Saratoga Springs officials gave their state of the city addresses Tuesday, emphasizing cooperation and putting a spotlight on the often overlooked employees of city hall.
Mayor John Safford, who won November’s election in what many in the city view as a vote to return civility and cooperation to city hall, invited fellow councilors and the city’s two supervisors to speak at his first State of the City address Tuesday.
Safford continued to call on colleagues to work together across party lines.
“It’s not something you can impose, it’s something that we live. It’s something that we agree to, sort of. And if you don’t have it, you lose something that’s really valuable,” said Safford.
Safford also made a point of thanking the various divisions within his own office, whose job, he said, is to “keep the city ticking.”
“The mayors can come and go every couple of years and the deputies can do the same. But the heart and soul of the city are the people who are in charge of the various departments. And I want to give full recognition of every one of them,” said Safford.
Safford outlined the achievements of the Building Department, including a reduction in the wait time for permit approval, as well as the continuing cooperation between the Recreation Department and the Department of Public Works.
Commissioner of Accounts Dillon Moran opened his speech thanking Safford for hitting the reset button.
“I would offer that it’s been a less tense environment this first month, but no less busy,” said Moran.
Moran then thanked his deputy Stacy Connors and other employees in the department.
“My deputy, I’m very proud of the work that she’s done – brought forward the notion of professional improvement within the municipal ranks. We got some stares the first time we brought that up. Then every single time we went to hire an employee our employees were involved in the hiring process because they need to work with that person for the next 20 years, certainly not I. So it is with that thought and that kindness and that consideration that we realized we have to enable our folks to do more because we expect more as the world moves forward,” explained Moran.
Finance Commissioner Minita Sanghvi reviewed the work put in by her department last year, including funding the city’s third fire station, creating the $61.3 million city budget for 2024, and creating an assignment for salt and sand funds to save the city money by having it only spend what it needs to each winter.
“Often functions of departments like Finance and IT are a little invisible. People don’t always realize how critical these functions are. Yet, without these departments, the essential operations of our city government would come to a halt. Finance ensures our bills are paid, our employees are paid, our funds are managed well, and our taxes collected,” explained Sanghvi.
Supervisors Michele Madigan and Matt Veitch also shared updates from the new Saratoga County Board of Supervisors term, including Veitch’s appointment as the vice-chair.
Safford closed by challenging city leaders to think of what they want Saratoga Springs to look like in a decade, and keep in mind the cooperation necessary to achieve those goals.
“If we can continue to be different, yet we can continue on the same notes, that we can continue on the same idea of working together to make the best possible Saratoga Springs, then that’s the challenge that we all bring to this tonight, and the challenge we bring for our children or our grandchildren, because 10 years, and I can tell you for sure, goes by very quickly,” said Safford.
