Accused of official misconduct, Saratoga Springs’ Deputy Public Works Commissioner has been temporarily suspended after pleading not guilty.
Charges were brought against Deputy Joe O’Neill and former Democratic Public Works Commissioner Jason Golub this month for alleged incidents where city employees worked on private property using city resources while on city time.
O’Neill was in city court Thursday morning for an appearance ticket for charges of official misconduct. The appearance was adjourned until December 5th.
In a statement, new Public Works Commissioner Hank Kuczynski says he has “concluded that on two occasions on or about January 16th, 2024 and in the Spring of 2023, there were violations of the City Code of Ethics.” Kuczynski says he will work to preserve accountability and adds "this type of behavior will not be tolerated."
O’Neill has been suspended without pay for five days.
Following court, attorney Oscar Schreiber, who is representing O’Neill, maintained that the charges are political.
Reached by WAMC, Kuczynski said he cannot comment on legal proceedings. It’s not clear if the two incidents he cites are the basis for the tickets announced by Public Safety Commissioner Tim Coll November 7th. Coll did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.
Kuczynski is set to serve as DPW Commissioner through the end of 2025 after the city council failed to come to an agreement on setting a special election to fill the vacancy.
Reached by WAMC, a lawyer for Golub said the allegation is “based entirely on a clogged sink, a jug of Draino and 8 minutes of assistance from a city DPW worker. Criminalizing this raises grave concerns regarding the motivation and judgement of those who decided to make this allegation.” Golub, who stepped down in August for a state position, is scheduled to appear in court Tuesday.
In 2022, Commissioner Coll, a retired FBI agent, criticized Golub for comments he made during a discussion on an aggressive panhandling resolution. At the time, Golub raised concerns that city police might believe false testimony from a “rich white lady.” Speaking with WAMC this month, Coll said he complained about that comment at the time.
“I did make a referral, because he’s a lawyer, to his place of employment. I made a referral to the Bar Association as well because no one, no lawyer, no law enforcement official, again, should be making comments on people’s status. And that did bother me quite a bit,” said Coll.
Coll says their relationship is now cordial and that his previous complaint is not related to the charges.
“Let me put it to you a different way. I took an oath, an oath, to uphold the laws and the ordinances of the city and to do that fairly and equally and that’s what I am going to do and that’s what I’m doing every day. And that is the way to move forward,” said Coll.
Democratic Accounts Commissioner Dillon Moran says the charges “should be deeply troubling to everyone.”
