My name is Raffaela Dunne and I am a candidate running for the position of trustee in the upcoming East Williston village election. By way of background I have lived in the East Williston School District since 1996, first on Roselle Street in Mineola and then on Steeple Lane in Roslyn Heights. While always being part of the larger school community, I envied the small-community-vibe of those residing in the incorporated village and so we moved to our current home on Latham Lane in the Village of East Williston in 2006. At the time my daughters, now 18 and 16 were five and three years old. I am a civil engineer by education with my undergraduate degree in Structural Engineering and my master’s degree in Environmental Engineering. I currently work for a boutique real estate development advisory company in Manhattan where I have been employed for the last 13 years. Prior to that, I worked at a large, international, consulting engineering firm first in Westchester County and then in Manhattan also for 13 years.
I have been involved in a variety of roles with the Village of East Williston since 2006. My first role was with the Teen Safety Committee that was formed almost 10 years ago because the village was experiencing issues with teenagers congregating on the Village Green and coincident issues with younger children being chased or harassed, and vandalism in the toddler park and at the train station. The village board formed a committee to address these issues and I was honored to be appointed to lead the Teen Safety committee to assist them in resolving the issues. We worked together to develop recommendations to the board that raised community awareness of the issues, activated the Village Green for residents of all ages and resulted in the installation of monitoring equipment. The committee’s efforts were successful in resolving the issues fairly quickly. Subsequent joint meetings with Williston Park were held to carry these ideas to areas down Hillside Avenue to create a safer feeling for all our residents to enjoy the retail corridor.
As a result of several of the ideas from the Teen Safety Committee, I was asked to become a liaison with the recreation committee who work tirelessly to develop and implement village events. I became a member of the recreation committee and have participated ever since. Finally, five years ago, I was asked to join the Village Planning Board where I also continue to serve.
I’ve chosen to run for trustee to further expand my role for the community. My education and professional background as a civil engineer suits and informs routine municipal government business issues. However, East Williston undeniably has unique characteristics that largely define why many residents chose to move here and continue to reside here. The ability to work with groups of people with varying opinions and ideas and develop solutions that can be successfully implemented while maintaining the qualities of our community that make it a special place is what my record of work with the village should demonstrate. I hope that residents will vote for me for trustee on March 19 from noon to 9 p.m. at village hall located at 2 Prospect St.
Submitted by Raffaela Dunne
