A "Vote Here" sign is seen in Saranac Lake in 2024. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

SARANAC LAKE – The village election for mayor and two trustee seats is today. Polls at the Harrietstown Town Hall auditorium at 39 Main St. will be open from noon to 9 p.m.

Eagle-eyed voters may be asking – “Wait a minute. Don’t elections usually happen on a Tuesday?”

That is correct.

BUT, a 1998 state law bans elections on St. Patrick’s Day.

The convergence of the third Tuesday in March – election day for many villages in New York – and March 17 – St. Patrick’s Day – does not happen often, but often enough that there needs to be a law dictating that the two should be separated.

This happened last in 2020, but because of the coronavirus pandemic that year, village elections were moved to September. Before that, Lá Fhéile Pádraig preempted election day in 2015. St. Patty’s Day will eclipse village election day next in 2037.

So shake off those shamrocks, slap on an “I voted” sticker and get to the polls!

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The candidates

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There are two candidates for mayor on the ballot – incumbent Mayor Jimmy Williams and current village Trustee Kelly Brunette.

There are three candidates for two trustee seats on the ballot – town Councilman Jeremy Evans, realtor Katie Stiles and retired project manager David Trudeau. Josh King’s bid to be on the ballot on an independent line fell two signatures below the threshold required. He is running as a write-in candidate.

Williams and Stiles are on the Republican Party line. Both their independent petitions were unsuccessful by four and three signatures, respectively. Williams also sought the Democratic line but lost out to Brunette.

Brunette, Evans and Trudeau are all running on the Democratic line as well as the independent “Affordability Civility and Transparency (ACT)” party line platform they share.

King is running on the same platform as Williams and Stiles.

The Enterprise and Adirondack Voters for Change held a candidate forum earlier this month. Coverage of the mayoral race portion of the forum can be found at tinyurl.com/unncu93u. Coverage of the trustee race portion of the forum can be found at tinyurl.com/2tvkxpnh.

Trustee Matt Scollin, who initially intended to run, decided to not after consulting with his children and dog. Both trustee seats up for election do not have incumbents running to fill them.

If Brunette loses election, she would be off the board, since she’s not running for trustee. If Williams loses the election, his last day in office would be April 6. If Evans wins election to the village board, he would step down from his seat on the Harrietstown council, which would create a vacancy.

Due to the printing deadline for the newspaper, the results of tonight’s election will be in print in the Enterprise on Friday. The results will be posted on the Enterprise website and on social media tonight.

Brunette first won election to the board in 2021 for a one-year term. The next year, she was reelected to a full term. She is the Marketing and Communications director for Adirondack Frontier, Franklin County’s economic development corporation.

Williams was elected as mayor in 2022. He co-owns the Bitters and Bones brewery and T.F. Finnigan’s clothing store downtown.

King has been on the village Downtown Advisory Board for two years. He’s currently the vice president of the Saranac Lake Area Chamber of Commerce. He’s also the director of sales at Hotel Saranac.

Trudeau worked as a construction manager on multi-million-dollar projects for the state Olympic Regional Development Authority and the New York State Energy Development Authority. He has also served on or chaired the village zoning board of appeals, planning board and development board.

Evans was elected to the Harrietstown council in 2023. He is the CEO of Adirondack Frontier, Franklin County’s economic development corporation.

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The campaign

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The race has been especially tense for local politics. Both sides have accused the other of misinformation, corruption, underhandedness and a variety of other misdeeds and slights.

The letters to the editor section of the Enterprise has been filled with endorsements for all candidates for weeks. Online, the debate over the campaigns is even fiercer, with plenty of name-calling, accusations and misinformation as advocates for candidates on either side of the ballot fight tooth and nail for their side to come out on top.

At the core of much of this race is the village’s project to get a new home for its emergency service employees and volunteers.

The board’s been discussing this project for three years now. Over that time, the conflict over whether or not it should be pursued has grown into full-blown verbal fights, built-up animosity and lots of distrust among all parties. This hostility has spilled over into the campaigns.

The Williams administration has been working on siting the volunteer fire and rescue departments, as well as the village police, at the former St. Pius X high school building at 33 Petrova Ave. This effort has been controversial, as some trustees and residents have concerns about the price, size and scope of the project. They think it’s too big. And some would rather use that plot of land for housing or some other venture.

Brunette has proposed a “reset” to reconsider alternate options for the project.

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How to do a write-in

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To vote for a write-in candidate, look at the top of the ballot to find the position you want to vote for, go to the bottom of the page where a “write-in” section is clearly marked and write a name inside the box. New York clarifies that what matters in a write-in is “voter intent,” which means it doesn’t matter if names are misspelled as long as election workers can tell who you mean.

Any markings on the ballot need to be inside the box — the machine won’t read anything outside the box.

A voter in this election will be able to vote for up to two trustees. Ballots which have two trustees on party lines bubbled in, as well as a write-in vote, will be invalidated.

More voting 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.