In another bizarre twist to City Council business, the video of the August 2^nd meeting was delayed from being posted on the city website due to a request by the Risk Management Office in the Accounts Department.  The Accounts Department was seeking to have part of the video redacted.  Apparently, they wanted a comment by Commissioner John Franck removed.   I emailed John Franck asking him to indicate whether this was true but he did not respond. 

All of this is hard to flesh out because it is hidden behind a curtain of secrecy.  Apparently John Franck disclosed something that was supposed to be privileged.  

The initial plan was to display some kind of legal statement during the video advising the public that a section of the meeting had been removed.

Subsequently, it was decided to scrap the effort and publish the entire video.

One can imagine the Kafka like discussions that must have occurred.  After all, the meeting was heavily attended.  There were plenty of people who could have been deposed by attorneys to establish whatever it was that John Franck said.  In fact, redacting it would only have drawn more attention about whatever it was that he said.

 

Commissioner Mathiesen submitted a complaint to the Ethics Board arguing that given the nature of the services provided to the New York State Racing Association by the city, a request for a free box at the track by the mayor raises serious questions of  propriety.  The Ethics Board found no violation regarding the mayor’s request.

Personally, I have mixed feeling on the issue.  What I found of particular interest, though,  was the letter from Christopher Kay denying the request.  It points out the thorny nature  of politics for NYRA. I  applaud Mr. Kay and NYRA’s rigorous policy in staying out of politics but I am a little skeptical about the motivation.

This is a link to the documents: Ethics_Inquiry Re Track Box 

 

[JK: I received this release from Commissioner Madigan.  Saratoga Today published it in this week’s edition.  In speaking to Commissioner Madigan she also noted that this type of purchase also requires  “quotes” from three different vendors. ]

At Tuesday’s, August 2, 2106, City Council meeting Mayor Yepsen asked the council to approve a letter of engagement from Harris Beach Law Firm for its representation of her before the City’s Ethics Board.  The City Charter (section 4.4.13 Payments Prohibited) requires that Council members seek prior approval before incurring liabilities for which the city will be responsible.  Her engagement letter was dated May 2016 and included an hourly rate of $230.00 per hour.   It is most unfortunate that Mayor Yepsen waited until August to seek Council approval of this engagement and thus provided the council with an invoice that totaled $12,340.00 – which calculates to approximately 54 hours of work.  It places the members of the Council, especially the Commissioner of Finance who is required under law to “promulgate Finance Policy and Procedures”, in an extremely awkward situation as this request asks us to violate our City Charter and Finance Policy.  Additionally, this taxpayer expense seems excessive for such a basic and non-legal matter; essentially the Mayor asked the taxpayers to pay for her rebuttal to a non-binding Advisory Opinion from the Ethics Board that found “as a matter of law” the Mayor violated section 13.3.I of the City’s Ethics Code.  It also begs the question for a more detailed itemized invoice.  Commissioner Mathiesen requested we forward the Harris Beach invoice to the NYS Bar Association for review of excessive hourly billing.  However, since neither the Council or the public received an itemized invoice, the Council has no way of knowing what the Mayor asked Harris Beach to do for those 54 hours.  The Mayor had plenty of time to present a contract to the Council, at least 3 months, as Harris Beach presented the Mayor with the contract in May. With Council guidance and approval, we could have requested a stronger contract, better rates, and included a clause not to expend beyond a certain amount, or denied the contract from the begininng – all of which are standard practice.  Instead the Mayor unilaterally signed the contract without proper approvals and presented the City taxpayers with an unitemized liability for $12,340.00. The invoice was approved 3-2. However, before paying this invoice on behalf of the taxpayer, it is only fair the Council and public receive an itemized invoice for services requested by Mayor Yepsen and rendered by Harris Beach.

 

 

Apparently the technology did not allow the email subscribers to receive the videos. If you want to see the videos related to the story “Mayor Yepsen: I did not write that letter” you will have to go directly to the web site.  Here is the link: https://saratogaspringspolitics.com/

I had to delete the original post so comments made to that post are no longer there and if you linked to the original post, you will have to link again.

 

[JK: The original version posted did not have the letter]

At the August 2 meeting of the City Council, Chris Mathiesen presented to the Council the complaint he had submitted to the city ethics board regarding a request by Mayor Yepsen to the New York State Racing Association that they provide a box to the city without charge.  He asserted that such a request was inappropriate.

He presented, as documents, the Mayor’s letter to  NYRA, his complaint to the Ethics Board, the Ethics Board’s opinion on the matter, his letter to Christopher Kay who is the president of the NYRA, and Mr. Kay’s response to Mayor Yepsen.  I will be posting on this issue in a later post.

This is a copy of the letter from Mayor Yepsen to  NYRA.

In a bizarre twist to the discussion, the Mayor announced that she had not written the letter.   [Pardon the inept video editing. The unedited video of the entire meeting is available as always on the city website.]

 

The Mayor asserted the letter came from the Finance Office.  As could be expected, Commissioner Madigan took strong exception to the Mayor’s statement.  Madigan asserted that the draft was written by the Mayor’s then deputy, Joe Ogden.  As Madigan supported the request to NYRA she offered to have her deputy, Lynn Bachner, edit the document.

Madigan then brought Ms. Bachner to the mic. She explained that her only role had been to make a few minor grammatical corrections and offered that she had not authored the document.

The Mayor then appeared to back track emphasizing that the Finance Office had edited the document.

It is not unusual to have staff do the actual drafting for officials such as the Mayor or the Commissioners.  It is, however, understood that when a Commissioner or a Mayor signs a letter that the letter was in effect written by them.

