KIRYAS JOEL — Mayor Abraham Wieder and his allies will get a free ride at the polls Wednesday, their first uncontested race since an opposition movement launched an unprecedented – and unsuccessful – challenge to their power in 2001. This time around, only one opposition candidate stepped forward to run in an election for mayor and two trustee seats – and he was disqualified after he barely missed the deadline to file his petition to run for mayor.

Jacob Banda, a prominent diamond dealer who lost a 2005 race against Wieder, mailed his paperwork from a Manhattan post office with a postmark of 12:23 a.m. on April 30 – 23 minutes past the village’s deadline.

Wieder will coast to victory with trustee Sam Landau and newcomer Jacob Reisman, who is replacing Jacob Mittelman on the Village Board. Each term is for four years.

(Recordonline.com)