referred to Italians as “guinea-wops.” Lisa was the only Italian person present. Moran also referred to her as “the queen of grievances” at the meeting.
In February 2024, Moran began falsely telling people in City Hall, including members of the Mayor’s office and the Human Resources Department, that Lisa had altered the city resolution establishing the scandal-plagued on-call status.
In another petty move, Moran also began to arbitrarily delay Lisa’s requests to use her earned compensatory time.
There are many more petty actions taken by Moran and his Deputy, Stacy Connors, to undermine Lisa’s credibility. Her lawsuit, included with this post, documents all of them.
For many months, Accounts Commissioner Dillon Moran hounded and tried to humiliate Ms. Ribis in an attempt to get rid of her. He finally brought charges that led to her dismissal. He had her pack up her things and go on paid leave.
Lisa had two avenues to fight her termination. Public employees have a right to an administrative hearing to defend themselves in what is referred to as an Article 75. The other was a lawsuit against the city for her treatment, which she had begun. Sadly, as her health declined, she decided that both the Article 75 and the lawsuit were unnecessary distractions and she dropped both. In January 2025, having reached her retirement age, she retired. She died four months later.
This blog has chronicled the corrosive behavior of Dillon Moran. Most of his behavior has involved other elected officials who should be strong enough to shrug off his intemperate attacks.
In the case of Lisa Ribis, his abuse descended to a new low. As a manager, the people who report to you are vulnerable humans who are entrusted to your supervision. There is only one way to describe what he did to Lisa: shameless.
Over the years, I have posted many “Wendy Watches” – blogs looking at the many inaccuracies and misrepresentations often found in Times Union reporter Wendy Liberatore’s articles, especially those covering Saratoga Springs political issues. One of her more recent articles, this one supposedly about Saratoga Springs Accounts Commissioner Dillon Moran’s most recent appearance in City Court, made me wonder, yet again, whether Ms. Liberatore is incompetent and unable to get her facts straight or malicious and uses her platform at the Albany paper to deliberately try to hurt and anger people.
Ms. Liberatore’s April 10, 2025 article, headlined “Saratoga Springs Commissioner Rejects Deal, Will Head To Trial in FOIA Case” begins as a fairly straightforward account of, as the headline indicates, Democratic Accounts Commissioner Dillon Moran rejecting a plea deal and opting for a bench trial on charges he prevented access to public records in violation of the Freedom of Information Act. For the first few paragraphs, Ms. Liberatore’s coverage is pretty similar to the Daily Gazette story about the same events. The Gazette story is a fairly simple, straightforward account of Moran’s hearing.
In contrast, however, Ms. Liberatore’s report soon veers off into a litany of past debunked accusations and mischaracterizations of issues surrounding the case against a different Democratic City Council member -former Public Works Commissioner Jason Golub.
Consider this excerpt from the Liberatore account:
Moran’s case joins other investigations and charges levied against Democrats in the city. Former Commissioner of Public Works Jason Golub was charged with official misconduct, a misdemeanor, by city police at the direction of Commissioner of Public Safety Tim Coll, who is allied with the city’s Republicans. That charge relates to a city plumber’s 10-minute visit to Golub’s home to pour a drain-clearing substance down his kitchen sink.
Let’s start with a basic fact check.
Liberatore asserts that Golub was charged for his misuse of employees at the “direction” of Commissioner Coll. Coll has consistently stated that the investigation involved a coordinated process between the police command staff and the Saratoga County District Attorney. Ms. Liberatore has made this allegation about Coll before and has yet to provide supporting evidence.
Liberatore asserts that Coll is “allied” with the city’s Republicans. Allied is a very loaded word, as Ms. Liberatore knows well, and it is hard to discern what exactly Ms. Liberatore means by this as, again, she gives no examples. She chooses to ignore the fact that Coll, a registered Democrat, has now been endorsed by the Saratoga Springs Democratic Committee as well as the Republican committee and the non-partisan One Saratoga. These endorsements indicate the very opposite of what Liberatore implies. Coll’s record shows a consistent pattern of evaluating and supporting measures based on their merits, not partisanship. Would the Democratic Committee have endorsed Coll if he was simply an “ally” of the Republican Party?
In addition to her attacks on Coll, Liberatore mischaracterizes the crime Golub is charged with as “…a city plumber’s 10-minute visit to Golub’s home to pour a drain-clearing substance down his sink.” In fact, two city employees, not one, did work at Golub’s house, and there was not one visit but two.
So, where do these false claims about Coll and the misinformation about the Golub incident she uses in her article come from? Here is an excerpt from a WAMC report where Golub’s attorney, Karl Sleight, is quoted.
