City Council

November 13, 2017 CITY OF SARATOGA SPRINGS City Council Meeting City Council Room 12:00 PM 12:00 PM CALL TO ORDER ROLL CALL SALUTE TO FLAG PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD / 15 MINUTES CONSENT AGENDA 1. Nothing at this time. MAYOR’S DEPARTMENT 1. Nothing at this time. ACCOUNTS DEPARTMENT 1. Discussion and Vote: Authorization for the Mayor to Sign Agreement with Fitzgerald Morris Baker and Firth FINANCE DEPARTMENT 1. Nothing at this time. PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT 1. Nothing at this time. PUBLIC SAFETY DEPARTMENT 1. Nothing at this time. SUPERVISORS 1. Nothing at this time. ADJOURN City Council Meeting 11/13/17 November 13, 2017 CITY OF SARATOGA SPRINGS City Council Meeting City Council Room 12:00 PM PRESENT: Michele Madigan, Commissioner of Finance John Franck, Commissioner of Accounts Anthony Scirocco, Commissioner of DPW STAFF PRESENT: Meg Kelly, Deputy Mayor (arrived 7:09 p.m.) Mike Sharp, Deputy Commissioner, Finance Maire Masterson, Deputy Commissioner, Accounts Vincent DeLeonardis ABSENT: Joanne Yepsen, Mayor Christian Mathiesen, Commissioner of DPS EXCUSED: Franck Coppola, Jr., Deputy Commissioner, DPW Eileen Finneran, Deputy Commissioner, DPS Matthew Veitch, Supervisor Peter Martin, Supervisor RECORDING OF PROCEEDING The proceedings of this meeting were taped for the benefit of the secretary. Because the minutes are not a verbatim record of the proceedings, the minutes are not a word-for-word transcript. CALL TO ORDER Commissioner Madigan called the meeting to order at 12:03 p.m. PUBLIC COMENT Commissioner Madigan said the public comment period is limited to a total of 15 minutes and individuals are limited to two minutes. Commissioner Madigan opened the public comment period at 12:04 p.m. Otis Maxwell of Saratoga Springs stated he objects to hiring a private attorney when we have 2 city attorneys. Susan Steer of Saratoga Springs stated she heard conflicting information regarding which attorney is being hired by the City. Her husband, Bob Turner, was chair of the Charter Commission. She comes to ask they Page 2 of 4 City Council Meeting 11/13/17 not hire an attorney with City funds, especially one that does not have experience in election law and if it is Mr. Aspland, one that is under an ethics violation. Phil Diamond of Saratoga Springs stated the best reason for change of government is the 3 clowns sitting at the table. The attorney they are hiring and the commissioners have no standing in this issue. Suzanne Kwasniewski of Saratoga Springs stated it was said to her that only fair way for the City to fund an attorney for this is to fund 2 attorneys; one for each side. Dillon Moran of Saratoga Springs stated he voted by absentee ballot. He is counting on the County Board of Elections. The poor treatment of the Commission saddens him. Dave Bronner of Saratoga Springs strongly urged the Council not to do this. This is a waste of tax payer money. Two members of the Council are grasping at straws trying to reverse the inevitable. The responsibility of determining validity of ballots is in the hands of the Board of Elections not some lawyer from Glens Falls at taxpayer money. John Boardman of Saratoga Springs asked the commissioners how they chose the attorney and what their qualifications are. Bob Turner, former chair of the Charter Commission and resident of Saratoga Springs stated It’s Time Saratoga will not be hiring an attorney for the absentee ballot opening. Using taxpayer money to hire an election attorney violates New York State Constitutional Act Part 8. He trusts the County Board of Elections to do its job and doesn’t know why they don’t trust them to do the count. Dean Higgins of 15 Saratoga Circle stated it surprises him that now an attorney is being hired when they should have had one from the beginning to advise them. Commissioner Madigan closed the public comment period at 12:17 p.m. ACCOUNTS DEPARTMENT Discussion and Vote: Authorization for the Mayor to Sign Agreement with Fitzgerald Morris Baker and Firth (17-361) Commissioner Franck moved and Commissioner Scirocco seconded to authorize the mayor to sign agreement with Fitzgerald Morris Baker and Firth at $300 per hour for a principal attorney and $225 per hour for an associate attorney; not to exceed $5,000. Commissioner Franck advised he received a call the day after the election from Wendy Liberatore of the Times Union stating Gordon Boyd made