To the editor:

I was pleased to see the platform recently published by village board candidates Jeremy Evans, Kelly Brunette and Matt Scollin includes OpenBookSL, a lengthy plan to make our local government more democratic and transparent.

Since becoming active in local politics, I’ve grown increasingly frustrated by the lack of government transparency and accountability in the village.

Take for instance Bill 60 of 2020, a resolution on fostering a diverse and inclusive community. The resolution called for a series of “community dialogues speaking to the issue of diversity and inclusivity.” That series of community dialogues never happened.

Or take Mayor Rabideau’s promise to hold public hearings to present a draft of the village’s Lexipol policy manual and solicit input, which he made in an interview with The Intercept in August 2020.

The village’s manual was quietly published nearly three months ago. No hearings have been scheduled. The manual doesn’t even meet the meager standards the village board established when approving the Lexipol contract.

Or take the task force to address traffic issues at the Mount Baker trailhead, which formed in May 2021. That task force hasn’t provided any public updates, despite multiple requests at village board meetings. Those comments, like most public comments, were completely ignored.

There are plenty more examples just like this. There’s no accountability. I believe there’s a culture we need to change, and it won’t be done without ambitious reform.

A letter to the editor written by village trustee Rich Shapiro last week took a bizarre and unwarranted shot at Jeremy, Kelly and Matt, stating, “Melinda understands that the solutions to our real problems are not found by posting fancy web sites or Facebook pages.”

Set aside for the moment the laundry list of credentials these candidates have, which can be found if you visit their website, as can their plans to solve problems in the village.

In my view, their effort to create a polished website signals to me they truly care about clearly communicating their thoughts, positions, and reasoning to the public. That’s a leadership quality our village board desperately lacks.

I especially like their plan to give the public multiple opportunities to make meaningful contributions to village spending priorities early in the budgeting process. I remember vividly the time a trustee told me not to “bitch about” the budget because I didn’t attend the village’s annual meeting, where we’re given all of two and half minutes to comment on an unsearchable, 80-page PDF. All I did was ask about a vague, $20,000 line item!

In closing, I encourage my friends and neighbors to assign some value to government transparency when voting later this year. We will not solve the biggest issues facing our village without a government that is accountable to residents.

David Lynch

Saranac Lake

Sources:

https://theintercept.com/2020/08/09/new-york-police-reform-lexipol/

https://saranaclakeny.gov/corecode/uploads/document6/uploaded_pdfs/corecode/Village_of_Saranac_Lake_Board_Meeting_Bill_60-2020_904.pdf

Officials seek solution for Mount Baker trailhead

https://saranaclakeadk.com/platfor