Candidates For Southampton Village Board Face Off In Virtual Debate

Rebuttals and defenses of attack ads, overdevelopment, fiscal responsibility, and worker morale were among the issues tackled by contenders in the race for Southampton Village Board — Gina Arresta, Zach Epley, Joseph McLoughlin, and Kimberly Allan — during a virtual debate hosted by The Express News Group on September 3.

Executive Editor Joseph P. Shaw and Managing Editor Bill Sutton moderated, and sometimes refereed, the lively 90-minute discourse.

Following brief introductions, Mr. Shaw spoke of one of the most strongly worded ads he said he’d ever seen during a local election. The ad, placed by the Village First Coalition in support of Ms. Arresta and Mr. McLoughlin, claims one family, the Epleys, has controlled the village and “lined its pockets,” for 15 years. It warned of looming financial ruin due to $100 million in long-term debt.

A subsequent letter, signed by several former village officials denounced the claims and mentioned the village’s stellar bond rating.

Ms. Arresta and Mr. McLoughlin argued that the village budget has doubled since 2000.

“Where’d the money go?” Mr. McLoughlin asked.

Why the personal attack? Mr. Shaw pressed.

“It’s a fact,” Ms. Arresta replied: The Epley family has been running the village for 15 years.

The money went to a new firehouse, a new police headquarters, a new ambulance barn, Mr. Epley said, defending his father, former Mayor Mark Epley, and other former officials targeted by the ad. “It’s gone to our streets, it’s gone to our employees,” he said, pointing out that during the same time frame, property values soared.

Ms. Allan admitted she was surprised by the attack ad, “because we’ve always been civilized in how we deal with each other.” She explained the $101 million debt, stating it related to a long-term liability for pensions and health care and is something every municipality has and can be paid up to 50 years out.

Next, Mr. Shaw brought up another ad targeting Mr. Epley. It claims the Epley family bought the former John Duck Jr.’s property and plans to build condos there.

He asked Mr. Epley: Should voters be worried about potential conflicts of interest with the family being involved in development while serving on municipal boards?

“I love John Duck’s as much as the next person, and I was actually shocked to find out we’re putting condos there,” Mr. Epley said sarcastically. Over interruptions by Ms. Arresta, he said there’s no plan for condos. They wouldn’t be permitted under zoning, nor by the Suffolk County Department of Health for sanitary waste reasons, he said.

“So, Zach, you’re admitting you’re a developer. You’re a developer.” Ms. Arresta asserted.

“No, I didn’t,” her opponent insisted, adding, “The only person out of the four candidates [who is] getting a paycheck off of development is you.”

Ms. Arresta, who works for a local plumbing company, replied, “I’m an employee.” She continued to say Mr. Epley was a developer, until cut off by Mr. Shaw.

Asked to weigh in, Ms. Allan said there are many people in the village who own multiple properties. “The issue at hand is what do we want the village to look like … I think we should discuss what we’re trying to do rather than spend … what? 35 minutes … attacking each other.”

Moving deeper into discussion of town finances, Mr. McLoughlin said there needs to be a dialogue about creating public/private partnerships.

Asked what cuts she would make to the budget, Ms. Arresta deflected, instead offering that the village budget process was “ridiculous.”

“We need a system that is open and honest,” she said.

Ms. Allan confronted Ms. Arresta about serving on the village financial committee, saying, “You must have been very involved in formulating the budget with the mayor, so I’m surprised there’s no transparency.”

“You can take that right back. That is not true,” Ms. Arresta countered.

Ms. Arresta was appointed to the committee in February. The budget was adopted in April. She maintained, however, that she was not involved with budgeting until after this year’s plan was adopted.

Both Ms. Arresta and Mr. McLoughlin spoke about the removal of $350,000 that Mayor Jesse Warren had included in his budget under a new line item titled “environment.” Their opponents argue the money was not removed; it was allocated under pre-existing lines.