accusations the he as the city clerk told poll workers to not tell voters to turn over their ballots. That is false; he did not go to any election districts other than his own to vote. She also said he purposely did not adequately train the poll workers; he does not train poll workers, they are trained by the County. He also learned that day that Mayor Yepsen, Tony Izzo, Gordon Boyd, and Bob Turner met with Bill Frucci of the Board of Elections. Bob Turner’s first question was what does John Franck have to do with this and he was told he has nothing or than complaints and nothing to do with the ballot or votes. Questions were also asked about recounts and impounding the machines and an attorney was brought up. He has to protect his position here as he nothing to do with the vote and he has no standing to throw anything out; but attorneys were discussed by Bob Turner. He would love to use the City attorneys but can’t because they can’t serve 2 masters – the worked with the Charter Commission and the City Council. He is not looking for an attorney to change a vote or throw anything out; he just wants all the votes counted. He won’t appear there because he would be accused of giving secret signals to push a ballot to the side or something else. In 2012 he was sued as City Clerk by Saratoga Citizen, Inc. and we have legal back up for that by Brown and Weinraub. He received a quote from them in addition to Fitzgerald Morris and Town Ryan. We needed someone that could report back to the City Council how the Page 3 of 4 City Council Meeting 11/13/17 vote went and what attorneys were there trying to have votes stopped; he doesn’t want votes stopped he wants them all counted. Brown and Weinraub did not meet our insurance requirements so we went with the next quote. Their job is to observe and report back to the entire Council and our city attorneys. It’s Time Saratoga has been begging for money on Facebook over the past week so they could potentially go through the absentee ballot before he even mentioned an attorney. He had to use City money because he can’t use the City attorneys. He feels bad that the people that came forward were provided false information. It is just not true. If no lawyers show up tomorrow this will be simple; if there are attorneys they can tell us which attorneys objected to ballots and how many. Notice was out about the meeting properly as Lisa Shields, the mayor’s assistant sent an e-mail out to everyone advising of the special meeting and to get her any additional items that need to be on the agenda. Commissioner Madigan stated she will be supporting hiring Fitzgerald Morris as an observer; they are not to contest ballots. She has taken numerous pictures from Facebook where people should make donations so they can wage a fair fight. She can see this from Gordon Boyd, Pat Kane, and Otis Maxwell. Talk about using taxpayer funds, the assistant city attorney showed up with the mayor, Gordon Boyd and Bob Turner the morning after the elections to the Board of Elections. She heard conversations of impounding election machines and Commissioner Franck didn’t educate poll watchers properly. These are serious allegations. Their goal is to see all votes are counted and they are not there to contest. The city clerk deserves to be protected. The assistant city attorney received a text from the mayor at 11 p.m. election night. The talk of legal proceedings began with It’s Time Saratoga and the former Charter Commission, not the City Council. She would like to see the City heal; 50% voted in favor and 50% voted against it. Commissioner Scirocco stated he does not feel he will suffer in any way; they went through the budget process and his budget looks good for 2018. They want to be sure both sides are covered. We can’t send the city attorneys down there as they worked with the Charter Commission, not SUCCESS. He is going to support this. Tony Izzo, assistant city attorney, stated he does not recall the exact language of the text but there were no derogatory statements against and Council member or person. Commissioner Madigan stated she did not infer any derogatory statements made just she knew Tony was contacted late election night to go to the County. Ayes - All ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, Commissioner Madigan adjourned the meeting at 12:42 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Lisa Ribis Clerk Approved: 11/21/17 Vote: 5 - 0 Page 4 of 4