Lynbrook activist to run for village trustee

Laura Ryder, a lifelong Lynbrook resident and longtime community activist, recently announced that she planned to run for the Lynbrook village board of trustees in March.

“I think I have a lot to offer,” Ryder said. “I’ve been very involved within the village for the last two dec-ades. It’s been more service-based for our residents, and I’d like to expand on that and maybe do even more, and I think being on the village board would enable me to do more of that.”

On March 16, Ryder, 52, will contest one of two seats now held by Trustees Michael Hawxhurst, 53, and Hilary Becker, 60. Hawxhurst said he planned to run again.

“I enjoy what we do together as a team,” said Hawxhurst, who was  first elected to the board in 2009. “I enjoy the challenges. This year has been the biggest challenge we’ve seen. We’re changing strategy day by day because different requirements change day by day. We’ve had to have the ability to pivot and make quick decisions, and we’ve done that.”

Becker said it has been “a pleasure to serve the community,” and noted that the Preserve Lynbrook Party planned to run a slate of candidates in the March election, which may include him.

“Our candidate committee is currently interviewing prospects for the two trustee positions and the one village justice position,” he said in a statement. “I have submitted my name to the committee to run for trustee and hope to be selected; however, I have full confidence that the committee will select the best possible candidates to serve the residents of our great village.”

Hawxhurst and Ryder belong to the New Vision Party, and will run on the ticket with Village Justice William McLaughlin, whose seat is also up. All trustee candidates will vie for two open seats in an at-large election. Those seeking to run for village board must collect 100 petition signatures between Dec. 29 and Feb. 9.

Ryder said that although she shares a political outlook with fellow New Vision members Hawxhurst, Mayor Alan Beach and Trustees Robert Boccio and Ann Marie Reardon, she would bring an independent voice and ideas to the board.

Ryder has been active in the Lynbrook community for many years and now volunteers for the Lynbrook Community Chest, which provides financial help to village residents who have fallen on hard times, and the Lynbrook Cares Committee, a group of volunteers who work to help those in need across the village, including shoveling snow and raking leaves for the elderly and disabled, and more.

She was previously with the Lynbrook Beautification Committee, which sought to enhance the village’s aesthetics and has since been disbanded, and headed a committee in 2004 that sought to bring a Sept. 11 memorial to the village after she approached then-Mayor Gene Scarpato about creating one in memory of Lynbrook residents who died in the attacks. The project was completed in 2006.

Ryder attributed her involvement in the village to her father and mother, Peter and Susan Ledwith. Over 50 years, Peter served as the village attorney, village prosecutor and a trustee. In the past, he volunteered as a coach for CYO basketball, and he and Susan supported initiatives at Our Lady of Peace Church. Additionally, Susan has been a Girl Scouts troop leader in the past. Ryder said her parents inspired all 10 of their children to help others.

“I have the ability to start things from scratch and build it up into something from beginning to the end,” she said, “and I think that that’s something that’s pretty strong that I bring to the table that I could see the board benefiting from and of course the village as a whole.”

Ryder lives in the village with her husband, Mike, and works as a paralegal at her family’s law firm, Ledwith & Atkinson. She and Mike have two children, Shannon, 26, who owns a dog walking and pet sitting business, and Aidan, 20, a junior at the Virginia Military Institute.

A Lynbrook resident since 1995, Hawxhurst is an internal auditor. He has two daughters, Sarah, 24, and Hannah, 20, and a month ago he became engaged to Shannon Kelly, a middle school science teacher in the Malverne School District. Becker, a lifelong Lynbrook resident, comes from a family that has long been active in local politics. He and his wife, Geralyn, have four children, Noelle, Joseph, David and Thomas, and Becker has worked in real estate for 40 years and joined the board in 2009.

Becker’s potential bid to ru again comes after he ran unsuccessfully for mayor in a contentious election against Beach in 2019, which Beach won with more than 70 percent of the vote. After the election, Beach named Hawxhurst deputy mayor, a position that Becker had held before the election, and Becker returned to being a trustee. While that election was filled with vitriol, Ryder said she planned not to attack her opponents in the upcoming election, and she hoped they would do the same.

Ryder said her goals include bringing back the village’s beautification committee and fostering a stronger relationship with County Executive Laura Curran, among other initiatives.

Hawxhurst said  that he was pleased to see Ryder running on the same ticket.

“She’s always been one to raise her hand to help out and to be involved and to never look for anything in return,” he said. “She just wants to make this village that she lives in a better place. We all live here, so everything we do impacts ourselves and our families. That’s the type of people you want to see on the board.”