Changes Coming To City Council

SARATOGA SPRINGS — This week, the City Council began floating potential options about how they would go about hiring an interim member to fill a vacant governing seat. With elected officials currently holding nearly half the top seats in city government that could be vacated by January, it is a process the remaining members of the council might have to revisit in short order. 

The Saratoga Springs City Council is comprised of five members – the mayor and four commissioners, and two supervisors are additionally elected to represent the city of Saratoga Springs at the county level. Those seven seats are each up for vote every two years, next in November 2025. 

This week, DPW Commissioner Jason Golub announced he will be stepping off the City Council next month to accept a position with the State as General Counsel for the Department of Corrections. 

“It’s a really challenging role that I’m super excited for, but I will obviously miss the work that we’re doing here,” Golub said July 16 during a City Council meeting attended by about 20 people who had made their way inside City Hall shortly after a major summer storm blew through the region.  

“The people who work for DPW are amazing and have really made this job for me something special,” said Golub, adding that his new employment begins Aug. 19. “I will greatly miss the DPW employees, and they should get all the credit for everything we’ve done in Public Works the past few years.”   

In 2022, Golub, a Democrat, became the first black person to serve on the Saratoga Springs City Council. He was initially selected to the seat by unanimous City Council approval shortly following the April 2022 death of longtime Commissioner of Public Works Anthony “Skip” Scirocco. That November, Golub secured victory in an election specifically held for that seat to fill the remainder of the term – through the calendar year 2023. Golub was re-elected during normal council elections in November 2023 to serve through December 2025. 

The Public Works Department is responsible for the repair, replacement, and maintenance of all of the public ways, streets and highways in Saratoga Springs. 

In addition to leading their own respective departments, the five sitting City Council members – one mayor and four commissioners – each have one equal vote to decide city matters under the city’s Commission Form of Government. The seats are all up for vote every two years, next in November 2025 for a position that begins January 2026.  

It is unclear whether approval of an interim DPW Commissioner by the four remaining council members this year would extend for the duration of the term, which is slated through December 2025.  

City Charter states: In case of a vacancy caused by other than expiration of term, the Council shall appoint a person to fill such vacancy until the end of the official year in which said vacancy occurs. If the term of office of the officer vacating the office continues beyond the official year in which said vacancy occurs, a person shall be elected at a special election held after the occurrence of such vacancy to fill such vacancy for the remainder of the unexpired term.

In addition to Golub’s announced departure, two other Democrats – Finance Commissioner Minita Sanghvi and city Supervisor Michele Madigan – have announced their candidacy for new positions to be decided in elections held in November.   

Sanghvi is running against Republican incumbent James Tedisco to represent the 44th Senate District; Madigan is seeking to become Saratoga County Treasurer, a position which Republican Committee endorsed JoAnn Kupferman currently is seated as Acting County Treasurer. 

Should either City Council member Sanghvi or City Supervisor Madigan emerge victorious in their respective election bids, their new terms would not begin until calendar year 2025. As such, it is anticipated members of the Saratoga Springs City Council would vote to fill those potential vacancies on an interim basis for the duration of the term ending December 2025 with no “special” election necessary.