POLITI UNSEATS SENEY, STRAIGHT BEATS HARLOW

Incumbent Republican Shirley Seney was defeated by independent challenger Roby Politi Tuesday in the race for North Elba Supervisor.

Politi took 61 percent, collecting 1273 votes to Seney’s 807. Politi, a real estate professional who had previously served as Lake Placid village mayor and as a councilor on the North Elba Town Board, and Seney, a 12-year incumbent, both gathered with their supporters in the hallway of the North Elba Town Hall to wait for the results.

After the unofficial numbers were read by Town Clerk Barbara Whitney, it took more than a minute of calculation before it was apparent who had won.  Politi and Seney briefly congratulated each other.

Having won by more than 460 votes, Politi said he looks forward to serving his two-year term. “I'm humbled by the victory,” he said. “I'm honored to represent the people of the Town of North Elba. I look forward to facing the challenges facing North Elba in the future – so just really excited.”

Seney, meanwhile, said she will continue to look toward the future. “It was a wonderful 12 years, and I have no regrets,” she said. “I look forward to going onto bigger and better things. There's a lot to be accomplished yet. I intend to keep busy.”

The other hotly contested race was for Highway Superintendent. Former Lake Placid Village Police Chief Larry Straight unseated incumbent Norm Harlow by a more than 2-to-1 margin.

Harlow, who left the town hall before WNBZ had the chance to speak with him, runs a local excavating company.

Straight, who runs a welding business in the village, won by a count of 1325 to 670.  He said he owed his victory to his volunteers and supporters. “I'd like to thank everybody who voted for me,” Straight said. “I'd like to thank the people who helped me in my campaign. I had a great group working for me. We did it. Now I'm ready to go to work.”

Two other town board members were on hand to hear the results. Incumbent Jay Rand was re-elected unopposed to serve another four-year term. Newcomer Republican Bob Miller, who has served on the Lake Placid Central School Board, also ran uncontested. He will replace Derek Doty who did not seek re-election.

Speaking after the results, Miller said he’s hopeful he'll be able to make a difference. “I'm hoping that in some small way, that I can help contribute in a positive way, to the lives of the people in or community.”

In the race for Town Clerk, Margaret Gadwaw took nearly 72 percent of the vote to defeat Brenda LaPierre by a count of 1171 to 456.  She will replace Town Clerk Barbara Whitney, who did not run for re-election.

-Jacob Resneck

BEVILACQUA, NAEGELE TAKE H-TOWN BOARD SEATS

One Republican and one Democrat were elected to a pair of seats on the Town of Harrietstown Board on Tuesday.

Bob Bevilacqua and Dean Naegele collected the most votes among the four candidates in the running.  Bevilacqua had 533 and Naegele 454.  They were followed by Mary Hotaling, a Democrat, with 438 votes and Republican candidate Wayne Voudren with 332.

Bevilacqua, a former Saranac Lake School Board member, thanked the voters for their support and said he looks forward to working with the rest of the board.  “There weren’t many issues this year,” he said.  “It was a pretty low key campaign.  I’m happy the way it turned out.  We had four good candidates; any of us could have done a good job.  Now I’m just looking forward to getting in there and helping out any way I can.”

Naegele, who served a previous term on the town board, said he was excited to be back.  “I’m grateful to the people that voted for me,” he said.  “Hopefully we can keep going with the good work the town board was doing and keep even keel.”

Even though Naegele won the seat by just 16 votes, Hotaling said she doubted if there were enough absentee ballots to make up the difference. 

She said she wasn’t disappointed with the results, considering it was her first attempt at public office.  Hotaling plans to stay involved in the issues the community is facing. “I really didn’t know what to expect,” Hotaling said.  “I don’t think there was a bad choice among the four of us so I’m sure these guys will do a great job.”

Wayne Voudren, who also served a previous term on the board, said he hasn’t ruled out running for office again in the future.  He said he has confidence in the new board members.  “I think there were four good people running,” he said.  “The people have obviously chosen the two best candidates to do the job.  I believe they will represent the town very well.”

The two town board seats are currently held by Howard Riley and Brian McDonnell who decided not to seek re-election.

Meanwhile, the race for Harrietstown Justice is too close to call.  Elizabeth Nicastro collected 447 votes.  Her opponent, Howard Riley, collected either 451 votes or 457 votes, depending on which party’s total you use.  It will take a count of absentee ballots to determine the winner.

To add to the confusion - the website of the Franklin County Board of Elections only credits Riley with 377 votes.

Both candidates said they’ll wait to hear the final results, hoping for the best.  “I’m ahead by a few votes, but that could change,” Riley said. “We’ll see.” 

“It would be nice if it was over,” said Nicastro.  “But I’m positive.”

Election officials in Harrietstown reported a good turnout on Tuesday.

-Chris Knight

MAROUN KEEPS SEAT IN COUNTY LEGISLATURE

Incumbent Republican Paul Maroun easily held onto his seat as a Franklin County legislator on Tuesday, defeating Democrat Dean Lefebvre by an unofficial count of 984 to 435.

