Saratoga Springs Politics

Incoming Finance Commissioner Minita Sanghvi has posted a follow-up on her Facebook page regarding the issue of Lisa Shields’s candidacy for IT director.

Minita Sanghvi is Assistant Professor in the Management and Business Department at Skidmore College where she teaches marketing, gender, and politics. One of her focuses is political marketing.

Apparently, she failed to consider that Commissioner Madigan might read her post and respond.

Just to clarify on the director of IT issue

I have met with Kevin Kling and Commissioner Madigan. And we all agreed that we should NOT pursue Lisa Shields an an [sic] option for Director of IT. While she may be a great deputy for the mayor in the current administration, I think her appointment as Director of IT would be politically divisive and not in the best interests of our city. I truly appreciate Michele Madigan listening and understanding varioius perspectives on the issue.

These are never easy decisions and I believe everyone (whether they agree with the decision or not) want what’s best for our city.

Minita Sanghvi from her Facebook page.

This Was No Rush Job

The quest to fill this job has gone on for months. The position was originally posted on August 3, 2021.

The position has been difficult to fill with a salary of $90,000. It was reissued on November 22, 2021. Finding skilled IT people in the current environment is not easy. Kevin Kling, the current IT director, interviewed twelve people for the position. Many candidates chose not to return for a second interview. Apparently, the fact that the position is only provisional is a disincentive. Commissioner Madigan tells me that Kling identified three more candidates to interview, but she has asked him to put those off until Ms. Sanghvi can be involved. Ms. Sanghvi has never met or interviewed Ms. Shields and went to the press before discussing the position with Mr. Kling.

Regrettably, I understand that Ms. Sanghvi has left on holiday to India so it is not clear when the additional interviewing will take place.

This does not leave much of a window to hire the new IT director before Mr. Kling retires. Optimally the new hire would be on board before Mr. Kling leaves in order to ensure a smooth transition.

I am also told that another member of the IT department has resigned which means there are now two positions to fill. Ms. Sanghvi will also need to hire a new deputy for the Finance Department.

Lisa Shields Offers Her Thoughts

Ms. Shields has sent me the following statement.

It does not bode well that Ms. Sanghvi allows whatever her issues may be with Mayor Kelly to dismiss the candidacy of Ms. Shields.

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Your post on December 9 regarding Incoming Finance Commissioner Sanghvi’s Reckless And False Accusations accurately described me as working “quietly without fanfare”, which I have enjoyed doing for 5+ years in City Hall. I am compelled to depart from this characterization now, not only because of the small-minded, damaging, and alarming behavior demonstrated by Ms. Sanghvi, but to defend my integrity, expertise, and reputation.

Let me make it clear that I did not expect Commissioner Madigan, or the incoming Finance Commissioner were obligated to hire me as IT Director. That I was the preferred candidate well into the interview process speaks to my strengths and suitability for the job. The concerns I’m outlining below call into question fair-mindedness, leadership, professionalism, bias, and decision-making. There are established policies and procedures for seeking employment with the City, which I followed to pursue opportunities for which I am well-qualified. No one should ever be subjected to this treatment.

Behavior Concern #1:
She made judgments based on false information and repeated them publicly.  

Regardless of her source, Ms. Sanghvi formulated a misleading narrative about me and my desire to pursue employment with the city. Her unfounded assertions to the Times Union that Mayor Kelly was involved to assure I have “a job come January” and that she “tried to appoint me as the head of the planning department” are patently false. The job to head the planning and building teams was posted in September. I am highly qualified for this position, having overseen the department for four years as Deputy Mayor and stepped in to lead when Bradley Birge retired in January 2021. As is my right, I submitted my application through an open and transparent process with Civil Service. I believe that my experience, contributions, and leadership would be valuable to the City in this role. In fact, the incoming mayor was notified by HR several weeks ago that Mayor Kelly decided to let him fill the position.

Notwithstanding confidentiality, Ms. Sanghvi should be mindful to verify information received from her City Hall sources to avoid creating a destructive, toxic, and rumor-filled workplace.

Behavior Concern #2:
She showed a lack of leadership and poor management skills by not considering the top IT candidate. 

