Moran and Golub Play Fast And Loose With Senior Center Lease

There is a tentative plan for RISE Housing and Support Services to lease the building owned by the city of Saratoga Springs at 5 Williams Street that was used for many years as the city’s Senior Center. RISE hopes to locate its administrative offices there while Bonacio Construction renovates RISE’s office facility at 127 Union Street. Following the renovation, which is estimated to take six months to a year, RISE will relinquish the former Senior Center building and move back to their previous location.

Former Mayor Ron Kim’s history of trying to make the Senior Center into a twenty-four/seven, low-barrier homeless shelter has complicated the process for RISE. Given the Center’s proximity to the Saratoga Central Catholic School, Kim’s plan produced visceral opposition from parents whose children attended the school. This history has bred an atmosphere of fear and suspicion towards the current proposal for RISE to now use the facility.

The plan is now for the City Council to vote on a lease of the Senior Center at their August 6, 2024, meeting.

Regrettably, the agenda published on Friday, August 2, did not include an item authorizing the lease, nor was there a copy of what was being proposed.

How To Create A Toxic Environment

Normally the Commissioner of Public Works would be responsible for bringing a lease like this to the table as this office is responsible for the city’s buildings and facilities. For whatever reason, Jason Golub, the current Public Works Commissioner, has declined to play this role, although he has told people that he plans to vote to approve the lease.

Instead Golub has handed off this responsibility to Accounts Commissioner Dillon Moran. While we are told that Moran plans to put a proposed lease up for a Council vote Tuesday (August 6, 2024) this item does not appear on his agenda nor has any document been posted anywhere on the city website for public review.

Unconfirmed rumors of what will be in this proposed lease abound.

There are reports that at least three versions of the lease are circulating.

Moran has told people that the reason that the lease was not on the published agenda was that it needed further work.

As both Moran and Golub refuse to respond to my emails, I have been unable to find out why Golub has refused to sponsor the resolution or what changes Moran thinks are required.

One source claims that Moran has said that there will not be time to make the changes before the pre-agenda meeting on Monday morning, August 5. This means that neither the Council members nor the public will have seen the proposal prior to Moran asking the Council to take action on Tuesday night.

Golub’s Troubling Behavior

Discussions about this plan began last fall so there has been plenty of time to craft a lease and to properly inform the public of its contents and meet with citizens to hear their concerns. That responsibility rested clearly on Golub’s shoulders as DPW Commissioner. Why he has abrogated that responsibility and allowed Moran to take over is unknown.

The Need For A Special Meeting

I have repeatedly written about the Faction’s (Moran/Sanghvi/Golub) indifference to the need to inform the public in a timely way about actions the Council plans to take. Rather than publish proposed resolutions in the agenda, which is posted on Friday nights, they regularly prefer to wait until the Tuesday nights of Council meetings to share what they plan to do.

It is no wonder that the Catholic school community is skeptical about the lease’s terms.

The only solution is to table Moran’s proposal, hold a special Council meeting to consider it and publish the proposal prior to that meeting at a time that will ensure the community has time to consider it and address the Council with their concerns.