I have thought about what has been transpiring in Southampton Village over the last two years. The recent Southampton Village Board meeting on April 8 was a disgrace to our beautiful village.
Mayor Jesse Warren talks and professes that he wants a transparent government, yet the only transparent truth is that Mayor Warren is a bully.
I write this letter not only as a member of Southampton Village Police Benevolent Association but as somebody who has lived in the village and raised a family here. Mayor Warren has been bullying all village employees over his entire tenure and continues to put Village Hall employees on edge. Instead of being a leader, he rules by fear and intimidation.
Prior to Mayor Warren, I remember going into Village Hall and talking to all the employees, seeing everyone smiling and happy in their jobs; now, it’s like going to a wake. Our village deserves better than this from our “CEO of the village,” as he call himself.
Mayor Warren has been making the contract of our chief, Thomas Cummings, an issue over the last several months. He has contacted national media outlets, inflating the chief’s contract numbers as a form of retaliation against the chief. Mayor Warren held an entire Village Board meeting about this contract, and paid for several full-page ads stating the chief’s contract, which was against the advice of village counsel, who said it is not a good idea to negotiate publicly, as it hurts all parties involved.
Mayor Warren is not being fully transparent. The mayor has threatened that if the chief doesn’t retire, he will fire his son, who is also a police officer in the village.
Southampton Village, its police department and members of the public have gone through Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative Plan. Mayor Warren signed off on this plan knowing that several items violate village, county and state laws, and the Southampton Village PBA contract.
Mayor Warren’s treatment of Trustee Joseph McLoughlin was abusive and demoralizing [“Southampton Village Mayor Jesse Warren Accuses Colleague Of Taking PBA Card In Exchange For Support,” 27east.com, April 9]. Bullying is a national crisis that has led to suicide in some cases. The fact that it is happening right here in this village by the one person who is supposed to set a an example is horrendous.
Our student resource officers are teaching classes about bullying at Southampton High School. Perhaps the mayor should pop in on a few lessons?
Mayor Warren wrote a letter in a full-page ad and never apologized to Trustee McLoughlin. This just goes to show you how self absorbed he is.
These are just a few examples of the lack of transparency in this village. The village residents deserve better and should know what is really going on.
Michael Horstman
President
Southampton Village PBA
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