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Dems nominate Shapiro, Catillaz for Saranac Lake board

Incumbents say attracting more businesses is a top priority

Saranac Lake village trustees Rich Shapiro, left, and Tom Catillaz shake hands in January after being selected as the Democratic candidates for this year’s village board election during a party caucus at the village offices. (Enterprise photo — Griffin Kelly)

SARANAC LAKE — Current village Trustees Rich Shapiro and Tom Catillaz were unanimously approved as the Democratic candidates for this year’s village board election during a Harrietstown Democratic Committee caucus Monday night.

About 25 Democrats attended the caucus, and there were no other nominations. Trustee terms are four years each.

Both Shapiro and Catillaz said one of their main goals is facilitating new businesses in Saranac Lake.

“There are still quite a few (storefronts) out there that are empty,” Shapiro said, “but we’ve had a lot of improvements. The village is looking so much better than it did eight, nine years ago, and we want to keep improving it.”

Catillaz agreed.

“I think we’re healthy around here, and when the (Saranac Waterfront Lodge) gets going, and we have two major hotels in the village, we’re going to become a bigger destination than we ever have been,” he said. “It’s going to grow. Restaurants, small stores — the whole economy here is going to be better than ever.”

Shapiro is about to wrap up his first term with the village board. He’s married to Franklin County District 7 Legislator Lindy Ellis, also a Democrat, and the two own and operate Gear-to-Go Tandems, a tandem bike sales and tour business. (Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly said Gear-to-Go Tandems is a bike rental business.)

Catillaz is a longtime local politician. He served on the board for 18 years, seven of them as mayor. He decided to step away from the board and not run for reelection in 2018. After former Trustee Paul Van Cott stepped down from his position in December 2019, Mayor Clyde Rabideau appointed Catillaz to his spot.

Originally, Catillaz didn’t intend to run this year, but he said it’s enjoyable working on the board again.

“I took two years off and got rested up, and I’m ready to go,” he said.

Catillaz is a manager for Hyde Fuel, which sells oil and operates the Mobil gas stations on Broadway and Lake Flower Avenue. He’s also being honored as grand marshal of this year’s Saranac Lake Winter Carnival Gala Parade.

The only challenger as of right now is Green Party candidate Fred Balzac. Balzac, a freelance writer and journalist has not served in elected office but has run for election several times before: four times for Jay town council, once for Jay town supervisor and most recently in 2019 for North Elba town supervisor.

Shapiro and Catillaz said they don’t know Balzac too well, but they welcome him as a fellow candidate.

Republicans did not schedule a caucus before this year’s deadline. That means any Republican candidate would have to run on an independent ticket. The deadline to file as an independent is in mid-February.

If Shapiro and Catillaz are elected, this would continue the trend of an all-Democratic village board. Both said party lines don’t really matter on this small of a scale.

“It doesn’t mean diddly,” Catillaz said. “I’ve been on other boards with Republicans. Once the election is over, it’s just work. Everybody is heading in the same direction.”

Breaking from tradition, this year’s village elections are Wednesday, March 18. Normally, elections are on Tuesday, but New York has a law against scheduling elections on St. Patrick’s Day.

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