Candidate Spotlight: Lillian Clayman & Dan Panico

Candidate: Deputy Supervisor Dan Panico 

 Lillian Clayman and Dan Panico sat down with The Messenger for one-on-one interviews for the purpose of this candidate spotlight.

Q: What is your professional background and how does it equip you for Brookhaven Town Supervisor? 

Lilian Clayman: I’m born and raised in Trenton, New Jersey, from a family of refugees from Europe during World War II. Trenton was a working-class, union town. After working at a supermarket, I taught fifth grade in a parochial school. I then did my undergraduate at Rutgers, and my master’s at SUNY Binghamton. At Rutger’s, I studied women’s history and American history with political science and got my Doctorate.  

I moved to Connecticut with my family and got involved in the PTA and later got elected to Hamden City Council and was Chair of the Finance Committee. I also taught at the University of New Haven. I then served three terms as Mayor of Hamden, where I managed rail lines, the landfill, and road pavements. I took on corruption, which put the safety of my family in jeopardy. I narrowly lost re-election and figured it was time for a break.  

I then returned to the private sector and worked for a financial firm for about ten years. My husband had retired from a thirty-year stint with the AFL-CIO and was offered a job as Executive Director of the Long Island Federation of Labor, so we moved to Long Island. I got recruited to run the political department for the international retail, wholesale, and department store union, based in New York City. I got to know New York politics really well and lobbied for certain pieces of legislation. I got to know Carl Heastie (D-Bronx) before he became Speaker of the Assembly. We ran a [NYC] Council campaign together. 

In 2010, I was the campaign manager for Brian Foley (D). In 2016, I became Chair of the Brookhaven Democrats. I also teach at SUNY Old Westbury. 

I’ve run a government, I’ve run a $200 million budget, I’ve worked in every department imaginable, more than what Brookhaven offers. 

Dan Panico: I’ve been a Brookhaven Town Councilman since 2010, prior to that I was on the Brookhaven Town Planning Board. My expertise is in land use, zoning and planning which is the preeminent power vested in Town government and is one of the most important aspects of our communities.  

I have been the Deputy Supervisor of the Town of Brookhaven since 2012 and have broad in-depth knowledge of all the communities that comprise the Town of Brookhaven as well as the Town code. I am a practicing attorney and use my skills to help improve the communities and lives of our residents. I am responsible for bringing home the $20 million from the NYS municipal consolidation grant, making the presentation up in Albany as the only town participation up against 5 counties, where Brookhaven prevailed for our residents. 

I could be the council person for any of the six council districts because I am acutely aware of the issues in each that range from quality-of-life concerns to land use application, land use plans and redevelopment plans.  

Q: What would you say is your best or proudest professional accomplishment? 

Lilian Clayman: When I brought good government to Hamden as mayor. When I took office, there was about $350,000 in the rainy-day fund. I took all the financials of the town, gave them to the bargaining units, and asked for help figuring it out. It was important to govern not with rancor, but with cooperation. Within years, we built up the fund balance to millions of dollars, without laying anyone off.  

I also examined every single contract the town had with every vendor. I looked at them as if I were a crook and looked for the holes. If there were too many holes, the contracts would expire and I would put them out the bid. I made sure our expenditures went to local businesses, not out-of-state companies. We also made sure that people from other states weren’t coming up to work on building projects.  

We also equalized the wages between library clerks – primarily women – and police clerks – primarily men. 

Dan Panico: I am the author of the Town tax cap, the town’s anti-nepotism law and the sweeping ethics report that bars elected officials and executive board members from holding appointed or elected board positions. My record on open space and farmland preservation is unparalleled in Brookhaven Town and have always believed in preservation. Not everything has to be plowed under and redevelopment is the key to success in Brookhaven Town and on Long Island. We must redevelop our downtowns and use our zoning authority to meet the needs of our communities, but also listen to our residents.  

