Letters

Alas, I have not followed the salary negotiations taking place between the mayor and the Southampton Village Police. But I have followed Trustee Joseph McLoughlin for many years and know how conscientiously he fulfills his role.

To publicly impugn Trustee McLoughlin’s integrity as Mayor Warren did during the last trustees meeting — when he rebuked Trustee McLoughlin’s right and choice to abstain from casting a vote, and then insisted he had done so because he was “bribed” by accepting a PBA card — was childish and ugly. This card that the police routinely send out along with their annual fundraising letter is, according to the mayor, worth $500. Who knew? And how did the mayor determine that amount?

Have I, along with probably hundreds of village residents, left myself open to the same suspicion when I responded to the police’s “ask” with my small donation for whatever cause was mentioned. Are we all now guilty of accepting a “bribe”?

Still, there is something inherently ambiguous when civil servants asked for contributions from the public they serve. But corruption? The card as a bribe? Each time I donated, did I ask whether the police check their data to see who contributed before they respond to a call? And might the amount of a contribution have any effect on the outcome? Of course not!

So, have I too, like Trustee McLoughlin — who by the way does not drive due to his physical disability — opened myself up to the charge of “corruption”? I just learned, call me naive, that the PBA card often finds its place in the wallet next to the driver’s license. Should I cut the card in half to avoid the impression that I and the police officer who may stop me will view it as a “bribe” to avoid a ticket?

Heide Löfken

Southampton Village