Town of Brookhaven District Five Councilman candidates and incumbent discussed quality of life issues at a recent meet the candidates event at the Medford Fire Department.
“The Supervisor [Mark Lesko] requested that each councilman target a particular area to clean up, and we also replaced 66 streetlights,” said Mazzei, a Republican. “We need to pay attention, we need to get people to abide by the codes of the Town of Brookhaven to make this a better place to live.”
Cavanaugh, who like Mazzei is from Blue Point, believes improvements can be made by approaching former business owners for empty buildings.
“You’ve got to start hitting the owners with fines for abandoned [business spaces], it’s that simple,” the Democrat said.
Mazzei announced he is in favor of the current budget, including where cuts were made, to avoid a tax increase.
“I support not raising taxes, so I’m in support of the budget we received,” he said. “There were some changes back and forth, but unfortunately some very difficult decisions have to be made.”
According to Cavanaugh, taxes increased by eight percent in the last two years, and he plans to focus on the issues faced by the Town of Brookhaven by streamlining the government process.
“I’m not a Wall Street guy, I’m a Main Street guy,” he said. “You won’t have to come look for me, I’ll find you. I’m going to be approachable, and I’m going to listen to you.”
Council District Five includes Patchogue and Blue Point, as well as parts of Medford, Ronkonkoma, Holbrook and Holtsville.