In mid-October, I was asked by Kevin Kling to apply for the IT Director position and transition to replace him when he retires in January. I submitted my application through an open and transparent process. I exceed the qualifications for the job and believe that my experience, contributions, and leadership would be valuable to the City in this role. I was among many other candidates interviewed and, in fact, I was Kevin’stop choice. Commissioner Madigan made a courtesy call to Ms. Sanghvi last week to discuss the process and facilitate a smooth transition. I desired and expected to meet with Ms. Sanghvi for her consideration, as the incoming Finance Department head. As of this writing, I have not met or spoken with her.

Behavior Concern #3:
She demonstrated a lack of professionalism in running to the media without consulting HR.

Instead of meeting with Kevin and me, Ms. Sanghvi contacted the Times Union to complain. She has yet to learn the complex organizational structure of our city’s government, which includes interfacing with Civil Service, Human Resources, and seven labor unions to understand staffing procedures and the employment environment that will guide day-to-day operations. Best practices for handling personnel complaints include starting with an open mind, meeting with the involved parties, and consulting HR before running to the media.

Behavior Concern #4:
She demonstrated ageism in her judgment of my competence for the IT position.  

In her complaint published in the Times Union, Ms. Sanghvi disparaged me as unqualified because my “…computer science degree was awarded in 1981.” Also from the article, “That was 40 years ago,” Sanghvi said. “Does any part of what she learned remain?”

The foundational data processing principles from my 1981 SUNY Potsdam degree ARE indeed relevant today. Even 40 years ago, effective business management and decision-making relied on quality information systems for recording, accessing, analyzing, and reporting accurate information. While the hardware and software technologies that deliver these systems have changed and will continue to progress, the underlying methodologies for business problem solving remain essential.

Ms. Sanghvi dismissed my 40-year-old degree which led to two IBM internships, a career with the Hewlett-Packard Company, and the head of IT for a K-8 private school. Throughout those 18+ years, I developed knowledge of new hardware and software technologies and applied them to solve business problems. Further, as Deputy Mayor my leadership in improving service levels to constituents in the building and planning departments is due in large part to my expertise in applying current technologies to track and automate workflow processes, evaluate workload status and performance, and communicate timely and accurate information to our applicants.

Behavior Concern #5:

She failed to recognize the value of my institutional knowledge to the critical IT business operations.

From the Skidmore College website, one can see that Ms. Sanghvi has several degrees and published works, though it’s not clear if she has any experience outside of the academic environment. Perhaps that is one explanation for the small-minded, damaging, and alarming behavior that now jeopardizes a smooth transition.

In summary, this behavior is concerning for any public or private sector leader. It’s wrong to make rash and biased judgments. It’s irresponsible to make important management decisions this way. It is imperative to speak out against this kind of behavior. The employees and residents of the City of Saratoga Springs deserve better.

Jim Montagnino will become the Commissioner of Public Safety in January. Assistant Police Chief John Catone will retire in January. Mr. Montagnino contends that the current Public Safety Commissioner, Robin Dalton, has acted improperly in selecting a replacement for Catone in the last month of her term. He took his case to the media.

Times Union story

Daily Gazette Story

Foothills Business Daily

Mr. Montagnino makes a number of arguments supporting his opposition to the appointment.

First and foremost, he references the decision by New York State Attorney General Letitia James to investigate the Saratoga Springs Police Department over their handling of the Black Lives Matter protests in the city. He observes that it is unclear whether the investigation will identify members of the police department as having acted improperly. He told the Times Union in a December 2,2021, article, “It would be beyond embarrassing to discover someone who got promoted during the course of the investigation could end up being involved in wrongdoing.” He added, “As long as there is an investigation ongoing, there shouldn’t be any promotions.”

Second, he believes that Commissioner Dalton cannot legally make the appointment. He told the Times Union that “I told her [Commissioner Dalton] she did not have the authority.”

In a conversation I had with Mr. Montagnino, he argued that until the Assistant Police Chief actually retires, there is no vacancy to be filled. He expanded his argument by speculating on the issue of timing. For example, what if Catone were to retire next August? Would it be appropriate for Dalton to make an appointment in December? In our conversation, he told me that even if he has submitted his paperwork for retirement in January, Catone could change his mind. Mr. Montagnino emphasized that there is no vacancy to be filled until Catone is no longer Assistant Chief.

The Times Union story included this poorly worded text:

Montagnino is also distressed that all of the top jobs in the police department are currently not open and competitive, as per the city’s civil service rules. That means no one, other that current members of the Saratoga Springs police, can be appointed to leadership positions.

