Hirth drops out of trustee race

And then there were three.

Jeffrey Hirth, who was running as part of the Good Government Party along with incumbent Michael Fragin, has dropped out of the Village of Lawrence trustee race. Hirth, 39, officially submitted what is known as a declination of candidacy on May 18 to Village Administrator David Smollett.

Hirth, who runs a technology consulting firm in Valley Stream, cited personal reasons for resigning. “With a growing business and family, I would need a lot more resources and time to dedicate to winning,” he said. “I want to do what is best for the village and I thought it would be a disservice to go the whole way and not be able to do a good job.”

Being a trustee requires a significant commitment of time, said Fragin. “There is a lot of stress, a lot of aggravation,” he said. “I’m always encouraged with younger people getting involved in public affairs and government, and he has a perspective that may not be heard. It is a loss for the village knowing him as someone who has gone to meetings and spoken.”

Unity Party candidates Alex Edelman and David Seidemann both said they were sorry that Hirth declined to run saying that he was a good candidate, but the race will continue without him.

“I’m sorry to hear that he dropped out, I thought he was a good candidate,” Edelman said. “We have strong candidates between myself and David, and hopefully it will be a successful run. We will run a decent, clean campaign and may the best many win as they say.”

“I’m sure there is a place for his voice in village politics in the future,” Seidemann said.

Hirth did say that he will remain active in the Lawrence Association, where he has served on the Board of Governors and will attend village board meetings. I’ll be back next year,” he said, alluding to another potential candidacy for trustee.

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