A series of appointments introduced by Mayor Valerie Keehn at the Tuesday, March 6, City Council meeting drew flack from some fellow council members.
Keehn attempted to replace mayoral challenger Gordon Boyd and two other members of the City Center Authority whose terms are ending, but a vote will wait until a special City Council meeting on Tuesday, March 13, at 9:30 a.m. The expiring six-year terms belong to Boyd, who is running for the Democratic mayoral nomination, Phil Diamond and Mary Ann Barker.
Appointments to the City Center Authority (CCA) and Downtown Special Assessment District (DSAD) require a majority vote of the City Council, and while one was reached for the appointment to the DSAD, Public Works Commissioner Tom McTygue asked that the vote on the CCA appointments be tabled until the special meeting.
McTygue and Commissioner of Accounts John Franck criticized Keehn for adding the appointments to the agenda at the 11th hour after the Monday morning agenda meeting. The two were the only votes against appointing Lisa Schroder, owner of the Clothes Horse and past president of the Downtown Business Association, for the DSAD.
`I find it very hard to believe that you didn’t know about these appointments before 9:30 yesterday,` said Franck.
Franck said he had no problem with Schroder’s qualifications, who went on to be confirmed with a 3-2 vote.
Keehn said she pushed the appointments because she wanted new people and new perspectives on the boards, and that her office has entertained agenda items that were introduced by other departments after the agenda meeting.
McTygue pointed out that CCA member Bill Dake’s position has been extended on a month-to-month basis for nearly a year.
`I’d like her to explain that, because that really disproves her whole theory that she wants new people and new ideas on these boards,` he said.
McTygue said Keehn has not tried to replace Dake because she knows she does not have the votes to do so, whereas with this round of appointments, McTygue said Keehn has already conspired with Finance Commissioner Matthew McCabe and Public Works Commissioner Ron Kim to ensure the votes are there.
`There’s no question that this was politically motivated,` McTygue said in a later interview. `The mayor’s the one who always talks about open government, but boy is she good at the backdoor politics.`
Keehn could not be reached to address McTygue’s assertion, but McCabe said, in his case, at least, there was no `private meeting` to discuss the issue.
`My approach has been to look at the appointees, respect the (Mayor’s) office, and cast my vote,` said McCabe. The commissioner added that he has not endorsed either Boyd or Keehn for mayor.`If Gordon Boyd and Tom McTygue want to duke it out with the mayor, that’s not my fight.`
At the end of the city council meeting, Keehn said, `I think that no matter what names I put out there, I would not get two particular votes.`
But the tabling of the appointments of Mark Hogan, who works for Saratoga National Bank and Trust Company; Rick Higgins, president of Norstar Development USA; and Dorothy Knowlton, owner of Saratoga Soles, were not related to Keehn’s appointees, said Franck.
He and McTygue pointed out that this is a critical time in securing funding for expanding the City Center, and that replacing three of the seven authority members may not be the best idea.
`We’re on the 1-yard line with this $12 million funding for the City Center,` said Franck.
`(Keehn) has the right to propose anyone she likes,` McTygue reiterated. `My concern isn’t whether her appointees are qualified`I’m sure they are`but they don’t have the background in the history of what has happened in the in the past three years to get this funding.“