Beaty to run for Harrison Freer’s Queensbury Ward 2 seat on town board; Deeb: I’m in, too

Republican Doug Beaty will not seek reelection after five terms as one of Queensbury’s four At-Large members on the Warren County Board of Supervisors.

Instead, Mr. Beaty tells The Chronicle he will run for the Ward 2 Queensbury Town Board seat held by Democrat Harrison Freer.

David Deeb, who nearly defeated Mr. Freer two years ago, plans to run again.

Other candidates could still run, too.

“The Town forced me,” said Mr. Beaty of his eyeing the town board. “I’m insulted by what happened with the Queensbury Town Board, raising taxes 59% — to 82¢ per $1,000 (assessed). I pledge to reduce the taxes to 41¢ per $1,000 in 2024.”

Mr. Beaty contends, “The Town has $6 million in reserves, in the general fund, that they can apply.”

Mr. Freer tells The Chronicle, “I plan to run on my record and will be honored to serve if voters decide to keep me on. My experience in government is that it is 10 times easier to stop things from getting things done than to get things done. So I think the voters will have a clear choice. There are some sewer/septic, trail things, traffic light, streetlight, and the update to our Comprehensive Land Use Plan that I want to continue to work on.”

Mr. Deeb, who ran a strong challenge against Mr. Freer two years ago, intends to challenge him again.

“This is my third election cycle,” said Mr. Deeb. “Last time, I only lost by 33 votes (to Mr. Freer), and he had the Conservative line, which helped him.”

Mr. Deeb said, “I feel we need a fresh look on the Town Board, and I would work very well with the Town Board that is coming on board. The town runs very smoothly now, and I’m a low key guy. I’d like to keep all the animation and verbiage out of the Town…

“I’ve been on the Town Planning Board for 13 years, and I learned a lot in the last two races. The last two times I ran I had no opposition to getting the endorsement. The last one, I knew if I didn’t run the Democrat would be unopposed. It was a really interesting race. Harrison and I get along fine, I believe, and I gained a lot of knowledge.”

Mr. Beaty said that if Mr. Deeb wins the Republican endorsement, “I’ll primary, and I’ll win, and I’ll win in November.” He said, “I’ve won five out of five elections at the County, and I’m confident I would win a sixth,” had he chosen to seek re-election. — Cathy DeDe/Mark Frost

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