The Jewish Home | JUNE 16, 2022
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Inside the Village Boardroom A Candid Conversation with Village of Lawrence Trustee Eli Kutner By SuSan Schwamm
TJH: Thanks for joining us today, Eli. The Village election is next week. You’re running unopposed. Why should people come out and vote at all? EK: Good question. The first part is easy: it’s important to show we have an engaged voting populace which translates into a voice that we have in other elections and with other candidates. More than that, I think it’s important for the leaders of the Village to have a mandate from the residents that they
want them in office and are satisfied with the job we’ve been doing. That, and also, you can always have a strong write-in candidate from left field, which I have heard we might have, so nothing is really assured. If anything, it makes every vote count even more. Are you satisfied with the job you’ve done over the past two years? Before going into it, I think it’s necessary to point out in a positive way
that the board is made up of four trustees and the mayor, each one of us with different views and priorities. I think we’ve done a wonderful job of discovering common ground and finding ways we all agree can help keep the Village great. In regards to being satisfied, there is always more to do, things you wish were done differently or even didn’t do, but overall, from being on the inside, I’m very satisfied with what we’ve accomplished.
Give us some examples of where you feel you’ve done things right. That’s a long list, actually. My main source of pride is what we’ve put together on the security side. I noticed the problem, and it was my first priority upon my appointment. The Village has been and continues to be hit with a fair amount of “petty” crime. Our stance has been, all crime is crime and can, heaven forbid, escalate rather quickly. More important, crime destroys our sense of security and wellbeing, things all resi-
