To the editor:

What should we do about short-term rentals? Well, in the past two years we’ve witnessed well-attended meetings full of disgruntled residents, numerous newspaper and magazine articles about the topic as well as letters to the editor in which local voters beg town officials to rein in the Airbnb free-for-all, the elimination of Lake Placid’s High School hockey team due to a “continuing decline in school enrollment,” and the publication of a major report in the Lake Placid News titled “Help Wanted … all the time: Staffing shortage continues year-round for local businesses,” in which reporter Elizabeth Izzo quotes a local manager who relies on foreign workers and believes “the lack of affordable housing and long-term rentals” has eroded the local workforce.

Despite all that, aspiring town supervisor Derek Doty spent last week’s Adirondack Daily Enterprise / Lake Placid News candidate forum reiterating that we need more “data” and “facts.” Both he and Jay Rand “pointed to a three-month study being commissioned by the Lake Placid-North Elba Community Development Commission Housing Committee as a starting point.”

“We can’t pick a direction until we know the facts,” Doty said.

This is insane.

For those who actually care, here’s a relevant fact: The entire kindergarten class in Lake Placid is just 24 kids.

Here’s another fact: As the Adirondack Daily Enterprise has repeatedly reported, Lake Placid currently has more than 700 short-term rental units.

Enough is enough.

Longtime town officials such as Doty and Rand have pointed us in a particular direction for decades, and it is the wrong direction.

The time for gathering data, commissioning studies and kicking the can down the road for another few years is long past.

On Election Day, vote for Gary Kaltenbach, town supervisor. Allow him to earn your trust.

Rob Boyer

Lake Placid