Listen to city workers on charter change

Nearly two-thirds of City Hall employees in Saratoga Springs (65.3 percent) believe that “city Hall would operate better with a city manager.” Only one in seven City Hall workers (15 percent) disagrees with that statement.

 

Such overwhelming support for charter change, coming from those who witness the inefficiencies of our current form of government on a daily basis, only confirms my strong support for the charter change proposal on the November ballot. (The data comes from a poll of city employees conducted by the Charter Review Commission.)

 

Who better understands just how dysfunctional the commission form of government really is in Saratoga than those folks in the trenches of City Hall trying to do the public’s work?

 

Other statistics from the same poll shed light on other ways the city hall workers feel that the commission form of government is failing us.

 

Three out of five felt that under the current form of government, “political conflict or tensions” between commissioners affected their “ability to do their job.” Two of five said “political conflicts” had a “great deal of effect” on their job.

 

Finally, over 70 percent in City Hall “strongly disagreed” or “somewhat disagreed” with the statement that “the Commission form of government provides for the effective management of the city.”

 

There is no way this outmoded and flawed form of government is the key to Saratoga’s success, as some would suggest. I encourage all to vote for charter change.

 

TOM DENNY

 

Saratoga Springs