By Jeff Lipton
About 1,500 residents cast ballots in the election. Newcomer Joel Mael defeated three-term incumbent Howard Siskind by a vote count of 810 to 717. Simon Felder, who was also seeking a fourth term, received 1,296 votes to win re-election in the at-large election, in which the two top vote-getters earned spots on the board.
Mael, the co-founder of a banking firm investing in real estate and the vice chairman of the Florida Marlins baseball team, said his financial background will be an asset to the Village of Lawrence Board of Trustees.
Mael also said he has a master's in business administration from Harvard. And what I've done over the past 25 years is go in and look at companies and analyze them from a financial point of view, Mael said on Monday morning, speaking publicly for the first time since he was announced as a candidate on May 13. I'm hoping to be a fresh set of eyes in what we do for this community and for all residents, and do things in a financially responsible manner.
With a fresh set of eyes, one is able to come up with new potential solutions.
Campaign tactics
The first contested election in well over 20 years turned into a fiercely fought contest and what some referred to as a dirty campaign, with supporters of Mael, Felder and Siskind trying to sway public opinion in the battle for the two seats. Much of the literature apparently targeted Orthodox Jewish residents in the village, a crucial voting block in Lawrence because of their growing population. Mael seemed to rely heavily on his strong affiliation with that segment of the community.
Both Mael and Felder are Orthodox members of the community, while Siskind is not.
In one instance, supporters of Mael were seen handing out leaflets and putting up posters at the Lawrence train station, urging voters to elect Mael and Felder. The inference was that Mael and Felder were running as a team, when, in fact, Felder and Siskind were running-mates in the Citizens Party.
One pro-Mael mailing that was sent to Lawrence homes and ran as a full-page advertisement in one newspaper, said, The Best Kept Secret in Lawrence. Your Village Real Estate Taxes Have Gone Up As Much As 30% This Year. The ad went on to demand greater accountability from village trustees and the election of new leadership, such as Mael, who, the ad claimed, would better represent taxpayers. The literature listed more than 330 names of mainly Orthodox residents, indicating that they agreed with these statements. However, some on the list have come forward to say they do not agree and had not given their permission to use their names in the ad.
The newspaper ad indicated that it was paid for by Alert Inc. (the Association for Learning and Education with Responsible Taxation), a group that came on the scene last year to back two Orthodox candidates for Lawrence school board, Mel Lifshitz and Jay Gelman, who lost in a bitter fight for two seats on the board to public school-backed candidates Anthony Licatesi and Rose Harris. The literature that was mailed to homes did not indicate who paid for it.
By and large, I thought our side ran a very good and clean campaign, Mael said.
But one observer close to the election disagreed. There was some exaggeration, and things were blown out of proportion by the Mael camp, he said. The statement that taxes have gone up 30 percent is untrue and a total fabrication. Those are the kind of underhanded things that were done.
The observer said that handing out propaganda linking Mael with Felder on the same ticket was even more unethical. That was dirty, he said. The inference there is [that they are running-mates].
Felder said he supported Siskind's candidacy 100 percent and did not realize that literature was handed out linking him with Mael. Howard Siskind is my friend and partner and I supported him 100 percent, Felder said. I speak of him very highly. I had absolutely no knowledge [of the campaign literature] until it was brought to my attention on the afternoon of the election.
I was baffled, surprised, and I couldn't believe it, Felder went on. At first, I didn't understand what was going on. When I was told about it, the signs were removed.
Among those who were angered by the inclusion of their names on the mailing without their authorization were Steven Weg and Ari Rosenberg, who voiced their objections in a Letter to the Editor published in the June 19 issue of the Herald. Some estimated that around 40 of the people listed had not authorized the use of their names; others put the number at about 15. Some of the names are those of volunteer firefighters for the Lawrence-Cedarhurst Fire Department. As a results, the literature hit Siskind particularly hard, because his campaign centered on his efforts to increase the department's manpower and equipment.
We are firemen, and Howard Siskind has been very good to us, said Weg. I was very upset.
He said he is not sure if putting firefighters' names on the list was intentional or a mistake.
