Attorneys have filed a new lawsuit on behalf of members of Saratoga Black Lives Matter, alleging city officials have taken racist, unlawful actions to retaliate against activists and protesters.
The 97-page lawsuit alleges former and current city officials "engaged in a long process of retaliation and attack using the powers of the City and the police department" to silence BLM activists.
This year, New York Attorney General Tish James' office concluded former Saratoga Springs officials and police violated the constitutional rights of protesters in 2020 and 2021 with unlawful harassment.
Attorney Mark Mishler represents the group and says it’s important to hold the officials, from three successive city administrations, accountable.
“At least some members of each of those administrations seemed to have believed that young activists raising issues about racism and racial violence and police misconduct and the lack of accountability for police, that for some reason these people are to be treated like they are dirt and they are not worthy of human consideration, they are not worthy of having their constitutional rights protected,” said Mishler.
The lawsuit names current officials Mayor John Safford and Public Safety Commissioner Tim Coll, former Public Safety Commissioner Jim Montagnino, and others.
Safford and Coll declined to comment. Montagnino could not be reached for comment.
Debates over the payment of former and current officials’ legal bills have dominated recent city council meetings. The current council approved another payment to former Mayor Meg Kelly’s attorneys in a three-to-one vote with one abstention.
A separate lawsuit filed last summer accused former Mayor Meg Kelly, former Public Safety Commissioner Robin Dalton, former Saratoga Springs Police Chief Shane Crooks, and others of using excessive force against demonstrators during a 2020 protest.
Kelly, Dalton, and Crooks did not respond to requests for comment from WAMC.
Commissioner of Finance Minita Sanghvi is worried about the prospect of additional payments.
“We had set aside around $200,000 for litigation expenses and the way this city council is going and all of the issues from the previous administrations as well, it seems like that may not be enough. And I’m getting concerned that the city is bearing all these costs that are impacting the taxpayers and we shouldn’t have to increase our property tax because elected officials are making decisions that are getting us into lawsuits,” said Sanghvi.
Mishler says frustrations over mounting legal bills are valid, but:
“The city officials who have done this, they’re the ones who should be the brunt of any anger from residents and the residents should, frankly, demand that the city takes steps as quickly as possible to resolve this because the longer this plays out at this point, it is going to cost more money,” said Mishler.
The suit comes a month after a follow-up letter to the city from James’ office concerning tickets issued to Lex Figuereo for two pro-Palestine protests in May. The lawsuit alleges officials and city police continued their “retaliatory and unconstitutional actions” with the most recent charges brought against the local BLM figure.
Figeureo, one of several organizers of the May protests, was the only one cited for violating a city ordinance for failing to apply for a demonstration declaration. The attorney general’s office said it “is concerned that the City of Saratoga Springs has resumed its unconstitutional retaliation against protestors.”
Referring to suggestions that followed the state-mandated police reform process following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Figuereo says the organization has no intention of slowing down.
“No, we’re going to keep on organizing, keep on putting pressure on them to actually finally enact these 50-points which still haven’t been enacted four years later and we’re going to continue to have our community events, continue to have our free fridge and do the things that we do in Saratoga Springs, so nothing’s stopping us,” said Figuereo.
There is no specific dollar amount under the suits’ demand for relief, but both compensatory and punitive damages are being sought.
