The two detailed differing views of the current state of the village and different plans for the future.

Williams, who has been mayor for four years, is running on a platform of continued success and building on what he’s done in the past four years.

Brunette, who has been on the board for five years, is running on a platform of doing better and bringing a different style of governance to the village.

A full video of the mayor forum can be found at tinyurl.com/3fv4fxf7. A full audio recording of the mayor forum can be found at tinyurl.com/mv2k6h5e.

Mayoral candidate Jimmy Williams speaks at the Saranac Lake village candidate forum on Wednesday. (Enterprise photo - Aaron Marbone)

Williams is on the Republican line. His bids for the Democratic line and an independent line were unsuccessful. He’s sharing a platform with trustee candidates Katie Stiles and Josh King.

Brunette is on the Democratic line as well as the independent “Affordability Civility and Transparency (ACT)” party line – which she is sharing with trustee candidates Jeremy Evans and David Trudeau.

The trustee candidates also participated in the forum. A story on their portion of the forum will be coming in the Enterprise. King is running as a write-in candidate and will not appear on the ballot, so he was not able to participate in the forum. But the Enterprise spoke with him after the event. His responses will be included in future coverage.

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Mayor pitches

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The debate was civil, but the campaign has been tense, reflecting the mood of the board in meetings as of late.

Williams said the election four years ago was classy, and felt this election is not.

“I never would have imagined that sitting board members would put misleading information online and attack my character, my honesty, my integrity,” he said. “Those are not the values that define Saranac Lake.”

“I think this election comes down to a decision of how you want to be governed,” Brunette told voters.

She said she wants to bring joy back to the village government.

Brunette said, as she’s been talking with voters, residents tell her they are financially stressed and tired of surprises.

Williams said he’s followed through on the promises he made when he first ran and that he’s proud of the village’s progress.

He said the village has added 200 housing units since he started – 70 with the Saranac Lofts; 89 at Trudeau Village; 40 through code enforcement and one through transferring a vacant home to the Franklin County Land Bank. However, the Lofts have not yet opened; Trudeau Village is partially open and renovation of the land bank home has not started yet.

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Public safety building

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Both candidates were asked, “How would you create new headquarters for the emergency service departments, and how would you pay for it?”

Brunette said this is one of the top questions of the campaign.

She is proposing a “reset” – course-correcting on the project to be “realistic” about its cost, scope and timeline.

“Currently, I don’t know how we’d pay for it,” Brunette said.

Williams said this process will not satisfy everyone, but said he doesn’t want to end up in “analysis paralysis” as volunteerism in the department continues to decline.

So far, Williams said the village has only spent $350,000 on the property and $325,000 for the first phase of design. He said the village will continue to look for money for the project and pledged to not break the tax cap.

He said, after 40 years of the fire department waiting for a new headquarters, they cannot kick the can down the road any longer.

“We can do better than we have been doing,” Brunette said.

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Reserve

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Both candidates were asked, “People have expressed concern over the use of reserve money to fill gaps in the budget in recent years. How will you keep this reserve sustainable?”

Brunette said she shares that concern and feels the village needs to curb spending.

Williams said the village has done millions of dollars of work in the past few years, but the unreserved fund reserve has only gone down $400,000.

A graph from the ACT platform, which was distributed at the forum, says the reserve is actually down $1.14 million from the start of Williams’ time as mayor. Village Manager Bachana Tsiklauri pointed out that this graph includes encumbrances – money that is set to be spent, but has not been used yet – as well as cash reserves and budgetary contributions, in the years near the start of the graph, but not at the end. He also has updated figures – from the end of 2025, instead of from earlier in the year.

These figures show that the current unreserved fund balance is nearly twice as high as it was in 2022, when encumbrances, cash reserves and budgetary contributions are not included in the total.

The reserves have dropped significantly in the past five years – but that is mostly because the previous administration set aside half of the fund for the public safety building project in a new reserve and purchased a new fire truck, which was not delivered and paid for until 2024.

“Four years ago, people were concerned because the unreserved fund was too high,” Williams said at the forum.

Williams also said the village has earned $2.2 million in interest since he started – increasing the interest the village makes on the money it has in the bank substantially.

Brunette said increased interest revenue is great, but said she’s not confident it’s sustainable since interest rates are trending down, and it shouldn’t be relied on.

