At least according to Franck.

I heard rumor of he and another Saratoga Springs Democrat eying the potential new Assembly seat that will represent Saratoga Springs, the 113th currently held by Tony Jordan, R-Jackson.

Franck, though, told me he heard the same rumors, but they aren't true.

"I was at a union event the other day and someone came up and congratulated me on running," he said, but that was the first he heard of it.

Since then he said he has received calls from constituents and media alike asking about it, but he said it's not in his plan.

"I'm not even sure if the 113th will exist," he said, citing the veto threats from Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the general legislative process in New York that can — as most know — drag on.

But Franck also said he has business, city and family commitments that mean running for a higher office is not in the cards right now.

"At this point in time I would say I am not going to run for any office but commissioner of accounts," he said. "My eyes are always open for anything, but my heart is in Saratoga Springs."

After two years of four ayes and one nay in the City Council, it will be interesting to see how the new 3-2 Dem lead in the chambers will shake out this year.

It was before my time, but I have heard stories of the old council where shouting and political maneuvering were par for the course.

A former City Coucil members told me the other day: "You'll have fun this year... as a reporter."

I agreed.

How these discussions go tonight, though, will be interesting and will give a little insight into how the council will function this term.

Anthony "Skip" Scirocco said he is optimistic. "They seem to be willing to work with us and obviously we have to work with them," he said, referring to the only other Republican member of the council, Scott Johnson.

For example, it seems that the new Public Safety Commissioner Christian Mathiesen seems to have decided he wants to discuss his campaign platform in its entirety, tonight.

Everyone else's agenda is short and sweet. The mayor said last week the first meeting of the year is generally short and simple, to let the new people get acclimated.

I don't think Mathiesen got the memo.
His agenda is:
1. Discussion: Late Night Alcoholic Beverage Sales
2. Discussion: Ambulance Service
3. Discussion: Safety on entry ways into the City

And the seemingly-apolitical:
4. Discussion: Recommendations from City Real Estate Committee presented at the 12-6-11 City Council meeting.

And just to be clear, I'm not against these things being discussed. As a reporter, it gives me something to write about on an otherwise sparse agenda.

Well, hell, welcome to 2012, we're going to get right into it.

DEM 10:18 "Everybody, join us at the bar for champagne!" announced Thilo Ullmann, city Democratic Party chair.

"Thank you all for the support you've given me over the past few months - it's been fantastic. Now the real hard work starts, we're going to do very good things for the city of Saratoga Springs," Madigan addresses the crowd.

DEM 10:09

Madigan wins by a landslide. "I worked really hard for this, I'm so excited and I plan to do great things for this city." Mathiesen an upset in a win for public safety.

DEM 9:56

"Mom YOU WON!!" called Michele Madigan's son (enter. Cheers erupting as Dems pull ahead across the board. "Oh my god, my heart is racing," said another woman. Candidates hugging - absentee ballots foreshadowing big things for the Saratoga Springs Dems. Could this be the night they take back the city?

GOP 9:52
"This is horrible," one woman said. One tied-in Republican floated rumors of skullduggery on the part of one candidate. A rumor I have heard elsewhere in the last few days. I'll report it if I can confirm it. More on that later. For now, it doesn't look good for the men-in-red. Mayor up, others down. Ivins significantly so. "It all depends on what happens in districts 20 and 17," one said, hoping for the best.

DEM 9:51

Spotted: Two Dem ladies sneaking back with frozen martinis after crossing the street for a visit to the Holiday Inn bar...

DEM 9:45

"This is so exciting!" Heard round the board from energetic Dems. Lots of celebrating, but tensions are still high. One woman is smiling and biting her nails at the same time. Michele Madigan's husband getting boisterous.

GOP 9:41
With every district they put up on the big board, more Republicans walk away dejected. "This isn't good," said one as the numbers for Wirth continued to slip and the numbers for Madigan pulled away from Ivins. Lots of worried faces.

DEM 9:37

Screaming ladies (and gents) celebrate as Wilkes looks pretty darn good in district 2...

DEM 9:33

Madigan is the lady of the hour over here - just barely below Ivins in district 25. The Wilkes-Johnson race is neck and neck. Hearing some boo's from the crowd... Wish I could see the projection screen from this corner of the room.

