Saratoga Springs officials are once again looking to reform the city’s governing document, starting with local law changes.
Initially skeptical of charter reform, Republican Mayor John Safford created a charter review committee in 2025.
There have been multiple failed attempts to significantly alter the Spa City's unique commission form of government, where city department heads and the mayor also serve as the city council.
Safford appointed Vince DeLeonardis to lead the review effort. DeLeonardis previously chaired the city’s 2018 charter change effort.
DeLeonardis says this year's effort is a little different than those of the past, with two main differences.
“The first was to undertake an evaluation of the current charter and make recommendations to the city council for revisions or amendments that the council can make by way of local law. The second was to then continue the evaluation and present our final proposals on a new or revised charter if any for consideration by the voters in November,” said DeLeonardis.
DeLeonardis says the commission has finished their first task and will present its initial proposed changes during a public presentation on January 20th.
A 2001 charter change effort made some changes to city government but kept the commission style in place. Mayor Safford has not explicitly endorsed changes in the city's form of government.
DeLeonardis says he supports Safford’s vision of making necessary adjustments while leaving any potential larger changes up to the voters.
“So, regardless of what we do in the second phase, I think Mayor Safford saw that there was some importance in having an evaluation of the existing charter and providing those updates that normally accompany the passage of time and to take a line-by-line review analysis of the charter and make some recommendations that the council can do regardless of what we might undertake as part of phase two,” said DeLeonardis.
DeLeonardis says the charter review commission is considering incorporating a number of city positions and boards into the new charter, including the civilian review board. The CRB, formed in 2023, was a contested part of a 2021 50-point police reform plan approved by the city council in line with an executive order under former Governor Andrew Cuomo.
Another possible change relates to how city councilors are selected following the resignation or absence of a sitting commissioner.
In January 2025, a special election was held to fill a vacant city Public Works Commissioner position. It came after months of debate and disagreement over the timing of the election.
DeLeonardis says the current charter is "somewhat vague" as it relates to succession.
"I thought our efforts as a commission was to put a little bit more clarity into that in terms of time frames by which a special election must occur,” said DeLeonardis.
Mayor Safford says he’s encouraged by the work already done by the charter review commission, even if the future of the city's governing system remains somewhat unclear.
I see positives on both sides but I’m leaving it up to the committee to make their decision and bring this forward if that’s what they think is a good thing,” said Safford.
