Saratoga Springs Approves Jan. 28 “Special” Election for Vacant Council Seat 

SARATOGA SPRINGS —It is the day some of the music world’s biggest stars came together to record the song “We Are The World,” and the day of tragedy when millions watched NASA’s Space Shuttle Challenger explode shortly after liftoff on live TV. January 28 marks the date Jackson Pollock was born, the date W.B. Yeats died, and in 2025 will potentially be the day when voters in Saratoga Springs head to local polls to elect a member who will fill the City Council’s vacant fifth seat. 

The City Council on Oct. 15 approved a resolution to request a “special” election be held Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025 to elect a Commissioner of Public Works/City Council member. 

The Jan. 28 proposal now heads to the Saratoga County Board of Elections to seek the approval of county election commissioners Cassandra Bagramian (D) and Joseph Suhrada (R) and onward for the ultimate approval from the state Board of Elections. 

The Commissioner of Public Works is departmentally responsible for oversight of Saratoga Springs’ street and highway maintenance, its buildings and grounds, and for ensuring that the water system provides sufficient quantities of safe potable water, among other duties. 

The position also plays a role in the legislative body of city government by placing the commissioner at the City Council table. The Council proposes and enacts legislation and establishes policy for the city. The mayor and four commissioners form the five-member City Council, and having five members is key in potentially acting as a tiebreaking vote in any deadlocked city-related decisions at the table where majority rules.    

The seat has been vacant for two months. Prior DPW Commissioner Jason Golub announced his pending resignation in mid-July with a departure date in mid-August. The remaining four-member City Council had been unable to come to majority consensus regarding how it should proceed to fill the seat, until this week’s agreement on a “special” election date.  

Additional resolutions aimed at finding a temporary solution by appointing someone as DPW Commissioner/City Council member, however, were unsuccessful. Those plans sought to first appoint members to an ad hoc committee to invite, interview and recommend – in a non-binding way – qualified candidates to assist the council in determining who would meet their ultimate approval. A revised version may potentially be presented at the council’s next scheduled meeting in early November.  

The term of the seat to be filled, like all current City Council seats, would be active through Dec. 31, 2025.