DEM 9:29

Cheers rising from the crowd over here by the projector. Looking good so far...

GOP 9:25
Well it's a mixed bag for the few districts reporting now. "This isn't good," said one woman in the GOP crowd. Early reports show Johnson ahead by about 44 votes. Wirth and Ivins, though, are not doing so great. Still, it's early.

GOP 9:23
Everyone is gathering at the projector. I'll update with unofficial numbers soon.

DEM 9:18 p.m.
"M-A-D-I-G-A-N, that spells Madigan, Madigan," a spontaneous song erupts in support of Michele Madigan, up for Commissioner of Finance.
The room is filling up quick. Wilkes, staying true to his open government policy, is mingling, answering questions and enjoying himself despite being "a little bit anxious."

GOP 9 p.m.
And pens down! Polls are closed.
Also, according to GOP chair Jasper Nolan, Skidmore, district 24, had 40 votes as of a few hours ago. "I talked to them around 3 and they had 9 votes cast. They only come out for the national elections."

GOP 8:53
The room is slowly filling with politicians and supporters alike. The bar is working with two tenders and dishing out drinks as fast as they can. Meanwhile tech-savvy GOP members are setting up for poll closing with a projector to post results.

8:53 p.m.
Wilkes enters the room to a round of applause. His drink of choice? Red wine.

8:52 p.m.
Lauren Carpenter reports the crowd of Republicans at the Vista restaurant in Clifton Park is growing as polls are about to close. GOP chairman Brian Telesh and incumbent Town Clerk Pat O'Donnell just arrived.

8:33 p.m.
Good evening fellow patriots. Happy election day from the Inn at Saratoga. People just starting to gather in the ballroom (after stopping at the bar, of course). Plenty of blue and yellow Wilkes signs decorating the walls.

8:25 p.m.
Jim Tedisco just entered the room carrying a Mayor Johnson sign on a six-foot pole. Things are getting rolling.

8:20 p.m.
Well it's here again folks. Time to choose your elected officials. At this point most people should have voted and according to reports one Republican heard it will be a good year for voter turnout.
Finance Commissioner Kenneth Ivins Jr. said he heard it may be as high as 50 percent-- something he believes will help the Republicans.

Stay tuned for election coverage throughout the night. We have reporter Suzanna Lourie at the Democratic headquarters and Lucian McCarty at the Republicans'.

7:30 p.m.

Happy Election Night folks! Our election night pizza has arrived (thanks D'Andrea's) and we are ready to give you some live coverage.

We'll have reporters Lucian McCarty and Suzanna Lourie live-blogging the city's Democratic and Republican election night parties tonight and Michael Cignoli and I will be blogging from the office, updating results from across the county as they come in. Be sure to check back often.

It could be a big night for city politics -- any predictions for tonight's races?

Our southern Saratoga County team -- Community News reporter Glenn Griffith and photographer Lauren Carpenter -- are out covering races for town supervisor and town council in Clifton Park and Halfmoon.

Lauren reports from Clifton Park Town Hall:
A woman working the polls says there has been a steady stream of voters all day without a lull. Republicans are gathering at the Vista restaurant to await returns.

It's been a pretty uneventful day of voting in Saratoga County, not quite as exciting as some other local municipalities.

In Melrose, a town board candidate helped delivery a baby at a polling place after he cast his vote. (TU)

At Schenectady High School, the school day and voting were disrupted when a student reported that a classmate had two grenades (they turned out not be live) and a fire broke out in a bathroom.

Here in Saratoga we were with Mayor Scott Johnson and challenger Brent Wilkes when they cast their votes this morning.(Photos by Erica Miller)

Reporters are heading out in about a half hour, check back here for more updates or follow them on twitter @MCSaratogian @SuzannaKLourie @SaratogianCDesk and @TogianPhotog

— Emily Donohue

GOP 8:20 p.m.
Well it's here again folks. Time to choose your elected officials. At this point most people should have voted and according to reports one Republican heard it will be a good year for voter turnout.
Finance Commissioner Kenneth Ivins Jr. said he heard it may be as high as 50 percent-- something he believes will help the Republicans.

GOP 8:25 p.m.
Jim Tedisco just entered the room carrying a Mayor Johnson sign on a six-foot pole. Things are getting rolling.

