The Saratoga Springs City Council has voted to assign $25,000 to Public Safety Commissioner Tim Coll’s defense in a civil lawsuit.
The Saratoga Springs City Council voted during a Monday special meeting to allocate $25,000 for Commissioner Coll's defense as he faces a civil lawsuit from former Public Works Commissioner Jason Golub.
Golub's lawsuit alleges a "pattern of unwarranted and malicious attacks" by Coll and the city police department. Coll says he and the department acted lawfully.
Golub was charged with official misconduct in 2024 after an alleged incident where city employees worked at his home using city resources while on city time – that case was ultimately dismissed, though Coll maintains that was due to technical reasons.
Mayor John Safford said the city’s insurer declined to provide funds for Coll’s defense twice.
"We're hoping that we might be able to resolve this in a different way. We're constantly trying to do that. But, in the meantime, we had to make sure that [Coll] had a defense," said Safford.
The city council previously declined to pay for Golub’s defense in his criminal case.
The sole no-vote came from Democrat BK Keramati.
"I just think the inconsistency of how we treat our commissioners differently in providing for legal defense for them or not, I'm just very uncomfortable with it," said Keramati.
