Four incumbents will be running uncontested next week for the village elections in East Williston and Mineola. 

The ballot in East Williston features Mayor Bonnie Parente and Trustees Raffaela Dunne and James Iannone running for re-election for four-year terms on Tuesday, March 21. 

Mineola Trustee Donna Solosky is running for a one-year term to finish out the original four-year term left vacant by Mayor Paul Pereira following his election last year. 

Williston Park has no village elections this year. 

Parente first ran unopposed for mayor in 2019, taking over from Mayor David Tanner. She started her political career in East Williston after being elected trustee eight years ago at the coaxing of Tanner.

The mayor comes from a politically engaged family. Her father, Lou Santosus, is the former fire chief and deputy mayor of Mineola. Parente graduated from Hofstra University and holds a law degree from Touro Law School. She has been a practicing attorney for over 25 years.

She has also served on the village’s zoning board for two years and has been involved with Girl, Boy and Cub Scouts, Little League and other community organizations.

Dunne, who first ran for the board in 2019, beat fellow newcomer James Reichman by 59 votes. She is a civil engineer who holds a master’s degree in environmental engineering. The trustee currently works as a market director for Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, a New Jersey-based civil engineering and design firm. 

Dunne has been a resident of East Williston since 2006, and while living in Mineola before that had been a parent in the school district since 1996.

Dunne’s involvement in East Williston politics began over a decade ago when she joined the Teen Safety Committee and the village’s recreation committee after. She was also a member of the village planning board before her election as a trustee.

Iannone is running for his third term on the board.

When Iannone was first elected, there was a deadlock between the village and Williston Park over water rates and a new water tower in Williston Park. After the board decided that a new water tower for East Williston would not be beneficial to residents, Iannone worked with the board to forge a long-term contract that protects residents from unbalanced rate hikes.

Iannone is an attorney with his own practice in Williston Park. He has also been involved with the East Williston Fire Department and the Little League.

Solosky, appointed last year, is a lifelong Mineola resident who worked as a chemistry teacher at Herricks High School for 36 years. Other involvements include the Mineola Master Plan Board and recording secretary of the Corpus Christi School Board.

Voting for East Williston will take place at village hall on 2 Prospect St. March 21 from noon to 9 p.m.

Voting for Mineola will take place at village hall, 155 Washington Ave. March 21 from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.