TU December 2, 2021

This language is confusing. It could be read as indicating that the appointment violated the civil service rules or it could be read that the current civil service rules somehow are not “open and competitive.” I believe that the TU meant the latter. The current civil service rules restrict applicants to members of our local police department.

Specifically, New York Civil Service laws require that “as far as practicable” promotions must draw from the local department.” They also grant bonus points for candidates based on their longevity at the local department. [see below]

Drawing on this standard, the local civil service standards limit candidates for positions such as the assistant chief to currently employed public safety staff.

Montagnino doubles down on this point asserting that “…the upper echelon [of the police department], all white, is guaranteed by civil service commission to keep it that way.”

Like Most Things It Is Complicated

I spoke at some length with Commissioner Dalton who responded to Mr. Montignino’s complaints.

Commissioner Dalton noted that she is not actually filling Catone’s position. The roster of the Police Department has two Assistant Police positions. One is currently vacant. She is filling the vacant position.

Without going too far into the weeds, the original reason for the second position is due to the fact that the Police Chief has no administrative support. There is no administrative assistant or secretary for the Chief. This is unusual for the head of a department as large as the Police Department. The idea of the second assistant was to take on some of the administrative duties. Due to funding limits and other priorities, the position was never filled.

Technically the actual appointment being filled is not Catone’s position but the second Assistant Chief. The candidates for the position are the top three scorers on the test for Assistant Chief. The idea is to provide the appointee with a transition period during which this person will work with Catone.

The three eligible candidates are all lieutenants. Commissioner of Finance Madigan has found the money to supplement the salary of whoever is selected to bring it in line with the Assistant Chief position during the transition. The transfer of funds to support the position during the final days of 2021 was approved at the December 7, 2021, Council meeting.

Commissioner Dalton told me that she had offered to let Mr. Montagnino participate in the interviews but he declined. He told me that he did not want to offer legitimacy to the process.

There is a history of late-term appointments. For instance, incoming Public Safety Commissioner Rick Wirth (R) objected when Ron Kim (D), the outgoing Commissioner, moved during his last weeks in office to appoint a new Police Chief. Wirth ended up participating in the interviews and joining Kim in a news conference to announce the appointment.

It is also important to note that, according to Commissioner Dalton, this entire process has been carefully vetted by the city’s Civil Service office and has their approval. Mr. Montagnino is a lawyer and he may disagree with the Civil Service’s interpretation of the relevant statutes but that is their determination.

In my conversations with Mr. Montagnino he acknowledged the need to fill vacancies in the department which seemed to contradict his statements to the TU, but he emphasized that he would like to make any such appointments provisional. My understanding is that the city’s Civil Service rules would not allow for provisional appointments.

Mr. Montagnino said that his information is limited given that he is not yet Commissioner.

Commissioner Dalton also bridled at this accusation that the process is not “open and transparent.” She observed that the history of civil service is that it was created to address the abuses of nepotism. The process is a vigorous one based on publicly established eligibility rules along with a competitive test. Only the top three scorers on the test can be considered.

Dalton observed that if the Attorney General were to determine that the person appointed to the Assistant Chief’s position had violated the law they would be subject to dismissal or other disciplinary acts as established by city policy and contract.

Dalton told me that she was especially disturbed by Montagnino advocating that all promotions be frozen until the AG report is issued.

Dalton told me the Attorney General has asked the city for a huge amount of documents and video. Investigations like this can go on for a very long time. To freeze all positions in the meantime she argued would have a major, negative impact on morale.

Montagnino Rethinks

In an email to me on December 8, following the City Council meeting, Mr. Montagnino acknowledged, that his original critique had been compromised. “It’s a new ball game since last night,” he wrote. “The city council created a second assistant chief position and funded it only until the end of the year.” Actually, as noted above, the position had been authorized several years earlier.

In conversation with Commissioner Dalton, she told me the department has the money to continue to pay the new appointment in January.

Should This Have Gone To The Media?

Mr. Montagnino has raised reasonable concerns regarding the appointment of the Assistant Chief. Commissioner Dalton has offered some thoughtful rebuttals. The question to ask is, did Commissioner Dalton’s actions merit Mr. Montagnino’s media event?

