May 23, 2018 — Peter Crowley is at the heart of the media world in the Adirondacks. He's managing editor of the Adirondack Daily Enterprise in Saranac Lake. He'll be joining us regularly to talk about news and issues he's seeing in the Adirondacks.

Today he talks with Martha Foley about a recent congressional candidates forum in Saranac Lake, and describes the big show in Saranac Lake this summer: the federal Superfund project dredging of Lake Flower, right in the heart of the village.

Martha Foley: So let’s get right to it. The six candidates hoping to challenge Rep. Elise Stefanik for the North Country's seat in the U.S. House of Representatives met at a forum in your village Sunday. Green Party candidate Lyn Kahn was there, and five Democrats: Patrick Nelson, Emily Martz, Dylan Ratigan, Kate Wilson and Tedra Cobb. So let’s focus on the Democrats because they face all the voters in the Democratic primary on June 26.

There have been a lot of these public forums. Peter, this was your first - so, fresh eyes. They’re trying to distinguish themselves as that vote comes closer. Did they do that Sunday?

Peter Crowley: They did; they’re focusing on their different personalities and their priorities. Emily Martz presented herself for economic development big-time, and somebody who is used to having conversations with voters who aren’t necessarily progressive liberal.

Tedra Cobb looked at the audience the whole time and was really speaking to them as opposed to the other people on the stage. She was focusing on her experience as a county legislator, as somebody who listens.

Katie Wilson presented herself as a straight-talking, working class person. Whereas at one point Emily Martz in the closing said that some people have told her she’s too nice to run against Elise Stefanik, the incumbent, Katie Wilson turns at her and said “ah I get the opposite. I get that I’m too intense, that I should smile more.” But she was emphasizing that she’s frustrated by things going on in Washington and that she thinks that a lot of other people are too.

Dylan Ratigan, he was in his old high school that he went to - in Saranac Lake High School, which is where the event was. He joked at one point that he was disobedient in high school. But he also said, “You’re fooling yourself if you think that electing somebody that agrees with you on the issues is enough. You have to have somebody who has a record to standing up, too.” He talks a lot about the corrupt Washington system beholden to its donors. As a former cable TV host. he says he’s the guy to do that.

And Patrick Nelson is the youngest member of the race and he really focuses on his knowledge of policy and his energy and his charisma - and he is the one who is unafraid to bring in a whole bunch of sweeping progressive policies

MF: Were there any disagreements you know, policy wise, or did they spend most of their time just being nice and agreeing with each other?

PC: They spent a lot of their time agreeing on the issues - they really do - but not always on how fast to move on them. So Patrick Nelson, as I said, is for charging hard right away on a bunch of fronts. Emily Martz at one point said, for instance on health care, she said we probably all in this room agree on some kind of Medicare-for-all plan. But a lot of people outside this room are going to take a lot of convincing. She was talking about voters in the North Country. Katie Wilson said that she thinks that whoever’s elected is going to have to do a lot of compromising. She proposes, for instance, a Medicare buy-in program instead of just pushing hard for everybody right away. Patrick Nelson followed up with that right after saying that he really believes that most Americans are for this already and they should just move on it.

MF: Any moments of conflict on Sunday?

PC: Uhh, not much. The hottest moment was a little exchange where Patrick Nelson tried to get Dylan Ratigan to sign a pledge to not take corporate PAC money and Dyaln turned on him and said “I’m the only candidate here who hasn’t taken any PAC money. He pointed out that Patrick has taken money from a PAC which Patrick said is not a corporate PAC. They got into it a little there. And Katie Wilson kind of followed that up with a bit of barb saying that, you know, Dylan Ratigan is the angry guy on TV. But really she presents herself as the one Elise Stefanik is the most afraid of because she’s this working class straight-talker.

MF: Let’s pivot to another story: an EPA Superfund dredging project. For non- Saranac Lakers, we’ll clarify: It’s right in Saranac Lake on Pontiac Bay in Lake Flower, right in the middle of the village on a main traffic route through the Adirondacks. What does that look like, Peter?

PC: Well, it’s kind of like a circus, in that there’s this big white tent in the middle of it. There’s a fence around the whole area. If people have been to the Winter Carnival in Saranac Lake, this is where the Ice Palace is built, right on the shore of the lake. And where the Ice Palace is, there’s this big white tent and that is where they’re going to dredge up this old toxic stuff that’s sitting in sediment at the bottom of the lake. They’re going to dewater it under the tent so that that it doesn’t get out into the atmosphere.

MF: It’s construction season - a lot of traffic hold-ups across the North Country. Is that sort of thing happening there, or is it just a big show?

PC: It’s not blocking traffic. It’s not even really blocking the boat launch that’s next to it. Although it’s blocking the boat launch parking lot. But it’s more, the impact is more visual. There’s a big fence around it and blocking it off. So it's right in the middle of town and it’s big. Big cranes. You know, if they didn’t have such fence around it, it’d be great for parents to bring their young boys. It’s like free daycare watching all these cranes operate.

MF: And girls! Girls like cranes too. And big machines moving.

PC: Although I have daughters. My girls weren’t so big on construction. But I was one of a bunch of brothers so we all loved them.

MF: So this is supposed to be done this year, correct?

PC: Yeah, in the fall they’re hoping. It was originally supposed to be a two-year project. The village of Saranac Lake asked them to cram it all into one year to get it over with.

Peter Crowley is managing editor of the Adirondack Daily Enterprise in Saranac Lake.