BOE Candidate Profile: Greg Antolini

With the Babylon School District budget vote and school board election taking place tomorrow Patch offers up the last segment in its board of education candidate profile series.

There are six residents running for four available seats. Two incumbents whose seats are up for election have opted not to run. The lone incumbent is Roger Katz. The remaining five candidates are vying for a board seat for the first time.

Greg Antolini

Age: 47 years old

Occupation: Stock trader

Residency: I have lived in Babylon Village for almost 20 years

Children: 15, 13-year-old twins, and 8.

Patch: Why did you decide to run this year?
I decided to run for the school board to see if I could be more involved and to see if there were any answers to some of the questions I never feel get answered.

Patch: What is the biggest challenge facing the school district?
Rising healthcare cost, salaries and pension obligations are the biggest challenges facing every school district. I think there is a greater need for transparency and there needs to be a sense that the school board is working with the community not with the administration..

Patch: What is one thing you would do differently in the district?
The final budget was acceptable but I didn’t feel that it took a lot to get to the point that they ultimately reached. Something must be done to stem the rising tide of costs. The new budget increases spending by over 1.1 million dollars yet very little of that money goes back to the school, the buildings, the fields, etc.