Richard Drake is a Republican running for the 1 year term for Alex. Bay Village Board Trustee. Richard also works as a Broker for BCYB and is a Captain of the tour boat Bonnie Belle. The following is an email that I recieved from Richard:
Dear Village of Alexandria Bay,
Most people don't know me very well and that is why I am writing this letter, to introduce myself and explain why I am running for Village Trustee. I have nothing but good intentions going into this. I truly love Alexandria Bay, and the people here have been great to work and live with. I moved here 5 years ago, and vowed I would never live anywhere else. I became friends with several of the village residents, some of whom were involved in village politics. I have listened enough to become interested and often passionate about certain subjects.
I cannot go out and make people promises that I can't keep. I won't say, "I will accomplish this" , or "I will do that", because frankly, I just don't know. I have never done anything like this before, My grandfather was on the village board in Clayton for a good number of years so I do have an idea of what it takes to do the job. I am running for the one year term on purpose...to get my feet wet and see what, if anything I can do to make Alexandria Bay a better place to live, work and recreate. This community has more potential than any place I have been. I would like to see an Alex Bay that thrives all year long, not just in the summer months. I would like to see an Alex Bay that doesn't rely on 3 or 4 drunken weekends to conduct all the business for the "season". I would also like to see the "season" go from January to December. There is no reason that this community cannot have a thriving economy all year long. The one thing that I am very interested in is making this place even better. I don't think that can be done by one person, certainly not in one year, but gradually over time. I may get elected and become discouraged, or find it too time consuming, or mentally demanding. In that case I will give it my all for the full term that I was elected to and I will choose to not run again. On the other hand,I may find it rewarding and satisfying. In that case will continue to try to serve on the future boards.
There is a very real possibility that I won't get elected at all, in that case I will continue to try and promote commerce and progress in Alexandria Bay the way I have been doing...interacting with our local community and making the tourists feel at home while visiting the 1000 Islands.
Believe me, my intentions are all good. I want to do what is best for our Village Community.
Sincerely,
Richard Leslie Drake
