Larchmont Has Elected a New Mayor, Trustees

Larchmont said hello to a new mayor and two trustees, and waived goodbye to current Mayor Liz Feld last night after election results were announced shortly before 10 p.m.

The polls were open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. yesterday, welcoming 112 voters, plus 15 absentees. In an uncontested election, Trustee Josh Mandell received 117 votes for mayor; Marlene Kolbert received 112 votes to run her 5th term as trustee; and newcomer Jaine Elkind Eney received 119 votes to replace Mandell as trustee.

All three candidates are Democrats.

Kolbert thanked the voters for making it to the polls, particularly after the difficulties endured by many during and after last week's storm, and said she is looking forward to the next few years. "I have enjoyed my years on the Board, and I have a lot of unfinished business, particularly in the environmental area," she said. "I look forward to working with all of you, and for all of you, and I certainly love this Village, as you all know, very dearly."

Kolbert, who has lived in Larchmont for 44 years, is a strong advocate for the environment and has served on several local groups, including the Larchmont 2020 Task Force, Larchmont-Mamaroneck Center for Continuing Education, Mamaroneck School District Board of Education and PT Council, among others. She first became a trustee in 2002 and is currently deputy mayor, liaison to the Committee on the Environment, the Larchmont Public Library, the Parks and Trees Committee, the Committee on the Arts, among others.

This is the first time both Mandell and Elkind Eney run for office.

Mandell, a relative newcomer to politics who's worked in business for 20 years, thanked Mayor Feld for inspiring him to join the political life, which he never had plans to join, he said. "She drew me into public service and, in doing so, introduced me to a world where the rewards are not measured in terms of dollar signs, but in the sense of accomplishment that one feels in doing good works." Mandell added that he has "a profound love for this village" and the residents that made it the place it is now, recalling the ways in which residents came together during last weekend's storm to help each other.

Mandell was appointed Village trustee in June of last year after former trustee Jim Millstein stepped down. He became a Fire Department volunteer in 2007 at a time when several volunteers were quitting over the installation of a paid chief. As a trustee, he is also the fire commissioner and liaison to the Finance and Budget Committee and the Committee on Communications and Technology, among others.

Elkind Eney said she was excited to work with Mandell and the rest of the Board, "an incredible, outstanding group of volunteers," and with all of the Village's employees, "who get their job done as always with a sense of humor, and keep us in line." To her children, Elkind Eney said, "you do an outstanding job too of keeping me in line and I only hope that I make you as proud of me as I am of you, and I am ready to get going."

Elkind Eney, a real estate attorney who's lived in Larchmont for 18 years, became co-chair of the Larchmont Democratic Party in September 2009, and has chaired the Board of Assessment Review of the Town of Mamaroneck since the mid-1990s. She left both posts to run for office.

Elkind Eney received a political science degree from Wellesley College and a law degree from Fordham Law School, graduating with honors from both. She has worked at two firms, one in Manhattan and the other in White Plains, for a total of 20 years.

All three elected officials will begin their terms on April 1st.

The breakdown of the votes is as follows:

District 1: Mandell received 33, Kolbert 29 and Eney 32.

District 2: Mandell received 17, Kolbert 14 and Eney 15.

District 3: Mandell received 33, Kolbert 32 and Eney 37.

District 4: Mandell received 34, Kolbert 37 and Eney 35.