SARATOGA SPRINGS — Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner (D-Round Lake) is calling for a 20% increase to Medicaid reimbursement rates in the 2023-24 state budget to support upstate nursing homes. 

“Our upstate nursing homes are on the verge of collapse,” said Woerner, during a press conference held this week. “They have hundreds of beds that can’t be filled due to staffing shortages caused by lack of funds. While I am grateful that the Assembly’s one-house budget doubled the executive’s proposed paltry increase of only 5%, the need for a full 20% increase remains. Without that increase, many homes supporting the elders in our communities will be forced to shut their doors, and we cannot allow this to happen.” 

A systemic rebasing strategy, one that is based on current costs, is also critically needed if the rate is to keep up with the cost of providing care, Woerner added. 

Medicaid reimbursements rates -- the amounts Medicaid provides to cover patient health care costs — for upstate nursing homes have not increased in 15 years in New York. Nursing homes’ operating costs have meanwhile increased around 40% over the last several years, leading to shortfalls in what the nursing homes charge for service and what they receive. 

Medicaid pays for care for many nursing home residents across the state. At The Wesley Community, 75% of residents are paid for by Medicaid, yet it only covers part of the actual costs of care, according to J. Brian Nealon, CEO of The Wesley Community in Saratoga Springs. 

“With every Medicaid resident we care for, Wesley loses $106 per day. Annually, this means underfunding of $8,500,000,” Nealon wrote in an editorial published Feb. 16 in Saratoga TODAY. 

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Wesley was able to approach breakeven in some years through alternative revenue streams and donations from the community. 

“That is no longer the case. Due to this shortfall, community-focused, nonprofit nursing homes statewide are closing or being sold to private ‘for-profit’ operators at an alarming rate. In Saratoga County alone, the number of nursing home beds has dropped by 55% in the last decade,” said Nealon, adding that 26 other states have increased their Medicaid funding during the pandemic, whereas New York reduced its reimbursement rates during that time. 

The result of the underfunding by the state has forced many nursing homes, including Wesley, to limit admissions, and without available beds, hospitals cannot discharge patients who would have traditionally gone to a nursing home for rehabilitation. 

“The governor’s recently released Executive Budget, with a proposed 5% increase, is a start, but still falls short of what is needed after years of underfunding,” Nealon said. 

Assemblywoman Woerner said that a 20% increase will shore up the finances of upstate nursing homes and allow them to operate and provide care to the people who need it most. 

BALLSTON SPA — This week, The Saratoga County Board of Supervisors and the Saratoga County Veterans Service Agency held its monthly Honor Deceased Veterans Program by honoring longtime Saratoga Springs resident and Tuskegee Airman Clarence Dart. 

Dart flew 95 missions overseas during World War II. Twice, he survived being shot down by the enemy. He grew up during the Great Depression. As a child, his clothing came from the Salvation Army. Much of his food was grown in the family garden in Elmira. He built model airplanes as a child and had a yearning to fly.

The day after his 21st birthday, on Dec. 7, 1941, Dart was singing in his church choir when he heard about the attack on Pearl Harbor. The young man knew what he wanted to do. The following year, he was accepted into flight training at the Tuskegee Army Air Field, joining other young men who had enlisted to become America’s first black military airmen. 

Dart served as a member of the 332nd Fighter Group and was assigned to the 99th Fighter Squadron in the 12th Air Force in North Africa. He was one of about 1,000 fighter pilots who painted the tails of their airplanes red, earning the nickname, “Red Tails.” They were trained as a segregated unit and forbidden to practice alongside their white counterparts. 

Dart later flew P-51s escorting 15th Air Force bombers and was discharged from active duty at the rank of Captain in 1947.  He went on to serve in the NY Air National Guard and retired at the rank of Lt. Colonel.

For his service Dart received two Purple Hearts for injuries sustained during air combat, the Air Medal, Distinguished Flying Cross with 4 Oak Leaf Clusters, the WWII Victory Medal, and the American Defense Medal, the NYS Conspicuous Service Cross, and the NYS Conspicuous Service Star.

While he fought for President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s four freedoms, when Dart returned home from the war there was no heroic welcome, and no job that was available to him to fulfill his dream of being a commercial airplane pilot.

The accomplishments of the Tuskegee Airmen are credited with influencing President Harry Truman to officially desegregate the U.S. military in 1948. It was the same year Dart relocated to Saratoga Springs. He married his wife, Mildred, in June 1950 and the couple raised their family of seven daughters and two sons in the Spa City. 

