Commissioner Moran Resurrects His Very Bad Idea to Hire More Lawyers

Back in April, Saratoga Springs Accounts Commissioner Dillon Moran published a Request for Proposals that would fund attorneys for his Accounts Department along with the Finance Department, and the Department of Public Works. I described his power move in some detail that month.

I had assumed he had dropped the idea but recently he received responses from a number of law firms. He has selected the firm Howard Beach. The award of a contract was put on his agenda for the August 20, 2024, meeting. His proposal was met with intense questioning from Mayor Safford at this morning’s (August 19,2024) pre-agenda meeting. Safford was concerned that Dillon’s proposal lacked any specific guidelines as to when and how the Howard Beach firm would be used by the three departments. Moran bizarrely argued that the guidelines could be figured out after the firm was hired. In the end it was clear that Moran did not have the votes to accept this contract and withdrew that item from his agenda.

If Moran is eventually successful, the toxic environment at Council meetings would then include dueling lawyers at who knows what cost to the city.

It is worth noting that at a Council meeting on October 18, 2022, Finance Commissioner Minita Sanghvi sided with then Mayor Ron Kim in opposing a similar proposal by Moran to have the city fund an attorney for him. Here is the record of that discussion:

At the time Kim and Moran were feuding and Sanghvi was Kim’s ally. Sanghvi has been silent on Moran’s latest foray and was not at this morning’s Pre-Agenda meeting

Comments

I sent requests to the three candidates that I am currently aware of seeking to fill the DPW Commissioner vacancy. I asked them to review Moran’s proposal and offer their thoughts. Sara Burger and Michael Ladd did not respond. The following is the response from Chuck Marshall:

“Commissioner Moran’s pattern of alleged mistreatment of staff, increasing litigation, and propensity for shifting responsibilities away from himself, has proven problematic for the city.  During this period of mounting legal bills – already burdening taxpayers – it doesn’t seem fiscally responsible to contract for separate attorneys for Accounts, Finance, and Public Works.”

Moran’s Empire

With the resignation of Jason Golub, Moran has taken it on himself to represent DPW at the Council table thus expanding his presence.