City attorney becomes a full-time job

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. » City Council unanimously upgraded the city attorney to full-time, making the annual base salary $135,000.

The position, approved at last week’s meeting, will take effect April 9.

Vince DeLeonardis, who has been the part-time attorney, will now work 40 hours a week for the city.

During the meeting, commissioners shared their thoughts about hiring a full-time attorney.

Michele Madigan, Commissioner of Finance, said she was pleased the city is moving forward with full-time attorney services.

In addition to DeLeonardis’s role as full-time city attorney, Mayor Meg Kelly recently appointed him to chair the newly formed mayoral Charter Review Commission.

The Commission is made up of 10 members, all of whom work in City Hall. The Commission’s organizational meeting is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Tuesday on the first floor of City Hall.

The goal, Kelly said earlier this month, will be to find efficiencies and organizational improvements within the current commission form of government to better serve the people of Saratoga Springs.

A charter proposal will be submitted to city voters for a referendum in the November 2018 election.

Last November, a proposed charter by a now defunct Charter Review Commission lost by 10 votes.

The current charter, under the commission form of government, has an elected mayor and four elected commissioners who serve as members of the city council and supervisors of specific departments.

Last year’s proposed charter called for a councilmanager form of government, which would include a seven-member council that solely acts in a legislative capacity, and an appointed city manager who would run the day-to-day operations of city hall. The proposed charter, however, didn’t call for a full-time city attorney.

Commissioner of Accounts, John Franck, said the city, with a budget of $46 million, needs a fulltime attorney.

Commissioner of Public Safety Peter Martin, who like Madigan and Franck will serve on the new Charter Review Commission, said making the city attorney full-time is “the right thing for a city our size.”