The Saratoga Springs Democratic Committee recently conducted a survey of active voters in which we asked what was most important to them personally in the upcoming election.
The #1 issue among respondents was public safety, defined as “safe neighborhoods and police accountability”. People weren’t telling us they simply wanted more aggressive policing but that they wanted to feel safe in their homes and communities, and that they felt the Saratoga Springs Police Department should be held accountable for its actions.
“Fixing our aging infrastructure” and “development vs open space” were right behind in a virtual dead heat, followed closely by “affordable housing”. You can see all the results here.
It’s clear that Saratogians care about their city and are concerned about the issues. Answering their concerns requires experience and professionalism, not a hope that, as one of our opponents said in her recent mailer, “everything’s going to be okay.” Answering their concerns requires the candidates you’ll find on the Democratic Row A of your ballot.
Mayoral candidate Ron Kim is a former Public Safety Commissioner who’s raised his family here since 1992. Finance candidate Minita Sanghvi is a tenured business professor at Skidmore. Domenique Yermolayev for Public Works is a seasoned project manager. Dillon Moran for Accounts is a self-described “numbers nerd” with a Chemical Engineering Degree. Jim Montagnino for Public Safety has spent his entire 30-year career in the New York courts.
Methodology: We had nearly 200 responses to the survey, in which responses were ranked so the secondary choices of issues chosen were considered along with the top choices. This, plus the fact the questions were randomized so the same issues did not always appear in the same order, reinforce its statistical validity.