City Council to name Saratoga Music Hall in honor of Anthony "Skip" Scirocco
(Credit: Steve Thurston, 2022)
The Saratoga Music Hall, as seen from stage, after an event. The Saratoga Springs City Council expects to name the hall after Anthony "Skip" Scirocco, who died on April 6, 2022, during his eighth term as Commissioner of Public Works.
The Saratoga Springs City Council will likely pass a resolution naming the city’s Music Hall, on the top floor of City Hall, after Anthony “Skip” Scirocco who died of cancer April 6. He had been elected into the commissioner position for his eighth term last November.
Scirocco was responsible for rebuilding City Hall after the lightning strike and fire of 2018. He was also the leader of the project to redevelop the city’s Canfield Casino in Congress Park, among many other restoration projects.
Mayor Ron Kim brought the resolution to the preliminary agenda meeting Monday April 18. The commissioners debated quickly whether to wait and discuss other places that might be named after Scirocco, who is known for his work saving some of Saratoga Springs’ landmarks. They also discussed whether to consult with his family and whether to consult the public before naming a location after Scirocco.
Joe O’Neill, Deputy Commissioner Of Public Works under Scirocco, said he had spoken with the late commissioner's family.
“The Music Hall would be their choice,” O’Neill told the board.
That sealed the deal.
The council will see either a resolution commemorating his time on the council along with a separate resolution naming the Music Hall after Scirocco, or they will see a combined resolution at their Tuesday evening meeting, April 19.
The lightning strike, the fire and flooding from rain and the fire department of August 2018 closed City Hall, and the city moved operations to the Recreation Center for more than a year. Crews repaired not only the Music Hall but made major improvements to the rest of the building. It reopened briefly at the end of 2020, but closed again that December and remained so until July 2021, when all staff returned.
[Read more about City Hall here and here.]
Frank to head search committee
Former Commissioner of Accounts John Franck will head a search committee to name a replacement for Anthony “Skip” Scirocco who died while in office April 6. The five members of the city council are expected to name people to the committee at their meeting Tuesday April. 19. The committee will interview candidates for the position in public meetings and will make a nonbinding recommendation to the board, Mayor Ron Kim said in an interview April 18. The public meetings will not allow for public comment.
“We’ll deliberate,” once a recommendation is made to the council, the mayor said, adding that the committee will be diverse and bipartisan. He has said that he wants the process to be open and transparent.
“It’s the closest that we can come to electing people,” he said.
Under the city’s charter, the city council appoints a replacement for a deceased member to fill out the rest of the calendar year. An election will be held this November for the person to replace the commissioner for the rest of his tenure, which ends Dec. 31, 2023. The charter does not lay out rules for how a successor is chosen.
Mayor Ron Kim made the announcement at the city council’s preliminary agenda meeting April 18.
Izzo to be named City Attorney
Finally, at the same preliminary agenda meeting, the mayor told the city council that they will see a resolution naming Tony Izzo as the city attorney. Izzo has been in the interim city attorney since February.
In January and February, the mayor, a Democrat, had been acting also as the city attorney but drew pushback from Republicans and others and even was scolded by City Judge Jeffrey Wait for taking on both roles. Part of the issue surrounding the city attorney position is that the attorney must be a resident of the city in order to be the city attorney.
The city and the New York State Department of State have said the city may change that residency requirement, with a change in the law. Kim told the council he plans to bring that law before them at their meeting Tuesday April 19.