A Lawrence shake-up on the Village board: Fragin and Landy depart

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Lawrence village Trustee  Jeff Landy, who has served as deputy mayor for nearly a year, gave a heartfelt goodbye at the May 11 meeting after announcing his departure from the board at the end of his term. Landy was appointed in 2020. Landy has lived most of his last 47 years in Lawrence.

“I’ve been very fortunate and blessed to be a part of this incredible place,” Landy said. “Mayor Alex Edelman asked me to serve as a trustee and to be honest, I was extremely reluctant to do so. Having seen the strife that has been going on during the election and at board meetings. I honestly wanted no part at all to do with any of it. Alex explained that all that was in the past and that the new board was going to be different. With a few hiccups here and there, Alex was correct. It has been a tremendous honor and privilege to work alongside my fellow trustees.”

A married lawyer who owns an attorney-recruiting firm, the Addison Group Inc., Landy attended the Hebrew Academy of the Five Towns and Rockaway. When he joined the board, Landy made it a goal to help restore dignity and collegiality to the village board and continue improvements at the Lawrence Yacht & Country Club.

“We did a lot of work over the last few years,” Edelman said. “We’ve done a lot of work in the village, we got a simulator at the golf course and a kosher snack restaurant. We have a lot of people that are joining the club. We fixed the holes and resurfaced the whole course. Overall, we’ve done a lot.”

With two open trustee seats, at least two candidates are expected to run. Tammy Roz and Aaron Parnes, both members of the village park commission. Longtime trustee Michael Fragin thanked Landy for his three years of service.

“The village of Lawrence is a better place because of Jeff Landy’s dedication to its residents” said Fragin, who is term limited and served on the board for 16 years. “It has been an honor to serve alongside him during his tenure on the board.”

A flood mitigation project was recently completed at the village owned and operated country club, which included the installation of piping and backflow-prevention devices with the hope that this will mitigate flooding and improve water quality, through new drainage piping to collect stormwater.

After the project was finished, the restoration of the golf course was completed, which is on track to open for the new season.

Landy, a golf-playing member of the country club, said he will have more leisure time.

“I will be on the golf course God willing, a lot, probably a lot more without my village responsibilities,” he said. “While I was intending on continuing my service as trustee and deputy mayor, I made a promise to my family and myself that I would never allow my service to the village to come at the price of strife. We live in a beautiful small town. We should all have each other’s backs. We should focus our energies on lifting everyone up rather than focusing on our individual needs and concerns. That is the way I’ve used my service to the village, and I hope and pray that the future trustees will do the same.”