What sounded like an innocous wish was actually gasoline on a fire at the Saratoga Springs City Council meeting Tuesday evening, Nov. 17.
"I have some concerns with the comprehensive budget," said Commissioner for Public Works Anthony "Skip" Scirocco, "I would just like to ask the council if it's OK to keep the budget hearing open."
This unleashed a back-and-forth of accusations, with Commissioner of Finance Michele Madigan telling others--her voice rising--that her comprehensive budget was based on best practices and reflected the reality that the coronavirus pandemic has desimated the city's coffers. She said the city had already had the required public hearings and workshops and that the budget requests she had seen from commissioners were pipedreams.
Scirocco said, "We have got until the 30th [of November], and I think we can make some pretty good changes." Madigan, much later in the meeting, accused him and others of conspiring and working behind her back, a charge Scirocco denied.
The council voted to keep the hearing open.
During a presentation a short time later, Lois Celeste, executive director of the nonprofit corporation Saratoga Senior Center, said her group serves about 1,700 residents. She asked the council to keep the $52,000 in the comprehensive budget proposal, about half the normal subsidy.
When Celeste was done, Mayor Meg Kelly said, "I look like a horrific mayor here."
Kelly had proposed much larger cuts or zeroing budgets for local nonprofits. Her rationale, she said, was to save jobs in city hall and to create a process to subsidize nonprofits that is fair and transparent. She argued a lot of nonprofit organizations in the area do great work.
Commissioners tended to disagree. Scirocco said this was why they needed to keep talking about the budget.
Commissioner for Public Safety Robin Dalton said senior citizens are the most vulnerable now. She said she was not trying to make people look bad, indicating Kelly, but that the council should not remove this money during the pandemic.
"I just can't do that," Dalton said.
Commissioner of Accounts John Franck, generally agreed: "This should be a high priority."
The meeting was held on zoom because city hall was closed after COVID-19 exposure inside the building. At the time of this writing, the recorded video is not on the council's website.
The council has until Nov. 30 to produce a budget for 2021.
Steve Thurston (2020)
Cafe tables outside Uncommon Grounds on Broadway were empty Wednesday afternoon, Nov. 18.
In lighter news, the council voted to extend outdoor seating at downtown restaurants until Dec. 31, 2020. They generally agreed allowing restaurants to have the outdoor seating has helped the businesses and the sales tax revenue. The commissioners generally wanted to do what they could to help.
"We are the worst in the state," for sales tax revenue, Commissioner Michele Madigan said in an earlier interview.
Receipts through the third quarter of 2020 were down 16%.
Commissioners admitted the weather might be a bigger factor than any regulation, and mother nature agreed, pushing the high temperature on Wednesday only to 30 degrees. The historic average is in the 40s, according to weatherunderground.
Outdoor tables and chairs in the downtown area have often been full since restaurants re-opened during the pandemic. Yesterday afternoon, al fresca diners were hard to find.