4 seek 2 Lawrence trustee seats

Residents of the Village of Lawrence will elect a mayor and two trustees on Tuesday. 

Syma Diamond, Daniel Goldstein, Uri Kaufman and Rochelle Stern Kevelson are running for Lawrence village trustee. It is an at-large election. The two with the most votes win. Trustee Alex Edelman is running unopposed for mayor.

Syma Diamond a matrimonial lawyer, has a vested interest in the community as the mother of four children. She proposes to create more recreational space and wants Lawrence to have more family-oriented activities like Cedarhurst’s concerts in the park. Diamond said a contractor should be brought in to spray the Back Lawrence area for mosquitoes in the warmer months so residents can be more comfortable outside their homes. 

Daniel Goldstein, a business partner of sitting Trustee Irving Langer, who is not running for re-election, has political experience. Goldstein helped establish the Finance Party in Israel with his brother, Benny. The party didn’t win any seats in the Knesset, but Goldstein says it had an impact. He wants to simplify the Building Department process by eliminating the denial letter and just have residents apply for the requested variance and then a hearing. Running as a member of the Unity Party, along with Kaufman and presumptive mayor Alex Edelman, Goldstein also believes in privatizing operations at the village-owned and operated Lawrence Yacht & Country Club.  

Uri Kaufman served nine years on the Lawrence school board. He touts his real-estate experience, and expertise with remediating brownfields, as skills the village could use regarding the sewage plant property, nearly five acres of land. Kaufman proposes a community center with an indoor. The country club should be privatized, he said, because there are some things that government does well, but running a business is not one of them. He said he will never hide from raising taxes when it’s necessary, but points to his record on the Lawrence board, where taxes were not raised significantly and services continued to be rendered.