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Civil Service Criteria

These are the relevant references from the state’s civil service law and from the city’s provisions:

NYS Civil Service Law 52.1  ‘…vacancies in positions in the competitive class (such as Assistant Police Chief) shall be filled, as far as practicable, by promotion from among persons holding competitive class positions in a lower grade in the department in which the vacancy exists, provided that such lower grade positions are in direct line of promotion…‘.  When a promotional civil service examination is administered, those passing candidates receive seniority credits at 0.4 points per year (max of 8.0 points) which are then included with the score provided by NYS Civil Service.

Also, our local Civil Service Rule 13.1  ‘In order to be eligible to participate in a promotional examination or to be promoted a candidate must have been employed in a competitive class or non-competitive class position on a permanent basis in a lower grade, either in direct line of promotion or in a related or collateral line of promotion as determined by the Commission. The Commission shall determine the minimum period of such service for eligibility to enter a promotion examination, and may also prescribe a minimum period of such service as a qualification for promotion from the resulting eligible list.’

The way the job specification reads currently today, the minimum qualifications call for the Assistant Police Chief to be promotional, requiring continuous time served with the City of Saratoga Springs Police Department. 

On Thursday night the City Council held a hearing on Commissioner Madigan’s proposal to amend the Unified Development Ordinance to create a new definition for “clubhouse” in the city’s greenbelt.

The change would have allowed for golf courses in the city’s greenbelt to build 80 room lodging facilities along with standing condos all under the new definition.

The city had received forty-seven comments via email regarding the change. Forty-five opposed the change and two supported it.

Todd Shimkus, executive director of the Saratoga Chamber of Commerce spoke in support of the project along with three representatives from Saratoga National. Steve Samuels of Sustainable Saratoga spoke in opposition along with three other members of the public.

Following the public comments, the City Council took up the proposal. Commissioners Scirocco, Franck, and Dalton spoke in opposition as did Mayor Kelly.

The Mayor told her colleagues that it was too late in the process to deal with a very challenging issue as there are only weeks left in the tenures of all but one member of the Council. She indicated that it would be better that any consideration of the proposal be left to the new Council.

Commissioner Madigan thanked her colleagues for their consideration and withdrew the proposal.

Newly elected Finance Commissioner Minita Sanghvi has gone to reporter Wendy Liberatore of the Times Union claiming, without offering any evidence, that Mayor Meg Kelly intervened in the appointment of the head of the city’s Information Technology Department (IT) to secure a job for her current Deputy, Lisa Shields.

In shockingly intemperate remarks Ms. Sanghvi told the Times Union “This is a gross abuse. It’s so egregious, so over the top.”

“This is our city’s IT,” Sanghvi said. “It’s all of our security systems and making a hire based off the favoritism and cronyism, it’s a blatant disregard for our city and our city’s safety. I’m frustrated and angry Mayor Meg Kelly is pushing her into this position. I do not like this at all.”

Times Union December 9, 2021

Ms. Sanghvi also declared that Ms. Shields is unqualified citing the fact that her computer science degree was awarded in 1981.

Due Diligence Be Damned!

Ms. Liberatore apparently made no attempt to verify the accuracy of Ms. Sanghvi’s accusations.

The IT department is under Finance Commissioner Madigan so she would be the one to hire Shields were she to decide to before leaving office at the end of the month. I contacted her and she told me that Mayor Kelly never reached out to her regarding Shields. “Never,” she emphasized.

She told me that she felt it critical to fill the IT position as soon as possible so that the current head of the department could assist in the transition. She told the Times Union that it has been a struggle to find the right candidate. She also said that she would not appoint Shields without support from Ms. Sanghvi. Commissioner Madigan was quite concerned, given the workload, that the position not be allowed to be vacant.

I emailed Ms. Sanghvi asking her what evidence she had to accuse the Mayor of inappropriately interfering in the hiring process for an IT director? A simple question which in light of her severe, public denunciation of the Mayor should be on the tip of her tongue. To date, I have received no response.

Kevin Kling is the current IT director. He plans to leave his position in January after twenty-five years on the job. According to Commissioner Madigan, Kling, who was part of the team interviewing candidates, selected Shields as who he believed should replace him. As Mr. Kling is leaving there is no possible way he would be subject to inappropriate influence.

I find it beyond strange that Ms. Sanghvi attributed the fact that Shields graduated with a degree back in 1981 as the basis for declaring her not competent for the position. Based on that standard, a large number of software engineers at Google, Microsoft, etc. who are in their fifties would no longer be competent to work with computers. I suspect that even Mr. Kling’s degree goes back a long way.

