Weisenberg won’t seek re-election

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Weisenberg graduated from New York University with a B.A. in 1958, and earned a master’s from Hofstra University. He is a former Long Beach City Council president, police officer and PBA president, and a former teacher as well.

Jim Moriarty, the Long Beach Republican Committee chairman and a former city councilman, said that Weisenberg was part of Long Beach’s first coalition government in 1979, when Republicans and Democrats joined forces. He noted Weisenberg’s ability to work across party lines.

“We actually elected Harvey … to the City Council, and over the years I’ve worked on both sides of the campaign with Harvey — both for and against — but we’ve been friends for more than 40 years,” Moriarty said. “Doing the right thing for Long Beach has always been first and foremost on his mind. He has been an iconic symbol for Long Beach — if you travel anywhere in political circles, everybody knows Harvey and Ellen, and only has good things to say about him. He has represented Long Beach well.”

“Harvey has done a great job serving the community for a very, very long time, and he will be missed,” said Mike Zapson, the Long Beach Democratic Committee chairman.

Weisenberg has secured millions of dollars in state aid and grants for schools in the 20th District over the years, and has fought to improve the water quality of the Western Bays and protect the Lloyd Aquifer. “He’s been the single biggest force in protecting the barrier island’s water supply,” said Morris Kramer, an environmentalist from Atlantic Beach.

His political opponents, however, have accused Weisenberg of bilking the state pension system by collecting both a pension and a salary for his work in the Assembly — which Weisenberg has staunchly defended, saying that he earned the pension, was doing nothing wrong and could have retired 10 years earlier but did not.

“I wish him the best,” said David Sussman, a Republican from Lawrence who ran against him in 2012.

A quarter-century of service

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