The New Line Party has nominated incumbent trustee Tom Kennedy to run for re-election and Paul Pereira to run for trustee so that now Mineola will have a contested election. Linda Fairgrieve and Paul Cusato of the Hometown Party and Kennedy and Pereira will run for three seats on the village board.

Kennedy took office in November after he was appointed by Mayor Jack M. Martins to fill the seat that was occupied by John DaVanzo, who retired from the board.

Kennedy served on the library board from 2006 until his appointment to the village board. He also coaches girls softball for the Mineola Athletic Association and works as the director of loan servicing with the Bank of New York Mellon.

Kennedy said he has enjoyed his time so far on the board of trustees and hopes to continue on the board. "If re-elected, I'll continue to look out for the village and the residents. There are really two things I want to continue to work for and that's affordable taxes through maintaining a sound budget and also quality of life. We should have a quality of life that's commensurate with the taxes that we pay," he said.

Kennedy is also proud to be running with Pereira, who is running for trustee for the first time. Pereira is a 1989 graduate of Mineola High School and currently teaches history at the high school. He is also known for being the boys varsity soccer coach. Pereira was the coach of the Mustangs team that won the 2005 Long Island championship.

Pereira, who has been an educator for 15 years and a coach for 12 years, said he was approached to run by Mayor Jack M. Martins and, after talking it over with his wife, decided to run. With a wife and a young son, Pereira said he has decided to raise his family in the community he grew up in and sees running for trustee as an opportunity to give back to the community.

"My intention to run was to become a positive and active contributor to the future of Mineola and to the direction we are going in. Being a history teacher, I'm all about preserving the past and that's important. But I also believe that we need to protect our future," he said. "I'm passionate about the village I'm from and the school that I went to and teach in and I just want that passion to reach even a wider audience."

The village election will take place this March.