Dear reader, who would you consider better able to determine the competence of an applicant to be the head of IT? A person whose background is in accounting and marketing [Sanghvi] or the veteran director of the city’s IT department [Kling]?

A Callousness That Bodes Badly For The Future

Lisa Shields is probably among the three best public servants I have met in the fifty years I have lived in Saratoga Springs.

Most people have probably never heard of Ms. Shields. This is because she does her work quietly without fanfare.

The thing that has struck me most about Ms. Shields is her openness and her lack of defensiveness. She is an extraordinary listener. She never offers glib answers.

She is conscientious and puts in many hours.

With respect to Ms. Sanghvi, Ms. Shields would not apply for a position if she did not believe she would do a good job.

Commissioner Madigan had urged that Ms. Sanghvi meet with Mr. Kling before making any judgment about Ms. Shields, but rather than do this, Ms. Sanghvi went to Ms. Liberatore.

While Ms. Shields enjoys wide respect and affection in City Hall, it is always possible that there is someone more skilled for the position. For Ms. Sanghvi to announce to the TU, though, that Ms. Shields is not competent, aside from not being true, shows poor professional judgment and strikes me as being simply cruel.

Commissioner of Finance Michele Madigan is on a campaign to open the greenbelt to intensive development.

Commissioner Madigan would like the City Council to amend the Unified Development Ordinance definition of a “clubhouse” to not only allow for a huge expansion of Saratoga National Golf Course but also potentially other clubhouses should a developer be able to construct a golf course.

There will be a public hearing at City Hall on December 9 at 7:00 PM to consider her proposal.

Here is the language of the proposed change:

Sustainable Saratoga has an informative analysis of the threat this poses.

Earlier this year Commissioner Madigan asked the city’s Planning Board to review expanding the definition of a “clubhouse” as reflected in the green and white text above. The Planning Board issued an advisory opinion that such a definition “presents a significant risk to preserving the rural character in the “country” part of the city.”

Sustainable Saratoga noted:

The Comprehensive Plan states: “Discourage destination type resorts that compete with the downtown core.” (page 48). Retail establishments, spas, restaurants and banquet facilities, 80 lodging rooms, and 6 rental golf cottages is a pretty close definition of a “destination resort” that would compete with our downtown.

Sustainable Saratoga

Sustainable Saratoga urges people to attend the hearing and speak in opposition. If due to COVID people are unwilling to attend they are encouraged to email the members of the Council.

meg.kelly@saratoga-springs.org
robin.dalton@saratoga-springs.org 
john.franck@saratoga-springs.org
michele.madigan@saratoga-springs.org
skip.scirocco@saratoga-springs.org

Please copy Sustainable Saratoga on the email (info@sustainablesaratoga.org)

Alden Capital, the hedge fund which pretty much destroyed the Saratogian, is now after the Post Star.

This is an excellent story from the Atlantic Magazine on how Alden Capital is destroying the print press.

The public comment period at the last City Council meeting (11/16/21) went on for almost two hours and included numerous Black Live Matter speakers who denounced Mayor Meg Kelly for allegedly referring to BLM protesters as “cockroaches.”

Anyone who knows the Mayor would find it unbelievable that she would make such a remark. Whatever differences people may have with Mayor Kelly, those who have dealt with her know that her sense of dignity and comportment would make a remark like this totally out of character.

I tried to find the source of this allegation and traced it to the following rumor tweeted by Susan Steer. Ms. Steer served at one time on the city’s Zoning Board of Appeals and is married to Bob Turner who is on the faculty of Skidmore College and who chaired a past City Charter Commission.

What kind of person would put up such an ugly, unattributed, slur? It is truly grim especially because Ms. Steer had to know that it would be spread by other unprincipled people happy to exploit it. As the videos below document, this gross attack is repeated again and again during the gruelling hours of public comment at the City Council meeting as though it were the truth. What are we becoming?

The spreading of such an ugly lie by Ms.Steer reflects the utter madness and cruelty that our culture seems to be descending into.

The Meeting From Hell

One would have thought that a lame-duck City Council with only one member continuing would have drawn only modest public interest at this November meeting. After all, all but one of the Council members would be out of office in less than fifty days and the meeting would be one of the last three for this particular set of officials. In addition, the BLM leadership has expressed joy over the new slate that will be seated in January.

