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Saranac Lake village candidate forum March 4

Enterprise, Voters for Change to host forum for contested mayor, trustee elections

SARANAC LAKE — The Enterprise and Adirondack Voters for Change are hosting a candidate forum with the two people running for mayor and four people running for two open trustee seats in the March 18 election.

The forum will be held on March 4 in the Harrietstown Town Hall auditorium at 5:30 p.m.

The Enterprise is soliciting questions for the moderators to ask the candidates from the public. Suggestions can be sent to jgereau@adirondackdailyenterprise.com with the subject line “Candidate Forum.”

The moderators will select questions from this batch, and include some of their own. Candidates will not be given the questions ahead of time.

There will be separate forums for the mayor and trustee races. All announced candidates have said they’ll attend the forum.

With the party caucuses over and the last day for independent candidates to file having passed, the lineup of the ballot is solidifying, but not confirmed yet.

Village Clerk Amanda Hopf said Wednesday was the only day for individuals to file objections to independent nominating petitions. The objectors have until the end of day on Friday to file specifications to those objections. If the specifications are not filed, then the objections are void, she said. Hopf said objections have been made against all of the petitions, challenging some or all of their signatures.

If these challenges hold, they could drop the petition below the required 100 signature count needed to net a spot on the ballot.

Trustee Matt Scollin has dropped his reelection bid. There are still four candidates for the two open trustee seats.

The candidates

Incumbent Mayor Jimmy Williams is running for reelection and current Trustee Kelly Brunette is running for the mayor’s seat. Brunette got the Democratic line at a caucus last month. She’s registered in that party. Williams got the Republican line at a caucus last month. He’s a registered independent and had also sought the Democratic line, but Democrats chose Brunette over him, 152-63.

Williams is also on the independent “Independent SL” party line.

Brunette won the Democratic endorsement for the mayoral race. She’s also running on the independent “Affordability Civility and Transparency (ACT)” party line.

Harrietstown Councilman Jeremy Evans and retired project manager David Trudeau got on the Democratic party line at a caucus next month. They are also running with Brunette on the independent “Affordability Civility and Transparency (ACT)” party line.

Katie Stiles got the Republican party line at a caucus last month. She is also running on the independent “Integrity for Saranac Lake” party line.

Josh King has filed paperwork to run on the independent “Common Ground” party line. He was nominated for the Republican party line at the caucus. He was not at the caucus and declined the endorsement. He had also sought the Democratic endorsement, but did not get that line because Evans and Trudeau got more votes at that caucus.

Scollin, who initially intended to run, has dropped out of the race.

“After much consultation with my kids and dog, I’ve decided not to seek reelection to the village board,” Scollin told the Enterprise. “I don’t have anything more to say about it at this time, but expect I will in the weeks to come. It’s been a journey and an honor.”

To read more about Brunette’s candidacy, go to tinyurl.com/3d6dr8up and tinyurl.com/bddxzecd. To read more about Williams’ candidacy, go to tinyurl.com/2wjn78j5 and tinyurl.com/bddxzecd.

To read more about Trudeau’s candidacy, go to tinyurl.com/2dfnsfmn. To read more about Evans’ candidacy, go to tinyurl.com/465y3a55. To read more about King’s candidacy, go to tinyurl.com/36dr5sv4. To read more about Stiles’ candidacy, go to tinyurl.com/4cd5pkwb.

The village’s proposed public safety building project at 33 Petrova Ave. looms large over the race. Most statements from candidates for the three village seats relate to, reference or are directly about the project.

Election information

Voting in the election will be held on March 18 in the Harrietstown Town Hall auditorium at 39 Main St. from noon to 9 p.m.

The filing deadline for independent candidates was Feb. 10. Candidates needed 100 signatures to get the party line.

The last day to register to vote is March 6. Registering to vote can be done at the Department of Motor Vehicles, online at tinyurl.com/bdfaj9ze or by printing a form found at tinyurl.com/5yxvhtdh, filling it out and mailing it to the county board of elections office.

More information for the Franklin County Board of Elections can be found at tinyurl.com/bdbzacv2. More information for the Essex County Board of Elections can be found at essexcountyny.gov/board-of-elections.

The last day to apply for an absentee ballot is March 10. The last day for the village clerk to mail out an absentee ballot is March 11.

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