Clock Watching

On July 14, the Southampton Village Board adopted a resolution to affirm that its meeting schedule would include a public session on the second Thursday of each month, and a work session on the second Tuesday following the public session, both with a 6 p.m. start time, unless otherwise announced.

But then, in a late addition to the July 14 agenda, the board resolved to move its Tuesday, July 26, work session to Thursday, July 21, at 6 p.m. It wasn’t all that notable, other than the fact that no explanation was offered.

Then July 21 rolled around, and at 12:08 p.m., an email alert — sent only to those who knew to subscribe to such messages on the village website — announced that the meeting would start instead at 4 p.m. And though the email promised that a “new agenda” had been posted, it was not on the village website.

The early start time likely caused members of the public to miss this public meeting; it also led to Trustee Bill Manger arriving so late that votes were taken without him.

Pressed for an explanation for the sudden change, Mayor Jesse Warren gave none. If there was a good reason, he should share it. If he’s just acting on whims, he owes the taxpayers an apology for the disrespect.

No one should ever show up to Village Hall at the scheduled time of a meeting and find the doors locked — and this was not the first time it’s happened during this administration. It may seem petty to complain about such things, but the state’s Open Meetings Law is something that the media, the public and elected officials should all take seriously. Ever shifting schedules are an obstacle to public participation in government.

At a special meeting on Thursday, July 28 — at which no opportunity was given for public comment, despite the agenda saying there would be — the board took on a number of agenda items that easily could have waited for the next regular meeting, or should have been ready in time for the prior regular meeting. It’s a bad habit, and one this administration needs to break.

At that same meeting, Warren framed this behavior as a virtue: “If anyone might ask why we might be having additional meetings or more than two meetings per month, the answer to that is simple: We want to get a lot of things done.”

If that’s the case, adopt a resolution to put three or four meetings per month on the calendar. An erratic meeting schedule seems designed to confuse the public and discourage input. At the very least, it suggests procrastination and disorganization. Either way, it needs to stop.