The only hearing scheduled was regarding the Police Review Board introduced by Commissioner Robin Dalton, but her proposal was dead on arrival and no one expected it to get any votes.

Nevertheless, BLM turned out in strength.

Mayor Kelly began the meeting with an apology. There is a group of parents seeking improved traffic safety at the Lake Avenue school. One of the parents had been allowed by Mayor Kelly to respond to a comment by Commissioner Dalton on this issue after the public comment period had ended at the last Council meeting. This was a marked departure from what the Mayor allows at meetings.

The meeting then opened for public comment, and the BLM representatives proceeded to ignore any time limits normally required of speakers under City Council rules. The Mayor basically gave up even the pretext of trying to enforce Council rules.

The result was that between the public hearing for the obviously dead proposal for the Civilian Review Board and the public comment period, the pre-meeting melee went on for almost three hours. The Council did not begin to address city business until 10PM that night.

The rule to address the Council and not individual Council members was also ignored by BLM speakers. The focus of much of the rage was directed at Mayor Kelly who sat stoically at the table enduring the hours of verbal assaults.

What purpose did all of this serve? What was the strategy behind continually insulting the Council as a whole and the Mayor in particular? What did they hope to achieve? Nothing that I could discern.

What I find particularly interesting is that one of BLM’s demands has been an investigation into the death of Darryl Mount. The person with the authority to actually investigate the Darryl Mount death, however, is the Saratoga County District Attorney. Why, one might ask, does the leadership of Black Lives Matter not focus their attention on the DA’s office as well?

In fact, the BLM people for all their rage about the Council, know that the penalties they may face for disrupting Saratoga Springs Council meetings are minor to none. They exploit the tolerance of the City Council to indulge in a veritable orgy of anger and recrimination. For all of their bravado, the unspoken reality is that were they to attempt the same kind of activities at the County, the response would be very different.

BLM: There Is No Strategy– It Is About Self Indulgent Abuse

In contrast to Saratoga’s BLM leadership, Martin Luther King drew heavily on the writings on non-violence and theories and tactics for social change of Mahatma Gandhi.

Both men understood that for a social movement to succeed it not only had to have attainable and important goals, but it also had to embody compassion even toward its opponents. Hatred and bitterness, if embraced, would only serve to foster internal division and undermine the possibility for real success. A movement grounded in hate will engender institutions grounded in hate.

Make no mistake, as great as they were neither man was a saint. They were shrewd tacticians. King and his leadership team were well known for their long and thoughtful strategy meetings trying to think out every permutation. Actions were carefully planned and carried out with discipline.

It is sad that Saratoga BLM has eschewed this legacy.

The Problem Of Reporting On BLM events

The media is ill-equipped to cover the kind of BLM engagement that occurred at this City Council meeting. One challenge is that how one views the behavior of BLM members is always somewhat subjective. For some their unrestrained anger and verbal attacks could be viewed as appropriate in light of the alleged abuses they feel they have received from the police and others. For other observers, their behavior may be seen as odious and infantile.

It is impossible to provide their readers or their viewers with a complete view of the evening’s events. Lucas Willard of WAMC simply noted that the meeting was heated.

This blog provides me with the ability to dig deeper. The following are a few excerpts from what I found to be a several-hour ordeal.

For those who want to watch the entire meeting for themselves, click here.

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[JK: Some fact checking: There is copious documentation that, not withstanding Lexis Figuereo’s remarks, Commissioners Madigan and Dalton made numerous attempts to engage Mr. Figuereo. The New York Times story contained no accusations that the BLM group was responsible for the vandalism of the Union soldier statue.]

A story in the November 18 Times Union by Wendy Liberatore was titled ”Court Drops Charges Against Saratoga Protester.” The story involved Ms. Gabrielle Elliott who is the mother of Lexus Figuereo’s two children. The title was untrue, but the editor could be forgiven because Ms. Liberatore’s lead stated that “Charges against a Black Lives Matter protester…were dropped Thursday morning in city court.”

In fact, as the story noted, the court issued an ACD which stands for “adjourned in contemplation of dismissal.” Ms. Liberatore failed to report to her readers that the charges would only be dismissed if Ms. Elliot was not arrested again during the next six months. Ms. Elliott was charged with, among other things, throwing a water bottle at a police officer and resisting arrest.

