Saratoga city council votes to double attorney's salary

SARATOGA SPRINGS - The City Council voted unanimously to upgrade the status of city attorney Vincent DeLeonardis from part-time to full-time, nearly doubling his salary from $68,000 to $135,000 per year.

Tuesday night's decision, effective April 9, will take DeLeonardis from 30 to 40 hours. It follows the City Council naming him the chairman of the mayor's newly formed charter review commission.

"The city needs a full-time attorney," said Mayor Meg Kelly. "He's 100 percent qualified."

DeLeonardis was appointed by former Mayor Joanne Yepsen. He has been the lead attorney in the City Center lawsuit involving the Mouzon House and the parking garage. The city has so far lost every round in the battle to change the zoning laws to build the five-story garage that would tower over the restaurant in the historic house.

DeLeonardis is also the husband of Courtney DeLeonardis, chair of the city's Democratic Committee. The five-member City Council is controlled by Democrats. Commissioner of Public Works Anthony "Skip" Scirocco is the only Republican.

When DeLeonardis was appointed chair of the new charter review commission, Commissioner of Accounts John Franck, a member of the new commission, said that a rewrite of the charter would likely include making DeLeonardis full-time. But the City Council moved forward on it without a charter referendum vote.

"It's time," Franck said. "With a $46 million budget, we need a full-time city attorney. Doing it outside of the charter commission takes the politics out of it."

Franck also said that DeLeonardis' wife was only recently named the chair of the Democratic Committee and DeLeonardis was working for the city long-before her appointment.

On Tuesday night, Commissioner of Finance Michele Madigan said DeLeonardis "will ensure the city has expert legal advice." Scirocco said DeLeonardis' promotion was "a long time coming. He's been great."

The proposed charter that Saratogians voted on in November 2017 did not have a provision to make the city attorney full-time. Meanwhile, the members of the now defunct charter review commission are still seeking a recount of the proposed charter that was defeated by 10 votes. A second Freedom of Information Act request to see images of all 8,904 ballots cast for and against the proposed charter was rejected by Saratoga County.

"We will continue to move forward," former commission Chair Bob Turner said. "The ballots should be public."