To the editor:

My wife and I moved our small family to Saranac Lake three years ago, and it was one of the best decisions we ever made. This is a special place, full of amazing neighbors who care deeply for both one another and the surrounding environment. But let’s be honest; we have some unaddressed issues here.

I’m a social scientist by training and have been studying the broader demographic trends in the Adirondacks these past few years. Saranac Lake is one of the only stable communities, as most others are watching their populations slowly decline as young people chase lives elsewhere. We are stable due to an influx of retirees. This is great, and we recently welcomed my own parents to the village. But such trends cause problems: declining school enrollment, fewer qualified workers to keep our businesses running, fewer entrepreneurs willing to take risks, and an overall drain of young people due to financial burdens and the lack of opportunities. What is the board doing about this? I honestly don’t know, as much of their activity lately seems geared more toward placating developers and the clearly unsustainable tourist economy. Are there proactive policies aimed at attracting and keeping young people and their families? Given the changing racial demographics in this country, is the board directing any energy toward making this place a welcoming community for all people? I have yet to see any kind of comprehensive plan to address these issues.

I was also disturbed by recent news that the board chose to contract police policy out to a private corporation rather than entrust their own community with the vital democratic practice of government oversight. Why did trustees think an outside private company with a dubious track record would be better equipped to handle policy than their own community? As someone who lives in the village and pays a substantial percentage of taxes toward funding our police, I’d like an answer to this question. Outsourcing policy to a private company shows a kind of denigration of democracy. With democracy in decline these days, perhaps we might think about being more, not less, democratic here?

And then there’s climate change, something the youth of this community are clearly organized and passionate about. I’ve been disappointed with the lack of urgency and attention paid to this issue in terms of community planning. Few of the Downtown Revitalization Initiative grant projects, for example, paid much attention to long-term environmental sustainability. The board seems unable or unwilling to address this issue of vital importance.

This is a community with immense potential. We should have a board that proactively deals with some of the biggest issues facing us: demographic challenges, democratic oversight, climate change. What I see instead is a board that seems more interested in protecting the status quo. We need new ideas on this board, which is why I’ll vote for Fred Balzac and will write in Trevor Sussey next week.

Dr. Joseph Henderson

Saranac Lake