I am proud to have joined the bipartisan coalition against the Governor’s proposal to override local communities and municipalities to drop state approved housing projects throughout Brookhaven Town and Long Island. I am proud to lead in a bipartisan manner and find that residents are acutely aware and distinguish between those like myself who deliver results and those who simply spout rhetoric.  

I am running on my record of achievements that include earning a AAA bond rating by Moody’s and S&P, saving taxpayers millions of dollars, spearheading the toughest crackdown on suburban blight and dilapidated properties, protecting our quality of life by cleaning up more than 3,000 blighted properties and demolishing over 300 zombie homes, I’ve built and improved our first class parks, established and promoted a growing oyster farming industry in Brookhaven, preserved over 1,000 acres of open space and farmland while stopping overdevelopment, and implemented clean energy with solar fields, electric vehicles, charging stations and energy-efficient LED streetlights.  

Q: What do you think is the most important political issue facing Brookhaven today? 

Lilian Clayman: Clean water. If we don’t have clean water and sewers, there’s no economic development. I was Chair of the Sewer Board in Hamden, so I know how sewers work. I grew up on the Delaware River, which was so polluted, it killed the catfish. When I saw fish floating in the Port Jeff Harbor, I knew we had a problem. We haven’t had scallops three years in a row. I was told by my Republican friends that the reason the Legislature voted the sewers bill down was because they feared it would drive Democrats to the polls. That is enough to make you quite depressed about the nature of partisanship during these times. I think we have to do everything possible to get that bill passed. This is not something we can wait for, because we had wildfire smoke this summer. The bell has tolled. 

The second issue is the landfill. For ten years, nothing has happened. There are no easy answers to the ecological and economic impacts of closing the landfill, the community must be active in finding the solutions. There has been an enormous amount of environmental injustice from the landfill as well. Recycling matters must be run county-wide, the individual town solutions are not cost-effective. 

Dan Panico: In speaking to voters, I have found that crime and public safety are paramount on the minds of our residents. People deserve to feel safe and there is an unquestionable sense out there that New York State is headed in the wrong direction in terms of addressing the growing problem of crime. How many of us have either had people trying to break into our parked cars at night or know someone who has fallen victim to this crime? This is a tremendous concern amongst our residents. 

Affordability is another key issue. In order to meet the needs of our communities and the people who reside in them, the Town needs a leader who is fluent in the language of land use and the law. There is no one in this race who knows land use, zoning and planning better. The key is redevelopment because our Island has an overall carrying capacity when it comes to our environment and transportation infrastructure. That is why we need a smart, logical and pragmatic approach to redevelopment that we are already working on throughout Brookhaven Town. This is a suburban Town, and with all due respect to Queens, many people in Brookhaven chose to live here to avoid issues commonly associated with NYC like congestion. We can meet the needs of our community through the adaptive reuse of our downtowns to help our economy and affordability. 

Q: What steps do you plan to take to help Brookhaven respond to the migrant crisis?  

Lilian Clayman: The migrant issue doesn’t exist as an issue for people in Brookhaven; it’s a distraction and it causes a lot of fear. The GOP runs very well on fear. I won’t plan for hypotheticals, or if the sky turns green. This is a national issue. Congressional Republicans have refused to find a solution to the immigration problem, and that’s where it has to be resolved. As a Town, we can only react to any policies that are established on the state and national level. 

People criticize Governor Hochul on this issue for a simple reason: it’s misogyny. It’s the same reason people didn’t like Hillary Clinton. Whenever you have a woman in elected office, they revert to the 17th Century “burn the witch!” tactics. You can realistically criticize anyone in office, but when it becomes over the top, that’s when it’s clear that there is misogyny.  

As far as Brookhaven taking in more refugees, our biggest problem is that there is no place to house them. We can’t even find housing for the working men and women of the town, so it’s really a false issue the Republicans are using to distract from the fact that they have refused to build affordable housing and institute clean water. 

