Dear Village of Saranac Lake (VSL) Neighbor,
With the March 19, 2024 village election at the Harrietstown Town Hall (39 Main St./noon-9 pm) rapidly approaching, I am reaching out to ask for your support by WRITING ME IN on your ballot!
Of the 5 announced candidates running, I am—to the best of my knowledge—the ONLY one who:
• Has 30 years’ experience of monitoring local government, speaking out against bad policies & corruption, and standing up for ordinary working people against special interests & the elites
• Stood with village residents on Duprey Street when the single-family-home character of their neighborhood was threatened by a multiple-townhouse construction project by then-Mayor Clyde Rabideau…until the Rabideau-appointed Development Board—which at one point included the mayor’s brother-in-law & his wife’s nephew—agreed to scale down the project
• Stood with two VSL women who lived and/or owned property next door to one of Rabideau’s construction sites and were verbally assaulted by the then-mayor, including accompanying one of the women to the village police to file a complaint against Rabideau and co-founding with the second woman & other residents the public-interest group Neighbors for Good Gov’t, which spoke out against, and exposed the wrongdoings of, the Rabideau administration and monitored its final months
• Spoke out against a frivolous, costly, and vindictive lawsuit by the village, carried out by then-Village Attorney Paul Van Cott, vs. Katie Stiles & Bruce Darring after the couple sought to terminate an agreement with the village to extend River Walk along their property, following years of the VSL government not living up to its promises, including doing nothing to prevent people from trashing that stretch of Katie & Bruce’s property
• Is neither nominated by the village Republican Party—which is problematic given its support of the anti-democracy, pro-dictatorship candidacy of Donald Trump—nor allied with the Rabideau-Van Cott-Rich Shapiro-Lindy Ellis faction of the village Democratic Party or running with such a candidate
• Is taking strong, clear, & specific stands on critical issues facing our village, including:
– Opposing the proposed Adirondack Park Agency move to the village involving construction of a brand-new building behind 1-3 Main St., with 60 parking places for APA staff, which I view as a $29-million boondoggle that will result in a reduction in public access to our Saranac River recreational corridor
– Keeping and renovating the police dept. in its current downtown location—where it belongs—which will enable the much-needed emergency-services facility to be reduced in size & cost and potentially remain near the current downtown locations of the fire department and rescue squad, where they both belong
– Supporting diversifying our local economy away from an overreliance on tourism and large events (e.g., the World University Games) toward such innovations as Green jobs; locally owned farms; a buy-local campaign; a community development fund; micro-loans; and arts & culture as economic drivers.
To learn more about my candidacy and other positions, please view the other posts and pages on this website, YourStruggleIsOurFight.com, or email me at FredforSaranacLake.com. To share your concerns with me, please fill out my survey at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdmUXIKbxRrROVEdhP5Y7woJljWe8HFjmhIVMGQtwxidXLogg/viewform?usp=sf_link.
Thank you for your consideration on March 19!
In solidarity,
Fred Balzac
☼ Remember: Your struggle is OUR fight ☼ I can win if YOU WRITE ME IN!!! ☼
Your Struggle Is OUR Fight 