Laura Reich prevails in runoff

In a contest that was at times contentious and controversial, first-time candidate Laura Reich topped incumbent trustee and Wantagh Board of Education President Peter Mountanos by a margin of 939-795 in a second-round school board runoff election on June 26.
The two tied for second place in the election on May 21, with 927 votes each.
Questions about Mountanos’s residency had still not been resolved last week. According to Tara Cassidy, who finished third in the first round of voting, Board of Education rules require all prospective candidates to be vetted before their names are placed on the ballot. In her case, she said, it appeared that no vetting was undertaken, and she was unaware of any investigations of the other candidates.
The controversy centered on questions about Mountanos’s use of a New York City apartment for business purposes. He is a software engineer in Manhattan, and said he sometimes stays there overnight when he works late or when issues with the Long Island Rail Road make commuting impractical.
The school board’s policy manual stipulates only that a candidate for office must have lived in the district for at least a year before an election, may not live with another board member and may not be a district employee. Multiple residences are not addressed in the handbook, nor is permanent residency defined. It was not clear what documents, if any, the board requested in order to determine Mountanos’s eligibility.

Mountanos was out of the country as the Herald went to press, and did not respond to calls seeking comment. Efforts to reach other board members were also unsuccessful.
Mountanos, 24, was first elected to the board a year after he graduated from Wantagh High School in 2012. He was re-elected in 2016.
Reich, 48, an attorney and part-time accountant’s assistant, has lived in the district for 14 years. She said she believed voters wanted a change. “I also feel many in the community know of the volunteer work that I have done in the past and the leadership positions that I have held,” she wrote in an email.
Reich did not comment on the degree to which questions about Mountanos’s residency might have affected the outcome, although some of her own campaign advertising stressed that she is a Wantagh homeowner and taxpayer.
Turnout was even lower in the second round of voting than the first, with a total of roughly 300 fewer votes cast. Both candidates had voiced concerns before the runoff that voters might be unaware that it was taking place.
Reich said she was excited to begin working with board members and learning from them. “As a new trustee, the first thing I need to tackle is my member handbook,” she wrote. “I look forward to learning as much as I can about board policy and procedure, district programs and the measures set forth in the board’s long-term plans.”