Former Saratoga Springs Public Works Commissioner Jason Golub will head to trial on official misconduct charges after a court appearance today.
Golub and his attorney Karl Sleight appeared before Judge Jeffrey Wait in city court nearly three months after entering a not guilty plea for charges linked to alleged incidents in December 2023 where city employees worked on Golub’s private property using city resources while on city time. Golub, a Democrat, stepped down in August to take a state role.
Sleight refused to accept a violation charge, which would have closed the case, instead opting to take the issue to trial. Judge Wait questioned the move.
“Sounds risky to me, Mr. Sleight,” said Wait. “Do you want your client to have a criminal conviction? Risk his license and his job?”
“I want my client to be acquitted by a jury,” said Sleight.
“And what if he’s not?” asked Wait.
“He may not be, then he’ll appeal,” said Sleight.
“Right, and what if that doesn’t work? He gets a criminal conviction?” asked Wait.
“I understand that, Judge I’ve done this for a long time,” said Sleight.
“Yeah, so have I,” said Wait.
Golub’s deputy commissioner Joe O’Neill pleaded guilty to similar charges last year. Sleight spoke with reporters following court.
“So, when someone is charged with a crime, the wonderful thing about this country is there’s a constitution — they have a right to a trial, either jury or non-jury and he has the ability to consider that. So, we’re going to do that and we’ll have a trial at some point unless something changes. I find it very odd that the offer that was discussed in court was the exact same offer that the deputy commissioner had who had allegations that were, in my view, more serious. So, why is Jason Golub being held to that standard? We’ll find out,” said Sleight.
Golub declined to comment Tuesday.
Sleight has requested all records on the matter from current Public Safety Commissioner Tim Coll. Coll, who won his seat with GOP backing, previously criticized Golub for comments he made during a discussion of an aggressive panhandling resolution.
Golub suggested city police might take the word of a “rich white lady” over that of an unhoused person.
Coll filed a number of complaints about the comments in 2022 including one to the state Bar Association.
Sleight said he’s received no such records thus far.
“The city is in breach of the state Freedom of Information Law. We’ve made a request in early December for the telephone and email records of Commissioner Coll and it’s been completely ignored. We’ve given them an extension to this Friday to provide us those records, and we’re looking forward to getting those records and reviewing them,” said Sleight.
Speaking with WAMC later Tuesday, Coll said he and his office are complying with discovery obligations related to Golub’s case.
Coll announced the official misconduct charges against Golub and O’Neill in November. He said he supports Golub's right to take the matter to trial, but:
"I did not clog Jason Golub's drains. Nor did I order DPW to do work on his house to unclog his drains. This case was brought forward because DPW employees brought fourth allegations of wrongdoing by Commissioner Golub. The facts of those cases were discussed with the District Attorney's office and ultimately after reviewing the facts the District Attorney's office agreed to prosecute the matter," said Coll.
A number of city officials have found themselves in court in recent months. Democratic Accounts Commissioner Dillon Moran pleaded not guilty in December to charges brought by city GOP chair Mike Brandi alleging Moran had failed to comply with various Freedom of Information Law requests.
No trial date for Golub was set Tuesday.
