Courtesy Ron Kim for Mayor (2021)
Ronald Kim, a lawyer and former Commissioner of Public Safety in Saratoga Springs, said he’ll “use the bully pulpit to prioritize the things we need to get done and hopefully have the city council members rally around those things in their departments."
Kim is running for mayor of Saratoga Springs this campaign season on the Democratic line.
His concern right now is to bring the city out of the pandemic, safely, he said in a recent interview.
He said he understands that the pandemic made life difficult in many ways, and in the back of his mind he realizes there is the chance that another wave, or another pandemic altogether, is coming.
"There's a business aspect to that, there's a community aspect to that,” he said, that has him thinking of how best to move forward.
“We've got to be a smart city," he said. The city has remote access but more infrastructure needs to be considered and built. The city should be looking to state and federal funding for some of this development.
"Perhaps there's money there," he said. "The next mayor will have to be at the table when the pie gets divvied up."
Another key consideration for him is the implementation of police reform. We have to “reimagine it,” he said, knowing that both good and bad police officers exist.
"How do we deal with that in an effective way?” he asked rhetorically. A proponent of the Civilian Review Board to oversee the police, he was disturbed by how the current city council has dealt with this issue. Public discussion and council response often grew heated.
He knows if he wins, he would not take a seat on the council until early next year, so some work should be done by then, but, he said, "If we're left with the job, we'll do it ourselves.”
He said he understands that getting enough public discussion on the Universal Development Ordinance was difficult during a pandemic, but said, "It hasn't been fully vetted by the public."
The UDO is an umbrella document that will guide all aspects of city planning into the future. The document is in the final stages of approval now. The document is intended to help keep the basic feel of downtown historic and keep open space in the outer edges of the city, all while continuing to develop and grow.
"The mayor is really the focal point for development in the city,” he said, adding that a key to his efforts will be to create and maintain affordable, workforce housing.
One fight he will not take on is the fight over the location of the new fire station. Kim said he understands that some people are frustrated with the location. The city is leasing property owned by the New York Racing Association on Henning Road, just south of 5th Avenue.
"We're going to build the east side public safety station," he said.
When he was commissioner of public safety, Kim said he met with the fire chief who told him, “The department can't get there,” to the furthest reaches east in the city. Kim clarified that the chief was not saying that the trip is hard or slow. "He was saying 'We can't get there, period.''"
Having a building is more important than fighting over the location.
"Going a little further east would be good, but I'm not going to nitpick at this point," he said. The city approved the location in January and began the planning process for the building.
Although he has been a leader in the charge for charter reform, a movement to change the city's underlying charter from a commission form of government to one with a strong mayor or city administrator, he said that will not be a focus of his run for mayor.
Kim, an attorney with his own law practice, specializes in bankruptcy, consumer and employee rights litigation. He is married and has three grown children.
Some background provided by the candidate:
- RonKimforMayor.com
- 2020 Common Sense Saratoga, Co-Chair of Charter Reform, Saratoga Springs.
- 2005- 2010 Commissioner of Public Safety, Saratoga Springs.
- 2008 Alternate delegate, Democratic National Convention, Denver, Colo.
- 2003-2004 Member of the Joint Committee on Ethics, Saratoga Springs.
- 2001-2004 Chairperson, Zoning Board of Appeals, Saratoga Springs.