Williams also said the village has cut expenses by increasing the Department of Public Works’ staff and doing construction projects in-house, instead of bidding that work out. He said this allows them to do work at one-tenth of the cost.

The Main Street renovation project in 2024 cost $200,000, Williams said. If they had bid it out, he said it would have cost $2.5 million.

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Regret

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Both candidates were asked to, “Detail a regret you have from your years on the board, what you learned from it and what you are doing to avoid a similar regret.”

Williams said his biggest regret is that he has not communicated clearly.

“I can’t tell you how hard it is to effectively communicate to 5,500 people,” Williams said.

He said that when people don’t see things, they think the village is hiding information. He said there’s just a lot to talk about.

“A big regret is that it has taken us four years to not make better, more substantial progress while keeping the village’s finances in better condition,” Brunette said.

“I couldn’t disagree more,” Williams said. He feels the village has done a lot.

“We could always do better,” Brunette said.

Views

Both candidates were asked, “How would you work with other village board members and community residents who do not share your views?”

Brunette said that cooperating with people with different views requires being approachable and willing to accept that your idea is not always the best idea.

She said the community has a depth of knowledge, and that she’d turn to them for advice.

Williams said the five members of the board need to get behind their decisions – even if they are split.

“When you vote, that decision is what then everybody is committed to supporting,” Williams said. “Voting on something and then not all pushing it forward, I think is wrong.”

He said every board member should put Saranac Lake first, and said it’s “disheartening” that this hasn’t happened.

“Not personal agendas, not emotional response, not feelings they have toward another board member, but Saranac Lake,” Williams said.

“I think it’s important that every board member has an opportunity to say what they think,” Brunette said. “I think that board members and residents should not be boxed out of information, and that their opinions shouldn’t be dismissed.”

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Transparency

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Both candidates were asked, “How would you make the workings of the village board more transparent and accessible to constituents? And what is residents’ role in the decision-making processes of the village?”

Williams said everyone gets to be part of decisions through public comment. But at the end of the day, the board has been elected to make decisions based on their character, intelligence level and commitment to the village. Having “too many cooks” can be distracting, he said.

Brunette said she helped start the village website, and from the board, has made it more useful for the public. She said she pushed to have resolutions uploaded to the web and get village code on the website.

There’s still more room to approve, she said. The agendas for Monday board meetings are uploaded on Friday at 4 p.m. Brunette said that is not enough time for trustees and the public to review what the board will be voting on after the weekend.

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Grant dream

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Both candidates were asked, “If you received a $5 million grant to use for the village in any way you wanted, what would you do with that grant and why?”

Brunette said she remembers the village getting its $10 million Downtown Revitalization Initiative grant, so she has experience with this. She said she’d invest the money in downtown, housing and the village’s overall infrastructure.

Williams said he would “100%” put that grant toward a new public safety building.

Brunette added that the mayor’s role is to be a strong advocate for money in Albany and that she’d do that.

“I don’t think there’s any trips to Albany that are going to net more than we’ve been fortunate to net (for the public safety building) right now,” Williams said.

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Questions

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Both candidates got the opportunity to ask one question of the other.

Brunette said she was going to ask Williams the regret question. Instead, she asked him what his proudest accomplishment is.

Williams said he’s glad younger people have been participating in village business.

He said he’s proud that water and sewer rates have risen 0% over the past few years. Previously, he said they were rising by double-digit numbers. The sewer rate had increased by double-digit numbers in 2019 and 2020. Otherwise, it had milder increases. The water rate came close, but never increased by double digits. Though, he added, there will likely need to be water and sewer rate increases again in the near future.

Williams also said he’s proud the village has met the tax cap every year.

Williams asked Brunette about the artificial intelligence music video about the public safety building project posted on the “Better Saranac Lake” Facebook page, which caused a stir at a board meeting in December.

Williams said Brunette is involved with the page – listed as an owner and administrator on the page – and that volunteers were disheartened, disrespected, deflated and hurt by the video.

Brunette said she was disappointed in the question, since it’s already been addressed at a board meeting.

She said Better Saranac Lake is a group of people.

“I operate within a structure of committee decisions. I am not the single voice for everybody,” Brunette said.

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.

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Election information

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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 last day to register to vote in this election has passed.

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 Tuesday. The last day for the village clerk to mail out an absentee ballot is Wednesday.