Right side of the table.
Left side of the table.
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I emailed Saratoga Springs Treasury Commissioner Minita Sanghvi and asked her to wire $10,000 into a furniture account. This account currently has $13,000 in it. I also asked him about his decision to paint his office. The finance department got all new furniture and paint after the town hall fire two years ago.
Below is his reply to my emails, my last message and my reply.
Sangivi: Dear Mr. Kaufmann,
I will answer the questions you raised in a recent blog post. Please enter this answer verbatim.
1. Furniture
When I got to the office (sic) I realized that Commissioner Madigan didn't have his own office. There was part of his office, then a small conference table that was set at right angles and served as a desk.
Since we were removing our assistant, it needed additional storage space, so I gave it my storage space. We donated one of our computer pantries to keep. One of the tables was handed over to the civil service. We had a new position with our executive assistant (more on that later) and I gave the man the post of Madigan Commissioner. And I ordered an L-shaped table, shelves and drawers for my table.
Merchant: [As you can see from the photos above, Commissioner Sangvi actually removed most of the furniture from the Treasury Commissioner's office when it took 8 months. Although the furniture is new, according to his assessment, there will be almost no such furniture in the office.
His biggest concern is that he doesn't want to know exactly what items he's going to replace with all that furniture and how much each item costs exactly. Here he is referring to an L-shaped table and "several shelves and drawers for storage". Then he mentions that he wants to move to the couch and "sit". When I asked him for details, he emailed me: "Please DO NOT share any information." Commissioner Sangvi knows that it usually takes six weeks or more to get a FOIL from a city.
These are the numbers he calculated before asking the council to add $10,000 to his budget. You must be ready.
That's his stupid and problematic answer on many levels. I will eventually release the numbers so the public will eventually know this information, and his reluctance to release the numbers now only prolongs the life of the story, which he may regret. By now denying that information and forcing me to go through the FOIL procedure, he's concerned about the extravagance of his repair plan. It also undermines the credibility of his commitment to transparency.]
Sangwi: Commissioner Madigan, there was a large conference table for visitors. When I installed the desktop, I found the style to be more confrontational than conversational. Not everyone is used to going to the town hall, many are afraid of it. So I wanted to turn it into a sofa and seat to make it more conversational and inclusive.
Merchant: [There's a reason offices usually have conference tables. While the Treasury Commissioner holds informal meetings with members of the public from time to time, the vast majority of office meetings to discuss financial matters involve local community officials. Such meetings require an efficient design to accommodate multiple people and typically require a surface for laptops or notepads.
I'm sorry to see city officials scattered on sofas and chairs, on their knees, trying to solve the city's financial problems.
I've spent most of my career in meetings and my priority has been making them as effective as possible. The meetings I attended or chaired were not social gatherings meant to "talk." They had to keep the chatter to a minimum and get down to business.
Commissioner Sangvi once again shows a lack of understanding for the essence of his position. This is all the more alarming as he has now been in power for eight months.]
Sangvi: 2nd author grant
I totally agree with Commissioner Madigan that we need more support to write grants. We talked about that during our transition and our plan was to consolidate grant management into Finance because it was about reimbursement management and stuff like that. However, other ministries did not really take up this idea. That is the problem with the form of the government commission. Sometimes the conscientious efforts of the commissioners are seen as a seizure of power. It wasn't what he or I had in mind. He added the position and we both campaigned for it, but we have been told repeatedly that no other ministry supports him. Finally, we have worked with individual departments to help them write grants that meet their needs. I still think it's good financially for our city, but I'm just one vote.
Kaufmann: [For me it's hard to understand. The position was included in the 2022 budget. Inspector Sanguine simply had the right to hire a fellow. He did not need the approval of the sitting council, and there was no public debate as to who supported him or not and why. Petty bureaucracy on the part of anonymous colleagues (I understand that Mayor Kim was strongly opposed to the position) should not be an impediment to filling a position that even Commissioner Sanguine recognizes.]
