Voters in Saratoga Springs last week elected to send two Republican-endorsed candidates to the city council, ousting incumbent Mayor Ron Kim and Public Safety Commissioner James Montagnino in three-way contests.
While Republican John Safford will become the first GOP mayor in the Spa City in a decade, retired FBI agent Tim Coll is preparing to become the next Commissioner of Public Safety.
Coll ran with the backing of the city Republican committee and the bipartisan One Saratoga platform against Montagnino and independent candidate Kristen Dart. All three candidates in the Public Safety race were registered Democrats.
Coll said he was humbled and honored by the win. WAMC's Lucas Willard spoke with him on Wednesday:
The election, it was a three-way race, it could have broken in a few different directions. I mean, I consider myself a moderate and I'm sure Jim Montagnino does as well. So, we could have, the vote could have been split in that direction, too. But no, it's a three-way race, which is a little unusual. And it was three Democrats involved. So I’m very pleased and very happy.
So, there's a couple of months now, two, three months before January and your term begins. So, what kind of groundwork will you be laying? What are you diving into straightaway?
Well, I've already had conversations, even, you know, prior, during my campaign with sort of the leaders in the city, the leaders of the nonprofits regarding homelessness. I've also met with Judge Vero who runs the outreach court. I've been communicating with several of the city council members. I've already communicated with John Safford. And foremost, I appreciate Jim Montagnino’s offer to help with the transition. You know, he came over last night to congratulate me and I really appreciate it. I think that he came forward offered to help with the transition. I think that's admirable on his part. And I do really, really appreciate it.
Now, of course, in the commission style form of government, the city councilors oversee a city department, but also weigh in on all, you know, city issues as part of the city council. But are there any specific items within the realm of the Public Safety Department, fire police EMTs that you want to dive into? Is there anything that would be different while you are a Public Safety Commissioner than previous commissioners?
Yeah, well, I think the issue that's going to come to the forefront is going to be this the short-term rentals. And that falls under, you know, Public Safety Commissioner, which, because the Codes falls under the fire department. So that's the regulation of short-term rentals in a city. And I know Commissioner Moran, who I gave him a lot of credit, has been having a lot of workshops. And I think that's going to be moving forward fast. In other words, I expect that we're going to have a registry in the city, where folks need to get their houses inspected to make sure they're safe, which is obviously to ensure that a deck’s not gonna fall off a house or we have proper egress. So we get Codes in there to inspect them, at a minimum, to ensure they're safe. So I think I do think that legislation is, for lack of a better term is going to be the priority, the quick priority as I approach, as soon as I get started.
So I want to talk about, sort of, the politics of the board. Of course, there's been a lot of discussion in this race about the restoration of civility on the board. That's one of the words that John Safford used a lot on the campaign trail. So how do you feel about making the connections with the other members of the city council, three of whom were elected without an opponent on election night?
Yeah, and I would say that I already have a relationship with several of them. And we've discussed things, you know, even about for the last year, even regarding things that were significant to my campaign. So, you know, I intend to treat everyone with dignity and respect and professionalism. You know, even if we disagree, which, of course, we're going to disagree. That's part of the political process. And I think we need as a city, the leaders need to show that to the rest of the community, that they can treat each other in a dignified and respectful way, and set the example for the rest of the city.
And now, I also want to ask about working with John Safford, who's stepping in as mayor. We've seen over the last couple of city councils a breakdown in the relationship between the sitting Mayor and the city Public Safety Commissioner. How do you feel about that, I guess, pattern and how do you maintain a great working relationship between the two departments?
Yeah, again, not to be repetitive, but it's, I think it's the same issue. You know, I mean, I think I'm aligned. I've sat down with John and we talked about many, many different issues, and we are aligned in most of them, or if not all of them. So, I don't expect any friction between us whatsoever. If we do disagree, and I know John's personality, we're going to do so respectfully, and I look forward to working with John and the rest of the city council.
And then the last thing I want to ask about is working with the city Democratic Party in the future. You're a registered Democrat. You ran with the endorsements from the Republican Party and the One Saratoga line, but you're still a registered Democrat. Do you intend to seek reelection in the future, and it might be a little early right now to say, but on the Democratic line next time
Yeah, no, I do think it's certainly, you know, premature to say that, you know, I'm, I'm just, you know, we've we're fortunate enough to win to win yesterday and just focusing on you know, getting through this first term and working hard for the people of Saratoga.
