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The Winners Are: Hackner and Brownstein

CROWN HEIGHTS [CHI] — A total of 1779 votes were counted in the Tuesday run-off elections for the Crown Heights Jewish Community Council “Vaad.” Yossi Hackner won with 1659, while Fishel Brownstein just managed to beat Shea Hecht with 43 votes.

The final tally is;
Yossi Hackner – 1659
Fishel Brownstein – 947
Shea Hecht – 904

The new Vaad Hakohol will be made up of Zaki Tamir, Yossi Hackner, and Fishel Brownstein.

Zaki Tamir was the only candidate to receive a majority vote in the original elections, as required by the Vaad’s by-laws.

Therefore, a special run-off elections was held Tuesday, residents were able to pick between two of the three highest vote getters; Shea Hecht, Yossi Hackner, and Fishel Brownstein.

In the special elections, Yossi Hackner and Fishel Brownstein both received enough votes to be counted as the next two Vaad Hakohol members.

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38 Comments

  • crpwm heights resident

    neighborhood resident for 35 years
    well organized and well coordinated.
    a great credit to our community.
    as a voter, i was proud to be a part of it.

  • www.repentingjewess.blogspot.com

    The election has been called for Hackner-Brownstein and it has to be accepted by the people.Unfortunately, there is one of the old incompetent gang who won.

    Do people get the leadership they deserve?
    Shea Hecht will still be there though, helping as many people as he possibly can, has he has always done. I predict Crown Heights will wake up in a little while down the line and realize they chose the wrong man for the job.

    For now, I am glad I don’t live there anymore!

  • Please don-t call him the chairman

    I hope Mr. Brownstein is humble enough to realize that he is number three, and that he is not the chairman this time.

  • You STUPID people!

    Do you know what you have done???

    In voting for Brownstein, you voted FOR Meseira, for incompetence, for weakness, for Poltorak & Hendel.

    I give it 3 months & you’ll be crying at the lack of Achdus on the CHJCC, how Tamir & Hackner can’t get anything done because of outside interference, & you’ll be moaning WHY WE DON’T HAVE PROGRAMS LIKE WILLIAMSBURG!

    While I say it serves you morons right, I feel sorry for…ME!! I live here too & I’ll suffer. The sick thing is, when you all have problems like kids off the derech, legal problems, sholom bayis problems, who is the go-to man? SHEA HECHT.

    When’s the next election?

  • miscount

    Shea’s 904 votes, and Brownstein’s 947 together = 1851
    now 1851 minus Hackners 1659 votes = 192 divide that in half = 96 for votes that were for Shea & Brownstein together.
    now Hackners 1659 votes plus the 96 for votes that were for Shea & Brownstein together = 1755
    now If there were a total of 1779 votes minus the 1755 legitamate votes you are left with 24 votes of which 13 are diqualified. 24 minus 13 = 11 that means 11 votes are not accounted for? Not a difference for the results, but if the count is wrong by 11 it can also be wrong by 43, someone was not counting correctly! They must have been really sleepy!

  • Skeptical

    What exactly is “ the job at hand”? Have any of the previous vaads ACTUALLY done something for CH. It seems that all we see are pictures of politicians but what REAL TANGIBLE benifits have we had?Exactly which grants were given & how were they spent? If this new vaad opens up & lets people know what they’re trying to do & their successes, they will go far with the community.

  • R. Berl Haskelevich

    To those who are glad they do not live in the Rebbe’s Shchuna anymore!

    Good riddance.

    We will continue to hold on to Crown Heights and fight to have decent Rabbonim and leaders. The Rebbe’s generation doesn’t run away! Wheter we have the power, or not, a true leader doesn’t give up.

    Those who always ignored the elections suddenly decided they can come out and vote for corruption, for Rubish,kin in absetia, destroy the Beth Din, replace legitimate Rabbonim. Thank G-d, the Rebbe is still Baalabos forever and ever!

  • Something is up with the numbers

    If 1,779 voters voted, and 13 were disqualified, we now have 1766 voters, all of whom had to vote for 2 candidates, we should have had a total of 3532 votes cast.

    When you add all the votes cast for all the candidates, 1659 + 947 + 904 you get 3510 votes not 3532 so there are 22 votes (11 voters) missing!
    Fact is even if you add all the “missing” votes to Hecht, he still would have lost, but these missing votes lead one to wonder what else went wrong during the counting, were votes changed? Were votes for one candidate added to a different candidate?
    Another problem with these elections is that one side managed to make sure that they were held at a time when a lot of crown Heights’s are away on vacation, why weren’t they held 2 or 3 days after the first election 3 weeks ago? A lot of people I know would have voted for Hecht had they been in town…
    None of the above will change the fact the Brownstein is in, but it leaves a bad taste in the mouth, it feels like this election was stolen.

  • Fair outcome

    Idea for Shea

    If he didn’t sell all the Yarmilkas maybe he should donate it for Mivtzoim.

  • Mazl Tov Yossi

    Great Job! Everyone (almost) knows you and voted for you. Now go out there and do a great job! We’re counting on you! Let’s leave all the machloikes behind. Remember – this is for our neighborhood – our families – our children! ALL of us!
    It’s time for a new beginning.
    May Hashem bless you in all that you do!

  • Tzvi Lang

    Now is the time to unite around the new Vaad. Everyone should give Maas Hakohol to support the Rabonnin. A strong Beis Din will keep us out of court and set the tone for an outstanding community.

  • chaim yankel

    what this means is, that we will see much more of chanina and poltorack, even if we showed them the door. it’s unfortunate people can’t see that brownstein is just their puppet as well as terrorist hendel’s.

  • Same old different day

    The losers are Crown Heights for voting in a Mosser.

    Yechi Hamachlokes!
    Yechi Mesira!

