Mayor takes responsibility for appointment failure

The hiring of Saratoga Town Treasurer, Sammy Flohr, was not approved by the Saratoga Town Council.

At the May 6 town council meeting, Flohr was introduced as the new treasurer for the town of Saratoga. Saratoga Mayor John Zeiger said Flohr had been working as treasurer since May 5.

According to 2.08.031 of the Saratoga municipal code, “the town clerk, treasurer, chief of police, attorney and municipal judge shall be appointed by the mayor with the consent of the governing body and may be removed by the mayor for incompetency or neglect of duty. The appointments shall be made by the mayor at the first regularly scheduled town council meeting in January at the beginning of the mayor’s term of office … or as soon thereafter as practical.”

No vote by the council had taken place to approve Flohr.

Zeiger said he will take responsibility for not bringing Flohr’s hiring to a vote.

“That was a total oversight on my part,” Zeiger said. “I thought I had gotten approval on such and such date, found out I didn’t, it’s not an issue.”

The mayor added he still plans on appointing Flohr.

He added the oversight was an honest mistake, and not an attempted cover-up.

“I’m not ashamed, I’m not afraid, I’m not trying to hide anything and it’s just political,” he said.

Flohr’s appointment “will be taken care of at the next meeting,” Zeiger said. Additionally, Zeiger said he has been in contact with town attorney Tom Thompson, who said everything Flohr had done up to this point was legal.