Village of East Williston Deputy Mayor Bonnie Parente announced last Friday that she will seek the Republican Party nomination to challenge incumbent Democrat Peter Zuckerman for the Town of North Hempstead District 2 Council seat in the November election.
“After working as the village’s deputy mayor for the last three years, I realize there’s more I can do from a broader perspective by being part of the town board,” Parente said. “I’d also very much like to see East Williston represented again.”
Parente said she made her decision after being asked to run early last week by Town of North Hempstead Republican Party Chairman Frank Moroney and John Kiernan, Republican executive committeeman from the Willistons.
“I think the board needs more balance and I know I can bring balance and insight,” Parente said.
Zuckerman, a former Village of East Hills trustee, was selected to the council seat in January by the Democratic majority on the town council to replace Thomas Dwyer, who resigned the seat late last year.
District residents will vote in a special election in November with the winner to serve the remaining year in Dwyer’s term. The election for a four-year term for the seat will be held in November 2015.
The 2nd town council district includes Albertson, East Williston, Roslyn Harbor, Roslyn Heights, East Hills, north New Hyde Park, Greenvale, Searingtown and Manhasset Hills
Parente was elected as a trustee in the Village of East Williston in 2011. She briefly entered the race for Nassau County judge for the 3rd District on the Republican ticket in 2012 before withdrawing.
Parente, who went into private practice as an attorney last year, touted her prior experience as a labor attorney in her run for town council.
“I have 20 years of experience as an attorney. Most of that was spent negotiating labor contracts and dealing with complicated labor and employment issues,” she said.
Before opening her private practice in Mineola in January 2013, Parente worked as director of human resources for the New York Racing Association for the eight years, handling contract negotiations with the NYRA’s multiple employee bargaining units. Preceding her NYRA job, she worked in a similar role at Newsday for three years.
Parente also cited her role as East Williston village board liaison to the East Williston Fire Department as useful experience she would also bring to the town council.
“I think I have a lot to offer in terms of continued support for the volunteers who make up the fire departments and districts in our town,” she said.
Moroney said he and Kiernan had asked Parente to run for the council seat against Zuckerman last week after interviewing her “among a number of quality candidates” during the past month. He declined to reveal the other candidates who were considered for the post.
“She’s always been at the top of our list. She’s got a lot of skills, a lot of talent,” Moroney said. “She certainly is very capable and I suspect she’s going to be one heck of a candidate.”
Parente said she thinks the primary issue in the November campaign would be town finances.
“The predominant issue is always debt and taxes. And all issues boil down to how we can keep our taxes level without losing the great services that our town can offer,” she said. “I’ve shown that I can do this with my work on the village board.”
Parente grew up in Mineola and attended Mineola High School before earning her bachelors degree in banking and finance.
After graduating Touro Law School, she worked for one year with Krupnick & Goldman in Garden City. Her first experience in practicing labor law was with Portnoy, Messinger & Pearl in Syosset, where she worked before joining Jackson Lewis LLP, an international labor law firm.
Along with her service as village trustee in East Williston, Parente serves on the parish council for St. Aidan Church and is active in the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts of America.
She and her husband, Kevin, have two children, Emma and Kevin Jr.
Moroney said the selection process will culminate with the Republican Party county convention in May. He said she will be meeting with Republican county Chairman Joseph Mondello this week.
“We wanted to get out there early and raise some money,” Moroney said.
Parente has a fundraiser scheduled on March 14 at TR’s Great American Pub in Williston Park.
Zuckerman was a trustee in East Hills for nearly 11 years before being selected to succeed Dwyer. Dwyer, a Roslyn Heights Democrat, had bee re-elected four times and was in the middle of his four-year term. He was originally appointed to fill a vacancy in 2002.
Zuckerman has also been a committeeman for the Nassau Democratic Party for the past eight years.
He is also an attorney, specializing in real estate and litigation in his own Uniondale law practice for the past decade.
He declined to comment on Parente’s announced candidacy.
“I have not heard who’s running or who’s not running at this point,” Zuckerman said. “I’m really focused on doing what I can for the Town of North Hempstead and my district at this point. Everything else, I have no control over.”
