Phil Barrett Selected Chair, Matt Veitch Vice-Chair of Saratoga County Board Of Supervisors 2025; Announces County “Prepared To Close on Purchase” of Code Blue in Saratoga Springs
Surrogate Court Judge Jonathan Schopf administers the oath of office for town of Clifton Park Supervisor Philip Barrett, joined by his family, on Jan. 2, 2025. Barrett was selected to chair the Saratoga County Board of Supervisors in 2025. This will be Barrett’s second consecutive term as Board Chairman Photo provided.
BALLSTON SPA — Clifton Park Supervisor Phil Barrett was unanimously selected Chairman of the Board of Supervisors, and Saratoga Springs Supervisor Matt Veitch unanimously as vice-chair, during the Board’s annual Organizational Meeting, held at the county complex on Jan. 2. Each will serve in their respective positions during the 2025 calendar year and roles both Barrett and Veitch similarly served in 2024.
The county Board will oversee a $432 million budget in 2025.
The Board is comprised of 23 supervisors. Each of Saratoga County’s 21 municipalities have at least one elected supervisor; Saratoga Springs, and Clifton Park – the county’s most populous municipalities – each have two representatives.
“I want to thank my esteemed colleagues for their support and confidence to serve as chairman for the Saratoga County Board of Supervisors in 2025,” Barrett said.
“As we look to the future, meeting the challenges of the communities in the county is our responsibility,” said Barrett, adding that “following careful research we are now prepared to close on the purchase” of a $3 million, 1.4-acre parcel the county targeted as a permanent Code Blue program location on Route 50 in Saratoga Springs.
Barrett is currently serving in his 14th term as Clifton Park Town/County Supervisor.
“The assets and buildings owned by the county have served the residents of the county very well for many years. However, as the county population and workforce has grown in modern efficiencies and building codes have changed, we have undertaken a comprehensive facilities study to assess current conditions and the needs of the county for the next hundred years,” Barrett told supervisors on Jan. 2. “Studying and analyzing future options is in process (and) vital decisions for the future of the county will be made by this Board of Supervisors.”
Barrett added that new short-term rental regulations in the state will be reviewed with hospitality administrators as “challenges and opportunities to improve the current system are presented.”
In addition to his role as vice chairman of the board, Saratoga Springs Supervisor Matt Veitch will chair the county’s Law & Finance Committee, as well as serve on the Human Resources & Insurance Committee. Saratoga Springs Supervisor Michele Madigan will serve on the county Public Works Committee, and Veitch and Madigan will both serve on the Economic Development, and Trails & Open Space committees.
Historically, the first meeting of the Board of Supervisors was held in late May, 1791 at the dwelling house of Walter Meade, according to documents charting “Saratoga County Supervisors 1779-1877,” made available by current county historian Lauren Roberts.
Meade was an innkeeper in Stillwater, and that initial meeting included representatives of Ballston, Halfmoon, Saratoga and Stillwater.
By 1820, the number of supervisors had grown to 19 in number, and included – for the first time – Saratoga Springs, which was represented by Ashbel Andrews. Andrews lived at the corner of Broadway and Washington streets and was elected Supervisor of the newly minted “town” of Saratoga Springs at the first town meeting – staged at Broadway’s Union Hall on March 7, 1820. The town of Saratoga Springs would six years later be incorporated as a “village” and subsequently as a “city” in the next century.