New BOE Members Eager to Make Change Happen

In addition to approving a $46 million budget Babylon Village voters returned trustee Roger Katz to the board of education and chose three new members in yesterday’s budget elections.

Newcomers Dominick Montalto, Gregory Antolini and Alena Berenblatt will begin three-year terms on the seven-member board, joining Katz, Thomas Melito, Lisa McKeown and Dominic Bencivenga after they’re sworn in at the board’s first meeting in July.

Candidates John Savoca and Pauline Cimaszewski were defeated in their first runs for the board.

Katz, who has served for nine years, will fulfill the last year remaining in the term of former Board Vice President Cathy Vukovich, who resigned in late March. Current board member president Henry Brunjes and trustee Judy Anderson, both elected in 2005, chose not to seek re-election this year.

The election vote tally was as follows:

Gregory Antolini                     935

Dominick Montalto                 915

Alena Berenblatt                     859

Roger Katz                               786

Pauline Cimaszewski.               695

John Savoca                             659

While all four elected members ran on different platform issues, they all have at least two common goals for the next year: improving communication between the board and the community and driving greater transparency in regard to district actions and administration activities.

Several also said they enjoyed the campaign effort as discussions with residents proved informative and enlightening.

“A new board will help bring the changes all of us want to see,” said Montalto, adding “we all have the same goals.” The father of two, and former NYC firefighter, said he did a mailing, and used posters and lawn signs to promote his candidacy.

Several other candidates took similar marketing measures and all spent time talking with residents about school issues and tax concerns.

“I’m honored to continue to serve the district,” said Katz, who will face re-election at the end of next year.

Cimaszewski said she had a good experience in her first election effort.

“People I talked with are concerned about taxes and the district meeting academic expectations,” she said, adding she’ll keep attending board members and is “happy to let someone else do it [board work] as long as the changes take place.”

Savoca, who said he’d run again,  said the one thing he learned about the village was how many people want change to happen.

“This is a very active community who wants improvement in the programs at a reasonable tax cost,” he said.

Antolini, the top vote getter, didn’t attend the poll results event and hadn’t returned a call from Patch by press time.