Brookhaven eyes changes for bingo inspectors

Brookhaven Town officials last night approved changes to the way the town appoints bingo inspectors, a position some on the town board have said is a source of unmonitored patronage.

Brookhaven employs seven bingo inspectors to oversee legal gaming and wagering in the town. The town takes a percentage of proceeds from bingo games - $60,000 so far in 2010 - and the part-time inspectors are paid a public salary of $16,000, a town spokeswoman said.

Speaking ahead of a town board meeting in Farmingville last night, Councilman Dan Panico (R-Manorville) said the part-time inspector posts lack oversight, in part because the inspectors are appointed by the town clerk acting alone without board approval.

At the meeting, he offered a proposed law that he said would provide "greater transparency and governmental accountability."

"This is the last piece of unchecked patronage in town," Panico said ahead of the meeting.

The board approved the measure 5-2.

Co-sponsored by board members Tim Mazzei and Jane Bonner, the measure makes bingo inspector appointments a job for the town board. The appointments will now occur in open meetings. One of the inspectors will be named the "head inspector."

Panico said in a statement he is also researching the possibility of adopting minimum qualifications for the inspector jobs in the future.

Councilwoman Connie Kepert casted a dissenting vote, saying town clerk Patricia Eddington is "doing a fine job" appointing inspectors.

She chided Panico's proposal as unnecessary.

Supervisor Mark Lesko voted in favor of the measure.But Lesko added: "In the midst of a catastrophic economy and foreclosure rates skyrocketing, we seem to spend a lot of time talking about bingo inspectors."