SARANAC LAKE - The former mayor of the city of Plattsburgh will be the next mayor of the village of Saranac Lake. But he'll be in the minority on the village Board of Trustees.
Democrat Clyde Rabideau won the race for village mayor Tuesday, defeating Republican Trustee Jeff Branch, who was seeking the mayor's seat for the third time, by an official count of 681 to 577.
But Republican Elias "Allie" Pelletieri won one of the two village board seats on the ballot, ousting current Trustee Susan Waters, a Democrat, and giving the GOP a majority on the board.
Former mayor Tom Catillaz will be returning to the village board after a four-year absence. He was the top vote-getter in a five-way race for two trustee seats, collecting 639 votes, according to the official results. Pelletieri took the second trustee seat with 636 votes. Waters had 553 votes, Republican Diana Howard had 453, and independent Smart Party candidate Shawn Boyer received 172 votes.
Rabideau said the result was bittersweet.
"We had a great team," he said. "We only got two out of three. We're in the minority, but that doesn't mean we can't make things happen."
"We ran a good campaign," Branch told reporters after the results came in. "We kept to the issues."
Branch and village Republican Chairman Ray Scollin both said they were disappointed in the voter turnout, with Scollin saying he had hoped for 300 to 400 more votes than 2006's 1,400. Instead, about 200 fewer turned out.
About 40 percent of the 2,836 registered voters in the village showed up to vote Tuesday. In the last mayoral election four years ago, more than 1,400 people voted; there were then more than 3,000 registered voters. Both totals far surpass the turnout from the 2008 village election, which brought 737 voters to vote for two trustee seats.
Branch may have lost as mayor, but he is still a village trustee - and a trustee in the majority party, alongside fellow Republicans Pelletieri and John McEneany.
The comprehensive plan, which was drafted under the previous, majority-Democratic administration, was a major issue during the campaign, with the Republicans all opposing a retail size cap. Branch said he expects to see changes to the plan.
"The moratorium (on retail stores over a certain size) will go," Branch said. "That's something that will happen."
Pelletieri said he wanted to take a look at the comprehensive plan, which he said has a lot of good in it, and keep the good parts and get rid of the parts he disagrees with, like the retail size cap.
Rabideau said he'd like to see the comprehensive plan get approved in some form.
"The point of the comprehensive plan was to plan for the future in a comprehensive, integrated way," he said. "If we've got to wait a little bit of time to do that, that's the way it will be. There's still 1,000 people (who responded to a planning survey and attended meetings on the plan) who have a vested interest in this."
Rabideau said he believes he can work with the rest of the board to bring the village together.
"It's not insider versus outsider; it's not elitist versus the working person," he said. "We're all in this together to make Saranac Lake the best village it can be. There's 5,000 people depending on us, plus a lot more in outlying areas that really look to us for leadership and for economic vitality."
Rabideau said his first priority is to meet and "establish relationships" with other members of the village board, as well as village department heads and employees.
Catillaz said he's ready to return to the board.
"I'm disappointed Susan didn't get back on the board and I feel sorry for her, but Allie will be a very good teammate and I think we'll all work well together," he said. "Clyde has some great ideas, and we're anxious to get going."
"Well, I'm glad it's over with," Pelletieri said when asked for his reaction to the results. "I'm doing good. It's always nice to win. Now the real work will start."
Pelletieri said his first priority is to help the local rescue squad form an independent corporation, which it can't do until it negotiates the purchase of some equipment from the village. The rescue squad needs to hire an emergency medical technician by the end of April or risk losing its Advanced Life Support certification, but it can't do this until it completes the incorporation process.
Pelletieri also said he wants the issue of a site for the SkatePark resolved, and thinks behind the village office is best.
"The youth deserve it," Pelletieri said. "The people on the committee worked hard for many years."
Pelletieri said he looks forward to working with the board and thinks there is more common ground between the two parties than differences.
"It's going to be everyone working for the community."
Waters said she was disappointed that she won't be able to work with Rabideau and Catillaz, the three of whom campaigned together as a team.
"I felt like I worked really hard, stood on my record and was articulate and accessible to the voters, but they obviously wanted something else," Waters said. "But I'm not going to fade away. I'll still be involved in the community, and hopefully, I'll be active in government, too."
Waters said she didn't think her support for the comprehensive plan or any single issue was to blame for the result. She said Pelletieri is well known in the community.
"He's been here a long time," she said. "He's a local guy, and people like him. That counts for a lot."
Howard said she was glad that Pelletieri had won and that, while it was unfortunate Branch didn't win for mayor, he is still on the now Republican-majority board.
"I'm thrilled; my very first time out (was a) great experience," Howard said. "It opened my eyes a lot."
Howard said she wasn't sure if she would run for trustee again, but "I definitely think I'll be more involved in the community now. I have a much greater awareness of the needs of the village."
"I'm not disappointed at all," Boyer said. "Not even a little bit. I'm very surprised at the amount of support I received for as little as what I spent," which was under $500, he said.
"I am going to run again in two years," Boyer continued. "I'm not going to stop until I see Saranac Lake start moving upwards again. We need this place to be built back up, and if it starts with little things, that's OK. I'm not saying we need a Walmart, I never did say we need a Walmart, but we do need something."
Boyer said he thinks Saranac Lake needs more retail options. He said he agreed with Howard, who has said that a Kohl's could be a good fit, and he also said he had seen good prices at factory outlet stores.
"Maybe we should look around at what our choices could be, versus a 120,000-square-foot Walmart," Boyer said. "That doesn't mean a smaller Walmart couldn't be here. I'm against the size cap, for sure."
The Democrats raised and spent much more money than the Republicans, and Branch said he thought that played a large role in the outcome of the election, since the Democrats could afford to advertise much more heavily.
"That's the problem when you represent working people," Branch said of his party's fundraising. Branch said he didn't think the difference between the parties in the village is necessarily class-based, but "people who have it can give it, and people who don't, can't."
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