Saratoga Springs’ Incoming Commissioner of Public Safety, Jim Montagnino, has changed his mind.
The lawyer and commissioner-elect, who publicly squabbled with current commissioner Robin Dalton over her pick of Lt. Robert Jillson to be the next assistant chief of police for the Saratoga Springs Police Department, says he is no longer looking at whether Jillson received the promotion improperly.
Montagnino told this to FoothillsBusinessDaily.com in a recent interview.
He also announced that he had chosen Sgt. Jason Tetu from the ranks of the SSPD to be his Deputy Commissioner of Public Safety.
Chief among Montagnino’s issues with Jillson's appointment was that Jillson will replace Assistant Chief John Catone who retires in January. Montagnino said he thought the decision to pick a replacement should be his to make since he will be the commissioner in office when the retirement occurs.
He said that the position that he believed was created especially for Jillson—a second assistant chief position—Montagnino has learned, was not. The line in the budget was not created for Jillson but had been there to begin with and was funded in the 2022 budget. Therefore, it could be filled.
That was part of Dalton’s argument against Montagnino and part of the reason for her choice.
“I rethought my position and it’s more important that we move forward with the best people we have and the future will hold what it holds,” he said, adding later, “Procedurally, it’s an OK move.”
Asked about the choice of Tetu as his deputy, Montagnino said he did not know Tetu personally before the interview for the position, but said Tetu came highly recommended.
He is a major in the Army Reserve and has about 25 years experience with the department.
Also, Montagnino said, he has “superb organizational skills.”
Also announced: Heather Crocker will be Deputy Commissioner of Finance under commissioner-elect Minita Sanghvi.
“Heather Crocker has experience in grant writing and that’s one thing that Adam Israel and I both talked about during our campaigns,” Sanghvi wrote to FoothillsBusinessDaily.com. Israel ran against Sanghvi for the position.
Crocker was Sanghvi’s campaign manager during the November election cycle. Sanghvi said she received four applications for the position and interviewed all four people.
Sanghvi said that with an infrastructure bill coming from the federal government, grant writing will be important.
“We need a person who has the ability to get us ready to take advantage of opportunities coming down the pipeline for our community,” Sanghvi wrote.
Dillon Moran has already announced Stacy Connors as his Deputy.
Incumbent Commissioner of Public Works Anthony “Skip” Scirocco will not be making changes to his staff, he said after the City Council meeting on Dec. 21.
Vince DeLeonardis will not be the city’s attorney in the new year, and neither will Tony Izzo, the city’s assistant attorney.
Mayor-elect Ronald Kim has chosen a new team to lead the legal challenges the city faces. As well, his pick for Deputy is also an attorney.
“We’re going to have challenges during the next administration that are going to need good lawyers,” he said in a recent interview.
He listed the state Attorney General’s investigation into the city’s police force, the implementation of the Civilian Review Board over the police, enforcement of zoning and building codes, and an overall look at the civil service rules that allow promotions only from within the civil service ranks.
He said, “There are just a lot of challenges that we have.”
Although FoothillsBusinessDaily has the names of both lawyers, Kim asked that we not publish because they are telling their own clients of the changes and finishing work before taking the new positions.
Kim has said for a couple weeks that the four new members of the council would announce in a single press conference or release, but that has not come.