County leaders reject proposal to close bars earlier

July 2, 2012
By Michael Cignoli
The Saratogian

The city of Saratoga Springs’ request to change last call to 3 a.m. was dealt a crushing blow Monday afternoon when a key county committee declined to support the initiative.

The City Council voted in June to send a resolution to the Saratoga County Board of Supervisors urging the board to ask the New York State Liquor Authority to roll back last call throughout the county from 4 a.m. to 3 a.m. as a way to improve public safety and reduce police costs.

The state Liquor Authority, which would have had the final say on the issue, has previously said the county Board of Supervisors is the only legislative body that can formally request to change last call.

On Monday, the county’s Legislative and Research Committee voted 5 to 1 against advancing the proposal to another county committee and then to the full board, effectively killing the initiative.

A supervisor could still technically make a motion to bring the issue before the full Board of Supervisors later this month, but the chances of such a motion being approved are slim.

The county’s tiered committee process is designed to vet out ill-fated resolutions or requests.

“If it has merit, they move it forward,” Saratoga Springs Supervisor Matthew Veitch said. “If they don’t believe it has merit, they don’t move it forward.”

Veitch said he has “no plans to bring it up at the full board,” and Saratoga Springs’ other supervisor, Joanne Yepsen, the lone Legislative and Research Committee member to vote for the proposal, said she would speak to the City Council before deciding.

The council is scheduled to meet tonight.

City Finance Commissioner Michele Madigan was the lone City Council member to attend the county committee meeting Monday.A supervisor could still technically make a motion to bring the issue before the full Board of Supervisors later this month, but the chances of such a motion being approved are slim.

The county’s tiered committee process is designed to vet out ill-fated resolutions or requests.

“If it has merit, they move it forward,” Saratoga Springs Supervisor Matthew Veitch said. “If they don’t believe it has merit, they don’t move it forward.”

Madigan, who voted for the change in June, and Yepsen said they were both under the impression that city Accounts Commissioner John Franck and Public Safety Commissioner Christian Mathiesen, who both endorsed the last call change, would be allowed to make a presentation to the county committee in August. They thought Monday’s meeting would just be a discussion.

Yet Edinburg Supervisor Jean Raymond made a motion to not back the proposal, saying there was nothing that would change her vote. She said she believed it would take money out of the pockets of business owners and that it was not up to the government to dictate business practices.

“There is no way I’d vote to put businesses in my town or businesses anywhere in this county out of business,” Raymond said. Four other supervisors agreed.

Reached by phone Monday, Mathiesen said he was “flabbergasted and very disturbed” by the vote.

Malta Supervisor Paul Sausville, the committee chairman, noted the City Council didn’t attach any monetary data or evidence to its resolution requesting the change.

Madigan said Mathiesen and Franck were getting ready to prepare that data for the committee’s August meeting.

“It really doesn’t serve the interests of the people of the county or of the city,” Mathiesen said of Monday’s “surprise” vote. He remains steadfast in his position that the city’s downtown late at night is an ongoing problem, particularly Caroline Street, which requires a heavy police presence.