Moving up from deputy under the administration of Ed Romaine, Brookhaven’s new supervisor, Dan Panico, came out swinging with a bold solution to a problem that has been plaguing the town for years.
The town council veteran outlined his plan to vastly improve the quality of life in communities such as his Mastic Beach hometown in a letter to Romaine shortly after he moved up to county executive. In what appears to be a coordinated strategy, Panico requested that the county Department of Social Services not send money to landlords for rentals that do not have town permits. These permits require inspections, and Panico went as far as offering town inspectors to assist the county in making sure rentals are up to code.
A loophole in state law allows the county to bypass these requirements, and Panico expressed disgust over former county Executive Steve Bellone taking advantage of this clause. He believes that government should not be part of any effort to subject those in need to substandard housing, that people should not have to suffer poor living conditions, and that the taxpayers should not be forced to pay for them.
We agree. The problem of absentee landlords taking money from the county without any regard for their tenants or the neighbors has been going on for far too long. The simple requirement of inspections would bring dramatic changes to communities not just in Brookhaven but across the county. It took new faces at the head of town and county government to bring us to this point. Let’s hope Romaine follows through and stops the flow of taxpayer dollars to unpermitted, uninspected rentals.