New year, new everything

*Update* At the January 5 meeting of the Saratoga Town Council, Creed James was appointed to fill the mayoral vacancy.

While many people may be hoping for change in 2021, one of the entities in Carbon County that will be seeing the most change is Saratoga Town Council. The governing body will be facing plenty of changes as of its meeting on January 5.

Mayoral Vacancy

From August 18 to December 31, the Town of Saratoga operated without a mayor following the resignation of John Zeiger. Councilmember Bob Keel, who was appointed to mayor pro-tem by Zeiger on August 4, served in the position for the remainder of the year. Following Zeiger’s resignation, it was proposed by Councilmember Jon Nelson to wait until after the general election on November 3 to solicit the input of the incoming council members.

On November 4, Creed James and Ben Spaulding were asked their recommendations as to who should fill the mayoral vacancy. Initially requesting a period of two weeks to speak with the sitting council, James and Spaulding were finally able to give their recommendations during the December 1 meeting of the Saratoga Town Council.

That recommendation was for Councilmember D’Ron Campbell to be appointed to fill the vacancy. Ultimately, a motion to appoint Campbell by Nelson failed due to lack of a second. Another motion, this one by Councilmember Judy Welton, to appoint Keel to the mayoral vacancy also failed due to lack of a second. 

Despite an appeal by Lindy Glode, a former Carbon County Commissioner, during the governing body’s December 15 meeting the vacancy was not filled.

Lacking Legal Counsel

Following the resignation of Zeiger, the Town of Saratoga’s legal counsel, Tom Thompson, also announced his resignation effective December 31, 2020. At the December 1 meeting, Thompson attended via phone and informed the council that he had no intention of leaving the Town without his legal services. He added, however, that the Town should put out a Request for Proposal (RFP) for legal counsel.

The Saratoga Sun reached out to Keel via email on Monday in regards to the RFP for legal counsel. Keel replied that the Town of Saratoga had received five letters of interest for legal representation. The agenda for the January 5 meeting, however, did not have any discussion for those letters as of press time.

Clerk Cox

During the December 1 meeting of the Saratoga Town Council, Saratoga Town Clerk Suzie Cox announced her resignation after nearly 30 years of working for the Town of Saratoga. Similar to Thompson, Cox’s resignation was effective December 31, though she also informed the governing body that she would stay on in a contracted capacity if needed. 

While the council had discussed a potential special meeting to review the job description for town clerk before advertising, no such meeting was held. During the December 15 meeting, when asked by James about the special meeting, Keel stated that he had wanted to wait until the Town had received engagement letters from accountant James Childress and auditors Carver, Florek and James.

When contacted via email on Monday, Keel informed the Sun that the position for town clerk had been advertised “only recently” and that there had been no response.

Auditors

At the December 15 meeting of the Saratoga Town Council, discussion centered around engagements with Childress and Carver, Florek and James. In an email sent from Keel to the rest of the council and incoming council members, and made available to the public, Jason Lund of Carver, Florek and James expressed hesitancy in engaging with the Town of Saratoga without someone appointed to the mayoral vacancy and with it unclear who they would be working with for the Fiscal Year 2019/2020 audit.

In both the December 30 and the January 6 Sun, the Town of Saratoga ran a legal notice for RFPs from accounting firms for their municipal audit with a deadline of January 15. Should the Town of Saratoga go with a different accounting firm for their audit, it will be the third firm for the municipality.

Following an RFP published in the August 14, 2019 Saratoga Sun, the only accounting firm to submit a proposal was Carver, Florek and James.

The Saratoga Town Council will have met on January 5 and will meet at 7 p.m. on January 15 at Saratoga Town Hall.