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Final Report Current Charter Review Committee

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Final Report Current Charter Review Committee FINAL REPORT CURRENT CHARTER REVIEW COMMITTEE CHARTER REVIEW COMMISSION SARAROGA SPRINGS, NY. MARCH 16, 2017 Members of the Current Charter RevIew Committee: Ann Bullock DevIn Dal Pos ElIo Del Sette Bahram KeramatI (CommIttee Chair) Robert Kuczynski Robert Turner (CommIssIon Chair) 1 Report of the Current Charter RevIew CommIttee Saratoga SprIngs Charter Review CommIssIon March 15, 2017 Introduction The goal of the Current Charter Review Committee of the Saratoga Springs Charter Review Commission (CRC) was to study the current charter of the city from a variety of perspectives. In addition to reading, digesting, and understanding the current city charter, the committee undertook the task of determining how it really works in practice. To this end, the committee used information and data obtained from various sources, as follows: • Testimony from present and past elected city officials who have had direct experience in working under the current charter. • A survey of selected community leaders conducted to assess their willingness to run for office under the current charter vs. alternative charters. • A survey of city employees to assess their experience in how the charter contriButes to or detracts from their job functions, and to solicit their views about the charter itself. • One-on-one interviews with Business leaders and agencies that routinely work with the city. This report presents the information from the above sources and the committee’s conclusions. Although the committee and the entire commission memBers did review and study the Broader literature regarding forms of city government, this report does not represent this Broader perspective. The report is focused on the information we have obtained specific to Saratoga Springs, all of which have Been newly obtained in the last several months. A. TestImony of Past and Present Elected CIty OffIcIals In the context of the entire CRC’s work (i.e., outside the immediate scope of the Current Charter Review Committee), all availaBle present and past elected city Commissioners and Saratoga County Supervisors were invited to testify regarding their experiences, and specifically their views regarding the city’s charter. Tens of hours of testimony were collected which can Be found, verbatim, in the formal minutes of the Commission’s meetings. For the purpose of this report, Below we cite some of the comments made By these past and present officials that directly relate to the evaluation of the current charter, its strengths and weaknesses. As these were puBlic testimonies, the sources of the statements and the date of the testimony are identified as they appear in the minutes of the commission meetings. A. C. Riley (Former Mayor – August 9, 2016) • C. Riley stated that the puBlic’s expectations do not match the formal powers under the charter. The puBlic thinks that the Mayor is in charge although there are 4 others on the City Council and each of the five memBers has one equal vote. • She likes the idea of a legislative City Council and is neutral regarding a strong Mayor or whether to have a City Manager who will Be a professional full time manager. 2 Ray Watkin (Former Mayor – August 9, 2016) • He does not Believe there is the correct comBination of checks and Balances under the current city charter; the proBlems have changed and someone has to steer the ship. Under the current city council format, no one takes the Blame. • In response to the question 5, instead of deciding whether a provision of the charter is good for the city or not, he advises the Commission to start over and examine the needs of the city and the ability to enforce each provision in the Charter. The goal should Be to get more done with less money. • R. Watkin said it is time to modernize the City’s form of government Because more can Be done, more service can Be accomplished without a cumBersome government that is hard for the people to understand. It is not that the current system hurts the City, But it should Be made Better without a lot of red tape for the people. • … The City attracts people Because of its economic well-being; there were many problems in the 1970’s including a proBlematic downtown and almost losing exclusive racing and empty store fronts. The system has served its purpose and there is always a need for efficiency and change. Ken Klotz (Former Mayor – August 9, 2016) • K. Klotz noted that any system would work if you have good people in it. A strong Mayor works if they have good vision and good projects, But if not, it could Be treacherous. A City Manager as a technocrat might mechanically run Better But the unique qualities of this City might get lost. • You can talk about weaknesses and strengths of every system; this City has gotten this far with this system and it might Be Because the Council stayed out of the way and let Business leaders and others carry something forward. This is a successful City so the good things in the government should Be preserved. • Regarding puBlic expectations, the Mayor is expected to do things that are not his purview and he/she must Be able to work the Building to get things done, a response of “it is not my joB” is not acceptaBle. One must rise aBove the politics; it is not relevant whether or not public expectations match the duties of the Mayor. It is up to the Mayor to educate and to get things going regardless whether it involves his/her or another commissioner’s department. • He Believes the 2001 Charter is more explicit But is not particularly adhered to and does not seem to Be treated as sacred. There is no one to make a final decision or enforce the charter except possiBly the City Attorney. He cannot speak knowingly aBout whether provisions are good for the city or not Because he has never worked under this Charter. • K. Klotz said most of his time was spent on positive productive things and since the 2001 Charter allowed for a Deputy Mayor, he was able to appoint a Deputy for his second term. He said there was plenty of conflict at the City Council taBle But they accomplished what they could. 3 Valerie Keehn (Former Mayor – August 9, 2016) • She stated that the puBlic has no idea what the formal powers of the Mayor are under the Charter and they are not expected to. People here and in most cities Believe that is the Chief Executive Officer, the head administrator of City operations, the ceremonial figurehead of the City and presides over City Council meetings. People Believe that the Mayor has complete control over things that happen in this City. • She said if the Charter was different, if the form of government was different, there would Be more qualified people running for office in this City. She questioned how qualified she was as a Special Education Teacher, yet she was elected. She loved the experience and learned a lot. • Innovation and changes have occurred and the form of government should keep up with the changes; the way the City manages its Business, employees, and the major issues should change. • The phrase if it is not broken do not fix it does not match the situation. We do not use quills and ink wells as primary tools to write or horses and Buggies as our main transportation. No one takes notes at the Council taBle anymore; they have laptops. It is time to make the City’s form of government more user-friendly. • V. Keehn explained that the administrators of each department administers and legislates their Budget and it is a mangled up mess. It is not five Budgets of five commissioners and a mayor; it is the entire city government’s Budget. There are no checks and Balances to this form of government. There is no separation of powers. How can Commissioners vote on budgets that directly affect them? • V. Keehn said that this form of government is unconstitutional because there is no separation of powers; there is a mangled mess occurring every two weeks at the City Council taBle and it Bogs down progress and operations within the walls of City Hall. • She implored the Commission to consider a change in the form of government, there is nothing that can be done with the current form of government to improve it except change it. • V. Keehn said that the way the Charter is written now does not hinder the job the Mayor does But what does hinder the mayor from doing what he/she should Be doing is that there are heads of other departments that are at odds with the things the Mayor may want to achieve. The Council is at odds with each other too much and this form of government creates this. She compared it to allowing all school principals to weigh in on the decision to have a snow day rather than just the Superintendent. • Keramati asked if they Believe that under the current charter that the citizens feel they are well represented in City Hall. V. Keehn does not know how they would feel represented. There are people serving whose main concern is what goes on in their department. There are areas of the City that are not represented; there is no legislative Body. The Commissioners only care about their departments and getting things passed to Benefit only that department. • V. Keehn said that she honestly does not have the confidence that a Big change proposed would pass. It may take a whole new generation to make that happen. She was pleased to hear that R.
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