Town Councilor Derek Doty, left, and town Supervisor Jay Rand, right, are both running for North Elba town supervisor this year. (Right, Enterprise photo ­— Lauren Yates; left photo provided)

LAKE PLACID — Town supervisor candidates Derek Doty and Jay Rand discussed some of North Elba’s top issues on Monday in an online forum hosted by Lake Placid News Editor Andy Flynn. Topics included the state’s cannabis law, short-term vacation rentals, the Ironman triathlon and supervisor leadership styles.

People can watch the archived forum recording on the Lake Placid News Facebook page under the “Live” tab.

The forum was originally set to take place before early voting began on Oct. 23, but Rand declined the invitation to participate at first. When asked why he initially declined and later decided to participate, Rand said he’s participated in other candidate interviews and similar forums with Doty in the past. Rand ran for supervisor against Doty two years ago and participated in a forum during that election cycle. Rand said he thought another forum might be repetitive and said he had “better things to do” with his time at the local and county levels.

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Short-term rentals

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Flynn asked both candidates about the sufficiency of the town’s current short-term rental law. Local officials initially intended for the law to be a “starting point” in regulating short-term rentals, he said. He asked candidates if they want to see changes to the law.

Doty said he believed the first “wave” of the short-term rental law achieved 90% of its goal by enforcing parking, occupancy, garbage pick-up and caretaking standards and imposing permit fees. But Doty said there are some aspects of the law that aren’t working — specifically, enforcing occupancy limits. In the town, non-owner-occupied units can only be rented 120 days a year. However, he said that the occupancy tax on short-term rentals benefits the town and that the “core” issues stemming from short-term rentals lie within village boundaries.

Rand said the current short-term rental law is a good start in getting a handle on issues related to the rentals, and he agreed on the benefits of the added occupancy tax. The Essex County Board of Supervisors voted to increase the occupancy tax from 3% to 5% last year. Occupancy taxes are collected on all hotel, motel, bed-and-breakfast and short-term rental stays.

Rand said the local short-term rental law, which was first adopted by the town and village, could be “massaged” to accommodate the different needs of the town and village.

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ROOST

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In a question submitted by a member of the Lake Placid Community Forum Facebook group, a resident said they believe the Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism has an “inordinate sway” over policy in North Elba. Flynn asked both candidates how they would ensure that public policy decisions are made by elected officials without the influence of ROOST.

Rand said ROOST has worked with the town as a “comprehensive group” to orchestrate events like the Ironman triathlon and the Summit Classic lacrosse tournament, and he said he doesn’t feel that ROOST dictates anything to elected officials.

“My perspective is that we’ve got a great relationship with ROOST and it’s important that we all work together,” Rand said.

Doty said he wanted ROOST to approach the entire town board, not just the supervisor, more often. He referenced the one-year extension of Ironman that was announced earlier this year, a decision he said didn’t include the entire town board, despite Rand’s public statements at the time that the town council was “all on the same page” about extending the contract.

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Ironman and decision-making

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Flynn said the Adirondack Daily Enterprise and Lake Placid News received a press release the Friday before this year’s Ironman triathlon, stating that the race’s contract would be extended by one year. However, the town council hadn’t voted on the issue yet. Flynn asked candidates if they were in favor of “the cart before the horse approach to decision-making,” where supervisors could approve issues without the board’s vote.

Rand said that the decision came up quickly and he thought the town board was in agreement about the approval when he made that decision with ROOST. He said he normally likes to “stay ahead of things better.”

Doty said that he was disappointed that the council was excluded from the decision.

“A supervisor … has no more power than every other person on the board, so it is vitally important that everyone gets their say in something as important, certainly as an Ironman community race,” Doty said.

Rand said he thought ROOST “jumped the gun” on the timing of the extension, and he said that outside of that decision, he believes the town board usually collaborates in decision-making processes.

Doty rebutted that statement, referencing a recent hire in the town that he said wasn’t put to a board vote. Rand said he didn’t know which hire Doty was referring to. Doty said it wouldn’t be fair to name the hire, but he disclosed that the position was with the lake patrol. Longtime Lake Placid lake constable John Rickard retired this year and his son, Buzzy, was appointed as his replacement. Rand said he had no further comment on the topic, but he said he believed there was a committee formed to make that hire and that the board would have had knowledge of any hires. There was a Lake Committee who chose Buzzy for the role and the town council voted to approve his appointment in April. Doty said on Friday that the hiring process wasn’t as “transparent” as it should have been.

