A final report on the probe by Attorney General Tish James has not yet been publicly released.
But hours before Tuesday night’s council meeting, Democratic Mayor Ron Kim released a memo detailing his office’s interactions with the Attorney General’s Civil Rights Bureau during his single term.
Presenting his report to the council hours after an interview with WAMC announcing some of the findings, the outgoing Democrat emphasized no confidential information was contained in the memo.
“But it does give the citizens of Saratoga Springs the full benefit of what we did with them. And here’s the final thing I want to point out; this investigation has gone on now two and a half years, because it predated my coming in as mayor, I want an answer. I don’t think that our police department should live continuously under this cloud—and former officials. And that’s really part of the motivation behind making sure that we’re fully disclosing the facts, etcetera. I think the AG’s office needs to put up,” explained Kim.
Kim also outlined what he determined to be terms of a potential consent agreement between the city and the AG's office, including heightened scrutiny of the Saratoga Springs Police Department and the city, and prohibiting the arrest of citizens speaking during council meetings.
A spokesperson for the Attorney General said on Tuesday: "We are disappointed that details from private and preliminary settlement conversations were shared without our knowledge or approval."
Kim’s memo says his office shared documents in compliance with the probe after being informed that the records received by James’ office were incomplete. The investigation was already underway before Kim and other members of the city council were sworn in in January 2022.
Speaking at the city council meeting, Former Public Safety Commissioner Robin Dalton, who was deposed in the investigation, criticized what she calls inaccuracies in Kim’s memo.
“This number of $29,000, which is double what has been billed, is completely made up, it’s a pie-in-the-sky number. So If you want to be transparent, you want to be honest, let’s use the accurate numbers, which would be $15,000 not $29,000. So, I would appreciate it in the future if you could reference that accurately,” said Dalton.
Kim’s memo outlines $70,000 in legal bills paid by the city in complying with the investigation.
After the meeting, outgoing first-term Commissioner of Public Safety Jim Montagnino, who has clashed with former ally Kim throughout their tenure, said he understood why Kim released his memorandum.
“The two of us will have taken office and left office during the pendency of the AG’s investigation into events that occurred prior to either of our taking office. And there’s that nagging fear that when this report comes out, it’s going to be critical of things done by people who weren’t in the jobs when the incidents that gave rise to the investigation took place,” said Montagnino.
Montagnino and Kim in November 2022 shared information and video footage of a shootout with police on Broadway hours after the incident occurred. The move, which the officials said was done in the interest of transparency, drew condemnation and led to a legal battle with Saratoga County District Attorney Karen Heggen.
Saratoga Springs Commissioner of Accounts Dillon Moran defended Kim’s release of the memo Tuesday.
“The mayor has a responsibility to communicate with the community, and I think he’s within his rights to do so, as he stated at the meeting tonight. And I think his statements were limited, and I think they provided information that is known to be valid, and so I don’t think that he overstepped any bounds,” said Moran.
Republican Mayor-elect John Safford, who beat Kim in a three-way race in November, tells WAMC his administration will be ready for whatever comes next in the investigation.
“I’m not sure why he didn’t, you know, explain those things to me, because I had a meeting with him and he could have, and why he did it publicly. And, of course, I appreciate he’s given us a heads up, that’s the way it sounds like. So, you know, it’s kind of a rock and a hard place for me with regard to that. But we are prepared for whatever the Attorney General’s recommendations are, and we’ll meet their requirements,” explained Safford.
During the meeting, Kim said he anticipates the city hearing more from the Attorney General’s office early next year.
