IT’S THAT TIME TO REMMBER PART DUEX

Michele Madigan – C+

• While Madigan has been a breath of fresh air as Finance Commissioner (and that’s not because of her perfume), she does warrant the mark the League has given her.  Some of her best accomplishments should have been done years ago by past Finance Commissioners or even the Mayor by asking his Commissioner for complete transparency, of which the Mayor is famous for touting but has none himself or his office.  First off she put up a page that listed the income and expensed of each department and even broke it down to the sub categories, that and the fact that she appointed one of the most capable Deputy Commissioner’s ever to hold that position in Finance was a smart move, one that could overcome her shortage of knowledge and make that Department one of the best run in City Hall.

• One of the biggest negatives is that she held the budget to a 0% tax increase.  This as was her predecessor’s mistake shows a lack of fiscal responsibility for Saratoga Springs citizens.  Fact- no one likes tax increases but a 1% increase would have added some revenue to maybe add a police or fireman(firewoman), or an in-house HR person that would work full time rather than the Mayor’s penchant for hiring part time attorneys and HR people for twice what the City should be paying, or update equipment or just keeping up with the increases of every day operations, and if we had extra money left over from the increase then use it to pay down the parking garage debt and keep the 12 spaces that the Mayor sold to his Bank.  We need every available parking spot in the City downtown as you never know what could happen as in the previously stated example of Sonny taking almost all of Downtown Saratoga parking spaces.  We need the reserves for the bad times that are coming and the lawsuits that the City will be involved in as long as Johnson is Mayor, and it does not look like Saratoga will get a Casino that we are so sure we will get.

• This lack of the tax increase is bad enough to drop her from a B+ to a C+, even with Bachner as Deputy.

• We had said that there would be more news on the Mayor, but as he makes these crazy decisions a few times a week we’ll wait until after the State of the City address.Now my friends, it's time to watch the movie "Barbie Takes Manhattan"