Saratoga Springs voters will have a say on doing away with the city’s commission form of government come the November election.
Charter amendments put forward by the Saratoga Citizen organization were moved forward by the City Council in a 4-1 vote on Tuesday, May 15. Mayor Scott Johnson cast the dissenting vote.
If voters approve of the amendment, starting in 2014 the city would be run by a council-manager form of government with a five-member City Council that hires a professional manager.
The city has operated with five commissioners since its incorporation in 1915. Each commissioner is elected and holds a seat on the City Council, but also presides over his or her own department, such as public safety, public works or the mayor’s office.
The vote represented a major milestone for Saratoga Citizen, Inc., which was founded by Patrick Kane in 2009. Specific language to appear on the ballot has not yet been formulated, according to Kane.
“As Saratoga Springs has grown the current form of government, adopted in 1915, no longer serves our needs. The council-manager form is the fastest growing form of government in the country for cities of our size. Nationwide, 54 percent of municipalities with a population between 5,000 and249,999 residents are governed under the council-manager structure (2,773 out of 5,165). The number of cities with the commission form has steadily declined since World War I. Fewer than 1 percent of cities retain the commission form,” read a statement released by Saratoga Citizen.
Watertown is an example of a municipality with the council-manager form of government.
The charter amendment was held up by two years of legal proceedings, and dates contained in the original document had expired. Accounts Commissioner John Franck brought forward a charter amendment with no such problems on May 15, meaning while the initiative originated with Saratoga Citizen the adopted proposal came from the council itself.
Kane said Saratoga Citizen has incurred $115,000 in legal fees over the past two years.
There are three ways to get a charter, according to Kane. One is to have it come from the City Council, the second is from a citizen-based group and the third is to have it originate from a mayoral commission.
“This is the path we took to take the political (aspect) out of the equation,” said Kane.
In order to get the charter on the ballot, the group needed to submit 1,100 signatures (representing 10 percent of voters under the last census). They collected 2,300.
Kane said the council-manager form of government is good for theSpa City because it would bring “far greater efficiency to the day-to-dayoperations of the city.” Electedofficials would hold office for four years, as opposed to the current two-yearterms under commission rule.
While he cast a vote against moving the amendments ahead, Johnson said his concerns were more procedural than pragmatic.
“I have not to date indicated my opinion on whether the form of government should change at all, I have personally stayed away from that. As an incumbent mayor it would be inappropriate,” said Johnson.
“One, there’s no legal precedent established to take this procedure and have the city adopt the measure as its own to put on the ballot. Number two, I think there is a legal remedy available to Saratoga Citizen to pursue without city assistance – that would in essence return them to court to change the dates in the document to eliminate its staleness and then allow it to be placed on the ballot,” Johnson said.
Johnson also said voters may be confused as to what exactly they’ll be voting on since what was adopted is technically a city initiative. While the document itself has been adopted by the city, the contents are from Saratoga Citizen.
“The city has had no involvement in the content of the proposal,” said Johnson. “Some people may think now the city has officially adopted this as a city sponsored proposal. … It’s inaccurate and we’re here because there has been no precedent and no legal history to guide us in this regard,” said Johnson.
Kane, on the other hand, pointed to the City Council’s May 15vote.
“We have no pride in ownership,” he said.
According to Kane, the referendum could be removed from the ballot if Johnson decides to form a mayoral commission to do so, a move he has not made thus far.
