Daniel Goldstein resigns from Lawrence village board

Posted

After an election campaign full of vitriol from both sides but one that left the mayoral challenger Trustee Daniel Goldstein overwhelmingly defeated he has resigned from the Lawrence village board effective immediately. He submitted his resignation on Monday.

“To tell you the truth, I am very busy and have a lot going on in my life and I wasn’t going to be running in nine months,” Goldstein said, referring to his trustee term. “The village is in very good hands right now.”

In his four-plus years on the board, he pointed to helping the village save roughly $70,000 annually on its PSEG-Long Island with the installation of LED roadway lighting and several zoning improvements. Goldstein said he would like to see a bicycle lane and more parks in the village. He also noted that he does not support the huge Woodmere Club development plan or dense building on the sewer treatment plant land.

Goldstein, 55, lost his first election for trustee in 2016. He was then appointed to the board by Mayor Alex Edelman. Goldstein ran in 2017 and won and was re-elected in 2019.  “I believe in what the residents believe in,” Goldstein said when running four years ago. “I want to succeed, and I’m not afraid to ask for a donation, get grants or make people change things.”

Four years later he and Edelman were on the opposite sides of several village issues. Saying that he wanted to make changes Edelman opposed, Goldstein’s campaign also filed a lawsuit charging the village with creating an illegal ballot and claims of that candidates and officials took part in such acts as bullying voters, failing to file a campaign financial disclosure, political espionage and voter suppression, and seeks an order to release public information. The legal action was first rendered moot as a decision was expected on Sept. 18, three days after Election Day, and then pulled by the petitioners, those who brought suit.

Edelman confirmed that Goldstein submitted a letter of resignation. The mayor now gets to appoint a successor to fill out the remaining time of Goldstein’s trustee term. “I’ll be making an appointment in the next couple of days,” Edelman said. “I have a few candidates I want to interview then I’ll make a decision.”

Election recap

The results from Hewlett Harbor were not known until six hours after the polls closed on Sept. 15.

The incumbents won as Mayor Mark Weiss defeated challenger Ron Austin 427 to 266. Trustees  Thomas Cohen and Ken Kornblau collected 428 and 425 votes, respectively, to overcome  Kim Volman (265) and David Mosayov (259).

Recanvassing in Lawrence increased vote totals but did not change the results. Incumbent Lawrence Mayor Alex Edelman was overwhelmingly returned to office for another two-year term, 1,327 to 315, over challenger Daniel Goldstein, the former trustee.

The two board seats were captured by Eli Kutner (1,072 votes) and Paris Popack (1,001), who ran with Edelman. The other trustee candidates were Joel M. Preminger (338), incumbent Uri Kaufman (330), Bruce Backman (212 and J. Lawrence Kolodny (191). The term is two years.

Reflects correction of year Goldstein was elected.