Dems blast Mangano homeless housing reorg

Timothy Meyer

Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano last week merged the Nassau County Homeless Housing and the Office of Community Development and replaced 11 employees including the director of the county homeless housing office.

Brian Nevin, chief spokesman for Mangano, said the move is part of the county’s cost-saving efforts

“After a thorough review and evaluating the services, we felt a change was needed,” Nevin said. “We believe it’s important to consolidate whenever we can in tough economic times.”

But Democratic Nassau County legislators said that former director Connie Lassandro had done a good job and her firing could jeopardize state grants.

At a press conference Tuesday inside county offices, the legislators condemned Mangano’s actions, saying that the new employees and director do not meet the mandates required to maintain the grant.

“Connie Lassandro is a respected housing professional across New York State,” said Nassau County legislator Judy Jacobs (D-Woodbury). “To dismiss 11 qualified professionals without cause is shameful. The loss of this office could lose us the grants.”

“The county is jeopardizing state funds,” said Nassau County legislator Kevan Abrahams (D-Hempstead), the deputy minority leader of the Democratic caucus. “This is why we are challenging the county on these firings,”

The homeless housing and office of community development funded by $50 million in state and federal grants. The county must maintain certain guidelines to continue receiving the grant money.

One requirement for the grant mandates that the director of the office needs to have at least eight to 10 years of experience in a director’s position, according to former director Connie Lassandro.

The new director has only been in training for the last 15 months, said Lassandro.

“It is in the contract we have with the state,” Lassandro said. “We’ve been replaced by inexperienced non-professionals, and I fear Nassau residents in need of housing and other essential resources, may receive less than high-quality services.”

Nevin said the consolidation would not threaten state and federal grants.

He said the Democrats claim that the director needs eight to 10 years of experience as a requirement of the grants are “100 percent untrue and inaccurate.”

The office’s section 8 program and the homeless program are 100 percent grant funded, according to Lassandro. “About $45 million goes towards housing rental subsidies and the other 10 percent goes to the homeless program,” Lassandro said.

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