The following letter was published in the March 14, 2024 issue of the Adirondack Daily Enterprise and can be found online at https://www.adirondackdailyenterprise.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/2024/03/why-im-voting-for-balzac/:
To the editor:
On March 19, 2024 we, Saranac Lake village residents, have an opportunity to vote for two candidates for the village board of trustees.
As I was unable to attend the Saranac Lake Trustee Candidate Forum held on Tuesday, March 5, 2024, I was grateful to learn where the five candidates stand on certain issues, thanks to the coverage provided by Aaron Marbone in the ADE on Thursday, March 7.
Based on candidate responses to questions reported in the ADE, I would encourage readers to consider a write-in vote for Fred Balzac. Fred would bring a fresh, truly independent perspective to the board.
Based on my personal experience working with Fred, I can confidently state that he has the strength of character and skills to benefit the Board. Fred is intelligent. He takes the time necessary to develop an in-depth understanding of an issue. He is honest and focused. Fred is comfortable asking hard questions and has the courage to express opinions that may counter others. He consistently has the public good in mind.
With the challenges ahead, I think it is important to have a truly independent trustee that brings a fresh perspective to board discussions and decisions.
Margot Gold
Saranac Lake
In response to the Enterprise’s invitation to community members to submit questions for the March 5, 2024 village-trustee candidate forum that the newspaper co-sponsored/co-hosted with Adirondack Voters for Change (AVfC), Margot Gold submitted the following two questions, which were not asked at the forum. Having been copied on the questions as a member of AVfC’s Abortion Access Committee, I am providing my own answers to Margot’s critically important questions:
Margot Gold: I believe that it is important at every level of government office for voters to know each candidate’s position on a pregnant person’s right to the full complement of reproductive health care, including abortion. This question is relevant because running for local government can be a strategic first step for individuals interested in pursuing elected office at the county, state, and/or national level of government or for the school board. Candidate’s answers will help voters have a more robust understanding of each individual running.
The New York Equal Rights Amendment extends protections from discrimination by the government to expanded groups of people. (Ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, and sex-including sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy and pregnancy outcomes. It would also protect against any government actions that would curtail a person’s reproductive autonomy or their access to reproductive health care.)
Q: As a potential government official, will you vote for the NYS ERA amendment to the State constitution this November? If yes, why? If no, why not?
Fred Balzac: Whether I am elected Village of Saranac Lake trustee or not on March 19, I will vote for the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to the New York State Constitution that will be on the ballot in the November 5, 2024 election.
According to a media release by the New York Civil Liberties Union titled “Equal Rights Amendment Advances to New York Voters in November 2024” and dated January 24, 2023 (found at nyclu.org/en/press-releases/), the ERA (S.108-A Kreuger/A.1283 Seawright) “would, for the first time, explicitly include language to clarify that discrimination based on a person’s pregnancy or pregnancy outcome is sex discrimination – an essential clarification given the national trend of criminalizing people for various pregnancy outcomes, as well as the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade.”
I wholeheartedly support this approach to protecting women’s reproductive rights. Furthermore, I support codifying reproductive rights that resulted from the Roe v. Wade decision into federal law—to protect the rights of all Americans and thus overturning state laws banning or restricting abortion and other reproductive healthcare.
I strongly believe that abortion is a private matter that should be between a pregnant woman and her healthcare provider and that, in general, government should not be involved in a woman’s decision whether to have an abortion. The anti-abortion forces in our country that claim to be “pro-life” are not pro-life at all—they are anti-women. They seek to coerce women to undergo unwanted pregnancies—to deny women their full rights as American citizens—in order to take America back to a time (throughout most of American history, in fact) when women were second-class citizens and men ruled their lives in a patriarchal system.
These same forces generally oppose government spending to help children of economically disadvantaged mothers or families once they are born—further giving the lie to their claim of being “pro-life.”
One right that is too often left out of this debate is the right to be wanted. Children who are wanted by their mothers—who are truly loved by their Moms—typically lead happier, more fulfilling, and more productive lives, and our society is the better for it. To support the right to abortion access is to support, love, and trust women. I support, love, and trust women, and that’s why I proudly support and, on November 5th, will enthusiastically vote for the Equal Rights Amendment to the New York State Constitution!
Your Struggle Is OUR Fight 