First zoning board session for new member Gerry Golub
May 30, 2008
by Christine Yeres
On Tuesday night Town Supervisor Barbara Gerrard appointed New Castle resident Gerry Golub to the zoning board. Golub, a New Castle resident for 37 years and retired managing partner of the accounting firm of Goldstein Golub Kessler & Company, will fill the seat left vacant by the resignation two weeks ago of the board’s chairperson, David Levine. Levine served 13 years on the zoning board of appeals, the last three as chairman. Golub will complete Levine’s term, which runs until January 1, 2010. The zoning board, a court of appeals, has the power to grant special use permits and variances that allow actions not permitted by the town’s zoning laws.
Golub brings patience, open-mindedness and business acumen to the zoning board
Asked how Golub came to the town board’s attention, Gerrard reported that out-going chairperson Levine recommended Golub as having a “unique skills set” that would be valuable to the zoning board, citing Golub’s patience and open-mindedness as well as his long success in business management. “The town board is not obliged to advertise the opening and treats appointments to the planning and zoning boards very circumspectly,” explained Gerrard.
Golub, who sold his interest in Goldstein Golub about a year ago and retired, offered his services to the town at that time. “We interviewed him,” recalled Gerrard. “He had a fantastic background. We had an opening on the conservation board at the time, and it was not what he was particularly looking for, but he was a real team player. Wherever the town needed him, he was willing to serve. When David Levine resigned for personal reasons and we suddenly had this opening, I spoke to the other town board members about Gerry in executive session and it was unanimous: he was great material for the zoning board.”
Reached by phone the morning after his appointment, Golub said, “I’m very excited to play a role on the zoning board of appeals. It certainly has many important and challenging issues to deal with today and I am thrilled to have received the appointment from the town board.”
Big issues looming before the zoning board
In fact, the cases that come before the zoning board are some of the most fascinating that town government hears, cases in which the good fences that make good neighbors sometimes make for big disagreements. Besides the steady stream of neighbor-to-neighbor problems, several projects of town-wide interest will soon come before the zoning board: the Reader’s Digest development, the mosque on Hoags Cross Road and the Legionaries of Christ on Route 128.
What does Golub think it takes to be on the zoning board? “Analysis, fairness and a sense of community,” he immediately answered. Just 24 hours after his appointment, he took his place Wednesday night on the dais. “I found my first meeting challenging and informative as to how the board conducts itself, analyzes requests, weighs competing interests and makes decisions.” For now, Levine’s predecessor as chairman, Gabby Rosenfeld, will chair the board until the town board determines whom to appoint as the new chair.
Golub was born in Brooklyn, graduated from Stuyvesant High School and Brooklyn College, and did graduate work at Bernard Baruch College. He moved to New Castle with his family in 1971. He and his wife, Bonnie, raised their three children here. Bonnie has sold real estate with Prudential Holmes & Kennedy for 34 years. They have five grandchildren, three of whom live in New Castle.
Supervisor Barbara Gerrard visits zoning board at the start of its May 28 meeting
The full zoning board on May 28, 2008
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