Displaying items by tag: Liz Kormos
Ballston Spa Elects New Mayor and Two Trustees
Photos provided.
BALLSTON SPA — Ballston Spa Village elections took on place March 19. The village voted on a new mayor and two trustee positions.
Residents elected Larry Woolbright as the new mayor, succeeding John Romano who has been mayor for nearly 25 years. Woolbright received 651 votes; his term begins April 1. Woolbright ran as a Republican under the campaign motto “Deliver4BSpa.” Running under the same motto was Peter Martin and Rory O’Connor; however, they did not win the two open trustee seats.
Liz Kormos and Christine M. Fitzpatrick ran under a new party called “A Better BSpa,” and won with 500 votes and 512, respectively. Martin received 434 and O’Connor received 398.
“Last night did not go the way we hoped, but we are so thankful for every single voter who did turn out for us yesterday. Moving forward, those elected to the village board must take action, get finances settled while protecting the services Ballston Spa residents deserve including our police and fire department,” a Facebook post read from Deliver4BSpa on March 20 and pictured O’Connor and Martin.
“The election marks a turning point for the Village. No longer will people be excluded from participating in Village government because they are the wrong party or haven't been here long enough. Along with Noah Shaw and Shawn Raymond, we will let the sunshine into Village Hall... Together we will steer Ballston Spa toward the goals of financial health, repair our infrastructure and redevelop existing properties. We will address public safety and make Ballston Spa a place welcoming to people of all ages and abilities,” a Facebook post says by ABetterBSpa.
Kormos and Fitzpatrick succeed former trustees Stuart Hodsoll and Robert Cavanaugh. Their terms also begin on April 1. Kormos says the future is bright for A Better Ballston Spa.
Controversy in B'Spa: Village of Ballston Treasurer Resigns
Photo by Larry Goodwin.
BALLSTON — “Tonight the mayor announced at our special meeting of the Village Board of Trustees that, yesterday, the Village Treasurer resigned effective immediately,” read a Facebook status posted by Village of Ballston Spa Trustee Noah Shaw, on Sept. 6. It was later confirmed in a village board meeting on Sept. 10 by Mayor John Romano.
The Ballston Spa Treasurer was Christopher Hickey, who was also the Budget Officer. He has resigned from both positions. The village’s deputy treasurer, internal control officer, personnel officer, and compliance officer, Darryl Purinton resigned the next day from all of those titles except internal controls officer. It was noted in the board meeting that Purinton's salary for internal controls officer is $68,000.
The status posted by Shaw also says things like “next steps will be essential to resetting the Village’s financial systems and controls, and to bring us back into good order,” and “we will be working to fix the array of issues that have been allowed to fester for far too long in the Village government’s systems, controls and financial accounting.”
According to Shaw, “two prior audits from the office of the state Comptroller have identified issues with respect to the village's financial systems and controls.”
“Since I was elected last year, I have also identified at public meetings and otherwise various items and practices that I believe are deficient,” he added. However, Shaw says that he did not have direct discussion with Hickey concerning reasons why he resigned.
Ballston Spa resident Liz Kormos who says she attends town and village meetings religiously said, “there was never in previous years, when there was budgeting, there was never any real discussion in public about the numbers."
“You know other places I go that periodically talk about the performance, what the issues are, — this village they go through a list of expenditures and approve them. That is the gist before these new trustees got elected, that’s all they did,” Kormos said referring to new trustees, Noah Shaw and Shawn Raymond.
According to Kormos the lack of budgeting information provided to the public has been an issue for some time now. “Now it’s coming to light and we have the opportunity to fix it and make it better,” she added.
In the board meeting that took place on Sept. 10, hiring an interim accounting firm until a new full-time treasurer is found was discussed.
“We have solicited bids from regional accounting firms with municipal expertise to help fulfill the functions of the treasurer while we search for a full-time treasurer. I also hope that firm will make certain recommendations regarding how we can improve our system and controls,” Shaw said.
“I think the mayor and I are aligned with respect to commencing the hiring process for the treasurer ASAP. Where we diverged at the meeting last night (Sept. 10) was with respect to the time frame for convening an informal citizens' advisory group. I would like to get that convened soon; the mayor preferred to delay on the resolution I introduced, however, the board voted to move forward at the next meeting,” Shaw said.
The next meeting will take place on Sept. 24 at 7 p.m. at Village Hall located at 66 Front St.
"We're invested in this community. We want to stay here and we want to make good use of the tax dollars... We've got to get this place on sound financial footing to be able to handle those things,” Kormos added.
