Janine Sartori: From L'Oréal to Mineola Deputy Mayor

Janine Sartori spent years working in marketing and finance before she ever thought about running for local office. Now she serves as deputy mayor of Mineola, and she is heading into a reelection fight on March 18 alongside Mayor Paul Pereira and Trustee Jeffrey Clark.

Sartori grew up in Staten Island and later lived in New Jersey and Brooklyn before landing in Mineola roughly 25 years ago. She said the move was not part of any plan.

“It was a happy blessing. When I landed here, I was in awe of it,” Sartori said. “It was a pretty lucky coincidence that I landed in Mineola.”

What stuck with her early on was the accessibility of village government. She said sanitation workers would come directly to her house to collect garbage, and officials were easy to reach.

“I could not believe how transparent the government was here,” she said.

That accessibility drew her in. She got to know Mayor Pereira personally after their children crossed paths, and that friendship pushed her toward getting more involved. Her first step was a seat on the village zoning board.

“I think it’s important that we all contribute to the place that we live,” she said. “It was a learning curve, but it was a very cool experience, understanding the ins and outs of how this all works.”

After two years on the zoning board, Sartori was appointed to the village board in 2021 by Scott Strauss, who was mayor at the time and now serves as county legislator. The appointment came after Trustee Dennis Walsh vacated his seat to join the North Hempstead town council.

She has now been on the board for five years and is running for her second full term.

A major focus of her tenure has been the revitalization of Mineola’s downtown. The village secured a $4.5 million New York Forward Grant from the state in early 2024. The grant is designed to help local governments reinvigorate business districts, and Sartori pointed to it as one of the board’s significant accomplishments.

“Part of that is the invigorating of our downtown. We were able to secure money through the state, which will help us to make it a wonderful place to be,” she said. “Now it’s really vibrant down there. There are great restaurants, people living there, and it adds to the sense of community of the village.”

She said fully implementing that grant is one of her primary goals if she wins reelection, along with continued community building and fiscal responsibility.

Her professional background in marketing and finance shapes how she approaches village governance. She said managing the village budget is not unlike running a business, particularly when working with limited revenue streams.

“Financially, my background has really helped me to be fiscally responsible in making all those decisions,” she said.

Before her work in local government, Sartori built a career in the private sector, including time at L’Oréal. She said those years gave her tools that translate directly to overseeing public finances and supporting local businesses in a village like Mineola.

Sartori, Pereira, and Clark face voters on March 18.