College to Host Debate on Charter Proposal for Campus, Community

Skidmore College invites residents of Saratoga Springs to campus Monday, Oct. 30, for a town meeting/debate on the proposal to amend the city charter. The event begins at 7 p.m. in Gannett Auditorium of Palamountain Hall. (There will be simulcasting in nearby Davis Auditorium.)

Three supporters and three opponents of charter reform will make three-minute presentations and will then take questions from the audience. "While there have been informational sessions hosted by both sides, the Skidmore event will be the first and only public debate on the charter reform issue," said Bob Turner, assistant professor of government and an organizer of the session. "The debate represents a final opportunity for citizens to ask questions about charter reform before heading to the polls on Nov. 7."

Speakers include the following: Gordon Boyd, co-chair of Saratogians United to Continue the Charter Essential to Sustain Our Success; Amanda Hiller, 2006 Charter Commission legal counsel and an attorney in municipal and election law; Patrick Kane, 2005 Charter Commission member and chair of Move Saratoga Forward; Ron Kim, commissioner of public safety; Ken Klotz, former mayor and past commissioner of finance; and Jeff Wait, former city attorney. Current and former elected officials, members of previous charter reform panels, and other involved citizens have been invited.

Turner and Michael Arnush, director of the College's First-Year Experience, have organized the debate. Arnush will introduce the charter program and Turner will moderate. Students of both professors will attend.

The Skidmore professors consider the charter proposal an excellent opportunity for their students to obtain "real-world" application of classroom theory. Arnush is currently teaching first-year students in a seminar titled "Democracy Inaction." The class has been studying the origins of democracy in ancient Greece and how Athenian representative democracy in particular provides a foundation for contemporary democratic structures. He explained that the students are using modern Saratoga Springs "as the lens for examining local governance and have been following the discussion on charter reform as an example of the investment citizens have in the management of a community."

The College's Government Department teamed up with the First-Year Experience to organize and sponsor the event, because "the debate is consistent with our departmental mission to understand both how political systems work, and how we can make them work better," said Turner.