GOP/DEM 8:33 p.m.
The stark contrast between the size of the ballroom in the Holiday Inn-- GOP headquarters-- and the size of the ballroom at the Inn at Saratoga-- Dem headquarters-- illustrates the hill the Democrats have to climb to win. Small "C" conservatives in the city outnumber liberals by a couple thousand registered voters. I heard Brent Wilkes on one of the news channels saying a good turnout would benefit him and the other Dems. We'll see.

DEM 8:45
It's Linda Wilkes in the bow-tie tonight. The candidate's wife was wearing gold bow tie at the Democratic headquarters.
If you have noticed Brent Wilkes sans the trademark bow tie lately its no mistake. Brent said a couple of weeks ago at a campaign speech that political research and polls show people have a generally negative first impression of anyone they see with a bow tie. "After the first impression it doesn't matter," he said. But that first impression is obviously an important one in politics. "After I'm elected I'll wear it again."

GOP 8:53
The room is slowly filling with politicians and supporters alike. The bar is working with two tenders and dishing out drinks as fast as they can. Meanwhile tech-savvy GOP members are setting up for poll closing with a projector to post results.

GOP 9 p.m.
And pens down! Polls are closed.
Also, according to GOP chair Jasper Nolan, Skidmore, district 24, had 40 votes as of a few hours ago. "I talked to them around 3 and they had 9 votes cast. They only come out for the national elections."

DEM 9 p.m.

Aaaaand the waiting begins!

DEM 9:18 p.m.

"M-A-D-I-G-A-N, that spells Madigan, Madigan," a spontaneous song erupts in support of Michele Madigan, up for Commissioner of Finance.

The room is filling up quick. Wilkes, staying true to his open government policy, is mingling, answering questions and enjoying himself despite being "a little bit anxious."

Monday, Saratoga Arts (Or the artists formerly known as the "Arts Council") Executive Director Joel Reed sent a mass e-mail that "went viral" according to the person who sent it to me Tuesday morning.
In it he accuses both parties of playing politics with 9/11 and the memorial.

"Democrats attacking a community arts project created by a rainbow coalition of artists, unions, small and large businesses, and individuals from all walks of life? Republicans minimizing the significance of the tenth anniversary of September 11, 2001 and shunting aside a project that deeply resonates with veterans and first responders? And both throwing Saratoga Arts and the chance for community unity on 9/11 under the bus in the hope of picking up a few votes?"

I posted it at the bottom of the previous blog post, thinking of it as just another blip on the political radar. (Read the full e-mail at the bottom of the post here) Of course all of this is political -- it involves politicians, committees, city property and DECISIONS.

However, I have seen not personally seen and party or parties using it as political fodder, and Tuesday night the Democrats (who are singled out as specifically "exploiting those reasonable grounds for debate into a wedge issue and identifying this as the Mayor's project") reacted to Reed's e-mail.

"As Chair of the Saratoga Springs Democratic Committee I state categorically that neither the Committee nor the Executive Committee have even discussed the sculpture, its merit, its opportunity or its placement," stated Thilo Ullmann in a letter read Tuesday night by Jeff Partridge during public comment at City Council (see the full message below).

Partridge then added his own comments.

"I worked as a volunteer rescuer at that site. I dug through steel, rocks and garbage looking for survivors, or pieces of bodies which when found were placed in a five gallon bucket. I was among about 3,000 construction workers, cops, and firemen doing the same thing.
So I guess I can speak firsthand about this situation.
I can state categorically that no one within the Saratoga Springs Democratic Executive committee or the standing committee has ever raised an objection to honoring our brothers and sisters who were murdered at the World Trade Center.
You can rest assured that I would be the first one to reeducate anyone in our midst who tried to make political hay out of our national tragedy.
Mr. Reed, you've made a dreadful error and I demand an apology on behalf of all the resident of Saratoga Springs, Democrats and Republicans alike."

Next up in line for public comment was the man of the hour -- Joel Reed -- with his apology.

Later, Commissioner John Franck, the sole Democrat on the city council, also laid into Reed for his comments. "This is not politically driven," he said.

