Rabideau announced his retirement on Thursday. He said he wanted to give candidates for the job time to prepare to run and start the six-month transition.

Village Clerk Kareen Tyler said there are no term limits for Saranac Lake mayors. Rabideau said he’s retiring because “12 years is a good run.” He was sworn in for the first time in 2010. When he retires, he will have been mayor for 12 years.

He’ll be 66 when he retires, meaning he’ll have been a mayor for one-third of his life, including his tenure as mayor of the city of Plattsburgh. He thinks his life is better for it.

He was elected as mayor of Plattsburgh when he was 33 years old and held the position there for 10 years. He took 10 years away from being mayor, but he said he missed working with a team and doing something he thought was important.

Saranac Lake village Mayor Clyde Rabideau, who announced on Thursday that he will retire at the end of his current term, shaves in a truck mirror and changes out of his construction clothes and into the button-up collared shirt of a mayor after an interview. These two jobs have sometimes brought controversy during his mayoral years. But Rabideau does not believe they conflict. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Cerbone)

“I kept reading the paper and talking with people in Saranac Lake, and I could see so much more potential,” he said. “I missed being involved in something larger than myself.”

He said the village was not going after state money enough, which he said he’s pursued as mayor.

Ultimately, he said it was his sister-in-law Cherrie Sayles, whose insistent request — more like a demand — convinced him to run.

Rabideau said he never planned to be a three-term mayor, but after two he wanted one more term in the seat to see the Downtown Revitalization Initiative grant application process through completion.

“We were duking it out with a lot of villages,” he said.

Village Justice Tom Glover, right, administers the oath of office to Clyde Rabideau on April 5, 2010 as Janie Bevilacqua, who was Rabideau’s girlfriend at the time, looks on. (Enterprise photo — Chris Knight)

Saranac Lake was awarded the $10 million DRI grant in 2018.

His third term came with a huge unexpected challenge: The COVID-19 pandemic. He said it made him miss the village’s bi-weekly meetings and the other hometown events that he enjoys.

For him, being mayor is “magic.”

He said the smaller size of Saranac Lake is “good and bad.”

“You get to know just about everybody in town, and they know you,” Rabideau said. “People aren’t afraid to let you know if they’re dissatisfied, that’s for sure.”

Like any elected official, he’s had controversy around his decisions, public and private. This is compounded by his career as a developer and contractor.

At times, his two jobs have been at odds. His developments have caused controversy due to their size, location and concerns from people about conflicts of interest.

His interview with the Enterprise on Thursday was done on the deck of his ongoing developments at 21 Duprey St., which some neighbors have opposed in development board meetings.

He’s had to balance these two jobs, but he says construction is what he’s done since he was 12 years old. He’s been criticized for his blending of public and private jobs, but he feels the two do not contradict each other.

He says as mayor, his construction paperwork has to be perfect.

“The code department puts me through hell,” he said.

When he built in Lake Placid, people complained he wasn’t building in Saranac Lake; when he builds here people complain about the work, he said.

“It’s ironic. You can’t win,” he said. “I’ve got rhinoceros skin.”

But criticism isn’t the reason he’s retiring, he said. He wants more personal time.

“You’re on 24-7,” he said of being mayor.

He said it’s common, while he’s shopping in the hardware or grocery store, for people approach him to criticize, compliment or talk about village goings-on with him.

He keeps a notepad in his pocket to write down things people tell him.

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Mayoral memories

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Rabideau’s most memorable moments as mayor are from Saranac Lake’s unique events or big announcements of money coming in for improvements.

He remembers driving back from Albany several years ago, where economic development awards were announced — $2 million for the Saranac Waterfront Lodge and $5 million for Hotel Saranac. He had rented searchlights in anticipation of the announcement and when he drove into town and saw the lights panning the sky, illuminating the falling snow, he was filled with emotion.

Many of his memories involve extreme weather events — sandbags littering the town during Hurricane Irene, weeks of sub-zero temperatures freezing water lines and a strong winter suddenly getting warm right before the 2017 World Snowshoe Championships. Tupper Lake and Lake Placid pitched in, trucking snow over.

Most recently, he said the Saranac Lake Surge taking home the Empire Professional Baseball League championship on Monday was a memorable moment. The team incorporated him in their celebration.

“After drenching me with champagne and beer, they lifted me on their shoulders,” Rabideau said. “I’ve been lifted on shoulders for wresting matches, but never like that.”

He had to drive home to Saranac Lake with his shirt off, he said, since it smelled strongly like booze.

He said he’s made friends for life in village government.

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Retirement plans and successor advice

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His retirement plans are to “enjoy the grandchildren, travel … and do less building.”

Rabideau and his wife, Janie, have nine grandchildren, and counting. He’s preparing for Rabideau Corp. Vice President Keith Braun to take over the company.

“I hope I’m timing it right,” Rabideau said. “You never know how long you’re going to live, right?”

Rabideau wants Saranac Lake’s next mayor to know that “a mayor is more than an administrator.” He said a mayor is also a leader, guide and inspiration for the village government.

In the coming future, he said Saranac Lake needs more economic improvements and jobs.

“There’s always this free market tension between wages and costs of living,” he said.

He wishes the village had more money for roads and sidewalks. He said the village has “put a dent in it,” over the past 12 years, but weather and age keep them in tough shape.

Rabideau believes the village is becoming more vibrant, busy and that a better quality of life is coming for its residents thanks to increased tourism.

He said he’s loved seeing tourists walking around downtown, on Broadway and Main Street, this summer.

The village election next spring will also include elections for two trustee seats, currently held by Trustees Kelly Brunette — she filled a vacancy this spring — and Melinda Little.