North Bellmore Library holding budget vote, trustee election

The North Bellmore Public Library will hold its budget and trustee election on Wednesday, April 6, from 1 to 9 p.m. Three local residents –– Michael Horowitz, Paul Konigstein and Thomas Vaughn –– are running for library trustee. Below are biographies on each of the candidates.

Micheal Horowitz

Michael Horowitz has four children and two grandchildren. He was born in Williams-burg, Brooklyn, moved to Canarsie and then to Merrick. He holds a master’s degree in business and accounting, and has worked as a comptroller, director of operations and human resources director for a law firm. He is responsible for saving New York more than $100 million when he helped prevent a federal installation from moving out of state. He has received awards from U.S. senators, congressional representatives and New York City Council members.

Active in the community, Horowitz is a member of several fraternal organizations (Knights of Pythias, Odd Fellows and Masons), the Boy Scouts as director of public relations for the Jewish Committee on Scouting in Nassau County and the Alliance-East Meadow Lodge as editor. He belongs to the Baldwin, Massapequa and Bellmore chambers of commerce, and is president of Calhoun High School’s Parent Vocal Association.

Paul Konigstein

When lifelong Long Islander Paul Konigstein and his wife, Martha Kovel, bought their North Bellmore home 20 years ago, Paul went straight from the closing to the library to get his library card. Ever since then, the library has been a priority for Konigstein and his family. His children, Harry and Shira, grew up attending library programs, from story time to chess club, and Konigstein credits the library with making reading an integral part of their lives.

Konigstein said he wants to make the entire North Bellmore community as passionate about their library as he is. If elected, he would work to improve communication with the com-munity about the details of the planned library renovation and expansion, library programs and services, and the role of the trustees in shaping the library.