On the preliminary agenda for Tuesday night’s (5/3/22) Saratoga Springs City Council meeting is yet another meaningless public hearing. The current City Council members confuse scheduling public hearings with providing a real opportunity for public input. They repeatedly have scheduled these hearings but neglect to tell the public what it is they are being invited to comment on. The public hearing on amending the “City code Re: Alcohol Sales and Use ” is just the latest example of this.

This time I presume it is Accounts Commissioner Dillon Moran who is responsible for this hearing. I’m guessing this has to do with some of the ideas he threw out at the last City Council meeting about extending outdoor alcohol consumption in public spaces but who really knows since the specific wording of the changes to the city code are not provided.

What is the point of asking the public to comment on a change to the city code if the public is not provided with a copy of the proposed language? The devil is always in the details so seeing the proposed changes in writing is essential for the public to be able to constructively respond.

This is just another unfortunate example of this new Council claiming to provide transparency as they stumble forward.