Letters

I was disgusted and appalled by what I saw at Tuesday night’s Southampton Village Board meeting [“Trio of Walk-On Resolutions Take Aim at Mayor, and Mayor’s Assistant, at Southampton Village Work Session,” 27east.com, May 24]. All four of the village trustees ambushed the mayor with three surprise walk-on resolutions in a blatant political attack designed to cause harm and embarrassment. Once again, it backfired and left the trustees looking ridiculous.

The first resolution was a waste of taxpayer money. The trustees agreed to spend $5,000 on a second study to help them decide that they don’t deserve medical benefits for life after they’ve left office. I can’t wait to see how this firm justifies me footing the tax bill for their lifetime medical benefits.

The second resolution was egregious. The trustees passed a resolution removing the mayor’s indemnification over his release of documents in a nonsense lawsuit levied against him. This resolution was so obviously punitive that I’ve lost even more respect for the trustees.

I watched as the village attorney asked for a five-minute recess and then rewrote the resolution to remove a clause that would have exposed me, as a village taxpayer, to additional risk. The trustees intentionally exposed the mayor to tremendous personal liability for trying to be transparent and keep the taxpayer informed.

The final nonsense resolution was their public scolding of the mayor’s assistant. Patrick Derenze has done a fantastic job at Village Hall. The trustees should be ashamed of themselves for transferring their hatred for Mayor Warren into a personal attack against his staff at a public meeting. That is low, even for them.

I would encourage everyone to watch the video of last Tuesday’s meeting to see for yourself the sandbagging that went on. We’ve learned, through countless administrations, that backroom dealings like what the trustees engage in will be the death of this village.

Kudos to Mayor Warren for again standing up for village residents despite these escalating attacks from the trustees.

Jose Reyes

Southampton Village