Executive Chair of the Saratoga Springs Democratic Committee's statement:
"Joel: I must take strong exception to your interpretation of individual (his italics) opinions as representing the Democratic Party of Saratoga Springs.
Surely all citizens of Saratoga Springs have a right to express personal opinions on any public exhibit and its placement. That so many have done so only points to insufficient outreach on your part.
As Chair of the Saratoga Springs Democratic Committee I state categorically that neither the Committee nor the Executive Committee have even discussed the sculpture, its merit, its opportunity or its placement.
We are not in a position to support it or oppose it.
We have not received any information beyond what each one of us has been able to glean from the public streams and media.
As I discussed with Carrie Woerner last week my PERSONAL concern is that all the necessary legal consultations have been completed and exhausted.
I do not know what the sculpture looks like, I have not searched any websites nor requisitioned any information on it or its artistic merit.
I only know it is very big.
The final decision on its citing does not rest with me or with the Democratic Committee, but squarely with the City Council.
Whatever they decide will no doubt give rise to controversy.
Remember the citing of the Carousel?
That you should decide to launch such a diatribe at this point seems to signal your surprise at the opposition that has arisen.
Any public manifestation meant to represent the feelings of all the citizens will logically bring out everybody's reaction, in favor or against.
You should have expected that, and given more time for discussion and more information to the public.

Cordially.
Thilo Ullmann, Chair "

Here are some interesting stats from the Saratoga County Board of Elections about the breakdown of registered political party members in the Spa City:

Democrats — 6,006
Republicans — 7,053
Conservative — 158
Working Families — 45
Independence — 1,073

All of those numbers were as of April 1. The board uses them to determine how many people are required to sign petitions in order to get on the ballot under each party line. A petition needs to be signed by 5 percent of the number of each party from June 7 to July 11-14, the filing dates.
At this point, the Board of Elections is waiting on the final objections to be filed by voters who see discrepancies in the petitions. For instance, if a person who signed a Republican petition is not in the Republican Party or signed multiple petitions.
That process can last a couple weeks to sort through and for the board to make its determinations.
But as far as the Democrats and Republicans in Saratoga Springs are concerned, the slate of candidates is already established. The Democrats announced Brent Wilkes for mayor, Michele Madigan for finance commissioner, Christian Mathiesen for public safety commissioner and incumbents Joanne Yepsen for city supervisor and John Franck for commisioner of accounts (to see a brief run down of Wilkes' and Mathiesen's platforms click here, and for Madigan's click here).
The Republicans announced their list of incumbent candidates — Scott Johnson for mayor, Richard Wirth for public safety commissioner, Ken Ivins for finance commissioner and Anthony "Skip" Scirocco for public works commissioner and Supervisor Matthew Veitch — and I will be writing a story on their platforms in the near future.

“There have been people who said they would donate millions of dollars against the people who voted on some of these issues,” Sen. Roy McDonald said in a recent Saratogian story I wrote about money coming in from same-sex marriage supporters since his vote for marriage equality.
And it seems his fear is becoming a reality.
Recently the National Organization for Marriage announced it will be making good on a pledge of $2 million to defeat the four Republican senators who voted for the bill and the three Democratic senators who voted against same-sex marriage in 2009, but reversed that decision this year and passed it.
"This is the first step in what will be a sustained, determined effort to make sure the constituents of these cowardly Senators know what they have done," Brian Brown, NOM's president said in a recent press release.
The release outlined how the organization is spending $150,000 on mailers comparing Republican Senators Roy McDonald, Mark Grisanti, James Alesi and Stephen Saland, and Democratic Senators Shirley Huntley, Joseph Addabbo and Carl Kruger to Benedict Arnold, the Revolutionary War general who sold out his country and his until-then winning war-time reputation for British Pounds.
The mailers highlight previous stances some of the senators took against same-sex marriage and some of the money they have received since their vote from same-sex supporters.
"It is shameful that these state Senators flip-flopped on such a critical issue when they saw gay marriage backers raising millions from Wall Street," Brown said.
As of the story that ran on July 15, McDonald had raised $118,000 in campaign contributions since June 1, some of which came in the form of $10,300 contributions from same-sex marriage supporters, while other contributions came from Republican and union sources.
"You can't run a campaign on $10,000," McDonald said in the interview for that story, but he also added “in the last campaign, more money was raised against me than for me.” He won that race against Democrat and Saratoga Springs Supervisor Joanne Yepsen.
It will be interesting to see if that magic will happen again.