The two men were vying for the district six seat, which includes the Towns of Tupper Lake and Santa Clara.

Maroun said Lefebvre called him to concede the race around 10 p.m.  

He said he’s looking forward to another three-year term working for the people of the county.  “We’re going to work on industry,” he said.  “We’re going to work on trying to get the mountain opened at Big Tupper, to bring new jobs and keep our young people here.  We’re also going to work on reducing taxes as we did last year and this year.”

The campaign between Lefebvre and Maroun was bitter at times, with each candidate attacking each other’s record through ads in the local newspapers.

In his conversation with Lefebvre, Maroun said he thanked his opponent for running a “good race.”

Lefebvre could not be reached for comment last night.

Among the other contested races for county legislature, Democrat Gordon Crossman won re-election over Republican Carl Perry in district three by a count of 780 to 541. 

Democrat Earl LaVoie retained his district four seat over Republican Ken Nephew.  LaVoie collected an unofficial 599 votes to Nephew’s 405.

Democrat Ray Susice won a close district five race against Republican challenger Sue Robideau – 891 to 784.

The remaining seats on the county board were uncontested including that of Tim Burpoe of Saranac Lake, a Democrat.  Tuesday’s results mean there’s no change in the political make-up of the county Legislature.  Paul Maroun is the only Republican; the rest are Democrats.

-Mike Fritts and Chris Knight

TL MAYOR’S RACE TOO CLOSE TO CALL;  STUART, SKIFF WIN

The two men who want to be Mayor of Tupper Lake will have to wait to find out who collected the most votes in Tuesday’s election.

The unofficial results show incumbent Mickey Desmarais, an independent, ahead of Republican Tim Larkin by just six votes – 383 to 377.

It will take a count of absentee ballots before a winner can be declared.

Desmarais said he will wait and see what happens, declining to comment further on the tight race.  Larkin couldn’t be reached for comment.

Two Tupper Lake Village Board members were running uncontested – Republican Martin Hughes collected 538 votes and Republican Leon LaBlanc Sr. had 456.  Village Justice Michael Demars was uncontested and collected 521 votes.

Meanwhile in the race for Town of Tupper Lake Board, the incumbents retained their seats.

Republican Shawn Stuart collected 748 votes.  Fellow Republican Jay Skiff received 700 votes.  Democratic challenger Ed Fortier came up shy in his bid for a town board seat, collecting 559 votes.

Stuart said he was pleased with the results.  He said he’s ready to get back to work.  “We want to see the ski slope project move forward and create the economic development we want,” he said.  “We also want to see consolidation of town and village government and eventually the dissolution of the village.”

Skiff thanked the voters for their support.  He also said he wants to see the Adirondack Club and Resort come to fruition. “The mountain is probably one of the biggest projects we have going on here,” he said.  “We’ve got to grow.”

Three other town positions were uncontested – Town Clerk Laurie Fuller collected 941 votes, Justice Leonard Young had 791 votes and Highway Superintendent Mark Lavigne received 905 votes.

The turnout in Tupper Lake was strong considering a lengthy power outage hit the area beginning at 11:15 a.m.  The blackout was caused by a power pole fire in the Fish Creek area.  It wasn’t until nearly 8 p.m. when power was restored.

-Mike Fritts and Chris Knight

TIGHT RACES WON’T BE DECIDED UNTIL NOVEMBER 19

It will be at least another week and a half before the winners of several tight Election Day races will be known.

Republican Franklin County Election Commissioner Veronica King says she and Democratic Commissioner Kathy Fleury plan to begin recanvassing the voting machines on Thursday to see if the numbers correspond to what was reported last night.

Any absentee ballots postmarked by November 5 have to reach the county by November 13.  Military absentee ballots have until the 19th to be returned. “After the 19th we’ll start certifying the election,” King said.

Based on the number of absentee ballots that were sent out, several local races remain too close to call.

The unofficial results show incumbent Tupper Lake Mayor Mickey Desmarais, an independent, six votes ahead of Republican challenger Tim Larkin.

But 62 absentee ballots were sent out, according to King.  42 have been received so far.

In the Town of Harrietstown there were 65 absentee ballots issued and only 47 returned. 

That could affect the outcome of the town justice race between Howard Riley and Elizabeth Nicastro.  Nicastro collected 447 votes.  The Harrietstown Democratic Party counted 451 votes for Riley while the Harrietstown Republican Party counted 457 votes. 

Both of the numbers are well above what was reported to the county Board of Elections as Howard Riley’s total – 377.

King said they will check the numbers.  “It’s a 16 hour day for the inspectors,” she said.  “Sometimes mistakes can happen.”

The number of Harrietstown absentee ballots could also affect the town board race.  Dean Naegele is just 16 votes ahead of Mary Hotaling for the second town board seat.

-Chris Knight

 
ONLY TWO ESSEX COUNTY SUPERVISORS RE-ELECTED

Among some of the other races on Election Day, four Essex County supervisors were ousted by the voters.

