After months of uncertainty, Saratoga Springs’ newest Public Works Commissioner has been sworn in.
Republican Chuck Marshall will lead the city’s second-largest department through the end of the year, creating what’s effectively the first Republican majority on the council in a decade.
In August, former commissioner Jason Golub, a Democrat, left his post for a governor-appointed role at the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.
Since then, debates over the succession process have roiled city hall.
Democratic commissioners Dillon Moran and Minita Sanghvi wanted to set a special election as soon as possible. Republican Mayor John Safford and Public Safety Commissioner Tim Coll, who won his seat with GOP backing, wanted to appoint someone to the role.
Here’s Moran in September.
“I say we, again, we can walk and chew gum, but I promise you I will not vote to put somebody into office until there is an election set,” said Moran. “Because part of the issue is if you’re not willing to run an election, why would I appoint you?”
The council eventually agreed to send a timeline for a January 28th election to the Saratoga County board of elections, and appointed Democrat Hank Kuczynski to the role on an interim basis.
Republican elections Commissioner Joe Suhrada balked at the mid-winter date. He said he wouldn’t sign on without further approval from the governor or attorney general.
City Democrats failed to nominate a candidate by October 27th, arguing the approved timeline was only a proposal. The city council seemingly called the election off in November and Kuczynski stepped in to serve for the rest of the term.
“Technical interpretations of the election law set up a situation where one party had a nominee and one party didn’t. And to try and go forward, and for people to think that was a justified election might be technically correct but that would be determined by a judge in court. However, it goes against everything that this country stands for in relationship to Democracy. So, I’m unsettled by the actions of the board in Ballston Spa and I think it’s unfortunate that the citizens of this city can’t vote to see who will finish the term of the Public Works Commissioner. So, I guess you have me,” said Kuczynski.
City GOP committee chair Mike Brandi and Marshall then sued to keep the election on track, and Saratoga County state Supreme Court Judge James Walsh ruled in their favor; Marshall would be the only name on the ballot.
With just weeks before the election, Kuczynski decided to run as a write-in.
After two days of hand-counting, Marshall had tallied 1,760 votes while Kuczynski received 1,663 uncontested ballots.
106 contested ballots were sent to Judge Walsh. Kuczynski’s attorneys contended they all displayed clear intent to vote for the Democrat while Marshall’s lawyers argued erroneous marks could possibly identify the voter. Walsh threw out a majority of the contested votes.
Days later, Kuczynski dropped his potential appeal of the decision, citing the costs associated with the legal challenge.
Speaking with WAMC Wednesday, Marshall said he’s ready to leave all that in the past.
“You know, Commissioner Moran, Commissioner Sanghvi, Mayor Safford, Commissioner Coll, we all come from different parts of the city, we all have different experiences, but at the end of the day we all want to make our version of what the city looks best—you know, move forward. I don’t think there’s a need for anything other than professionalism at the table,” said Marshall.
Marshall says he’s already off to a good start.
“Day one I started with street opening permits and addressing, kind of the less-than-attractive things that happen in city government that still need to proceed. But, already, we’re working to check off the boxes — sidewalk funding, green for green, we’re having internal meetings with staff to see what we have to do and we’re going to walk through the easier ones on the list,” said Marshall.
Marshall, who previously served on the city planning board, says he still has his sights set on eliminating the paid parking program that went into effect last summer.
All seats on the city council are up for reelection this November. City Republicans have endorsed Marshall while Kuczynski has declined to run for the post. Democrats instead endorsed former General Electric engineer BK Keramati.
