Where in the world is Chief Moore?

It would have been nice for Saratoga Springs Police Chief Ed Moore to reflect upon his recent windfall at the behest of taxpayers. Unfortunately, the sheer memory of the Dreyer conflict has forced the fragile chief into taking the entire month of December off for vacation.

Yes, the Spa City’s top cop has taken the money and ran, so to speak, leaving his force in the capable hands of his underlings, many of whom earn an annual salary tantamount to his own Lord knows where Moore skulked off to for his break from the grind, but it must have been somewhere nice. After all, $65,000 worth of taxpayer money can buy one hell of a vacation.

So let’s take a gander at the score card here: Moore, a $98,000 per year salaried employee of the city, sues his boss for a bogus reason, which some felt would not stand up in court. The city, fearing mounting legal fees and undoubtedly feeling pressure from their insurance carrier, decides to settle for what likely amounts to what they would have spent on settling the case. In other words, make the chief and his former deputy rich instead of some puss-bag lawyer. Now it comes out the chief finds it already to step away from his job for more than a month. Alas, it’s good to be chief.

In vanishing into a vacation destination somewhere on the planet, Moore must have decided he didn’t need to stick around and bang the drum for the public safety castle he so bitterly fought for during September’s Democratic primary. In fact, it’s kind of strange how the chief just sort of disappeared off his public safety castle stump once the election ended, despite the fact that there is more movement on the issue now than ever before.

Then again, he has chumps like Public Safety rube Ron Kim and Valerie “Lame Duck” Keehn to stump for his police castle. It’s also likely Moore knew in advance the company that would be slated to design his future castle. Ron Kim sure had a good idea last week, when he told the Saratogian he had whittled the decission down from seven firms to a pair, one of which was featured prominantly in the castle’s bogus feasiblity study and posted on his re-election Web site.

And besides, city officials must show their due diligence with the project now or face further legal retribution from state Division of Human Rights, which inspected the department in the weeks leading up to Moore’s sabbatical. And don’t be surprised if the women who filed this complaint later follow suit with Moore –pun not intended –in taking legal action against the city.

Yes, for all those strapping lads and lasses in Saratoga County, it’s a good time to be a cop in the city. Moore has successfully denuded the public safety commissioner, who in turn hired a full-time deputy who he described as a Democratic “advocate” who will “focus on broader issues of legislation” such as “as preserving open space and continuing to pursue affordable housing projects.” In other words, a political operative who will focus more on public issues instead of public safety issues.

Who cares if the department is raking in enough overtime to make a sergeant’s salary seem like the chief’s? What does it matter that there is no one to oversee or at least pose an objective opinion to police spending? And when has spending ever been a problem within the ranks of the highest budgeted department in the city? Perhaps these are questions that the chief can chortle over while he sips his yuletide wassail in parts unknown.