Republicans in Tupper Lake nominate two for Election Day
Shaheen runs for village trustee, Pickering gets GOP nomination as McClain steps away from board
TUPPER LAKE — There are two village trustee seats up for election in November, and after a Republican caucus on Wednesday, incumbent Trustee Eric Shaheen is running again, and Rick Pickering is joining the race after Trustee Jason McClain chose to not run for a third term.
Barb Denis, who has been attending village board meetings in the past year, also put her hat in the ring, but she did not get enough support at the caucus to get the nomination. She is considering pursuing the race, but there is not a real chance for ballot access for her.
At the caucus, Shaheen, a Republican and the deputy mayor, got 26 votes. Pickering, an independent, got 22. Denis, a Republican, got 16.
Each seat holds a two-year term. The general election will be on Nov. 5.
Denis said she felt the caucus was “predetermined” and that she was “shut out” of the process. Denis’ husband saw the caucus notice in the Tupper Lake Free Press on Monday, two days before the caucus, giving her not enough time to gather people to support her, she said.
Mayor Mary Fontana, who chaired the caucus because local GOP chair, Lidia Kriwox, who lives in the town, said she didn’t think Denis was going to run. Denis felt it was clear she was interested in running.
Denis is also bringing Shaheen’s residency into question again, which has happened every time he’s run for village office.
“I went through that already,” Shaheen said. “I went right by the book on that. As far as I’m concerned, that’s in the past.”
The deadline to get on the ballot as an independent candidate passed several months ago. It is unclear if the Democratic Party will hold a caucus this year. Conservative Party Chair Tim Larkin said his party does not have plans for a caucus currently. He said no one has approached them about running.
July 25 is the last day to hold a caucus for a local election in New York. Caucuses must be noticed 10 days ahead of the caucus. The 10th day cannot be the caucus day. Monday is July 15, so it is unlikely for there to be another caucus in this race.
After the election, new trustees will be sworn in on Dec. 1.
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The candidates
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Shaheen felt his second year on the board was better than the first. He feels the village has gotten more done and been more transparency under Fontana than it was before.
He said in the next two years, the village’s water quality and sourcing of tap water is its largest issue, and it is moving along slower than everyone wants.
“It’s not an easy process,” Shaheen said. “But that’s the way the system works.”
Shaheen said he’s going to miss working with McClain. He said while he sometimes couldn’t work well with the rest of the board, he could with McClain.
“I speak my mind. I speak it for the taxpayers. I’m not there for any hidden agendas,” Shaheen said.
Shaheen said Pickering is open-minded and he looks forward to working with him.
Pickering said he’s a Tupper Lake native who has worked in carpentry and for the state throughout his career. After retiring in 2022, he said he served on the country club board and has been looking for more opportunities to “invest back in the community.”
“Now, I have time to work on issues Tupper is facing and believe I can bring new ideas to the board,” Pickering said in a message to the Enterprise. “Public office isn’t something I ever thought of pursuing, but I know we can use strong leaders and believe my background and experience will help keep Tupper moving forward.”
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McClain
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McClain said he is leaving the board, but he plans to return.
He recently took on a new position at Adirondack Health, his two sons are rounding out their time in high school in the next few years and he can’t split his time appropriately between the village and his family. He feels there’s a lot going on in the village — particularly with the water sourcing project — that needs more attention than he can give. He said he’s giving it all he can, and it still needs more.
Fontana said McClain’s been “very effective” on the board. McClain said he is planning a return to the board in a few years when he has more personal time.
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Shaheen residency
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“Shaheen does not live in the village,” Denis said. “I am adamant about that. I will die on that hill.”
Shaheen owns the E&M Enterprises General Contracting business in the village on Park Street. He also has a house property outside the village. His Park Street property is listed as his residence and his voter address.
His residency has been brought up in elections he’s run in since 2020.
Recently, the nearby Saranac Lake mayor’s residency has been questioned and members of the public have called for his seat to be vacated. Former mayor Paul Maroun also had the same questions about his residency brought up. Even New York City Mayor Eric Adams has been caught up in a residency controversy.
There is a common factor between all of these cases. A politician owns two properties — one inside their municipality, and one outside. They use the one inside as their voting and political address, but members of the public or political opponents contest that they actually live at the property outside the municipality.
Proving this is difficult, but not impossible. Litigating this almost never happens. There’s no enforcement of this law by the state or a government authority.
The only way something could happen is if someone brings a lawsuit. But that is expensive.
Shaheen said other current trustees and the former mayor have done similar things in the past and felt there’s a double-standard in when the issue is brought up. He said he pays plenty of village taxes to be able to represent it.
Fontana said she knows its been a point of contention throughout the years. It was brought up at the caucus, but she said it’s not really a thing to be addressed there. If someone is a registered Republican on the voter rolls, they are eligible.
The issue comes down the the definition of “residence” in the state law. It has been a perennial issue all over the state. The interpretation of the state law is nebulous, enforcement is lax and legal experts say courts tend to allow candidate to choose a residence as their “political home.”
According to the state Department of State’s online Local Government Public Officers course, residency is defined as a “domicile … where you live” in election law — “that place where a person maintains a fixed, permanent and principal home and to which he, wherever temporarily located, always intends to return.”
The course said determining a person’s residence takes evaluation of their “expressed intent” and of their “conduct.”
“To be a resident of a place, a person must be physically present with the intent to remain for a period of time,” the course states.
Martin Connor, an election lawyer and former state senator of 30 years, said the definition of a domicile used to be interpreted more strictly in the past. But now, it’s very loose. He sees this sort of thing happen all the time but does not see many lawsuits about it.
If the building is just a commercial building, that is not allowed. It needs a place to sleep, eat and possibly a place for some clothes hanging up, he said — even if only for two nights a week.
Franklin County Republican Election Commissioner Tracy Sparks previously said the elections board does not have much authority to question if someone really lives where they say they do.
She said many homeless voters use the address of a park where they spend time or even the election office address as their “residence” when registering to vote. It does not have the authority to reject a candidate’s filing on its own.
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Fontana residency
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Fontana is also temporarily living in Saranac Lake while she waits for an apartment in Tupper Lake to be remodeled. She still has a residency listed at a Tupper Lake village address.
She points to a 1999 state attorney general opinion about a judge in the village of Warwick as evidence she’s in the clear.
“A village officer, domiciled in the village, continues to meet residency requirements for holding public office while temporarily residing outside the boundaries of the village during construction of a new home, with intent to return to the village after the home is finished,” the AG wrote in 1999. But the paper states that this is an “informal and unofficial expression” of the AG’s views.
Connor said Fontana’s situation likely constitutes a “temporary sojourn” in the eyes of the courts, which is allowed.