Lawrence Katz, a 12-year resident of Great Neck Plaza, was sworn in as the village’s newest trustee at Wednesday night’s board of trustee meeting.
Replacing former Trustee Marion Green, who resigned in November for personal reasons, Katz will serve the remainder of Green’s term, which ends in March
Katz, 49, said he intends on running for a full term in the village’s March elections.
“[Great Neck Plaza] is a great place to live and I wanted to get more involved in that,” Katz said. “I try to get involved as much as I can.”
Katz, a certified public accountant and attorney, was nominated by Village of Great Neck Mayor Jean Celender at the meeting and swiftly approved in a board vote as his wife Esther and two young daughters watched from the front row of seats in Village Hall.
He has served for three years on the village’s zoning board of appeals and works at an accounting firm in Manhattan.
Katz, who holds a degree in accounting from Brooklyn College and a law degree from Brooklyn Law School, said his background would be an asset in dealing with the village’s finances.
“Both of those are helpful,” he said. “The fiscal issues that we’ll face – everybody is under a lot of pressure to keep the costs down and not raise taxes.”
Katz praised the work of Celender and the other trustees, saying the village is on track.
“Quality of life is important in what’s going on downtown to having a good environment for the kids,” Katz said. “I want to make sure that continues, and I have no doubt it will.”
He was approached to take the position after Green’s resignation by Deputy Mayor Ted Rosen and then by Celender, who were familiar with his work on the zoning board, Katz said.
“I think they felt I could contribute to the board,” Katz said.
Katz grew up in Brooklyn and lived in Forest Hills for a decade before moving to Great Neck with his wife before the birth of their first child.