After the war, Dart worked for General Electric Co. until his retirement in 1987, after which he began visiting schools and talking to students about his experiences in the war, explaining to them the importance of getting an education as a way of bettering themselves and creating opportunities. It was only after Dart began to speak about his wartime experiences at the request of neighborhood schools that his own children began to truly understand some of their father’s experiences. 

It took more than 60 years for recognition to come for the humble man from Elmira. In 2007, Dart was awarded a Congressional Gold Medal, alongside other Tuskegee Airmen in the Capitol Rotunda, and in 2011 was honored locally at the Wesley Community senior housing facility where he resided at the time. Dart died in 2012. He was 91 and was buried with military honors at the family plot at Greenridge Cemetery on Lincoln Avenue.

Established in 1999 by the Saratoga County Board of Supervisors, the Honor Deceased Veterans Program provides a way for county leadership and residents to show gratitude for the service of veterans past and present. The ceremony is dedicated to a different Saratoga County veteran each month.  To date, more than 300 Saratoga County Veterans have been honored.

To learn more about Clarence Dart, in his own words, go online to YouTube and search: Clarence W. Dart. 

BALLSTON SPA — Cropped. Trimmed. Sheared. Exposed. Ballston Spa Mayor Frank Rossi kept his head up while sticking his neck out and after all was said and done raised about $15,000 to supporting research in finding cures for childhood cancers. 

It was the first time the mayor took part in the event, an annual fundraiser for the St. Baldrick’s Foundation. Rossi vowed to shave his head if 20 or more Ballston Spa Scotties athletes and coaches joined the drive. And so, they did. 

“I was a little scared about it at first because it was the first time I ever shaved my head,” the mayor said, following the event held at the Saratoga City Tavern Saturday. The next day, the chill carrying wind made its presence felt upon his exposed scalp. “I was feeling it on Sunday, but thankfully someone gave me a Scotties Lacrosse hat, so I was able to stay somewhat warm,” Rossi said with a laugh. 

The St. Baldrick’s Foundation is a volunteer and donor-powered charity supporting research to find cures for childhood cancers and to help provide survivors long and healthy lives. Last year, the organization raised more than $20 million. Thus far, in the early months of 2023, nearly $11.5 million has been raised. 

Rossi said he set an initial fundraising goal of $1,000 for his Mayor’s Team. About $15,000 was raised, Rossi said. 

Would he return to the scene of the shears next year? 

“I absolutely would do this again, and I’d like to see if we can get a little rivalry going with other schools to see who can raise the most,” Rossi said. 

SARATOGA SPRINGS — This week, the Department of Public Safety released its annual report for the 2022 calendar year. 

The city’s Public Safety Department is comprised of a full-time Administrative Office Staff, a Police Department, Fire Department, Code Enforcement Division, Central Dispatch, Traffic Maintenance, Animal Control Officers and a Health Officer. There are approximately 167 full-time employees, and 11 part-time employees – the latter of whom work as school crossing guards, vehicle traffic controllers, part-time cleaners and clerks, and summer laborers at the traffic garage.

The Police Department specifically is currently staffed with a chief, 4 lieutenants, 10 sergeants, 10 investigators, and 47 patrol officers. 

The Department ended the 2022 calendar year with eight vacant patrol positions and the loss of the assistant chief’s position. In 2022, 14 new police officers were hired and trained, 10 were lost through retirements or resignations and 2 new hires left to pursue a career with the New York State Police. Six patrol officers are currently in the police academy and will be available for patrol in May, according to the report. 

Some Findings in the 2022 Report:

• During the year, members of the Saratoga Springs Police Department responded to 26,186 calls for service. Officers generated 3,933 cases that resulted in 821 arrests. Of the individuals arrested, 57% were not residents of the city of Saratoga Springs. 

• The most frequent type of calls were property checks (2,596), followed by traffic stops (2,277). 

• Reported crimes, in number: Larceny (414); Burglary (74); Aggravated Assault (61); Rape (18); Robbery (11), Motor Vehicle Theft (9). The three months with the most reported crimes were, in order: July, May, and June. 

• A separate, “Reported Crimes Part II” detail: Simple Assault (369); Criminal Mischief (189); Driving Under the Influence (119), and Controlled Substance Sale and/or Possession (101) as the most frequent in this category. 

