It was a cold weekend here in Saratoga Springs. The seasonal weather seems to have had a subduing effect on citizens in the city, as we are now into the second day without any arrests in the city.

Perhaps the holiday spirit has moved us all to cooperate and get along for a bit.

Tomorrow should see the appointment of a new Fire Chief, which should be exciting. Apparently it's a down-to-the-wire race between two candidates, and Commissioner Kim will likely hold off on his decision until the last moment. There does, however, seem to be a lot less political controversy surrounding this appointment than there was during the process of appointing Chris Cole to the the chief of police.

The most interesting to come out of City Hall today, however, is the installation of a gate at the entrance to the mayor's office. Now, when you walk in the office door, instead of entering directly into the main office, you'll be stopped at a swinging gate, about waist high. I'm not a fan of the new addition, but apparently that Mayor's office was the last in the building not to have such a partition. So it goes.

Finally, Mayor Scott Johnson spent a good chunk of the day in mediation with the PBA. No word yet on how the session went/is going, but hopefully there will be some progress announced on that front soon. It is nearly a year since the contract expired.

I was really hoping that this would just blow over, but it clearly isn't going to, so here it is:

On Wednesday evening, after going back and forth on whose responsibility it is to distribute layoff letters in the Department of Public Works, City Attorney Joe Scala threw a packet of letters at Commissioner of Public Works Skip Scirocco, hitting him in the back, although he says he only intended to throw the envelope at Scirocco's feet.

Scirocco said that after delivering the first of 28 lay off letters, he realized that individuals losing their jobs were asking a lot of questions that he was not equipped to answer. These were questions that should probably have been addressed by the city's Human Resource Manager. The problem being, of course, that the city does not currently have an HR manager. City Attorney Joe Scala has been empowered to fill in as HR manager in some capacities.

So, here's my take: Scirocco is within his rights to ask for help in answering technical, legal questions relating to layoffs. BUT, knowing Scirocco, and having heard both sides' description of the confrontation, it does not sound like the commissioner clearly articulated his request for this kind of help, but instead left the letters without explanation on Scala's desk. According to Civil Service, delivering the letters can also be handled by Human Resources, but Scala's role as a stand-in HR person is not clearly defined, so he may be right in saying that it's not his job.

From Scala's perspective, it appears to be the appointing authority's job to deliver the layoff letters, so without a good explanation of what Scirocco wanted when he left the letters, why would he want to get involved in the messy delivery of such documents? BUT, was it professional of him to throw the envelope at an elected official? Probably not. It certainly doesn't fit in with the Mayor's stated agenda of bringing decorum and civility to City Hall, a point that outgoing Commissioner of Public Safety was eager to point out this afternoon.

The bottom line, from where I'm sitting, is that the city is doing something it has never done before with this amount of layoffs. No one is really happy about it, and who can blame them? Emotions are running high, and since we're all human, confrontations can happen. Let's just hope that this is the worst we see.

Also, Horatio has a good take on all this.

Quick update on the Public Safety promotions. Interviews have been completed for the Assistant Chief position in the police department, and interviews for positions in the fire department (chief and assistant chief) will be conducted next week, said Commissioner Ron Kim.

Richard Wirth, the incoming Commissioner of Public Safety, will participate in Monday's interviews for fire chief.

Announcements of all upcoming promotions are expected to be made next Tuesday or Wednesday.

*Correction appended 12/17: Jamin Totino is a registered member of the Democratic Party

A somewhat interesting letter from Sunday’s paper, linked here. Michael Perkins, a member of the Planning Board, wrote to take issue with another letter, written by Barbara Trypaluk, which criticized the planning process related to Beaver Pond Village.

Perkins, who did not vote on Beaver Pond Village, is also vice chairman of the Saratoga Springs Republican Committee, and appears to be writing to fend off accusations that the planning process was unduly politicized along party lines.

Well, I suppose that’s all well and good, but do think it’s interesting to note two points: Perkins says that the board is split between Democrats and Republicans. Not so. There are currently four Republicans on the board (Perkins, Dan Gaba, Philip Klein, and Chairman Clifford Van Wagner). Jamin Totino, Laura Rappaport and Amy Durland and Democrats. Rappaport’s term ends on Dec. 31, and given Mayor Scott Johnson’s record of appointments, I find it doubtful that she will be re-appointed, or that she will be replaced by another member of her party. Although, who knows. In any case, the board isn’t really that balanced.

Secondly, Perkins states that there are no voting blocks, but from what I have observed, after sitting through many, many Planning Board meetings, is that when a vote is not unanimously in favor, Durland and Rappaport often vote together (often against proposals), while the remaining five often vote together as well. This is not always the case, to be sure, but there are clearly some patterns.

Finally, I can’t help but wonder if Perkins was somehow authorized to write this letter on behalf of the whole Planning Board, as it appears he has.

After Wednesday's debacle, I successfully attended this morning's meeting of the Saratoga Springs Democratic Committee. Thank you to Chairman Allen Turkheimer and the committee for allowing me to stay and observe your discussions.

If I were to take away one thing from the meeting it is this: The committee has recognized that the only way it will be successful at winning elections in Saratoga Springs is to set aside the party's divisions and unite under their common banner -- but that the committee has a long way to go before such conciliation becomes more than a notion.

There was clearly a lot of vitriol at the meeting, still simmering from 2007. A suggestion was thrown out for the committee to join together for a party, and that probably isn't a bad idea. They may also want to consider marriage counseling.