By Jeff Lipton
Siskind said the village has run smoothly for the past year and a half, and there's no reason for a change on the Board of Trustees. The Village of Lawrence is running harmoniously, with no problems whatsoever,Ó he said.
Siskind has touted safety and security in the village as his main goals. He said his proudest moment as trustee was when, as fire commissioner, he managed to have a paid Advanced Medical Technician
ride along with the rescue ambulance, providing residents with a sense of security in case of a medical emergency in the village.
He said the AMT costs $40,000 to $50,000 per year, which is well worth it if it saves even one person's life.
He said one of his goals, if he's re-elected to another term, is to purchase a 2,000-foot hose with a wider diameter for the Lawrence-Cedarhurst Fire Department, to help firefighters battle blazes that are farther from hydrants. A recent fire at the Lawrence Country Club storage facility posed a challenge for firefighters, he said.
In addition, Siskind said, he's in favor of changing the name of Cedarhurst Avenue in Lawrence to Briarwood Lane because of confusion with addresses in Cedarhurst Avenue in Cedarhurst. He said he was strongly in favor of the move to eliminate confusion among emergency medical services in seeking house numbers, which repeat themselves on Cedarhurst Avenue in both villages. The street name change will go into effect on June 1.
Felder, the deputy mayor of the village, said it is his honor to continue to serve Lawrence. I've always been involved in the community,Ó he said. I enjoy ... serving the community. I just feel it's an honor to help anyone who needs help, to see that things are done properly and to represent them on local issues.
I think I can safely say that I have a pretty good record in serving the community,Ó he added, saying that he has been commissioner of every department in the village except the finance department.
As police commissioner, Felder said one of the top issues is maintaining safety. He said the new commanding officer of the Fourth Precinct, Dep. Insp. Richard McGuire, has started off on the right foot by being committed to a crackdown on quality-of-life-offenses.
Felder said he has also been deeply involved in the beautification of the village and is proud to have been a part of the construction of a playground at the Lawrence train station.
Last year, Felder received the nomination from the Lawrence Association to become mayor of the village, but he said he declined the offer to maintain tranquillity in the village, because Mayor Dr. Jack Levenbrown was seeking the position.
Both Felder and Siskind agreed that anyone in the village has a right to enter the race. In most cases, they said, before becoming trustees candidates have worked their way up through the ranks by becoming members of a board. Voters should look at the public record of what each candidate has accomplished over the years,Ó Felder said.
Siskind added, I think everybody in the village has a right to run for office. That's what we're all about. It's important for someone like me, who has been in the village for 35 years, to give back to the village as much as I can.Ó
Mael declined to comment for this article.
Other elections
In the villages of Woodsburgh, Hewlett Bay Park and Hewlett Neck, all incumbents are running unopposed. In Woodsburgh, Mayor Susan Schlaff and trustees June Binder and Barry Sporer are up for re-election. In Hewlett Bay Park, trustees Steven Kaufman and Alex Salomon are running unopposed, and in Hewlett Neck, trustees Michael Levine and Lisa Edwards face no challengers. All are seeking two-year terms.