• Driving Under the Influence returned the most arrests (120), followed by Simple Assault (100), Criminal Mischief (67), Larceny (62), and Controlled Substance Possession (62). 

• Of the 26,186 calls for service handled by members of the SSPD, 72 resulted in a use of force by SSPD standards, or 0.27% of the total calls for service. Of the 72 Use of Force reports documented by the SSPD, 26 meet the requirements for reporting by New York State, or 0.1% of the total calls for service. In 2022, 56% of all use of force incidents occurred between midnight and 4 a.m. Officers were injured during suspect encounters in 6 separate incidents in 2022.

• Saratoga Springs Police responded to 1,683 traffic collisions resulting in 998 accident reports being completed in 2022. One of the collisions involved a fatality. Officers conducted 2,280 traffic stops in 2022 and issued 1,686 Uniform Traffic Tickets. Of the tickets issued, 132 were for Driving While Intoxicated. Most crashes, Day of the Week: Friday. The highest number of crashes took place during the month of August.

SARATOGA SPRINGS – Parking spaces make for sacred places during the Spa City’s heaviest trafficked times, inspiring motorists to navigate a busy Broadway seeking a free spot of convenience to temporarily stash their vehicle. 

The Collamer lot, as it is often referred to, stands just north of City Hall and for several decades has hidden amid the camouflage of plain sight, a welcome respite for wheeled roadsters yearning for rapid runs to any one of the many fine sidewalk coffeehouses lining main street or aid in the undertaking of some quick storefront shopping, alike. 

With quiet suddenness one recent morning, the lot, long unbothered save for a two-hour parking limitation, was discovered in an altered state festooned with a proliferation of tall metal poles upon which were posted signs warning all who enter: Private Parking. All Others Will Be Towed. Of course, the new, mammoth city parking structure welcoming motorists stands a mere few dozen yards away. But, still. 

So, what gives? 

As it turns out, the city of Saratoga Springs, which owned the lot, sold it about 16 months ago to Algonquin LLC for approximately $1.2 million. 

“They finally, I am told, exercised their control over it,” said Saratoga Springs City Attorney Tony Izzo, when asked about it. “It was a situation where they needed to do that, because the public was essentially still viewing it as a public parking lot. Now that they’ve put the signs up, it should be very clear to the public that it’s a private parking lot.” 

Izzo said there were some discussions with the owner’s attorneys regarding whether or not the city might subsequently lease a part of the lot, but that did not happen. “The city wanted to sell it and be done with it.” 

The space had once sited the Pavilion Hotel – built in 1819 and felled by a fire in the 1840s. In 1857, the First Presbyterian Church was built atop the lot at a cost of $3,000 and supplemented with an organ to provide the public “the pleasure of hearing its tone and power,” according to published reports of the time. 

The church stood for 119 years, itself destroyed by a fire of suspicious origin in the pre-dawn hours of the last Thursday of January 1976. Flames from the blaze shot up as high as 200 feet according to eyewitnesses and was first discovered by then-23-year-old Saratoga Springs patrolman Frank Max. Max, now 70 years of age and still living locally, said when contacted for this article last week, that he vaguely remembers seeing smoke coming from the building while he was walking his beat.  As a result of the fire, three policemen and a firefighter were injured and 60 residents of the adjacent Algonquin apartment house and the Collamer building were evacuated from the safety of their abodes. 

Nearly a decade ago, the parcel was to be coupled with a land sale in an acquisition that sought to develop an east side fire station. And in 2008, the city contemplated various proposals from three different development groups that included the sale of the so-called Collamer and High Rock lots in exchange for a new public safety facility, a parking garage, retail/residential buildings and potentially a city-wide paid parking system. None of the proposals ultimately came to fruition.    

A plaque fixed to a stone outside the building told the history of the church, although that plaque has gone missing and today only a naked stone remains. 

More changes are planned for the lot in the future. A site plan filed with the city of Saratoga Springs last September calls for a proposed mixed-use project to include approximately 4,000 sq. ft. commercial space and 112 residential units on the upper floors. The proposed project is titled Algonquin Properties Re-Development. The applicant is The Algonquin, LLC, of Monsey, N.Y.

There are also plans for a portion of the parking area of the lot itself. 

