How to resolve AdBlock issue? Candidate Would Invest Savings back into Public Safety budget.
SARATOGA SPRINGS— Saratoga TODAY Newspaper has learned that candidate for Saratoga Springs Commissioner of Public Safety Richard Wirth (R,I,C) will announce today that, if elected, he will leave the public safety department’s Deputy Commissioner vacant at the beginning of his term.
A conversation with Wirth revealed that he plans to re-invest the annual savings, estimated at approximately $100,000 in salary and benefits, back into the department budget for items such as equipment, additional police officer or firefighters.
“In Public Safety, we have two professional chiefs running their respective departments.” Wirth said. “My intention is to be a full-time commissioner that works directly with the police and fire chiefs. A deputy position is just an additional, expensive layer of bureaucracy that the taxpayers have to pay for. I’d eliminate it.”
Wirth continued, “That money is better spent on the street, on needed equipment, technology or personnel. We need less government and more safety.”
He said he would work to establish a public safety reserve fund instead of naming a deputy. That fund would be applied to the public safety operating budget as needed.
“In this day and age, we need to make sure that every dollar that we receive from the taxpayer is well-spent. I believe this puts the money where it should be for a safer Saratoga Springs.” Wirth said.
“I’m glad Rick Wirth is announcing this bold policy,” said Saratoga Springs Independence Party Chairman Edward Miller. “I can tell you that when he mentioned this possibility at our candidate interviews, he got the whole committee’s attention.”
“It’s a common sense policy that is absolutely brilliant—making sure that tax dollars are well-spent,” Miller continued. “Hopefully, this will stimulate other politicians to really examine their budgets as if it were their own money they were spending.”
