To date, I am the **only** mayoral candidate who has accepted all invitations to participate in candidate forums, debates, town halls and questionnaires this election season. Neither major party candidate, Ron Kim (D) or Heidi West (REP, CON) can say the same.
If you are running to be on the Saratoga Springs City Council you have to be ready to answer the hard questions and be put on record, regardless of who is asking the question.
Citizens of Saratoga Springs deserve a fair and honest debate between those who seek to serve them, not just candidates operating in their own echo chambers. It should not matter if a group skews in towards one ideology or another in its membership, as a public servant you represent everyone and have the same obligation to all constituents.
Locally, I hope we can get back a place where we share a common goal across all political spectrums, and that is the importance of an informed voter. Saratoga Springs party politics should not operate at the expense of the voting public, we can and must do better.
Below, please see a request seeking community questions for an upcoming candidate event for the mayoral race, hosted by the League of Women Voters. Unfortunately, only myself and the democratic candidate have confirmed participation, the Republican and Conservative candidate Heidi West has declined to participate, along with about half of the other GOP candidates running for City Council.
Why I am running to be your next Mayor of Saratoga Springs and the unique qualifications that set me apart from the Republican and Democratic candidates >>
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Saratoga Springs is headed into a very crowded election season with multiple candidates running for office and several new ballot lines for Saratogians to vote on.
With such a large field of candidates (17 in total running for the city council, by my count!), informing yourself before going to vote has never been more important, but finding information on candidates and their positions can often be quite challenging.
For example, in this year's Mayoral election, I am one of four candidates running - Ron Kim is the democratic candidate, Heidi West is the Republican candidate and Max Rosenbaum is the Working Families Party candidate - I am the only poliltically independent candidate, running on the Saratoga Strong line.
So can you assume the other three candidates represent the ideologies of the party line they are running on? Actually NO, you definitely cannot. Can you assume the other Mayoral candidates are putting a platform out so voters get a sense of what their positions and priorities will be in office? Actually NO, you cannot. Only the democratic candidate Ron Kim and myself have published a platform - find Ron's by clicking here and mine by clicking here.
So back to the confusing election season.. in addition to the mayoral race, there are four candidates for the Commissioner of Finance, including my running mate Adam Israel on the Saratoga Strong line and three candidates for the Commissioner of Accounts, Commissioner of Public Works and Commissioner of Public Safety. So how to make sense of this mess of candidates? Here's a starting point >>
This election season I would point voters towards One Saratoga as an excellent starting point to get a feel for who is running and what they stand for. One Saratoga's stated goal this election season is to provide straightforward, unbiased information to help Saratogians make informed decisions when they go to vote. To that end, they sent out a lengthy questionnaire to all of the local candidates that covered a wide range of topics.
**What is One Saratoga? One Saratoga is a non-partisan coalition that wants the best-qualified people governing Saratoga Springs. They came together in 2019 out of concern for our City’s well-being and include committed people who keep close tabs on our City’s governance.
**What is my connection to One Saratoga? I am proud to have been one of the founding members of One Saratoga in 2019, I received their endorsement that campaign cycle and continued to participate as a member of One Saratoga until February 2021. As soon as I decided I was seeking re-election however, I removed myself from all meetings and communication with One Saratoga as a best practice, for full transparency and impartiality.
So who is running for what office and what party are they running with? Click here for the full rundown >
For the candidate Q & A's on core issues, click here for their website or here for their facebook page >
Up next… why it's great to debate.