    Now we shall all go back to our seats and continue watching the circus.
    Sadly, we are Takka left with change.

  • Shalom

    it is the THREE WEEKS , the Beth Hamikdosh was destryed for Sin’as Chinom , it will be rebilt IY”H only in ,Ahavas Chinom , who ever won this is realy the will of the Abov Hashem , let’s give theim a good chance .

  • sad

    very very sad that ch didint learn there lesson and voted in 1 of the old vad.

    well i hope they will do well!!!!!!!!

  • Hecht not our spokesperson

    What makes people think Shea Hecht is the “savior” of Crown Heights.

    I have lived in Crown Heights for many years and Shea is always
    pushing his face in front of the camera stating he is the spokesman for our community. What ever he or others people think he is not. Which ever Vaad is in power, they are the official spokespeople for the community.
    Shea Hecht puts Shea Hecht first.

  • To hear the womens point of view

    I know some of you will tell me how can I put women down, but I have a better solution, from my understanding the Rebbe wasn’t for having women on the vaad, and therefore don’t want women to vote, so why don’t we set up a womens commitee where only women can vote and they can work with vaad on certain projects, but they won’t be in vaad and won’t make decisions, but a womens voice will be heard and vaibeshe zachen will be taken care of with the budget the vaad gives them
    Just a thought

  • poor crownheighters

    Brownstein is a puppet and will be controlled by others

  • Wanda Ring

    “Fishel Brownstein just managed to beat Shea Hecht with 43 votes”

    How many votes did Shea have, 42!?

  • Vote Counter

    The 11 missing votes were cast in sealed envelopes due to questions regarding the voters’ eligibility. The envelopes were not opened and counted because the margin of victory was large enough that they wouldn’t have made a difference.

  • 90% that we agree on rather than the 10%

    the 90% that we agree on rather than the 10% that we don’t agree on.
    And that to me is so critical because the Jewish community as a whole

    always specializes in the 10%. How can we disagree; what do we have that differentiates us; what can we argue about? The old story of the Jew who was on a desert island, after 15 years he had built two shuls, the one I go to and the one I wouldn’t go near; or the Israeli who had been found on the island and after 15 years he had created 15 political parties and published 12 newspapers, that is the tradition of Jews arguing about everything.

    Chabad says no, let’s focus on the 90% that we agree and let’s deemphasize the 10%, the 10% we can talk about, we don’t have to change our philosophy, nobody is being asked to change anything. It is simply a question of emphasis and I think that’s the great success of Chabad.

    NOW FOR TOO LONG CROWN HEIGHTS COMMUNITY ONLY INVOLVED WITH 10%
    LETS SEE THIS NEW DREAM TEAM DOING ANYTHING ABOUT GOOD AND CHESED.
    WE HAVE A SPLIT 50/50 IN CROWN HEIGHTS .
    IF THIS IS A VERY BIG IF THIS NEW ELECTED POEPLE WILL START WITH GOOD AND CHESED THY WILL HAVE A CHANCE BUT IF HYL”T THY WILL START THE FIGHTING LIKE SHOMRIM ETC. THEY FAILED BEFORE THE STARTING POINT. WILL WAIT AND SEE.

  • Who Seed Watt

    I agree. It’s the three weeks Let’s give Brownstein a chance (he is only one vote out of three anyway). Let’s thank Shea for all the great work that has been and will be done by the National Committee. Let’s get a third rov and have a functioning Beis Din, where the only machkoles is differing opinions L’sham Shomia, and where, as the Rebbe said, “Although there may be opposing opinions, both valid, in this world only one can be implemented.” So when an issue is brought to the Bais Din, argue all you want. After the decision is given, everyone follows it, with full respect to those who had supported the losing argument. Zeh v zeh, divrai Elokim Chaim!

  • Mushky

    This is good news!
    I’m so excited to see the change and improvements that they will bring.
    I really do have faith in them.

    Kan Tziva is the place to be.

  • Change the system now

    This is a twisted way to have an election.
    Hackner = 93% = He gets in
    Brownstein = 53% = He gets in
    Shea Hecht = 51% = Does NOT get in

    Everybody got a majority of the community’s vote, why do they not all get in? In the last election it was everyone running by themselves against the 50% mark, this time they were running against the 53% mark? It should be whoever gets a majority is in. Majority Rule!!

  • BIG DEAL

    ONE MINUTE!! HOLD ON!!
    zaki will deal with everyone whats the difference ?
    and so we have hackner?

    BIG DEAL!

  • I Contest!

    I witnessed many people come in and vote who were not on the list. One of them used an envelope addressed to him (not a utility bill) as proof of residence. They were bringing in senior citizens and bochurim etc. The rule should be, you must be on the list to vote. If you’re not on the list you cannot vote. (you can add your name to the list up till 1 week prior to elections etc…..)

    They should count ALL the “written in” voters. if there are more than 43 of them they should have a re runoff. Otherwise it’s just all a joke!

  • ceo

    Please HaShem, let them go by the Rebbe’s ways, and really make a Kiddush HaShem and a difference to us all. Please.
    Lets put the goofiness behind us with all the shtuss.
    Now lets get some funding. I heard that there have been no camp fund help because everyone was busy running around playing ego games. Lets get the children and their families some help asap!!!!!

  • awacs

    “The 11 missing votes were cast in sealed envelopes due to questions regarding the voters’ eligibility. The envelopes were not opened and counted because the margin of victory was large enough that they wouldn’t have made a difference.”

    I’m sure that makes the eleven folks very happy: “Thanks for voting, but, you know what? We’re throwing YOUR vote in the garbage, and not counting it, because it wouldn’t have made a difference anyway, and we’re too lazy to decide if you’re really eligible or not.”

    Yep. THAT leaves a good taste in my mouth.