To the editor:

With the election fast-approaching in Saranac Lake, I’d like to mention the two candidates — Kelly Brunette and Jeremy Evans — with whom I interfaced the most over the past thirteen years as co-founder of Hobofest (a local music festival), as a homeowner and as a member of the arts community.

During the beginning phases of Hobofest, I met Kelly and Jeremy, who were the Community Development team at that time. In the middle of the festival’s 10-year run, we had to move the event from Union Depot to Riverside Park, which prompted many visits to their office. They were always generous with their time and support as representatives of the Village.

Concurrently with Hobofest, my wife and I embarked on a 9-year renovation of Lake Flower Landing, a mixed-use building on Lake Flower Avenue. Jeremy was the acting Code Enforcement Officer, while retaining his role as Community Development Director. Everyone knows a homeowner’s relationship to code enforcement can be fraught, yet Jeremy proved to be a powerful advocate, guiding us through the process with knowledge, encouragement and patience. Dave Trudeau served on the Village’s Development Board at that time, and also offered kind words of encouragement for particular choices that we had made.

Over the past 13 years, the many initiatives that Kelly and Jeremy spearheaded built a solid foundation for a “Decidedly Different” village that incorporates the arts into its very fiber. The institutional knowledge and momentum that these two candidates will bring to our village is long and storied.

Peter Seward

Saranac Lake