Hewlett-Woodmere, Lawrence budgets pass

The Hewlett-Woodmere and Lawrence school district budgets were approved by comfortable margins in Tuesday night’s election.
By a count of 1,538 to 976, the $112.1 million Hewlett-Woodmere spending plan passed. The tax levy increase is 2.1 percent, and the tax levy — the amount of revenue the district will raised through taxes — is slightly over $99 million. The approved budget is $2.49 million larger than the current spending plan.
Incumbent Board of Education Trustees Scott McInnes and Cheryl May both won re-election to second three-year terms. May received 1,805 votes, McInnes collected 1,759, Jacob Shafran garnered 826 and Fred Usherson got 323 in the at-large election.
McInnes and May currently serve as the board’s president and vice president. “I’m glad people came out to support me and Scott, and the budget,” May said.
“I couldn’t be happier with the results overall,” McInnes said. “I will keep working towards making sure the board serves each and every person in the district.”

Mansdorf, Forman re-elected
Despite a very low turnout in Lawrence, the $95.6 million budget was approved by a count of 986 to 345. The tax levy increase is 0.9 percent, while the tax levy is $83.7 million. The spending plan is $2.6 million larger than the current fiscal plan.
District Superintendent Gary Schall said that in spite of the low vote totals, he viewed the nearly 3-to-1 budget approval margin “as a vote of confidence” in the district’s operations.
Sitting Board of Education Trustee Asher Mansdorf overwhelmingly defeated challenger Asher Matathias, 1,112 to 297, to win a fifth term on the board. Fellow incumbent Murray Forman, who ran unopposed for a fourth term, received 1,129 votes.

Library budgets pass
Both the Hewlett-Woodmere and Peninsula Public Library budgets were approved handily. This was the first time that the Hewlett-Woodmere library held its election concurrently with the school district.
The $6.2 million Hewlett-Woodmere spending plan passed by a margin of more than 2 to 1, 1,645 to 801, while Peninsula’s $3.1 million budget was approved by an even larger cushion, more than 3 to 1, 1,033 to 237.
Running unchallenged, Hewlett-Woodmere incumbent Trustee David Adler won another five-year term with 1,717 votes.
Cedarhurst resident Joseph Fuller defeated challenger Marc Katznelson, of Woodmere, 774 to 358, for a five-year term on the Peninsula library board. Fuller said that he looked forward to maintaining what he called the library’s fiscal integrity by keeping control of taxes and helping PPL find a site for a new building.