SARANAC LAKE — People interested in serving for a year on the Harrietstown council, filling the vacancy left by the resignation of Councilwoman Ashley Milne last month, can send letters of interest to the supervisor to be considered through Dec. 22.

Milne resigned in late October, halfway through her four-year term, to move out west with her family. It was too late to put the vacancy on the Nov. 4 election ballot, which already had two open seats. So the board will appoint someone to fill the seat until the election next year.

Interested candidates can send letters of interest to town Supervisor Jordanna Mallach at jordanna.mallach@gmail.com or by mail to 39 Main St. in Saranac Lake, addressed to “Jordanna Mallach.”

The council will review the letters at its Jan. 8 organizational meeting, so Councilman-elect Doug Haney can participate in the selection process. Mallach said they might not make a decision that day, but they’ll talk about the applicants.

Councilman Johnny Williams, whose term ends at the end of the year and whose reelection bid was unsuccessful on Nov. 4, announced at the council meeting on Thursday that he would not seek the seat and will depart from the board.

Earlier this month, Councilwoman Tracey Schrader won reelection to the town board and newcomer Doug Haney was elected to join the board in a four-way election for the two seats.

Williams and former town Highway Superintendent Craig Donaldson did not get enough votes to win seats on the board. Williams was behind Haney by 198 votes.

“I’m very proud of my service. I’m very happy to have served with you all,” Williams told the council on Thursday. “I will respectfully decline interest in that position.”

He told the Enterprise on Friday that he lost the election “fairly and squarely,” and felt it was a good indication it might be time to focus on other ways to help the community and to spend more time with his wife and 2-year-old daughter.

“It was a difficult decision to make,” Williams said.

Now is a pivotal time for the community, he said, and a large part of him wanted to continue.

“But there aren’t any more hours in the day to spend with your wife and your kid. It was time for me to prioritize those two,” he said.

He said being a father has been, “The best thing I’ve ever done by far.”

Williams said the board is comprised of regular people, each with their own skills. He’s enjoyed it. He feels the board has had a balanced range of viewpoints, which he found healthy, and the ability to work out differences — two things he hopes continue with the new board.

“Spirited conversation was always something we could count on,” Williams said.

He has been on the airport committee his entire time on the board and became the alternate airport security coordinator two years ago.

To whoever takes the board seat, he suggested they always think of their constituents and vote their conscience.

Mallach said whoever is appointed to the unexpired term will need to run again in the November 2026 election if they want to continue serving on the board. The term expires in 2027, so they’d need to run again then as well. Because of a new state law shifting most of the elections in odd-numbered years to even-numbered years, the full term elected in 2027 will only last for three years instead of four.

Williams said a one-year term is an opportunity for someone to dip their toe in elected town service and see if the work is something they want to do long-term.

“There’s a lot of great people out there who are going to jump at this, I think. I hope,” Williams said.