After months of debate, there may no longer be a special election to choose a new Public Works Commissioner in Saratoga Springs after all.
Former Democratic Public Works Commissioner Jason Golub left his post in August for a role at the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.
Democrats Dillon Moran and Minita Sanghvi began pushing to hold a special election to fill the seat, per the city charter.
When the council began moving toward a special election on September 17th, Moran celebrated.
“We’re having an election, people,” said Moran.
Republican Mayor John Safford and Public Safety Commissioner Tim Coll, who won his seat with GOP backing, had pushed to appoint an interim commissioner, but Sanghvi and Moran wanted assurances that an election would go through.
The proposed January 28th election passed unanimously, but progress stalled at the county board of elections when Republican Commissioner Joe Suhrada sought clarification from the state Attorney General. He eventually said his concerns had been mollified.
But at Wednesday’s meeting, the council changed course.
“We’re not having an election. Mr. Kuczynski is going to serve out the rest of his term,” said Moran.
Last month, the council appointed former deputy mayor Hank Kuczynski, a Democrat, to the seat.
The election’s timeline had candidate nominations due by October 27th. City Republicans nominated planning board member Chuck Marshall, but Democrats failed to file.
Moran said that initial timeline was not final.
“The reality is we passed the resolution to have the election. We forwarded a proposed calendar. The election calendar had a watermark across the front that said ‘proposed,’ why? Because the board of election approves the calendar,” said Moran.
Democratic elections commissioner Cassy Bagramian has said she wouldn’t approve an election without drafting a new timeline.
Suhrada says the board is just there to run the election and questions whether the city can back out of holding it after approving the move.
“Now that I’ve agreed to do that, they somehow decide they don’t want the election. Is this schizophrenia? They just feel they have the right to change their mind? Well, maybe they do, it just depends on what the residents of Saratoga Springs think. If the people have been told there’s an election, it’s been proclaimed by law, I don’t know how you can cancel an election,” said Suhrada.
Moran proposed a new updated election timeline.
“The supposition that we have an election is a fallacy, there is no election because it was not authorized by the board of elections,” said Moran.
Coll said he would not vote for a new election timeline.
“I’ve always advocated for a lawful election. I’ve been doing that during the many times that we’ve gotten together. Both of our city attornies have written a memorandum, and I’ll put it on the record, and I’ll just read the last line, ‘therefore we conclude we can find no statutory judicial authority to change the date of the proclamation of an election,” said Coll.
Moran then pulled the measure.
Kuczynski said he will fill the commissioner’s seat through the end of the term, which runs through 2025, but has concerns about the process.
“Technical interpretations of the election law set up a situation where one party had a nominee and one party didn’t. And to try and go forward, and for people to think that was a justified election might be technically correct but that would be determined by a judge in court. However, it goes against everything that this country stands for in relationship to democracy. So, I’m unsettled by the actions of the board in Ballston Spa and I think it’s unfortunate that the citizens of this city can’t vote to see who will finish the term of the Public Works Commissioner. So I guess you have me,” said Kuczynski.
Finance Commissioner Sanghvi said she’s appreciative that Kuczynski stepped up, but:
“I understand that there is a kerfuffle about the dates and who can run and who cannot and whether the election was proposed or accepted and I’m not getting into the legalities of this. I do want to point out that this is an elected official and we are doing a disservice to the public by not electing someone to that position,” said Sanghvi.
Mayor Safford said the council will return to the issue at the next council meeting November 19th to halt or reverse progress on the election.
