Q8: Mayor John’s Response

What role do you believe residents should play in shaping the future of the town, and how can local government better connect with the community?  

This question is one I feel deeply about — because after 28 years of serving the people of Lake Placid, I have come to believe that the most important thing a mayor can do is listen. Not just hear — but genuinely listen, absorb, and act on what the community is telling you.

Let me be direct about my philosophy. Residents are not just stakeholders in Lake Placid’s future — they are the authors of it. Every decision made in that council chamber should ultimately trace its roots back to the people sitting in the audience, the families on the streets, the business owners on Interlake, and the residents who have built their lives here. When government loses sight of that truth, it loses its purpose. And I don’t just believe that philosophically — I have built it into how we actually govern.

Just in the past several months alone, we held a series of strategic planning sessions that brought together town council members, local business owners, faith based organizations, and Lake Placid residents in open, public forums specifically designed to hear what this community wants its future to look like. These weren’t checkbox exercises. They were genuine conversations that are directly shaping our priorities — from downtown revitalization to infrastructure investment to community programming. That feedback is now being built into a strategic plan that will guide Lake Placid’s decisions for years to come.

Our Downtown Master Plan is another powerful example of residents in the driver’s seat. We didn’t hire consultants to design a vision and hand it to the community. We built a process that puts residents, business owners, and stakeholders at the center of the conversation. The result will be a downtown plan that reflects what the people of Lake Placid actually want — not what someone in an office somewhere thinks they should have.

On the question of how local government can better connect with community — I think about this constantly. We have made real progress. Our town council meetings are now streamed live on YouTube so that every resident regardless of their schedule or mobility can watch their government in action from their living room. Our town has an active social media presence that keeps residents informed in real time. Our town administrator maintains a genuine open door policy — and I do the same. I have always believed that an elected official who is hard to reach has forgotten who they work for.

But I will be honest — we can always do more. I want to see us expand our community outreach to make sure we are hearing from all corners of Lake Placid — not just the voices that show up to meetings. That means reaching young families who are new to town, reaching seniors who may not be online, and reaching the business community through regular structured conversations about what they need to thrive. Every voice in this community deserves to be heard — and under my continued leadership, every voice will be.

Here is what I know after 28 years of knocking on doors, sitting in council chambers, walking Interlake with residents, and listening to what people love and worry about in this town — there is no substitute for time, presence, and genuine relationships. You cannot build that kind of connection in two years. You build it over a lifetime of showing up.

That is what I bring to this role every single day. And that commitment to listening, engaging, and acting on what residents tell me is not going to change.