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Residents urge council to keep two supervisors after Charter Review Commission proposes alignment with county law
Summary
At a public hearing on proposed charter amendments, residents and local advocates urged the City Council not to alter language that guarantees two county supervisors, warning that changes could reduce Saratoga Springs’ committee representation on the county board; the Charter Review Commission chair said the proposal aims to align the city charter with applicable law.
Saratoga Springs residents filled the public‑hearing microphones to oppose a proposed charter change that would alter the city’s language about county supervisors. The Charter Review Commission recommended amending portions of the city charter to 'align with applicable law,' including language describing the number of county supervisors representing the city.
‘We supply 20% of the county’s revenue … By cutting them in half, you’re gonna cut the committee representation in half,’ Gordon Boyd told the council, urging members to defeat the change. Boyd argued the recommended language would allow the county to reduce Saratoga Springs’ two supervisors to one and said the amendment functionally benefits another jurisdiction.
Robin Baxter, a downtown resident, said the commission’s recommendation 'effectively allow[s] the county to disenfranchise … your constituents' and urged the council to retain two supervisors and to subject the change to a public referendum if the city moves forward.
Pat Tuz and Betsy Coffey likewise said the city has had two supervisors for decades and that removing a specific charter guarantee could reduce representation on county committees that produce the county’s budgets and resolutions.
Vince Stilian Artis, the Charter Review Commission chair, told the council the amendment was one of roughly 50 proposed changes and said it was adopted unanimously by the commission after legal review and outreach to the county. ‘This amendment was approved by way of vote of the commission unanimously … This was not in any way politically motivated,’ Stilian Artis said, urging the council to base deliberations on research and facts.
Council members listened to dozens of residents and paused formal action; the council left the hearing open and said it would continue to accept public comment before any vote.
The hearing also included repeated requests from residents that the council require public presentations on final engineering plans (separately, several speakers asked for a public presentation of the Union Avenue plan). The council said it will continue to accept comment and will not vote on the charter amendment that night.
