Great Neck Library patrons will head to the polls Monday to vote in the library’s election with a ballot featuring three seats on its Board of Trustees, two seats on its Nominating Committee and an amendment to its bylaws.
The library election will be held from 9 a.m. until 9 p.m.
There will be three polling locations.
Residents of zip codes 11023, 11024 and 11363 can vote at the Main Library at 159 Bayview Ave. in Great Neck.
Residents of zip codes 11020, 11030, 11040, and 11362 can vote at the Parkville Library Branch at 10 Campbell St., New Hyde Park.
Residents of zip code 11021 can vote at the Great Neck Plaza Village Hall, located at 2 Gussack Plaza in Great Neck.
Three current board and committee members have chosen not to run for re-election.
The three seats on the Board of Trustees up for election are those of Kathleen Gold, Josephine Mairzadeh and Aliza Reicher. Gold and Mairzadeh are not seeking re-election.
Running for Gold’s seat is Reicher, who was appointed to the board in January to fill the vacancy left by former trustee Donald Panetta. Reicher was selected by the library’s Nominating Committee to run for the seat.
“I have served a short but productive term on the Board and there is so much more to do,” Reicher wrote in her candidate statement. “The Library needs a long-term capital plan for necessary and sustainable improvements while continuing to prioritize the funding of book acquisitions, patron programming, and technology services. This requires responsible money management and oversight. I want to ensure this growth happens with minimal Board conflict and with a focus on serving all Great Neck patrons. Our library is for everyone!”
Reicher is a bankruptcy attorney and legal writer and editor at Thomson Reuters Practical Law. She received a B.A. in political science from Barnard College, Columbia University, and a J.D. from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law.
She ran in the library’s October election on a platform advocating against book banning and censorship and called for tighter finances, developing more programs for seniors and youth, and hiring more staff.
Reicher lost in the Oct. 30 election to newly joined trustee Chayim Mahgerefteh. She received 450 votes, the second-highest number but fell short of Mahgerefteh’s 1,163 votes.
Running for Mairzadeh’s seat is Brachah Goykadosh. Goykadosh was selected by the library’s Nominating Committee for the seat.
“Since before I can remember, the library has been one of my favorite places,” Goykadosh wrote in her candidate statement. “It is where the community congregates, where our horizons are expanded, where we are immersed in ideas, stories, and poetry.”
Goykadosh is an attorney at a litigation boutique law firm in New York City. She has previously served as a federal district judge clerk in New York’s Eastern District and as senior counsel at the New York City Law Department.
She is a graduate of the Benjamin N. Cordoza School of Law and received her B.S. from Macaulay Honors College and her master’s from Brooklyn College.
Two individuals are running for Reicher’s seat, which would be a one-year term. The library’s Nominating Committee selected candidate Matt Klein, while Neal Hakimi is an independently running candidate.
Klein is a National Fidelity Product lead at Lockton and a Great Neck Estates environment commissioner.
He said in his candidate statement that he is “committed to fostering community engagement” through programming.
Hakimi is a medical director at an intensive care unit at South Shore University Hospital.
He received his B.A. from SUNY Binghamton University and graduated from Ross University’s school of medicine. He completed his residency in Internal Medicine at Norwalk Hospital in Connecticut and a fellowship in Pulmonary Disease and Critical Care Medicine at Norwalk Hospital and Yale New Haven Hospital.
Two seats are also up for election on the library’s Nominating Committee.
The two-year seats are for the ones currently occupied by Steve Jacob and Sabine Margolis.
Jacob is not running for re-election, and Inna Amir will be running for his seat. The Nominating Committee selected Amir as a candidate.
Amir has had a career in financial technology and said her philosophy is “rooted in community-first principles.”
“Candidates must prioritize serving the community over personal agendas, respect our diverse demographic, and embrace open-minded, objective thinking,” Amir wrote in her candidate statement.
Margolis is running for re-election and was nominated as a candidate by the Nominating Committee. Independent candidate Joshua Ishal is also running for Margolis’ seat.
Margolis is an IT director and project manager for a New York-based cosmetics company.
“Public service should prioritize access, inclusivity, and intellectual freedom extended beyond its physical four walls,” Margolis wrote in her candidate statement.
Ishal is a general dentist with a practice in Astoria, Queens. He said he is an active member of his synagogue and is committed to giving back to his community.
“I believe public libraries are essential for promoting education and community engagement,” Ishal wrote in his candidate statement.
The five individuals elected in October will start their term in January.
