Vote Yes For Charter Change

There is a group which calls themselves Saratogians United to Continue the Charter Essentials to Saratoga’s Success or just SUCCESS who are for the continuation of the Commission form of government.  SUCCESS’s position is that the recent success of Saratoga Springs is due to our unique form of city governance.  The idea was that if you set up separate commissions with both executive and legislative rolls which eliminates separation of powers.  Through the 1920s about 500 cities had adopted this form of government.  Today there about 28 in the US and only two in New York, Saratoga Springs and Mechanicville.  Galveston’s goal was to have Commissioners having expertise in the department they are running has not been met in Saratoga’s recent history.  We have had a pharmacist, a dentist, and a former dog catcher as commissioners, nice people but not experts in the departments they ran.  We also have highly paid Deputy Commissioners who are supposed to provide the expertise that their Commissioner bosses do not have. But there is no vetting for these positions or approval other than the Commissioner who appoints the deputy. Does politics play a role in these appointments? Does the sun rise in the east? 

From its founding as a city into the 1940s, Saratoga at least tolerated and encouraged illegal gambling.  In the 1930s, Saratoga was a haven for the country’s mob run gambling establishments.  During this time, we had SUCCESS’s desired form of government. From the 1940s and into the 1980s, Saratoga Spring was dying.  This decline was over seen by the same Commission form of government that SUCCESS now says is KEY to Saratoga’s success.  So, if the Commission form of government in now hailed as the key to our success, why could it not turn things around over five decades?  If the Commission form of government in now hailed as the key to our success, why could it not turn things around over five decades?  Is this why they want this form of government to continue? It is true that from the 1990s until today, Saratoga has seen a great record of growth.  But if the form of government is responsible, why is Mechanicville not booming?  Why are the many troubled cities in upstate New York not rushing to adopt the Commission form of government? 

VOTE YES FOR CHARTER CHANGE 

– Rick Thompson, Saratoga Springs