To the editor:

My name is Tom Catillaz. I am writing to draw attention to an issue of great concern in our community. I proudly served on the Saranac Lake Village Board for 21 years. For seven of those years, I served as mayor and helped Saranac Lake achieve its “All- American City” designation. As a public servant who has worked with countless dedicated board members and three other mayors, including Mr. Jimmy Williams, I hope to provide valuable insight into our current mayor’s claims. I believe that there are significant facts and perspectives that warrant consideration.

Each mayor that comes into office builds upon the progress of his predecessors. Efforts to continue progress have not been met within this administration. The previous administration left Williams with a $2.5 million reserve fund, newly bought land adjacent to the Broadway fire station and the preliminary plans for a new fire station with an estimated cost of $9.5 million. This direction has been ignored and instead all efforts by Williams have been streamlined into an unaffordable $28.5 million facility on Petrova Avenue. Williams, however, has claimed credit for the new ladder firetruck purchased with a reserve of $1.3 million which was also left by the previous administration.

Williams took office in the tail end of the Covid Pandemic, in which our public works staff was down two people, as was our police department. Williams’ claims that staff was down to “half” is misleading. Even in the rage of the pandemic, our DPW completed capital projects every year with valiant efforts. We expected Williams to continue to do so.

The previous administration annexed AMA into the village, the affordable housing project near Union Depot and $10 million in Downtown Revitalization Initiative Projects (DRI). This is another example of Williams dragging his feet. Luckily, his predecessor, Clyde Rabideau, with haste persistence stepped in to secure the necessary easement to complete the Rivertrail that has led to the phenomenally successful Rivertrail Brew House. This is another project that was initiated under the previous administration.

Williams has been quoted to say that our community development office “is on absolute fire,” with reference to securing “$2.1 million in grants in the last two years.” The previous administration secured $24 million in grants. Now that is fire, I call ablaze.

The board under Williams, in which I served, was a dysfunctional monarchy that excluded the input of all its board members. There was no transparency, no teamwork and no consensus. I speak firsthand, as Williams made me his deputy mayor and continuously left me out of the loop.

It is important for our community to have a well-rounded understanding of the efforts made and those ignored. There once were long-lasting impactful legacies past from one mayor to the next in our celebrated village. I hope that we can get back on track with our next administration and reestablish that vital tradition. Our community deserves it.

Thomas P. Catillaz

Saranac Lake