 

Saratoga Springs City Council eyes decorum after criticism

By Travis Clark, tclark@digitalfirstmedia.com

Posted: 08/03/16, 5:01 PM EDT |

@TravClark2 on Twitter

SARATOGA SPRINGS >> Decorum was a running theme at Tuesday’s City Council meeting after many of the city’s elected officials have been criticized over the past few weeks over the way they treat each other and members of the public.

Mayor Joanne Yepsen came prepared with hard copies of the rules for conduct at public meetings, as a reminder to both the public in attendance and the council members themselves. Commissioner of Finance Michele Madigan even included a discussion of decorum as part of her agenda for the evening. The City Council has been noticeably, and unapologetically, lashing out at each other recently in the midst of a recent ethics violation by Yepsen. The council voted to censure her for seeking freelance work with the Saratoga Hospital Foundation while the council was actively doing business with the foundation.

For the past two Tuesday biweekly council meetings, personal attacks and heated debate has been the norm — which even boiled over into Monday’s pre-agenda meeting when Commissioner of Accounts John Franck and Madigan contested with each other over an issue involving assessments.

Madigan said a concerned citizen came to the Department of Finance outlining issues with assessments within the Special Assessment District. When Madigan requested a meeting with Franck and Tony Popolizio, Franck declined. Madigan said she felt this was a commissioner-to-commissioner issue, and felt uncomfortable not meeting with Franck.

The tension between Franck and Madigan flowed into Monday’s pre-agenda meeting when Madigan included an item on her agenda requesting the mayor authorize a contract with an independent auditor who has expertise in assessments. Madigan would eventually drop this item from her agenda for Tuesday’s regular meeting — but not before a heated conversation Monday.

Madigan claimed that Franck “swore” about her to the city attorney, to which Franck responded “much like you do at every bar in town.”

At Tuesday’s meeting, the conflict continued when Madigan came to her agenda item on decorum at meetings. One of Madigan’s issues included council members not staying on topic. She also said the Deputy of Accounts laughed at the Finance Director when approached, to which Franck said she was not on topic. Madigan immediately requested to amend her agenda item to include both City Council meetings and decorum within City Hall in general. Madigan, Commissioner of Public Works Anthony Scirocco and Commissioner of Public Safety Christian Mathiesen voted in favor while Mayor Yepsen and Franck voted against.

“I’m very upset with what is transpiring in City Hall,” Madigan said. “There’s a commissioner that is refusing to meet with me, so I have to address it at City Hall.”

This type of behavior has been a common occurrence in recent weeks, particularly between Madigan and Yepsen, who have regularly argued during public meetings.

At the beginning of Tuesday’s meeting, Yepsen reminded council members to turn their cell phones off. During the meeting, Madigan’s cell phone beeped, to which the mayor responded “That’s why we turn cell phones off.” Madigan said she communicates with her deputy and has a child at home, so she will not be turning her cell phone off. Franck chimed in, saying Madigan is texting at least 10 people during the meeting.

On Wednesday, Madigan said the mayor handled the interaction between Franck and her well Tuesday, but she would like to see that more consistently.

During her decorum agenda item, Madigan also made it clear she does not respect how the mayor runs meetings. Madigan said even though the previous mayor and she disagreed politically, he still ran an efficient meeting. Madigan said the council needs to feel safe and that Yepsen does not keep the public in line.

Madigan said her behavior is far from perfect, but she is frustrated because the public should not be allowed to “berate” the council.

Madigan was also concerned that council members frequently interrupt each other, even though Yepsen had to gavel Madigan several times for this very problem Tuesday. Madigan routinely says she is on her agenda, which gives her the right to speak.

In the rules for conduct at public meetings, it states “council members shall make every effort to avoid interrupting another Council member’s speaking. In siutations where interruptions become frequent, the Mayor or presiding officer shall have authority to determine the order in which Council members will speak.”

Yepsen said that the rules are clear and there should be no confusion.

“The rules need to be adhered to,” she said. “I have the gavel and I need cooperation. I can’t have people making personal or political attacks.”

In a split vote, the city council voted 3 to 2 to pay the law firm Howard Beach for representing Mayor Yepsen regarding her ethics violation.  Sources tell me that she declined to meet with the Ethics Board and instead, the law firm submitted a memorandum to the board on her behalf.

The bill was for $12,340.00.  At a rate of $230.00 per hour it computes to fifty-five hours.

Commissioners Madigan and Scirocco voted against the authorization.  Mayor Yepsen, Commissioners Franck and Mathiesen voted for.

More details to follow.

Click here to view letter: HarrisBeach-EngagementLetter

At today’s City Council Agenda meeting Mayor Yepsen placed on her agenda for tomorrow night’s Council meeting, a request that the Council approve a letter of engagement with the Harris Beach law firm for its representation of her before the City Ethics Board.  The letter indicated that the rate being charged will be $230.00 per hour.  At the agenda meeting, Mayor Yepsen did not indicate what the actual cost would be.

The letter from Beach required that she sign the document and return it to them before they could represent her.  The letter was dated May 19, approximately two and a half months ago.

According to Commissioner Michele Madigan, such an engagement letter needed to be approved by the Council prior to the Mayor signing it.

In a prepared statement Commissioner Madigan stated:

At Tuesday night’s City Council meeting Mayor Yepsen will be asking the council to approve a letter of engagement from Harris Beach  Law Firm for its representation of her before the City Ethics Board.  City procedures require that Council members seek prior approval before incurring liabilities for which the city will be responsible.  The engagement letter, however,  is dated May 19^th.  It is most unfortunate that Mayor Yepsen has waited until now to seek Council approval.  It places the members of the Council in an extremely awkward situation as this request asks us to violate an extremely important city policy/procedure.

I solicited a response from Mayor Yepsen but as of this posting, I have not heard from her.

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