Change to mayor’s role considered
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. » The Charter Review Commission met Wednesday afternoon to further discuss potential changes to the charter.
One of the topics discussed was making the mayor serve as one of the city’s two county supervisors.
Peter Martin, commissioner of public safety who was previously a county supervisor, said it would be more efficient and costeffective for the city. The county pays supervisors $18,000, while City Council members make $14,500 each year.
However, the commission members stressed the importance of receiving public input before making decisions to change the current charter. The commission scheduled its first public forum for May 30 at the City Council room at 6 p.m. A questionnaire will also be available to the public in the near future to give the commission a better idea of what the public wants, officials said.
Throughout the twohour meeting, topics discussed included City Council salaries, two- versus four-year terms and the
qualifications of deputies, among others.
The 10-member commission, created by Mayor Meg Kelly, has been tasked with making recommendations to review the city’s existing charter. The goal, Kelly said, 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 vote on a proposed charter — which would have changed the form of government from the commission form to the council-manager form — failed 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 council-manager 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-today operations of city hall.
On the new commission, Vince DeLeonardis, the city attorney, serves as chair, while Michael Sharp, deputy commissioner of finance, serves as vice chair and John Daley, deputy commissioner of public safety, serves as secretary.
On Wednesday, Sharp recommended the salary language for City Council members be pulled out of the charter. He said a resolution already exists to allow a salary to be established by the City Council. Martin agreed with Sharp, and said a way to establish salaries could be to potentially create an independent citizens committee to recommend a salary to be voted on by the City Council through a local law.
Additionally, the memebers also discussed term limits.
Currently, commissioners, including the mayor, serve two-year terms, which commissioner of accounts John Franck said worked well because running for office every other year lets officials get to know voters.
A possibility that was floated was the mayor having a four-year term versus commissioners serving twoyear terms.
Finally, the topic of qualifications for deputies was mentioned. Right now, the City Council has the option to set qualifications for deputies, which was established in 2001 the last time there was a change to the charter.
But, as with term lengths and salaries, the commission members said they will wait for public opinion before deciding the language and potential changes.
The next meeting the commission will discuss the mayor’s role overall, among other topics.