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The charter, which has been fought through legal battles by Mayor Scott Johnson since it was first proposed in January 2009, would eliminate the role of commissioner in the city council as well as remove the administrative duties of the mayor. A professional city manager would be hired to oversee all city employees and perform the day-to-day work and administrative duties needed to keep Saratoga Springs running. The mayor and city council members would still be elected, but their terms would change from serving only two years to becoming a four-year role.
The language of the ballot became an issue in May, when the government and Saratoga Citizen realized that due to their two years of legal battles, the language of the proposal had now become outdated. Tuesday’s vote allowed the group to amend the proposition language so it stands up-to-date and can now officially be put on November’s ballot as is.
“You work so hard for so many years, and all of a sudden it comes down to that last 10 yards,” said Pat Kane, co-chair and spokesperson of Saratoga Citizen.
Now that no more legal issues lie in the midst of the city charter proposal, the next month will be dedicated to campaigning and spreading awareness about the vote from both proponents and opponents of the plan.
Advocates of the charter reform argue that the current form of government is inefficient, costly and that a council-manager government would be “smarter, faster and cheaper,” which is Saratoga Citizen’s slogan.
“Our plan is by far the most popular form of government in this country today,” Kane said. “It’s a natural evolution. Over 130 million people all over the country just like people here in Saratoga Springs have this form of government—there are only a handful of cities our size that still use the commission form.”
Opponents of the reform are concerned about the lack of power the city council will have with the addition of a city manager, as well as how the plan will impact city taxes. Mayor Johnson has also expressed concerns about how the city manager will combine the duties of human resources manager and director of administration and finance into one large role, a difficult task that he thinks will be hard to accomplish in the new structure.
Members of Saratoga Citizen are gearing up to defend their proposal and attempt to gather as many supporters as possible before the vote November 6.
“A lot of our materials are already put together and ready to go. We have had a couple of false starts and wanted to make sure we were on the ballot, and now that we’re officially on, we’re ready to go,” Kane said.
The organization will be hosting several events through the end of September and the month of October in their efforts to gain support, including several information sessions as well as a chance to meet different city managers at a public forum with the League of Women Voters October 25 at Saratoga Springs High School.
The nonpartisan, pro-commission government organization called SUCCESS will also be hosting a slew of events in the upcoming month to win over voters support for keeping the government the way it is. The group will host a talk on the negative impact of consolidating the finance and accounts departments in the city manager proposal September 24 at 7:15 at Principessa Elena in Saratoga Springs.
Meanwhile, voters can keep themselves informed on both sides of the debate by visiting the Saratoga Citizen website at www.saratogacitizen.com and attending their events and forums, and/or attending SUCCESS’s discussion on September 24 and other events they will be hosting throughout October.