According to Lifshitz, who is affiliated with Alert, putting those names on the list was a terrible mistake that was not meant to mislead anyone. Joel Mael had no hand in it whatsoever, Lifshitz said.
Mael said he felt bad that some names appeared on the list that shouldn't have. I did not put that ad together, nor did I pay for it, Mael said. When it was shown to me before it ran, I made it perfectly clear to make sure that those people agreed to put their names on the list. I know less than half the people on the list, and there's no way for me to verify all those people.
Fire Chief John Heidrich said that even though Siskind has been very good to us, the fire department does not get involved in politics. Joel Mael has some very big shoes to fill. I wish him the best of luck.
As for supporters of Mael's linking Mael and Felder, Lifshitz also said that was not intended to mislead. There were three candidates for two slots, and we felt that Mael and Felder were the strongest candidates, Lifshitz said.
Mael said he did not find anything wrong with his supporters pushing the candidates they felt were the two best in the election. It is their right to do that, Mael said.
Hurt by rumors
Mael said that during the campaign, he was hurt by rumors that he would work to close the Lawrence Village golf course on Saturdays or close the streets on Saturdays, neither of which is true. That bothered me terribly, he said. Those comments are meant to be divisive and could split apart a community. Those comments are not helpful, in my view.
What Lifshitz also said was underhanded and sneaky was a letter sent out by the Lawrence Association, which had endorsed Siskind and Felder in advertisements. The letter targeted members of the Orthodox community, specifically congregants at Young Israel of Lawrence-Cedarhurst. It stated that the trustees of the village, including Felder and Siskind, have gone out of their way to respond to the concerns of the Orthodox community. It went on to say that when community members complained that the Orthodox members of the Lawrence Village Country Club were unable to qualify for tournaments at the club because the qualifying rounds were held on the Sabbath, the association and trustees worked with the club to change its procedures.
The letter also stated that past mayors and trustees of the Village of Lawrence have a proven record of service, having served as officers of the association as well as members of various departments such as the Buildings Department and Parks Department. Some have indicated that Mael had not paid his dues by rising up through the ranks before becoming village trustee, which the letter apparently hinted at.
Lifshitz, a member of the Lawrence Association's Board of Governors, voiced his displeasure with the letter at the June 18 association meeting. I think this letter that went out to the community has inaccurate facts, Lifshitz said. It bothers me.
He said the statement that efforts were made so Orthodox residents can qualify for tournaments usually held on Fridays is false. That never happened, he said. He also disputed statements in the letter that trustees had earned positions on the board, pointing out that trustees Margaret Carpenter and Martin Oliner, although active in community affairs, have not worked their way onto the board the traditional way. It shows me that there are different sets of rules for different people, Lifshitz said.
Rabbi Rafael Saffra, who was elected the new president of the Lawrence Association at the June 18 meeting, said he paid for the mailing. He said Carpenter and Oliner have worked their way up and earned their stripes working for the community. Mael said he has worked his way up as a member of the Lawrence Association Board of
Governors and has attended many village meetings.
It was a political campaign, Saffra said. Everyone was fighting very hard to do what they could to win. Maybe in retrospect the letter should not have been sent. [But] there was nothing in the letter that attacked any candidate.
Felder said that although he is disappointed Siskind lost, he is looking forward to working with Mael. He probably will do a credible job. He's committed to working for the good of the entire community, Felder said.
Felder said that he is proud the community showed him such extensive support. His 1,296 votes were the most collected in any election in the village's history.
The June 17 election was seen as the latest in a series of events that has driven a wedge into the harmony once enjoyed by the community. Every contest of this nature has a certain amount of personal anger, Felder said. Our job now is to bring everyone together for the common good. I think, ideally, the best campaigns are those where there are no questions about the methods and tactics used. It was a campaign that ruffled some feathers. I'm hoping the healing process will prevail.
He said the village will emerge stronger from all this. I've seen tensions before and I've seen tensions resolved, he added.
Siskind thanked everyone for the support he has been given over the years as a trustee. He said he was surprised that he lost his village board seat. I've given everything to the village. I put my heart into it, he said. People know how hard I worked for the village.
