Kuczynski To Be Write-In Candidate for Special Election: The Marriage of Two Manipulators- Kuczynski and Moran

“I would look at it this way, I am a temporary appointee for the Commissioner of Public Works. I am not a candidate to run in a special election. So, I have no political agenda, I don’t have to do any political posturing and think about getting elected.”

Hank Kuczynski to WAMC October 30, 2024

Hank Kuczynski assured the members of the Saratoga Springs City Council and the public that he would only serve as the city’s Public Works Commissioner on an interim basis until there was an election when the Council was considering him for an appointment to fill the vacancy created when former Commissioner Jason Golub resigned. It now turns out that Kuczynski has accepted the Democratic Committee’s endorsement to be their write-in candidate for the Commissioner of Public Works position in the upcoming special election to fill the post.

Earlier this year, I had a telephone conversation with Kuczynski. I had learned that Accounts Commissioner Dillon Moran planned to put his name forward to serve as the temporary appointment. He assured me, as he had others, that he was offering his name with the understanding that he would only be a placeholder to fill in. He emphasized this with a grandiloquent statement that he simply wanted to serve the city, but only briefly.

The October 29, 2024, a Times Union subheading read, “Democrat and former deputy mayor joined City Council on Tuesday, but said he won’t run in the special election Jan. 28.”

Mayor Safford offered this in the October 29, 2024, edition of the Saratogian.

“I’m not here for politics, I’m here for the city. We have been discussing Mr. Kaczynski (sic) status as someone who can come in do that job until we can get the election done, which is something that we have finally agreed on, and I’m hoping that we can solidify the that election is going to be on January 28 so that Mr. Kaczynski (sic) knows how much time he’s going to have to commit to this.”[JK: emphasis added]

Granted, people have a right to change their minds, but in Kuczynski’s case, when he sought the appointment, he assured people he would not be “political” and use the appointment as a jumping off base for a run for office. It’s fair to assume that this promise was instrumental in getting support for his appointment.

Having known Mr. Kuczynski for many years, none of this was a surprise. Kuczynski prides himself as being a skilled poker player, and, regrettably, he brings this same attitude and ethics to politics.

From the beginning, the entire process of his appointment was tainted with intrigue.

Moran and Kuczynski’s Tainted Appointment

On August 4, 2024, Sarah Burger was officially endorsed by the Saratoga Springs Democratic Committee to be appointed to fill the DPW Commissioner vacancy and to be their candidate in the special election. Due to technical issues, the endorsement was reaffirmed at a later meeting. It was assumed that there would be a special election, and with the enrollment advantages enjoyed by the Democrats, she would have an easy path to victory.

Unfortunately, for Burger, loyalty, fairness, and transparency are rare commodities in the ugly world that constitutes the inner workings of those who lead the committee.

It was necessary to fill the DPW vacancy until a special election could be held. Reliable sources have informed this blogger that Moran and Finance Commissioner Minita Sanghvi, working with Democratic Chair Otis Maxwell, decided to jettison Burger and get Kuczynski appointed instead. In a classic example of closed-door dealing, the three shut out the other city committee members. In fact, reflecting the cynicism of this whole business, they did not even have the courtesy to inform Sarah Burger of their decision to make this move. Remember, the committee had officially endorsed her to be appointed.

Moran’s desire to sideline Burger is not surprising. As well documented by this blog, Moran relies on aggression and bullying. Sarah Burger, who is on the New York State Democratic Committee’s executive board and who had previously served as chair of the city’s Democratic Committee, was not one to be intimidated. I expect that Moran viewed Burger as a rival who needed to be eliminated.

Having engineered Kuczynski’s appointment, neither Moran nor Maxwell submitted Burger’s nomination papers to the Saratoga County Board of Elections to get her on the ballot for the special election.

When Burger discovered that her nominating papers had not been delivered to the Board of Elections, she sent urgent messages to Maxwell and Moran that the papers needed to be delivered. Unfortunately for Burger, her messages were ignored. So, in the end, only Burger’s Republican opponent, Chuck Marshall, would have his name on the ballot.

In a bizarre twist that ignored reality, Moran, who had not bothered to do any legal research, announced at a December Council meeting that the special election would not be happening and that his friend, Kuczynski, would now serve out the vacancy through the end of 2025.

When a judge ruled that there would be an election and that only one candidate would appear, Moran’s fantasies were exposed and the embarrassing truth was revealed.

Kuczynski now cloaks himself as the defender of Democracy. Kuczynski, having assured everyone that he earnestly was not interested in anything but a brief interlude as Commissioner, is now willing to “sacrifice” by running for DPW Commissioner as a write-in because he claims “this is not Russia” and voters should have choices. Aside from the unfortunate fact that many elections in the US are uncontested, I believe if a Democrat were the only candidate on the ballot, Kuczynski, who sees himself as a seasoned political operative, would not be going out to recruit a Republican to be a write-in candidate.

For those of us familiar with both Moran and Kuczynski, none of this is a surprise. The ordeal of this city continues.