Nassau County Legislator Dave Mejias was joined by members of the Minority Affairs and Planning, Development and Environment committees this week to hear testimony from over 20 speakers on the issue of housing discrimination in Nassau County.

Mejias, chair of the Minority Affairs Committee, called the joint hearing after the citizen's advocacy group ACORN issued a study called "Whites Only." The study illustrated how prevalent discriminatory practices were when minorities sought out housing opportunities in white neighborhoods.

"We live in one of the most segregated counties in America," said Mejias. "The government needs to address this issue of housing discrimination and we are taking that first step today."

Mejias also noted that 90 percent of Nassau County's minority population lives in only 20 percent of the communities and of the 125 school districts on Long Island, only 13 are minority districts.

"The segregated school districts mirror the segregated housing patterns here on Long Island and we need to address that inequity," said Mejias.

Legislators on the joint committees heard testimony from members of the County's Minority Affairs Department, Ann Sullivan of ACORN, Jim Margo of the Long Island Housing Partnership, Warren Tackenberg of the Village Officials Association and Professor Jonathan Becker from Hofstra University. More than 15 other speakers also gave testimony and described how they were steered away from certain neighborhoods when looking for housing, or were told that no housing was available.