I don’t invent issues, and I don’t invent issues to distract voters from the main issues, such as the over-developing and the landfill. I don’t deal with hypotheticals. A comet could come from the sky and destroy the planet. It’s easy to distort the real issues. We have no control over it. I go door to door every single day and I talk to a lot of people. Not one person has raised the issue of migrants. It is an issue that is a national issue, it is a state issue, but someone who holds local political office will raise it as a distraction.  

Steve Bellone has already addressed the issue and I agree with his stance on it. For my opponent to make this an issue is irrelevant to the role of Town Supervisor. He can play pretend all he wants. If migrants end up dropped off at the steps of Town Hall like the Texas GOP has done, then it’s an issue. It’s fun to deal in hypotheticals, but it’s not realistic. 

It’s misogyny, it’s the same reason people didn’t like Hillary Clinton. Whenever you have a woman who’s in elected office, they revert to the 17th Century where they scream burn the witch. When it becomes over the top, that’s when it’s clear that there is misogyny.  

Let’s not forget what’s written on the bottom of the Statue of Liberty.  

Dan Panico: Brookhaven Town residents are compassionate people who care about others but are already severely burdened by high school taxes. While the Brookhaven Town portion of the tax bill is only 6-8% of the overall bill, most of the residents I speak to are concerned about the costs of educating and housing people from other countries. Moreover, many consider that we have our own citizens who are homeless, in need and struggling and many who are veterans that served our country in the armed forces, sleeping in the woods. Brookhaven Town, Long Island, NYC and NYS cannot sustain the burden of Washington’s failed immigration policies. 

Q: What is your top priority if elected Town Supervisor? 

Lilian Clayman: What I hear from door-knocking is that people still view Town Hall as “Crookhaven.” The reason is the expediters, unlicensed people who can walk others through the zoning and planning process. That doesn’t exist in Connecticut. Their only qualification is who they know. I would love to crack down on that. 

Dan Panico: My top priority on day one is to set up a meeting with our Congressional and State delegations to see how they can help bring home funding to meet the needs of Brookhaven and our residents. Funds from the recently passed Federal Infrastructure Bill and Environmental Bond Act referendum are needed for a whole host of projects in this Town. Our leaders in Washington and Albany need to know that in me they have a partner, regardless of political party, who will work in a collaborative and cooperative manner. However, they also need to know that I will be a vociferous advocate for the needs of our residents and wholeheartedly demand that this Town, that is geographically bigger than Nassau County, with nearly a half of million residents, deserves its fair share of funding for worthwhile investments.  

Q: What’s your favorite quote, motto, or work ethic? 

Lilian Clayman: These were words I lived by when I was Mayor. One year, we had thirteen blizzards, so I learned to “plan for the worst, hope for best.” On any sunny day, you’ll always see me with my umbrella.  

Dan Panico: “Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.” – John F. Kennedy 

Q: How do you like to connect with and enjoy your community? 

Lilian Clayman: I’ve been a resident of Port Jefferson Village for about twenty years. When I meet people for dinner, we walk everywhere. I love not having to use my car in the village. We love to go to Billie’s, which stayed open during Hurricane Sandy.   

We have such great nature here that people come from all over to experience it. I love to take advantage of that by kayaking when I can.

Dan Panico:  

My wife Deanna, who is an attorney in private practice, and I have two children, Grant and Brooke, and live in Center Moriches.  

My favorite restaurant is La Volpe in Center Moriches. Frank and Sal are wonderful people who run a phenomenal restaurant, immigrated here from Italy with their entire extended family and have worked hard to be successful. They are the epitome of the American dream. 

I enjoy playing basketball and chess. I used to enjoy baseball, but now enjoy attending my son Grant’s games. We visit and utilize all of our local parks across this Town.  

The Messenger thanks Lillian Clayman and Dan Panico for taking time to sit down with us for this candidate spotlight.  

The Messenger’s forecast for Brookhaven Town Supervisor: Safe Republican