This is the description of an ACD from Wikipedia:

In criminal procedure, an adjournment in contemplation of dismissal (ACD or ACOD) allows a court to defer the disposition of a defendant’s case, with the potential that the defendant’s charge will be dismissed if the defendant does not engage in additional criminal conduct or other acts prohibited by the court as a condition of the ACD

Wikipedia

The charges then are still pending. The court has made no determination regarding guilt or innocence. It is significant that the court has not dismissed the case.

One could argue that the defendant may have believed themselves innocent but agreed to the ACD in light of the cost and inconvenience of contesting the charge. What is indisputable is that the charge has not been dismissed and that should the defendant be charged with a crime during the stipulated period they would have to defend themselves against the original charge as well as the new charge.

Ms. Liberatore’s story portrays Ms. Eliot’s experience in the most lurid prose with Ms. Elliot and her children cast as innocent victims traumatized by the police. I have written about this earlier. I was there during the incident. Ms. Elliot acted recklessly precipitating the arrest knowing her children were with her.

Hopefully Ms. Elliot will learn from this experience and will be sufficiently intimidated by the potential penalty of a future arrest to show more wisdom in the future.

Ms. Eliot and Lexus Figuereo are allowed by Ms. Liberatore to go on about the trauma to their children and about their plans to sue the city. I am not an attorney (their attorney characterized the charges as ”garbage”) but it would seem that an actual dismissal by the court rather than the ACD would have been more helpful were they to sue the city.

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A Note To My Readers

Readers who have followed my blog are aware that I have written quite a few posts about errors in Ms. Liberatore’s reporting.

For a contrast to her story readers might read articles that appeared in the Foothills Business Review or the Daily Gazette covering the same events.

When I first started writing my blog I wrote to both Ms. Liberatore and to her editors about inaccuracies in her stories. I soon learned the futility of such efforts. I no longer make any effort regarding these, frequent as they are. Ms. Liberatore enjoys the full support of her editors.

Addendum

Late breaking news–Daily Gazette reports “Saratoga County DA Charges Elliott’s Lawyer mischaracterized motive for conditional dismissal.”

In an article that will appear in tomorrow’s (11/21/21) Daily Gazette, Brian Lee reports that County District Attorney Karen Heggen said the defense lawyer for Gabrielle Elliott of Ballston Spa, “mischaracterized why her office agreed to conditionally dismiss three misdemeanor charges [Ms.Elliott] faced.”

The story says that Heggen refutes Elliott’s lawyer, Jasper Mills’, statement to reporters that Heggen recognized the case against Ms.Elliott as a “pile of garbage.”

“According to Heggen, ” Lee reports, “the DA’s offer of an adjournment in contemplation of dismissal to the three charges….wasn’t offered because of problems with the validity or substance of the charges filed against Elliott as Mills speculated” and it was an offer made to many defendants in similar situations.

Heggen stated “As with all cases that are adjourned in contemplation of dismissal, the cases regarding Ms. Elliott are technically still open in Saratoga Springs City Court and will remain open until May, 2022. The cases will be dismissed at the end of the six-month period of time if Ms. Elliott is not charged with any new crimes during that time period. If she does not remain arrest-free during that time period, the cases could be reopened and the charges placed back on the court calendar.”

It remains to be seen if Ms. Liberatore will report on Ms. Heggen’s statement.

According to the November 3, 2021, Times Union, the leadership of the Black Lives Matter group is “ecstatic” over the success of the Democratic candidates in the November city election.

A Grand Jury?

To their credit, they have successfully put the investigation into the death of Daryll Mount into play some eight years following the incident in which he sustained an injury that led to his death. Both James Montagnino, elected as Commissioner of Public Safety, and Ron Kim, elected as Mayor, have publicly committed to calling for Karen Heggen, the Saratoga County District Attorney, to convene a grand jury to investigate Mount’s death.

It is undeniable that the leaders of BLM’s dogged campaign to have the case reinvestigated has had an impact.

Of course, the District Attorney, Karen Heggen, can ignore all this.

Maybe we will finally find out why she apparently ignored the referrals from the New York State Attorney General to review Mount’s injury and death back in 2013.

An Unstable Alliance

An alliance based on a shared enemy is notoriously unstable.

Lexis Figuereo, Alexus Brown, and Samira Sangare attended the election-eve gathering of the Democrats and cheered the results.

The Democratic candidates had successfully gained their support during the campaigns.

A careful analysis of the Democrats they supported suggests that the honeymoon between these people may not last very long.