Sangvi: We ended up hiring an assistant manager with the money that was in our budget. It's more about parity - City Hall, DPW, DPS (I think they've used that position in different ways over the years) all have executive assistants. When I spoke to the City Council (with the exception of Commissioner Scirocco who was ill at the time) they agreed that every department should have one.
Merchant: [Parity? Since they are, should I have it? This mentality explains how budgets bloat. Recruitment should be based on efficient management of resources, not sharing loot.]
Sangvi: Commissioner Madigan has been very productive working at City Hall and we are currently working on many of these projects such as the NYPA street lighting project, the SIFI fiber optic network project. In addition, we've added one of our own joint budgeting projects. As you know, I work part-time, and while many other commissioners are retired or in that position full-time, I cannot support my family on $14,500. My ongoing teaching at Skidmore also requires time and effort. So we decided to hire an assistant manager. The position was discussed in the mayor's office and in the civil servants' commission, the advertisement was published by HR. Please review and view the ad to learn more about the position.
Kaufmann: [Commissioner Sangvi was responsible for checking if he had time to serve as Finance Commissioner before running for the post. If he told the public that if elected, he would have to fill a position that would cost the city $72,000 a year to perform his duties, voters might well be voting for someone. Worse, is it possible he didn't even consider the problem of not having enough time to get the job done properly before deciding to race?]
Sangvi: 3. About the journey
I met and discussed capital budgets with all departments well before August. We have good open communication about recession clouds and our credit options. I have been very open about the city's finances from day one.
I also work with our team when I am in India, often at 2am, on all matters related to our finances and budget. But you asked why I left. This was not intended for a children's book (thanks for the correction). I wrote a novel that was published by Harper Collins India which I was told would be the first lesbian novel in India. I'm sure you understand what a great moment this is for LGBTQ (sic) rights in a country of 1.4 billion people.
Merchant: [I never asked Commissioner Sangvi why he went to India. He announced his trip on his Facebook page.
Congratulations to Commissioner Sanguine on the publication of his novel. However, I am surprised that he thinks this might be the first novel of this type to be published in India. Much literature has been published in this genre.]
Sangvi: And although this trip is professional, I want to make a note for our future travel articles - I travel to India as often as I can. Sometimes it happens twice a year. You see, my father is 78 years old. The average life expectancy for males in India is about 69 years. Because I'm an economics professor, I did simple math. If my father lives about 90 years (about 1 year longer than this (sic) father) and I visit him once a year, I will see him about 12 times before he dies. I confessed to my family 20 years ago - 20 years ago that India and the United States are different landscapes for LGBTQ rights. They stood by me and supported me despite the criticism and ridicule they faced in their community. At least I can visit her more than 12 times before I die. So if you travel to India in December you will understand why.
Merchant: [I have no problem with Commissioner Sanguine taking the time to go to India. I'm happy for him that he has such a supportive and loving family. My problem with his visit was that he chose the timing. This happened at the beginning of the preparation of the city budget for 2023. Departments submit the requested budgets to his office in August. Readers should be aware that preparing such a budget is extremely complex and time-consuming, both in terms of in-depth analysis and research and the political tensions involved. Speaking of the inspector, now wasn't the best time to go.
What bothered me the most was his decision to write that he would not waste time answering citizens' letters during his absence. In all my years of reporting on politics, I have never seen an elected official publicly tell citizens that they will not take the time to respond to email inquiries for three weeks.]
Sangvi: Thank you for your interest in the town hall details. They also sent me another email about painting my office: “I heard you repainted your office. What color did you paint it and why did you repaint it?
Kaufmann: [His offices were recently repainted two years ago as part of the City Hall renovation, so it seemed odd that they were repainted, so let me ask him. I knew the office had been painted in period colors to match the carpet. I guess it was pointless for me to ask about her new color choice.]
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