“Well, the preliminary disclosures by the District Attorney’s office suggest that Commissioner Coll was intimately involved in this manner. The more we look at this, the real question here is, what was the motivation for charges (emphasis added)? As I’ve said from the beginning, this case involved eight minutes, a jug of Drano, a clogged sink. My question is, what motivated someone to try to charge an attorney of the stature of my client months after the event with this charge? We’ll get to the bottom of it, and it starts today,” said Sleight.
Karl Sleight to WAMC November 26, 2024
It’s understandable that Sleight would play fast and loose with the facts in explaining Golub’s charges to the press. He is being paid to defend his client in any way he can. What is less understandable is why Ms. Liberatore uncritically repeats Sleight’s narrative as if it were fact, never attributing her statements to Golub’s attorney.
Sleight’s narrative is designed to take attention away from the central question of Golub’s use of city employees and materials to work on his private property and to instead focus public attention on a narrative that casts Coll as some kind of boogeyman who, for mysterious reasons (“what was the motivation?”), is driven to persecute Golub (the subtext being racism, ignoring that charges were also brought against Joe O’Neil, a white Republican). What Sleight is hoping is that no one (certainly not Wendy) will realize that even if this false narrative were true, it is irrelevant to the question of whether Golub is guilty of the actions he is charged with.
One has to ask whether Ms. Liberatore’s parroting of Sleight reflects a profound sloppiness or whether she knows better and is simply juicing up the story.
Liberatore’s story then spirals into a recitation of Saratoga Springs Republican Chair Mike Brandi’s lawsuits against Democratic elected officials, furthering a narrative that focuses on partisanship rather than the crimes and improprieties that Brandi’s consistently successful lawsuits have revealed.
Liberatore then ends her story with an attempt to downplay the seriousness of the current accusations against Moran with a misleading characterization of information she got from the Committee on Open Government:
However, Moran’s ticketing for allegedly concealing public records is unique: The deputy counsel at the state Committee on Open Government, Kristin O’Neill, said she has never heard of anyone being ticketed for not fulfilling a Freedom of Information Law request.
This was more than a simple instance of a FOIL request not being fulfilled. Moran filed three notarized statements stating falsely that he did not have the documents being sought.
Liberatore’s spin on a story about a FOIL violation is particularly curious as FOIL is the lifeblood of proper reporting. It allows responsible reporters to check on what our government is doing and inform the public. Delays, if not absolute falsifications like Moran’s, routinely undermine this.
Liberatore was happy to write a story full of partisan spin and misinformation. Her time would have been better spent researching what and why Moran was charged.
[I received this release from Dr. Prasad, Professor of Management for Liberal Arts Students, regarding an upcoming talk at Skidmore]
THE INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS PROGRAM& THE PRESIDENT’S OFFICE PRESENTS:
HOLDING NATIONS ACCOUNTABLE THROUGH INTERNATIONAL LAW? A CONVERSATION ON THE GLOBAL JUSTICE SYSTEM WITH PROFESSOR WILLIAM BURKE-WHITE
APRIL 9 (5PM) DAVIS AUDITORIUM
Criminal Actions by Governments all over the world are policed by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the International Criminal Court (ICC) with the intent of keeping the world safe for humanity. Recent high-profile cases involving countries like Russia, Israel, South Africa, Myanmar, Iran and others have drawn attention to the courts’ jurisdiction, legitimacy and overall efficacy. Professor Burke-White will be engaging in a focused conversation with Professor Pushkala Prasad (MB & IA) where he will lay out the foundations of the international legal system and discuss its continuing relevance while alluding to specific recent cases.
William Burke-White has a JD from Harvard Law and a Ph.D. in International Relations from Cambridge University. He is currently a faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania Law School where he teaches courses on international law, human rights and global legal governance. His research is at the intersection of international law and international relations and his focus has increasingly been on the international courts and tribunals. He has published widely in various law journals and is currently working on a book “The New Geography of Global Governance”.
Professor Burke-White has been a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and was a non-resident Fellow at Brookings Institute. He is also the founder and inaugural director of the Perry World House, an interdisciplinary policy think tank at UPenn. He served under the Obama Administration as a member of the Policy Planning Staff to Secretary of State Hilary Clinton. He has also worked in various capacities with the International Criminal Court and was an active participant in the Rwandan Genocide case that was presented to the court.
Please circulate this among students and anyone likely to be interested in this topic. This vent is being sponsored by the President’s Office.
We look forward to seeing you at the event.
Pushkala Prasad
Zankel Chair Professor of Management for Liberal Arts Students
Saratoga Springs Politics 