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Local conservative leader urges council to track DPW replacement and '50 points' audit
Summary
Dave Buchin urged the Saratoga City Council to explain the DPW replacement process and publish regular status updates on 50 previously approved items and attorney-general recommendations; council members said an audit exists but raised concerns about its completeness and will review items line-by-line.
Dave Buchin, chairman of the Conservative Party in Saratoga, used the public-comment period to press the council for clearer public information on two issues: the process for replacing the Department of Public Works commissioner and the status of a list of 50 items tied to prior council approvals and an attorney general report. "I think you need to address it item by item," Buchin said, urging the council to post a monthly spreadsheet showing what is done and what remains.
Mayor Safford and other commissioners responded that an audit of the 50 points was completed before the current administration and that Commissioner Moran will present on the status within a month; the mayor also said the city is interviewing outside counsel to address the attorney general's report. Several council members said the audit appears incomplete. One commissioner said the audit is "woefully inadequate" and cited police forfeiture accounts as an example where the written conclusion of 'completed' does not match available accounting, saying the public does not know how forfeiture funds are used. Council members agreed to consider a line-by-line review and possibly form a committee to verify what is actually complete and what requires further work.