“We’ve rented a number of the spaces to a number of people in the Collamer (building) and at City Hall,” says Will Borchers, manager at the Algonquin. “In a couple of weeks, we’re also going to implement a paid parking system - by the hour, or by the day.” That system will be using an app and a QR code and will feature somewhere around three dozen spaces. 

SARATOGA SPRINGS - Less than 15 months have passed since the start of their respective two-year terms, and the next vote-casting day is scheduled to take place more than 33 weeks away. 

Cue the candidates for the November 2023 election. 

Last month, the Saratoga Springs Democratic Committee announced their endorsed slate of candidates for this year’s city election. This week, the Saratoga Springs Republican Committee followed suit.   

The Democratic Committee endorsed each of the five current City Council members – all of whom are Democrats. Those incumbents are:  Ron Kim for Mayor, Minita Sanghvi for Commissioner of Finance, Jim Montagnino for Commissioner of Public Safety, Jason Golub for Commissioner of Public Works and Dillon Moran for Commissioner of Accounts. Additionally, Gordon Boyd was endorsed by the committee as Supervisor to represent the city at the county level. 

This week, the Saratoga Springs Republican Committee announced their nomination of “three strong candidates,” said city GOP Chairman Mike Brandi. “While the current City Council and Democratic Committee consume themselves with politics and petty squabbles, the Saratoga Springs Republican Committee remains focused on what really matters: delivering candidates who will provide effective, competent, and transparent government for the residents of Saratoga Springs.”

The endorsed candidates are: John Safford for Mayor, Matt Veitch – running for reelection to a ninth term as County Supervisor, and Tim Coll for Public Safety. 

Safford, a Vietnam Veteran and small-business entrepreneur, was previously unsuccessful in a 2015 bid to unseat incumbent Mayor Joanne Yepsen and in his 2021 run for Supervisor.    

Veitch has served as Supervisor since 2008, advocating for the city of Saratoga Springs at the county level. 

Coll, who worked as a Special Agent of the FBI for 30 years, is seeking the position of Commissioner of Public Safety. Coll received the unanimous endorsement of the Saratoga Springs Republican Committee. He is also a registered Democrat. 

“Tim Coll is indisputably qualified for this position,” said Chairman Brandi, adding that Coll will bring decades of law enforcement and leadership experience with the FBI to “repair and restore the toxic environment that is poisoning the public safety department under the current Commissioner… the Committee is proud to put politics aside to support a candidate as qualified and motivated to serve our city as Tim is.” 

Coll says he decided to run because over concerns about “the potential impact of the mismanagement that currently plagues the Public Safety Department.” Coll said after being “denied the opportunity to address the full Democratic Committee for their support,” he sought the endorsement of city Republican leadership. “While I am a registered Democrat, I refuse to be drawn into the tribalism of Democrats vs. Republicans.” 

Coll’s campaign manager is Jane Weihe, a past chair of Saratoga Springs Democratic Committee. Weihe was previously unsuccessful in her bid as city Finance Commissioner in 2007 and in a mayoral run in 1987. She is married to local political blogger John Kaufman. Coll said he plans on being on the November ballot as a Democrat with GOP endorsement.

The City Council is comprised of five councilmembers – one mayor and four commissioners. Saratoga Springs is additionally represented at the county by two supervisors. Elections for all seven seats are held every two years. 

In addition to the six candidates endorsed by the city Democratic Committee overall and the three thus far nominated by the city Republican Committee, former city Finance Commissioner Michele Madigan recently announced she will be vying for a seat as Saratoga County Supervisor, and former Public Safety Commissioner Chris Mathiesen said he will run for Mayor.  All potential candidates will now be soliciting signatures in order participate in the election, making for a busy Primary and Election season in Saratoga Springs. 

The 2023 Election Cycle Calendar points to Primary Elections, where applicable, on June 27, with Early Voting June 17-25. The General Election will be held Nov. 7, with Early Voting Oct. 28-Nov. 5. This year, an election will be held in Saratoga Springs for all five City Council seats – that is, the mayor and four commissioners, as well as both Supervisor positions. 

Countywide, registered Republican make up approximately 35.8% of all registered voters, with Democrats charting 29.2% and “blanks” - or registered voters not enrolled in any party - accounting for 27.6%. 

In the city of Saratoga Springs, that balance shifts, with Democrats counting just under 40%, Republicans at 28% and blanks at 26.4%.  

Voters: Unsure if you are already registered to vote? Go HERE.