John Safford took the Oath of Office and officially was sworn in as the next Mayor of Saratoga Springs. (Emma Ralls – Medianews Group)
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — With the start of the new year comes the swearing-in and inauguration of the City Council for the next two years.
On Monday, Jan. 1 the Music Hall of Spa City’s City Hall was packed with people to celebrate and honor the City Council members new and returning as they take their oaths of office and begin their term.
Following the swearing-in ceremony of the City Council members and Saratoga Springs County Supervisors, the first City Council meeting of the year was held where each city council member and supervisor were able to share remarks and appoint staff members who would be serving directly under them.
Mayor John Safford, a Republican, appointed JoAnne Kiernan as his deputy mayor, Susanna Combs as his executive assistant to the mayor, David Harper as the city attorney, and Tony Izzo as assistant city attorney.
“I want to thank everybody for being here, every one of you is important to the city as is every citizen of the city,” Safford said, addressing the large crowd in the room following his appointments. “What I’d like to do is think of a metaphor about why we’re here together in this wonderful city that we have, it is a wonderful city, and we want to keep it wonderful. That (metaphor) is all of us, every one of us, every citizen in this city has a song to sing. We’re here today to help you do that. That’s the part of government, to help sing your song and to help everybody, young or old, every citizen in the city sing your song.”
He elaborated that over the last few weeks since the election, he has been challenging people with the question of the future and the question of what Saratoga Springs will look like in 10 years something he acknowledges Elizabeth Sobel and the people at SPAC are doing quite well. He shared that they’re working on the idea of integrating harmony into the city’s motto -, health, history and horses – and that is something that corresponds with his metaphor quite well.
“The fact is that when we sing our songs, often we’re singing by ourselves unless we find a way to harmonize unless we find something that binds us together and something that gathers us together, so then together we can make something good,” Safford said. “What we can do is refer to that as well. I say the pledge, liberty and justice for all” and that is a pledge we should say every day of our lives, that’s what we do. We’re here to help each other, achieve those often opposing ideas. Liberty and justice for all.”
“Let us be that city, we are known as the city in the country, but I’m saying we can be a bright light for a city in our country. We can do that together and that’s the challenge that I bring today. To the council and to all of you, that we work together to sing our songs, that we work together in harmony.”
When asked what his first task is now that he is officially in office Safford told The Saratogian he is working on all the City Council members trusting one another as they enter this new year of working together.
Following Safford, Commissioner of Finance Minita Sanghvi, a Democrat, appointed her staff, reappointing her previous Deputy Commissioner of Finance Heather Crocker, and Executive Assistant to Commissioner of Finance Samantha Clemmey, for another term.
Sanghvi also shared how it was a “great honor and responsibility” to be able to serve again and to thank all those who came out for the inauguration and swearing-in ceremony. She also acknowledged a lot of the work she has done over the past term as commissioner of finance and acknowledged the staff in city hall that help with all the progress and accomplishments the city can achieve.
“I’m proud of all the work we’ve done in big ways and small, we’ve helped make Saratoga Springs better for every single person and I’m hoping we can continue doing so for the next two years. Our city is growing and it is critical that our city’s needs are taken care of in a fiscally responsible way, so sometimes I have to be the bad guy and say ‘Nope, not that.’ I’m hoping that we can continue working with everyone to make our city more greener, whether it’s through additional reserves and revenues, or whether it’s through environmentally friendly projects. I’m looking forward to working with my new and old colleagues and looking forward to a year of civil collegiality in our workplace.”
Following Sanghvi, Commissioner of Public Works Jason Golub, a Democrat, reappointed Brooke VanBuskirk as his executive assistant to the Commissioner of Public Works and Joseph O’Neill as his deputy commissioner of Public Works.
Golub followed up his appointments by discussing his hopes for the coming year with this new council, sharing how he hopes that they will be able to see past any differences and past party politics to focus on impactful change for the community. He also hopes that the council can focus on the shared goals of the members of the community which is, as he lists them “a place to rest their head, at the end of the night, a place to feel safe. They want economic opportunities, and they want a good education for their children.”
“We all want that and we’re all not so different,” Golub shared. “Here, we often focus on the things that are different amongst us, rather than what unites us. And I hope that changes. I know that many people think that the function of government is to enact the will of the people who elected them and to a certain extent it is, but it’s also to shine a light on our future and to take the lead in showing people where we can go as a community, what we can do as a government and as a city.”
Commissioner of Public Safety Tim Coll, the Republican-endorsed candidate, named Daniel Charleson as his deputy Public Safety Commissioner. Coll shared that he is “honored and humbled” to be the next Public Safety Commissioner of Saratoga Springs and that he intends to work diligently with honor and integrity to serve the community.
“I took an oath to the oath of office a few minutes ago, I raised my right hand, and I said I’m gonna uphold the Constitution and uphold the laws and ordinances of the city,” said Coll. “That’s exactly what I intend to do.”
Commissioner of Accounts Dillon Moran, a Democrat, reappointed Stacy Conners as his deputy commissioner of Accounts and shared he hopes people keep in mind that the council is serving out of their passion to better and improve the city.
“One, I think all of us at the Council, and again, I congratulate them all, have had to answer this simple question, which is “Why are they doing this?” said Moran. “We don’t get paid anything, people are constantly attacking us. It affects our families, it affects ourselves and affects our health. It’s not great and I ask everyone out there to think about that moving forward. We’re here for you. We answer that call time and again, and to criticize without contribution, frankly, does nobody any good. But what does do good is family and love and support.”
Following the City Council Members, the Saratoga Springs County Supervisors shared remarks, starting with Matthew Veitch, a Republican, who acknowledged his 16 years of service and his gratitude for being able to serve another term.
He also outlined various projects completed over the last year and in progress at the county level, touching on initiatives like airport terminal construction, county facility upgrades, and extending sewer services further down Broadway.
Veitch also touched on the projects that have been able to be completed or that were contributed to by county funding as well as shared some spots of emphasis as he looked ahead into this coming year. Some of these included a need for a permanent solution for homelessness and the intention to work to move up the bar closing time through collaboration with the county.
Michele Madigan, the One Saratoga endorsed candidate, also spoke about some of her priorities, touching on addressing the homeless and unhoused population as well as the earlier bar closing times while also touching on her priority to build a strong working relationship between Saratoga County and the city of Saratoga Springs.
She shared she was excited to serve the city again as an elected official and how she hopes to use her many accomplishments over her 10 years as commissioner of finance to aid her as she hopes to accomplish more as a County Supervisor. She shared she looks forward to working “on behalf of this great city and our wonderful county.”
The five city council members and two county supervisors will be the elected officials leading the Spa City for the next two years, and across the board, they hope to not only do what’s best for the city but to help it succeed on all fronts.
