The Saratoga Springs City Council is down to four members for the time being, facing looming questions about filling the now-empty public works commissioner seat.
Democratic Commissioner of Public Works Jason Golub won’t be at tonight’s city council meeting — he started a role this week as both general counsel and deputy commissioner for the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.
Golub won an election for the seat in November 2022 after being appointed interim commissioner earlier that year.
The city’s Democratic Committee has endorsed former chair Sarah Burger to fill the seat.
“Our city has changed over the years, but as somebody that professionally has worked with many different people across many different political affiliations, I do not anticipate any problem continuing to work professionally in that manner as the future Commissioner of Public Works,” said Burger.
According to the city charter, when a vacancy occurs on the council someone can be appointed to the position until the end of year, with a subsequent special election held to pick a permanent replacement.
Even if appointed to fill the roll in the short-term, Burger tells WAMC a special election would be the right move for city residents.
Democratic Commissioner of Accounts Dillon Moran says plans for an election are already in motion. The term runs through 2025.
“Unlike others out there in the ether that are expressing their feelings about what should happen, it’s actually the responsibility of my office, by the charter, to conduct the election and I will be doing so. I’ve been in contact with the board of elections at the state level and at the county level, and we will be running an election, period,” said Moran.
Meanwhile, Republican Mayor John Safford says the city is seeking guidance from local election boards to determine whether the city charter trumps state election laws.
Republican Committee Chair Mike Brandi.
“Well, I think it’s important that there be an election, right? The question is when should that election be. I have big concerns about it being in proximity to the federal election in the fall. Of course a special election for city DPW commissioner is going to be absolutely swallowed up by the noise we’re going to hear this October and November. So, I think to do the city a service we need to make sure there is some calculated distance between those two events,” said Brandi.
The city’s Republican Committee has not endorsed any candidate.
Finance Commissioner Minita Sanghvi, a Democrat who’s running for state Senate, is all for a special election and an interim appointment so the DPW has leadership during budget season, but:
“I would really prefer the city not pay for a special election and we roll it in with the November 5th election. If that’s not possible, we still have to have an election per city charter,” said Sanghvi.
Beyond determining when an election would be held, Sanghvi says the city council will have to work together to move forward.
“I think that the council can come up with a person that we can all agree on. But, again, first we need to figure out, when is the election, how long is the appointment? And once we figure out those questions we can then discuss the candidates and see if we can all come together and vote unanimously on one candidate. We have four people on the council, essentially it’s going to have to be a unanimous vote for the person to get appointed,” said Sanghvi.
Commissioner Moran will present the public works agenda at council meetings until the vacancy is filled.
