Squicciarino lone trustee in election

Richard Tedesco

A year after being appointed a trustee in the Village of New Hyde Park, Donna Squicciarino will be the lone candidate on the ballot in next Tuesday’s village election.

“I’m happy to run this time around having a better picture of what the job description is,” Squicciarino said. “I want to be an active part of the community. I have young children. I feel I can contribute.”

Squicciarino was appointed by New Hyde Park Mayor Robert Lofaro last year to fill the remainder of his term after he was elected mayor.

Lofaro ran for mayor after Mayor Daniel Petruccio decided to not run for re-election.

A 16-year resident of the village, Squicciarino is a certified public accountant who works as the part-time district treasurer for the Sewanhaka Central High School District and the Mineola School District. She said she has worked for Sewanhaka for the past six years and for Mineola over the past eight years.

She said her first priority was to continue her role as an advocate for public safety of the village’s children and its streets

“Always considering things that can improve safety in the area is a concern,” Squicciarino said. She said she hopes to play a role in “maintaining our community and maintaining our parks and as a safe place for our children to go.”

She and her husband Joe have two sons attending elementary school at the Notre Dame School.

Squicciarino said she also intends to alter residents’ perceptions about the village, and the village board.

“People sometimes have a negative perception of the village and I want to change that,” she said. “I want to be an active participant and someone people can come to when they have issues and concerns.”

Squicciarino said she also wants to increase intermunicipal arrangements with other villages, and perhaps the Town of North Hempstead.

Formulating the 2014 village budget without exceeding the state-mandated tax cap is the biggest issue the village board is facing now, she said.  

“The budget is a challenge right now. We’re doing what we do to keep things in tact and balance the budget,” Squicciarino said.

Squicciarino said she had approached Lofaro about her interest in serving on the village board last year. 

She said she felt she could contribute to managing the business of the village based on experience with managing school district budgets.

Before working for the school districts, Squicciarino said, she spent several years working for Fleet Securities and PriceWaterhouseCoppers.

Voting will take place in Marcus Christ Hall on March 18 from noon to 9 p.m.

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