The Saratoga Springs Public Safety Commissioner is accusing the city Accounts Commissioner of neglecting his job duties. At issue are charges against a local activist.
In May, Joe Seeman, a longtime local activist who has run unsuccessfully for the state legislature, was charged for failing to obtain a demonstration declaration for an April 26th protest.
Now, first-term Public Safety Commissioner Tim Coll, who won his seat with GOP backing, says the charges against Seeman were dropped because of a decision by Democratic Accounts Commissioner Dillon Moran.
“We’re just asking Commissioner Moran to sign a sworn statement on whether or not [Seeman] applied for a demonstration declaration. It’s his job as the custodian of records to do that and he would not do that. I gave you the email. He says ‘I won’t be providing a sworn statement to anyone nor will my staff,’ and that resulted in the charge being dropped,” said Coll.
Moran rejects the blame for the charges falling through.
“They have zero proof as to whom the organizers are and would have ultimately failed should these cases have continued. And, again, the biggest concern that I have is, time and time again, when cases have been thrown out, whether it is Jason Golub, whether it is Lex Figuereo or others the immediate statement from Tim Coll is ‘I’m going to keep doing it,’” said Moran.
Charges that former Public Works Commissioner Jason Golub had city workers work on his private property while on the clock were dropped in June.
Asked what proof there is to show Seeman was the primary organizer of the protest, Coll said he wouldn’t get into the evidence of the case.
“But I just want to go with what’s certainly lacking right now. It’s a piece of paper from his department saying that anyone, any organizer, could be more than one organizer, did any organizer file for a declaration. That’s a very easy question for the custodian of records,” said Coll.
In a letter moving to dismiss the charges, city attorney David Hopper said while Seeman admitted on tape to not having filed for a declaration, that does not prove “whether or not some other organizer” filed.
The letter also laid out the city’s intention to “obtain a sworn statement or other admissible proof to the effect that no other person file [sic] a demonstration declaration for the day in question.”
Coll says Moran’s failure to comply with his duties as Accounts Commissioner could result in uneven application of city laws.
“We need the tools to enforce our laws and our ordinances in this city. I expect all commissioners who took an oath of office to do the same. And right now I’m going to be measured in my response and say that we are looking at all reasonable methods to correct this measure,” said Coll.
Moran says his employees were asked to sign a sworn statement that Seeman had not applied for a declaration.
“In talking with the city attorneys, I explained to them that I will find the document. I do not want my employees’ names wrapped up in court documents associated with highly, highly sensitive and, frankly, enflaming scenarios,” said Moran.
Seeman joined Saratoga BLM founder Lex Figuereo and Palestinian Rights Committee of Albany member Eyad Alkurabi, both charged similarly for their alleged roles in separate, unpermitted protests, on the steps of city hall in May.
“Just as we fight against fascism and assaults on the constitution by Trump, we will fight against this assault on our constitutional rights by Tim Coll. To the people of Saratoga Springs and this region, I ask, is this the type of Saratoga you want? Where people are prosecuted for political expression,” said Seeman.
Earlier this month, charges linked to Figuereo’s alleged role in organizing two protests in May 2024 without obtaining a demonstration declaration were dropped.
A February 2024 report by the state Attorney General’s office found that former city employees and city police violated the constitutional rights of BLM demonstrators like Figuereo in 2020 and 2021.
