Homelessness Takes Center Stage at City Council Meeting

It was both a somber and celebratory night at the latest Saratoga Springs City Council meeting. 

The meeting took place on Jun 17. During the meeting, topics such as homelessness, a parade to honor Saratoga’s Baseball team and a new police horse took priority. City Council also held a moment of silence for two lawmakers recently killed in Minnesota. 

Homelessness

Homelessness was on everyone’s mind during the public comment portion of the meeting. All but two of the residents who spoke expressed concerns about what the city is doing to help the homeless population. 

Most of those who spoke advocated for low barrier homeless shelters and expressed concerns over an ordinance in the works that they worried would criminalize homelessness in the City of Saratoga Springs. 

The ordinance in question — entitled “Camping prohibited on certain public property” — would replace an ordinance passed in 2016 sought to prevent people from obstructing public sidewalks by sitting or laying in them. While Commissioner of Public Safety Tim Coll told reporters that the ordinance hadn’t been finalized yet, he did give some hint as to what it would look like during the meeting. 

Coll said the ordinance on the books right now isn’t enforced due to court rulings as well as being too vague for officers to properly enforce. The new ordinance would model one that was implemented by Grants Pass Oregon and upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2024. 

“In substance, the new ordinance is going to say you can’t camp in a public parking garage, a public parking lot, a public gazebo or a public sidewalk,” Coll said. 

Coll said the new ordinance would specifically outline what camping materials entailed and expressed his views that it is “not humane” to allow people to live on the street. He also said the ordinance came after hearing from the business community who worried about the safety of their employees, particularly at night. 

Commissioner of Finance Minita Sanghvi also spoke on the topic, clarifying that while the city paid for homeless shelters, it was not something that fell within their charter responsibilities. Instead, according to Commissioner Sanghvi, it was typically the responsibility of the county. 

Mayor John Safford also spoke, expressing his concern for the over 100 children facing homelessness in Saratoga Springs. 

A hearing on the proposed ordinance is set for July 1.

Police Department Gets a New Horse

A lease on a new police horse was approved at the meeting. The horse, named Sly, will be a familiar face to officers as it’s the same one they had to rescue from a frozen pond back in February. The 23-year-old horse has been leased free of charge to the department with the department just having to cover vet bills. 

According to Coll, the horse will help supplement the department at a time when one of their other horses, named Appollo, is set to retire due to old age. 

Parade for Baseball Teams Planned

Two of Saratoga’s baseball teams will receive a parade this coming week. The Saratoga Springs High School baseball team and the Saratoga Central Catholic School Baseball teams are both state champions this year — winning the titles on the same day. While certain details still need to be ironed out, according to city council the plan is for the parade to be on Broadway from Congress Park to Saratoga Springs City Hall on June 25. 

While there had been some discussion of the parade taking place on the sidewalk, the council was in agreement that a parade through the street would be more appropriate. 

Other Items of Note. 

Other items on the agenda for the meeting included a presentation on needed changes to the main Department of Public Works garage, the withdrawal of multiple ordinances regarding updated city employee pay due to the need to discuss them further and several jokes made by city council members about the lamas which followed them during the recent Flag Day Parade.