Listing thousands of dollars in earmarks to date, Ms. Allan said, “if there’s anybody who’s passionate about the environment, it’s me.”

Protecting the village’s stellar bond rating is a very important thing to do, Mr. Epley put forth. Mr. McLoughlin maintained the bond rating is “purely based” on taxable income from homeowners.

However, according to Moody Investor’s Service, rating considerations include, tax base, as well as financial operations and reserves.

“Kim and Zach keep bringing up the mayor, and if they have an issue with the mayor, they should talk to him,” Mr. McLoughlin said.

But the mayor does come into play, Mr. Sutton offered, asking what role the Village Board plays in staffing. He mentioned the firing of the mayor’s former assistant, Julie Fitzgerald, changes in the village attorney’s office, and attempts to fire Village Administrator Russell Kratoville, all coming from Mayor Warren.

“The mayor and I have different management ideas. I would not have acted in that manner — that’s not my style,” Mr. McLoughlin said, explaining that he didn’t agree with the timing of the dismissals.

Ms. Allan said the board attempted to put together an organizational plan for staffing and it “came to a screeching halt.”

“Now we have chaos in Village Hall, and I think people want a steady hand,” she said.

Any new administration that comes in may bring its own people in, Ms Arresta said. She, too, disagreed with the timing of the terminations, particularly that of Ms. Fitzgerald.

The sudden firings created a “toxic environment “ in Village Hall, Mr. Epley opined, adding Mr. Warren threw a salary out as a reason for firing someone, then looked to add a different person at the same salary.

Firing people without a transition plan creates the chaos, Ms. Allan explained.

Ms. Arresta believes the unsettled mood at Village Hall can be attributed to “the trustees not showing respect for our duly elected mayor and not being able to work with him. And I think it trickles down to the rest of the office.”

According to Mr. Epley, there are whispers around Village Hall about changing staff to part time, or implementing shared services to cut salaries.

“I got people who work in DPW stopping me going, ‘Listen, I can make more money going to cut grass on the side and working in a private business, and I do this for the benefits, I do this for the health insurance so my family is taken care of.’ … When you mess with this toxic environment, you mess with the way people put food on the table.”

The Village Board is in a constant stalemate, Mr. McLoughlin offered. “We have to bring back communication among our board members,” he said, suggesting a return to scheduling work sessions. “I am not going to do anything to harm our village employees. I want to give them the tools for success.”

Mr. Sutton noted that, were Mr. Epley and Ms. Allan to win, there would be four members of the same party on the board, leaving the mayor as the sole member of his party on the dais. Is that healthy? he wondered.

Mr. Epley recalled meeting with Mr. Warren when he began thinking about running. “And he said. ‘I’d love you to run with my party, but I need you to vote with me 100 percent of the time.’ … But I’m not going to agree with anybody 100 percent of the time, and that’s when it kind of went south is when I wouldn’t do that.”

Looking at the board’s current track record, Ms. Allan advised, “We actually vote all over the place.”

With four members of the same party sitting as trustees, “There’s no democracy there,” Ms. Arresta said. “We need a balance here.”

And if Mr. McLoughlin and Ms. Arresta are elected, “you’re essentially one party with a mayor,” Ms. Allan began.

”The mayor’s a different party,” Ms. Arresta interrupted.

“He’s running your campaign,” Ms. Allan countered.

“I take offense to anybody saying this,” Ms. Arresta interjected. She complained of “a whispering campaign going on out there that I’m his lackey or the right-hand person or whatever it is … I am an independent thinker.”

“Saying I’m in any way a part of his wanting to gain power in any way is completely false,” Mr. McLoughlin said, reminding that he hasn’t liked some of Mr. Warren’s decisions, including with public rebukes in letters to the editor.

As the debate wore on, candidates tackled affordable housing, the cleanup of Lake Agawam and the environment, and downtown revitalization. The full debate may be viewed at 27east.com.