The following is from the November 3, 2021 article in the Foothills Business Daily:

Montagnino expects to draft a report ready for his first day as commissioner. In it, he plans to outline both what happened and what the various legal concerns may be. He admitted, that he will let people draw their own conclusions on who or what caused the death [JK:My emphasis], but he believes a full report is needed for a community discussion.

Foothills Business Daily

Mr. Figuereo, Ms. Brown, and Ms. Sangare have made it crystal clear that as far as they are concerned, the police murdered Darryl Mount. How will they respond to a report by Mr. Montagnino if it fails to support their claim?

In another article, Mr. Montagnino floated that the composition of the police review board may be based on a pool of potential members similar to the selection from a jury pool.

I anticipate that Mr. Figuereo, Ms. Brown, and Ms. Sangare expect that activists such as themselves should be appointed to the civilian review board.

How will they respond if the method for selecting members of the board frustrates their expectations?

I find the BLM alliance with mayor-elect Ron Kim especially odd. In their fervor to defeat Republican Heidi Owen West, they have chosen to ignore the significance of the fact that Ron Kim served as Commissioner of Public Safety for two terms. Conspicuously absent during his tenure was any public discussion of issues of racism or misconduct in the police department.

Is it really plausible that somehow the police department was free of racism and excessive force during his terms but that somehow three years later under his successor, Public Safety Commissioner Chris Mathiesen, the department descended into bigotry and violence?

Overall it is clear that the leadership of BLM credits themselves for being a major factor in the success of the Democrats. That belief has led them to have high expectations about what they deserve from the new administration.

Mr. Figuereo told WAMC radio, “We are definitely looking for reciprocation, for sure. One hand washes the other.”

In the same article, Mr. Figuereo speculated that with the new commissioners that jobs might open up for members of his group.

He told WAMC, “There’s a lot of different positions that are going to be available. We would like them to be opened up to everybody, not just the normal people – Caucasians – of our community.”

It remains to be seen what will happen should the new City Council not meet BLM’s expectations.

It is hard to believe, given the bitter denunciation of the Saratoga Springs Police Department at the BLM demonstrations as being white supremacist murderers, that the recently elected candidates will not also eventually find themselves the targets of BLM’s anger.

[JK: I will be writing in more detail regarding the November election in a later post.]

How Candidates Campaign Tells Us A Lot About How They Will Govern

I simply do not know how to run a more negative campaign than to accuse your opponents of being a threat to democracy as the city’s Democratic Committee did in this year’s city elections. Their mailers included images from the January 6 events in D.C. alleging that the Republican endorsed candidates for city offices were somehow complicit in these events. This is in spite of the fact that the Republican endorsed candidates had gone on record deploring this event. Surely Pat Tuz, the chair of the city’s Democratic Committee was fully aware of this. Ms. Tuz is too sophisticated to believe in this kind of myth promoted by her candidates’ campaign, but apparently, concerns of fairness and accuracy simply gave way to a disturbing ruthlessness. Concern over the damage to the fabric of our community was jettisoned in the interest of winning at all costs.

How are these hyper attacks different from the allegations made by the supporters of Donald Trump that the Presidential election was stolen? How can the Democrats answer the argument that they have made up stories that are simply not true?

A Brilliant Strategy On The Road To Hell

The way candidates campaign tells us a lot about how they will govern. If they will flagrantly misrepresent the truth in their campaigns, it is likely that they will use similar tactics when they sit at the city council table. It also reflects how they will deal with others who may disagree with them. I hope I am wrong, but Saratogians should prepare themselves for some very ugly behavior come January at the Council table.

It’s Just Politics?

I know that partisans on both sides will just dismiss this kind of behavior as “just politics.” My problem is that these are the same people who deplore the fraying of the fabric of our civil society. Those who dismiss this kind of over-the-top campaigning might want to think about their own role in the decline of our institutions.

Aren’t we better than this?

Let me finish this post with a quote from a November 7 feature from Spectrum News 1:

Kim says there are a number of other challenges he plans to face, like infrustructure, but unifying the Spa City Tops the list.

Spectrum News

I hope the irony of calling for unity after gratuitously characterizing their opponents as anti-democratic insurrectionists is not lost on the readers of this blog. In the magical world of Mr. Kim and Ms. Tuz, bitterly marginalizing people has no consequences. The reality is that rather than strengthening and protecting democracy, their strategy can only serve to further weaken it.