In addition to North Elba’s Shirley Seney, incumbent Robert Ashline of Willsboro, running as an independent, was defeated by Republican challenger Lori Torrance.  Torrance had 452 votes and Ashline 212.

In Wilmington, incumbent Democrat Jeanne Ashworth fell to independent challenger Randy Preston by a count of 319 to 183.

And in Lewis, a write-in campaign by incumbent Supervisor Anthony Glebus, a Republican, wasn’t enough to overcome Republican David Blades.  Blades go 299 votes and Glebus had 101.

Two other Essex County supervisors were able to retain their seats.  In Elizabethtown, Republican Noel Merrihew defeated Democratic challenger Joseph Martin 248 to 177.  And in Newcomb incumbent Republican George Canon won re-election over Democrat Eleanor Yandon, 181 to 64.

Another race of interest was in the Town of St. Armand where three men were seeking two town board seats.  Sam Grimone collected the most votes, unofficially, with 272.  Thomas Jones had 268 and Ed Andrews had 253.

Three people were also seeking two town board seats in Keene.  Marcy Neville received 296 votes and Lawrence Jaques saw 202.  Naj Wikoff collected 158.

For the complete results from both Essex and Franklin Counties go to our website – www.wnbz.com

-Chris Knight

GLITCH AFFECTS BIG SKY FLIGHT SCHEDULE

The president of Big Sky Airlines says a mix up by the Delta Airlines reservation system is the reason why travelers may be having a hard time making reservations to fly in or out of the Adirondack Regional Airport over a six week period in January and February.

A WNBZ listener contacted the station on Monday to report that a family member’s flight had been cancelled by Big Sky’s commercial carrier, Delta Airlines.  They were told there were no flights scheduled between Saranac Lake and Boston from January 3 to February 13.

Big Sky President Fred deLeeuw said Tuesday that none of the flights have been cancelled.  “They will all be operating,” he said.

deLeeuw said they sent a schedule to Delta but it was apparently loaded incorrectly into the airline’s reservation system, leaving a gap of several weeks where it appeared like there were no flights available.

“I’m not sure it’s been fixed yet but Delta’s hard at work at it,” he said.  “We’re not sure what happened.  But this is what happens when you have computers.”

deLeeuw said they only received one call from a customer wondering why they couldn’t book a flight. “We appreciate the feedback,” he said.  “Delta has to get that fixed and they will.”

As of this morning, Delta’s online reservation system was still showing no flights available between Boston and Saranac Lake for most of January and part of February.

Big Sky took over commercial air service operations at the Saranac Lake and Plattsburgh airports last week.

-Chris Knight

ORDA BIATHLON PROJECT ON APA AGENDA

The Adirondack Park Agency will hold its regularly scheduled monthly meeting on Thursday and Friday at the APA headquarters in Ray Brook. Chairman Curt Stiles will commence his term as agency chair.

The full agency will convene on Thursday morning at 9:00 a.m. for the interim executive director’s monthly report.

At 9:15, the Regulatory Programs Committee will consider approval of two projects. The Olympic Regional Development Authority proposes a seasonal biathlon target range at the Olympic Ski Jumping Complex.

The committee will then consider a second renewal, from the Barton Mine Corporation, for a temporary 164 foot tall tower supporting meteorological monitoring equipment. The tower is located in the Town of Johnsburg, Warren County.

At 10:45, the Enforcement Committee will convene to review a Civil Penalty Guidelines staff draft.

At 1 p.m. the State Land Committee will receive a briefing from Carole Fraser of the Department of Environmental Conservation on projects undertaken on Forest Preserve to improve access for people with disabilities. APA and DEC staff will collaborate on a presentation related to hiking trail maintenance and characteristics of foot trails. DEC staff will conclude the committee meeting with a discussion on removal of old hunting camps from Champion fee acquisition lands.

At 3 p.m. the Legal Affairs Committee will be updated on the regulatory revision process.

Then on Friday at 9 a.m., the Park Ecology Committee is scheduled to hear a pair of presentations.  At 10:30, the full agency will convene for committee reports and to take actions as necessary.

For more information or meeting materials go to www.apa.state.ny.us.

POLICE REPORT

A Tupper Lake man was taken to the hospital after a one-car rollover accident on State Route 3 in the Town of Harrietstown.  44 year-old Dean Ellis was traveling westbound from Saranac Lake to Tupper Lake at 10:19 p.m. Tuesday night when he lost control of the vehicle in slippery road conditions.  State Police in Ray Brook say the car went off the road near the state boat launch and overturned.  Ellis complained of lower back pain and was taken to Adirondack Medical Center in Saranac Lake by the Saranac Lake Volunteer Fire Department Rescue Squad.  A hospital spokesman said Ellis was treated and released.  No tickets were issued. 

Lake Placid Police made two arrests after stopping a vehicle at 12:25 p.m. Monday.  19 year-old Maria E. Camelo of Lake Placid and 20 year-old Regis B. Dellavale of Lake Placid were each charged with fourth-degree criminal possession of marijuana.  Police say they were allegedly found in possession of an unspecified quantity of marijuana.  They were released on appearance tickets for Lake Placid Village Court.