Familiar names in Saratoga Springs politics are running for county supervisor in next week’s election.
Three candidates are running for two seats after Democratic Supervisor Tara Gaston decided not to seek re-election.
Republican Matt Veitch has served as supervisor for the past 16 years and says his experience sets him apart.
“We were able to get some funding for the third fire station, for the housing of the county hazmat truck, brought in some funding for various local organizations through the county's not for profit grant program, as well as a new program where we're going to have some new welcome signage for the city that the county is going to pay for, as well as doing some various public works projects around the city over the past year." Veitch continued, "and we funded, you know, part of the outdoor dining program. So certainly love supporting economic development within the city.”
One Saratoga-backed Democrat Michele Madigan previously served as the city’s Commissioner of Finance for 10 years and says she is running to improve the relationship between Saratoga Springs and the county.
“There are things we need to do here in the city, we have homelessness issue, we have bar closing issues or bar issues downtown nightlife, especially during our busy season," said Madigan. "And I want to form relationships with the county board of supervisors to ensure that the city is getting its fair share.”
Madigan’s campaign recently faced controversy over failure to submit state financial disclosures. Madigan says her treasurer has since gotten the paperwork in order.
Gordon Boyd, backed by the Saratoga Springs Democratic Committee and Working Families Party, says the 21-member County Board of Supervisors has been unable to properly represent citizens from larger communities like Saratoga Springs.
“There's no committee on transportation, which would get into issues like truck traffic, which is a chronic problem in Saratoga Springs, interstate trucks that come through getting between the Thruway and the Northway," Boyd said. "The other issue is we have nobody on the one committee that controls policy on racing and casinos, there is no supervisor on that committee from Saratoga Springs. So, we have structural issues, we're behind on getting enough affordable housing in our community so our workforce can live somewhere near their jobs. We are also in need, in my opinion of a reentry program for people coming back from incarceration county could be in a position to coordinate that state would pay for it.”
Veitch is confident in his ability to represent Saratogians.
"I think as a member of the majority of the Republican board, I certainly have some ways to get those messages across as maybe my colleague who might not be a Republican is right," explained Veitch. "So, you know, I certainly have a great working relationship with the county and I think they do listen, when we bring things up from the city cities level.
Madigan spoke at a recent city council meeting and criticized current Commissioner of Finance Minita Sangvhi’s budget, as well as what she characterized as the council’s inability to work together.
“So, you know, we'll see if there's a few changes, even changing one permanent member of the City Council could change the dynamics of how things work for the next two years, and how people communicate and react to one another," said Madigan. "I am not impressed with the way the majority right now, it works against their colleague, Commissioner Montagnino. He is the Commissioner of Public Safety, and he deserves some level of respect, he too, was elected, that seems to drive much of the turmoil that that exists there. And I just would like to see, you know, civility returned for sure.”
Boyd says there are issues, like affordable housing, that Saratoga Springs cannot afford to ignore any longer.
“So this is reflecting our workforce in a way that is very detrimental to the future of the city." Boyd continued, "We're losing diversity, we're losing access to the jobs, we need better public transportation to get people from the housing they can afford to the jobs that they have. And we need to keep building affordable housing in the community, we need to relax our zoning laws in some of the areas of the county so that we're not just building endless tracts of one single family homes, but allow some of these larger subdivisions to add accessory dwelling units that would increase the overall supply of housing, and possibly take some steam out of the market.”
Election Day is November 7th. There’s more information about early voting locations at wamc.org.
A previous version of this article incorrectly said Michele Madigan was an independent.
