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BALLSTON SPA — Gordon Boyd launched his campaign this week as Democratic Party and Working Families Party nominee for County Supervisor from Saratoga Springs.
Two supervisor seats representing the city at the county level are up for vote in November. Current Supervisor Matt Veitch, a Republican, and former city Finance Commissioner Michele Madigan, a Democrat, both announced earlier that they will seek to occupy one of the two city supervisor seats in this fall’s election.
Boyd said public safety, fair housing and increased city representation at the county level are among his priorities.
“Getting more democracy in place is a way to bring out better outcomes,” said Boyd, publicly launching his campaign April 12 in front of the county Board of Elections building in Ballston Spa.
“One of the challenges we have is that Saratoga Springs has about 30,000 people. We have two supervisors, and they are on 6 positions on county Standing Committees. Now there is another group of 30,000 people who are represented by nine supervisors holding 28 positions on the Standing Committees, so, 6 versus 28. For an equal number of people,” said Boyd, who is advocating for a more population-aligned restructuring of how the decision-makers are appointed to the Board of Supervisors’ important Standing Committees. Members are currently appointed by the Board chair.
“My proposal would be to change the rules of the board as a first step and to have better representation for the larger population municipalities that is more in proportion to the number of taxpayers and people they represent,” Boyd said. “The population differential penalizes the larger municipalities, especially Saratoga Springs which probably generates 18-20% of the county’s revenue. If I were representing Clifton Park, Malta, Milton, Wilton, Moreau – any of the Northway corridor towns – I would want greater representation for my constituents as well, so it’s not just Saratoga Springs that’s being penalized.”
Boyd also raised issues around housing needs. “Our county’s housing prices and rents make it difficult for working families and individuals to find affordable homes.” Boyd’s solution: pushing for the county to educate its municipalities about zoning law reforms that could increase the overall housing supply, “make short-term rental owners pay their fair share of taxes,” and increase funding for supportive and transitional housing for those in need.
