SARANAC LAKE — Before Saranac Lake voters go to the polls in two weeks, they’ll have a chance to hear from all five of the candidates running for two open seats on the village board at a Saranac Lake Meet the Candidates Forum tomorrow, Tuesday, March 5, at 6:30 p.m. at the Harrietstown Town Hall.

After incumbent trustees Rich Shapiro and Tom Catillaz announced they are not running for re-election, five candidates have joined the race, seeking the seats Catillaz and Shapiro are leaving.

Sean Ryan and Katie Stiles are independents running on the Republican Party line. Ryan is also running on the “Sean Ryan for Saranac Lake” party line. Stiles is also running on the “Integrity for Saranac Lake” party line.

Paul Van Cott and Aurora White are Democrats running a joint ticket on the Democratic and independent “Team Saranac Lake” party lines.

Fred Balzac, a Democrat, is not on the ballot but is running a write-in campaign.

Because Balzac is not on the ballot, he will not be eligible to participate in the forum, but he has been invited to attend and speak with voters after the forum during an informal post-forum meeting at the town hall, where he plans to describe his platform and respond to the questions and topics brought up during the event.

The forum

The Adirondack Daily Enterprise and Adirondack Voters for Change are co-hosting the forum.

“Our hope in hosting a candidate forum is to create an opportunity for voters to hear directly from candidates on the biggest issues facing the village,” Enterprise Managing Editor Elizabeth Izzo said.

Izzo and Kary Johnson, from Adirondack Voters for Change, will be on the panel asking questions.

Questions asked at the forum will be selected by newspaper staff from a list submitted by the public and questions will not be revealed to candidates ahead of time.

The deadline to submit questions to Izzo at news@adirondackdailyenterprise.com, to potentially be asked at the forum, is 10 a.m. on Monday, March 4.

The topics at the forum will be set by the selected questions from voters, but Izzo said people can expect candidates to discuss the affordable housing crisis, and major projects like the proposed emergency services complex on Petrova Avenue and the Adirondack Park Agency’s proposed move in to the village-owned 1-3 Main St. building.

The trustees elected on March 19 will have a say in these issues.

Depending on Wi-Fi connectivity, the forum will be streamed on Facebook Live.

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The election

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Two weeks after the forum, voters in the village will go to the polls for the March 19 election for two open village board trustee seats.

The deadline to submit letters to the editor endorsing candidates to the Enterprise is March 14 at 10 a.m. Endorsement letters will be printed in the Opinions section of the Enterprise up until Election Day, but not on Election Day.

According to voter registration data from both Franklin and Essex counties, which each include a portion of Saranac Lake, there are 2,909 total registered voters in Saranac Lake. Of these, 621 are Republicans and 1,341 are Democrats. The rest of the 947 are registered outside of the two major parties.

Around 6.5% of Saranac Lake’s registered Republicans participated in their party’s caucus. Around 10% of Saranac Lake’s registered Democrats participated in their party’s caucus.

The five candidates, for the most part, have the same village issues in mind — the need for more housing, filling downtown storefronts and improving village infrastructure. And they’re all saying they have the chops to do away with the divisiveness and in-fighting they said they’re seeing on the current board.

On Election Day, March 19, polls will be open from noon to 9 p.m. in the Harrietstown Town Hall auditorium. People wishing to vote by absentee ballot can pick up applications at village offices or on the website at tinyurl.com/yc7vkkp9. These applications will need to be returned to the village by March 12 to be issued absentee ballots.