I know that politics is a dirty game and that people have mud slung at their faces. But I could not believe that this guy Katz was the terrible person his opponents are accusing him of being, so I asked around and looked into it. What I found amazed me. Leonard Katz was very well spoken of—personally, professionally and within community groups.
As one of its charter members, Leonard served as president of the Rotary Club of Great Neck for two terms, raising membership by 60 percent and increasing the scope of the charitable efforts of the club. He worked hard to bring back the Kiwanis Club to Great Neck.
Katz also served as treasurer of the Great Neck United Parent Teacher Council when his three children were in the Great Neck school system, working with superintendents Mort Abramowitz and Bill Shine, as well as longtime board members Don Ashkenase and Larry Gross.
He had not only been the president of the Men’s Club in his temple. He also revived the organization, which to this day is still a thriving and vital arm of the temple. He went on to be elected as president of the entire New York Metro Region of the Federation of Jewish Men’s Clubs, was elected to the Executive Board of the International Federation of Jewish Men’s Clubs and served as treasurer of that international organization.
Leonard Katz was also instrumental in organizing and becoming one of the three founders of the Silverstein Hebrew Academy of Great Neck, serving as its first treasurer and he also shepherded the building permit application of the Chabad of Great Neck through the Kings Point bureaucratic maze, working with the attorneys, engineers, and architects on the project.
During this time, Leonard was also board president of his co-op for eight years and was elected to the board of directors of the Long Island Broker Dealers Association.
Oh, I almost forgot to mention that our Town of North Hempstead Supervisor, Judi Bosworth, on June 29, 2016, presented Katz with a proclamation, personally signed by all eight of the sitting council members in recognition of his contributions to the community.
I believe all Plaza residents would be proud to have as our mayor a man who has shown such a high level of commitment to his community and who has had many accomplishments to his name. For all of the above reasons, I wholeheartedly recommend Leonard Katz for the next mayor of the Village of Great Neck Plaza and urge all registered voters either send in absentee ballots or to come to the polls on Sept. 15 and write in your votes to elect him and his team to office.
Michael Marhyan
Village of Great Neck Plaza
