Steve Thurston (2021)
Democrat Jim Montagnino addresses supporters after his win for Commissioner of Public Safety. Lexis Figuereo stands third from left.
Saratoga Black Lives Matter leader Lexis Figuereo said in a recent interview that the group has changed strategy to one that focuses more on building community rather than protesting. They have held get-out-the-vote events, healthcare screenings and educational opportunities.
He pointed out that the group has not protested—that is, has not blocked traffic, or aimed a bullhorn at outdoor diners—since the July 14 protest that ended in five arrests at the time and another seven afterward.
This does not mean, however, that the group is done fighting, especially for an investigation into the death of Darryl Mount and for the creation of a Civilian Review Board, one that has oversight of the Saratoga Springs Police Department and has “teeth” as outlined by the police reform task force report in the spring of this year.
“[We will still] go to the city council meetings and make sure [the commissioners] are going to do what they said they’re going to do,” Figureo said. He was referring to the new city council commissioners where were elected Nov. 2, when Democrats won four of the five seats, according to the unofficial tallies collected election night. BLM Saratoga supported the Democrats in the races. The results are still unofficial as the county still must count absentee ballots.
[Read election night coverage here.]
“We’re still going to be there to make sure the CRB is going to happen,” Figuereo said.
In that, he has support as all four Democrats elected have gone on the record to support the creation.
James Montagnino, the newly-elected Commissioner of Public Safety, agreed, adding that the CRB needs teeth, adding, "Certainly the teeth would have to be the subpoena power."
Subpoena power has been a point of contention in recent weeks. An advisory committee, led by Jason Golub who was a co-chair of the original police task force, has come forward to the city council with a plan for a task force that has no subpoena power. Golub pointed to some cities that have had successful task forces but lack subpoena power.
Current Commissioner of Public Safety, Robin Dalton, who lost her bid for mayor last week, moved quickly in October to propose a new chapter in the city’s code to create the task force as outlined by Golub. The chapter is still in draft form and its future is uncertain.
Both the BLM group and the current mayor Meg Kelly, who did not run for reelection, said they do not support a CRB unless it has subpoena power. Golub had not proposed a CRB with those powers partially because leaders have wondered if the city’s charter and the police union contract would allow it.
Montagnino thinks yes, but without a new state law, the city would likely have to give the CRB "administrative subpoena" power, which is different than the more widely known criminal subpoena, he said. It’s also less powerful.
The subpoena would allow the CRB to ask for documents and to call witnesses, but the people do not need to answer. Montagnino, who has been an attorney for 30 years, said the people who do not respond to administrative subpoenas also give up some rights later.
Montagnino pointed to the concept of "Collateral Estoppel.”
The Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute lists a part of it as: “All litigants have a ‘full and fair’ opportunity to bring suit except where one party has brought effectively the same suit as defined by the same substantive legal issue in another venue or at another time against the same defendant.”
In other words, this concept would stop some people from trying to prove their innocence, or prove they acted properly on the job, at some later point, if they did not first stand before the CRB and respond to the subpoena, Montagnino said.
[A late email to the city’s attorney, Vincent DeLeonardis, asking if the city had considered administrative subpoenas when looking at the city’s charter and the union contract went unanswered before publication today.]
Figuereo, who has said he is happy that people are talking about this, indicated in a text message today, that the administrative subpoena could be a good start, but that he would want to “speak of these things directly" to Montagnino. He added that his group would continue to fight for exactly what they are asking for, what those who got Montagnino elected are asking for.
Also, Montagnino said, "Ultimately, power under the CRB is advisory." The best the board can do is make a recommendation to the Commissioner. The CRB cannot discipline the police force, Montagnino said. In the city charter, the Commissioner of Public Safety has “ultimate disciplinary authority over the uniformed services."