In Lawrence, four candidates vie for two open trustee seats
From left, Syma Diamond, Daniel Goldstein, Rochelle Stern Kevelson and Uri Kaufman are running for for two open seats on the Lawrence Village Board on Tuesday.
Voters in Lawrence will elect two new trustees to the village board in Tuesday’s election.
Four candidates are running for the two open trustee seats, while trustee Alex Edelman is running unopposed for mayor.
The two candidates with the most votes will serve two-year terms to replace outgoing trustees C. Simon Felder and Irving Langer. Edelman’s trustee seat will be filled by appointment for the remaining year of his term.
The four candidates are Rochelle Stern Kevelson, Uri Kaufman, Syma Diamond and Daniel Goldstein.
Kevelson, 75, is semiretired and has worked as a distributor, designer and consultant for Judaica Designs. She is a 35-year resident of Lawrence and graduated from Adelphi University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in business and a certificate in family law from the New School in Manhattan.
She is a past president of the Lawrence Civic Association and a member of several synagogues, and is on the board of governors of Americans for Israel and Torah Schools. She was a founding member and first vice president of the American Guild of Judaic Art.
Kevelson said she wants to bring her business experience to the board and focus on village construction and vetting contractors for permits. She said she wants to improve street maintenance.
Kaufman, 52, is a real estate developer in Lawrence, who specializes in historic buildings. He has lived in Lawrence for 13 years and has a law degree from New York University.
Kaufman served for nine years on the Lawrence school board. He sees decommissioning the sewage plant as one of the most pressing issues in the village. He said the village needs to follow the decontamination of the site by adding a community center and an indoor pool.
Diamond, 39, is an attorney running for her first elected office and has lived in Lawrence for more than a decade.
Diamond graduated from Queens College and earned her law degree at Hofstra University. She has worked as an attorney in Manhattan and has done pro bono work for the Far Rockaway-based Achiezer Community Resource Center.
Diamond said she wants to address issues concerning mosquito and insect abatement, and enhance beautification of village parks and the library.
Goldstein, 52, was born in Maine and grew up in Israel until he was 16. He has lived in Lawrence since 2005, but recently returned after being forced out of his home during superstorm Sandy.
Goldstein earned his electrician’s license in Israel and owns a licensed electrician company in Lawrence. He is a former captain with the Meadowmere Park Fire Department in Lawrence.
He said he wants to improve bike lanes in the village and walking lanes around the golf course. He would work to improve the village building department. He also said the village should look into natural insect abatement.
Voting will take place Tuesday at Village Hall from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.
John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.
