*Added on 9/14/09 at 7:38 p.m.: Concerning point 2. I've received a voice mail from Saratoga Springs Republican Chairman John Herrick, who states that I have cast a cloud of suspicion over five Republican candidates. That was certainly not my intention, so I will state now that I do not have any reason to believe that the second-hand allegations referenced in this post are true. In fact, all accounts point to them being questionable at best, but most likely completely false. I apologize for not making that more clear. The point of this post was to let the reading public know that I have not had any contact with the person(s) making these allegations, although they are stating otherwise, apparently in a bid to give themselves more credibility. I think the reverse effect has proven to be true.

** Further updates, 11:32 p.m.: I have now spoken with Mr. Herrick, and after hearing his concerns -- namely that this post may have (or has had) the unintended effect of calling into question the character of all five GOP candidates -- I have agreed to temporarily remove point #2, pending a review by the editors here. I would like to state again that I have no reason to believe the allegations referenced in this post are true, I mentioned them here only to inform readers that I have had no contact with a woman who claims to have had lengthy conversations with me.

Couple of things to discuss tonight:

1) City officials met with Sheriff James Bowen on Wednesday. I will have a full report in Friday's paper, but the early version is that both Saratoga Springs Police Chief Ed Moore and Sheriff Bowen agree that the city would not realize significant savings in the short term by consolidating dispatch services with the county -- and that the type of service may not be the same as what exists currently. There are a few reasons for this, which will be fully enunciated in the story.


3) On Monday, we had our much-ballyhooed community meeting. I thought it was an interesting exercise, though not as "explosive" as some had told me it would be. Instead, it seemed mostly to be community groups wondering how to get their groups more and better exposure. Secretly, I was hoping that "Horatio Alger," proprietor of the iSaratoga blog, would expose his or her identity in some subtle way visible only to me. Sadly, it did not come to pass.

Nor did the droves of anonymous haters turn out in a vitriol spewing mass -- not that I expected them too. No anonymity at a community meeting, after all.