Saratoga Springs will have a new supervisor and one returning to office after Tuesday’s election.
Republican incumbent Matt Veitch will continue to represent Saratoga Springs on the Saratoga County Board of Supervisors. Democrat and One Saratoga-backed Michele Madigan won the second spot, with Democrat Gordon Boyd coming in third.
Veitch has served as supervisor for the past 16 years and says his experience will allow him and Madigan to hit the ground running.
“I’m looking forward to, you know, continuing to represent the city at the county level," said Veitch. "I’m honored that the voters put their faith in me again for another term. And I’m going to keep doing what I’ve been doing which is to, you know, try to secure funding for all of the various issues that the city is, you know, working on. To try to also move the city forward with all of its different programs and issues and things that it does.”
Madigan, who previously served five terms as the city’s Finance Commissioner, says she will be able to create productive working relationships with the majority Republican county board to tackle issues facing the Spa City.
“We need better relationships between the county and the city, and I’m going to make sure we have them," explained Madigan. "And the key issues that we need to focus on, that the county really has some control over, you know when it comes to the city, are helping us with the homelessness situation, the earlier bar closing times that we need here to keep our vibrant down town nightlife, especially during our active summer season, safe.”
Boyd criticized the board’s structure during his campaign, saying it unfairly punishes municipalities with larger populations, like Saratoga Springs, which have fewer representatives per capita.
Speaking with WAMC following Tuesday’s election results, when Democratic candidates lost bids for mayor and public safety commissioner, Boyd said the election was a referendum on the city’s Democratic Party.
“So, I think that the outcome was really a statement from the voters that they want some stability and regularity in local government and less, you know, conflict,” said Boyd.
Boyd says it’s now time for local Democrats to come together.
“The key thing is for the Democrats to be united when they go after Republicans in these local government races." Boyd continued, "and that has not been the case in Saratoga Springs in a very long time, we’ve got grudges that are almost old enough to vote.”
In the days leading up to the election, the Saratoga Democratic Committee pulled its endorsement of Public Safety Commissioner Jim Montagnino over a mailer sent by his campaign, as well as Montagnino’s endorsement of GOP mayoral candidate John Safford.
Montagnino lost his bid for reelection, while Safford ousted Democratic Mayor Ron Kim after just one term.
Veitch said the results largely reflect Saratogians’ reactions to what many in the city have described as unruly city council meetings. Many Republican candidates, like Safford and the GOP-backed victor of the Public Safety Commissioner race, Tim Coll, ran on platforms that promised to bring civility back to city council meetings.
“The last two years it’s been very much a struggle at the city council when it comes to the tone of the meetings and how things are run," said Veitch. "You know, I think people want to see officials who work across the isle to solve problems, and even internally they want to see, you know, people from the same team essentially working together to solve the issues, right? A lot of what happened there was personal and when that happens it really doesn’t serve the residents of our city very well.”
Madigan agrees, saying those issues bled into the supervisors race.
“I think it was 100% a referendum on ‘please, let’s have some civility back, especially at our public meetings.’ They have been embarrassing," said Madigan. "Those that are elected right now can spin it anyway they want it, but it is embarrassing, the people don’t like it. And, so, it was a referendum on that. And that’s why both Ron and Jim lost, our current mayor and current public safety commissioner. But I think on this more microcosm level it was the same thing when it came down to supervisor.”
The county board of supervisors will be undergoing its own changes. Chair Todd Kusnierz lost his bid for re-election as Moreau town supervisor on Tuesday. Democratic candidate Jesse Fish easily defeated Kusnierz, who was running on the Republican and Conservative lines. Fish also had the Moreau United line and won by a more than three-to-one margin.
