Brookhaven Supervisor Race Will Bring Changes at the Top

Changes are on tap for the leadership of Brookhaven Town as Councilman Daniel Panico vies for town supervisor in a race against former Camden, Ct. Mayor Lillian Clayman. Serving as Deputy to Supervisor Edward Romaine, Panico looks to step into the top seat as Romaine goes for County Executive.

Panico, entered town government in 2010, and is an attorney whose councilman tenure has focused on land preservation and quality of life issues centering around the removal of zombie homes and combating illegal dumping. Clayman is a past leader of the Brookhaven
Democrats added to the November slate to replace former Port Jefferson Mayor Margot Garant, who withdrew after suffering a stroke in June. The South Shore Press hasn’t been able to learn much about Clayman since she declined this interview.

According to her LinkedIn page, Clayman, in addition to being a past mayor of Camde, CT is an adjunct professor at SUNY College at Old Westbury and worked as a political director and union organizer. She said of her opposition in a recent post: “Their strategy is to link the Democrats to the governor. Because according to these antediluvian Neanderthals, the governor is a woman, so she must be bad. When Republicans aren’t trying to control women’s health care decisions they focus on demonizing women. So tell me how these guys are different than the Taliban?”

Panico, a Republican, has discussed his success in preserving hundreds of acres of farmland and open space and redeveloping existing properties. He regularly posts photos showing the demolition of dozens of Zombie homes as part of the town’s aggressive effort to improve its communities. Addressing a resident’s concern over another blighted home at a recent civic meeting, Panico knew the house number and detailed the legal action the town was taking to get it cleaned up. Responding to a complaint regarding the appearance of the new Dairy Queen in Mastic, Panico demonstrated his breadth of knowledge on local matters in writing: “The front of that is the ‘Hoover easement’ used for off-street parking and landscaping on the filed maps by Walter T. Shirley when the maps were filed. I believe it is planted with non-fertilizerdependent vegetation, but the selection up front makes it look a little different than usual. I’m going to speak to planning and the property owner about it. The owner said they are doing very well the last time I spoke with him.”

Unsightly billboards across the town are coming down thanks to a state Supreme Court decision that Panico pursued. The councilman said he worked to successfully acquire nearly 70 acres of property along Montauk Highway in Moriches that had been the location of two large billboards for years. The town waited for the leases to expire before attempting to remove them. “Instead of an acknowledgment and thank you, we got somewhat bizarre litigation, which we won,” he reported. “This town-owned open space, acquired to be preserved for future generations, will be free of these large structures,” Panico said, adding, “This also means that you won’t be seeing my smiling face up there as you drive by this election season.”

In what may seem counterintuitive for a politician, Panico is also behind a policy to quickly remove political signs on town property and other disallowed locations. Panico grew up in Mastic Beach and graduated from William Floyd High School. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in History and Political Science from Stony Brook University and earned a law degree from Touro Law School. He served as a Senior Deputy Suffolk County Clerk and was part of the effort to make Suffolk one of the first counties in New York to implement electronic filing. As a member of the town’s Planning Board, Panico said he helped shape the character of Brookhaven, making sure that development was done in a responsible manner.

The father of two also boasts of authoring the town’s anti-nepotism law and ushering in sweeping ethics reform measures. Panico is a proponent of the Beechwood project in Mastic Beach, a massive redevelopment of the 37-acre Neighborhood Road Business District. As the 6th District councilman, he assumed representation of the area when the Village of Mastic Beach dissolved. Being a member of the town board, Panico also serves as a town trustee, responsible for all of Brookhaven’s waterways. He’s been endorsed by the New York League of Conservation Voters for the race, as well as the Long Island Sierra Club.

He runs with cross-endorsement from the Conservatives and has also received the support of all of Suffolk’s law enforcement organizations, in addition to labor unions such as the United Brotherhood of Carpenters & Joiners - Local 290, International Union of Operating Engineers Local 138, and the Association of Municipal Employees. Unlike the other six town board members, the supervisor represents the entire town and serves as the chief administrative official. The position pays $131,000 annually and is limited to three four-year terms.

With Councilman Dan Panico running for town supervisor, the 6th District has an open seat. Republican Karen Dunne, a former town planning board member and Eastport-South Manor Board of Education trustee, is going up against Democrat Kerry Spooner, founder of the Sound Justice Initiative, who has worked in the county Department of Labor, Licensing and Consumer Affairs.