BALLSTON SPA — Christine Fitzpatrick and Kamran Parwana have officially announced their campaign as the Ballston Spa Special Election approaches.
The Special Election on March 15 follows the resignation of former Village Mayor Larry Woolbright, who abruptly resigned during a Ballston Board of Trustees meeting on Oct. 25, 2021. Effective immediately, his prepared statement stated the sole reason for his resignation as an “unproductive relationship with the Board of Trustees.” Woolbright, elected in March 2019, succeeded John Romano who held the office since 1995.
The mayor and four trustees, who each serve a four-year term, make up Ballston Spa’s legislative body. The Special Election on March 15 is for the mayor’s seat and a trustee position. Following Woolbright’s resignation, the Board of Trustee’s temporarily filled the mayoral vacancy in November 2021 with a motion to appoint Christine Fitzpatrick.
Christine Fitzpatrick will be running for Mayor of the Village of Ballston Spa in the March 15 Special Election, the position she has held since November of last year. Fitzpatrick is running to finish out the term of the former mayor which ends in April 2023. Both Fitzpatrick and Parwana are running on the Democrat line and have also filed petitions to run on the independent line with A Brighter Future.
Fitzpatrick has the distinction of being the first woman to serves as the Mayor in the 200-plus-year history of the Village of Ballston Spa. Fitzpatrick served as Deputy Mayor in early 2021 under Woolbright, and has served as Trustee since 2019. She has lived in Ballston Spa for the past 35 years.
During her time in office, Fitzpatrick and her team of Trustees have built engagement and transparency between the Board and the community through things such as the regular community newsletter, The Voice, which updates residents on progress/happenings in the Village. The attendance to Village meetings has improved also; if meetings are able to be held in-person again, Fitzpatrick will make it a point that the Zoom option is still available for those who can’t make it out. Additionally, budget workshops will continue to be done in public.
If elected, first on her agenda is making sure the budget is fiscally sound, as she and the trustees have worked hard to improve the Villages’ finances since 2019, and not going above the 2% tax cap. Thanks to these efforts, the Village has acquired $425,000 in grants to help infrastructure and operations – other issues that are high on her agenda. Fitzpatrick is focused on planning and improving the Village’s infrastructure, above and below ground, as it has not been maintained properly throughout the years. This includes finding new homes for the Department of Public Works, Police Department, and Courts – work that has started even before the election.
“I am very proud and honored to able to do this,” said Fitzpatrick. “I feel strongly about this community who made [mine and my late husband’s] lives possible.”
Kamran Parwana, who is running to fill the vacant Trustee seat, joins Fitzpatrick in the campaign. Parwana grew up in Saratoga Springs, and moved to Ballston Spa in 2013, with his wife Caitlin, a life-long Village resident. Like Fitzpatrick, financial sustainability, infrastructure planning, and community engagement are at the top of his priorities.
“I’ve seen, over the past several years, how dramatically the Village’s government has changed in a very positive direction,” said Parwana. “Seeing that momentum, and the fact that they needed someone else to come on board that has the skills that match the things I do day-to-day, is motivating to me.”
Parwana’s work experience includes helping municipal governments understand how to plan and undertake infrastructure projects. With that said, Parwana will be able to help the Village determine not just whether they can afford the initial investment, but also maintenance of eventual replacements.
“The main challenge will be making sure that whatever plans the Village puts in place can be funded through either Federal Government grants or through other means and making sure that the things the Village needs can be paid for without placing the burden on the Village residents,” said Parwana.
As far as community engagement, he believes that Fitzpatrick’s efforts are a step in the right direction, and he wants to do even more.
“There is still a pretty big population within the Village that isn’t reached,” said Parwana. “There needs to be more outreach to the broader Village population to make sure that they really understand what the Village government is doing and specifically what the responsibility and actions of the Village government are.”
The polls will be open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. for the Special Election on March 15. Registered voters who live north of the Kayaderosseras Creek can vote at the Union Firehouse, at 319 Milton Ave. Those who live south of the creek, can vote at Eagle Matt Lee Firehouse at 35 Washington St.
Additionally, Frank Rossi Jr. and Bernadette VanDeinse-Perez have also issued a joint statement stating that they are running for mayor and trustee, respectively. The Village of Ballston Spa Republicans has unanimously endorsed the duo.