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The future of local government

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Both Doty and Rand have participated in local government for more than two decades, and Flynn asked the candidates how they would encourage more young people to step up to fill those roles.

Doty said it takes a “special person” to get involved in local government. He said he thinks many people would like to serve, but that it’s tough for anyone to serve in a public role that is “exposed to ridicule.” He said North Elba is fortunate to have elected officials who “get the job done” in spite of what he views as a divided political climate at the national level.

Rand said it’s difficult to motivate younger people to get involved in government organizations because they’re often facing challenges like having enough time and affordable housing, and he believes some young people aren’t sure of how to get involved. He said he wants to continue working on providing assets and incentives to young people interested in local government.

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Leadership style

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Flynn asked the candidates about their leadership process in dealing with local issues, specifically asking if they viewed their leadership style as being “proactive” or “reactive.”

Rand said “we all like to think that we’re proactive,” but that some issues arise that are hard to control — like the constantly-changing state mandates related to COVID-19 last year. He said he’s a “team leader,” and chooses people with expertise to run local government departments to create an effective team.

Doty said he is a proactive leader, and he would prefer to spend at least half of his time as supervisor “in the field” — in the highway department, the park district, and the airport and cemetery departments — working with town employees to address concerns to give them a “closer feeling to the administration.”

Rand, who participated in the forum from his desk in the Lake Placid Town Hall, said it’s hard to understand how many issues crop up for the supervisor on a day-to-day basis without holding that office. He said that he does get out in the field, but it’s hard to be everywhere.

“Derek, unless you sit right here, you just don’t realize how many things do come at you in a day — plus the county responsibilities, which are multiple, especially with the number of employees and departments and issues that they have there,” Rand said.

Doty said he’d bring a more “profound” presence to the supervisor’s role at the county level. He said he was “embarrassed” by the county response to the replacement of a culvert bridge in Ray Brook, a process he said took two years.

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Old Placid Hospital

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The State Olympic Regional Development Authority purchased the old Placid Hospital on Church Street from the town earlier this year, and ORDA plans to build an office building at the former hospital site. The hospital is now partially demolished. Referencing two voter questions, Flynn asked candidates why the town, which owned the hospital, leased the building to ORDA to create those offices and why that decision was made without widespread public input.

Doty said the board had considered selling the property to ORDA during Roby Politi’s time as supervisor years ago, and he said the cost of taking care of the building was too extensive for the town to handle. He said he wanted the town to consider co-owning the property to create a facility for community use that could coexist with ORDA offices, like a daycare center, but that it “wasn’t meant to be.”

Rand said that the cost of demolishing the building was “enormous” and would have included more asbestos abatement than originally anticipated. He said the costs were too much for the town to handle and that the building might have sat vacant for decades if ORDA hadn’t stepped in. He said that the state of the building wouldn’t have allowed for renovations and he felt that leasing the property was the right decision.

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Cannabis law

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Candidates were asked to state their stance on whether or not the town should allow cannabis dispensaries and issue on-site consumption licenses within its boundaries.

Doty said that he is in favor of opting into dispensaries, but he wants to opt out of having on-site consumption licenses. He said he likes the idea of a regulated cannabis market, and he thinks that would help to curb local concerns about drug use among young people.

Rand said that he is in favor of opting out of both dispensaries and on-site consumption.

“Really, I don’t want to see it as part of Lake Placid. People come here for sports, they come here for fresh air, and the effect that it has on kids — it just provides another obstacle that younger people really don’t need in front of them,” Rand said.

He said North Elba residents would have the opportunity to submit a permissive referendum to place it on the ballot, which would allow the whole community to vote on the issue and “take it out of the hands of just a few town board members.”

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Vote

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People can cast early ballots for supervisor at the Lake Placid Beach House at 31 Parkside Drive. Early voting hours are from noon to 8 p.m. today, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Oct. 28 and Oct. 29, and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Oct. 30 and Oct. 31. Election Day is Nov. 2, and people can vote from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. at the North Elba Town Hall or the North Elba Town House in Saranac Lake.