Letters

On Monday morning, July 21, just one day before the Southampton Village Board’s July 22 meeting, the agenda posted online once again lacked virtually everything a proper agenda should contain.

Despite including multiple public hearings, including a major zoning change, and another increasing Building Department fees on residents, there was no supporting documentation, no text of the proposed local law, no itemized list of expenditures, no backup for four discussion items, and none of the 16 resident correspondences that were submitted to the board.

Mayor Bill Manger, who presides over the meetings and controls the publication of the agenda, has made this kind of failure routine. Time and again, he neglects the most basic responsibility of informing the public about the very business their government is conducting. What was once considered an oversight now appears to be a pattern, one that shows clear contempt for transparency and for the residents of this village.

There’s a well-known saying: “Your lack of preparation does not constitute an emergency on my part.” And yet, meeting after meeting, residents are forced to scramble, kept in the dark, excluded from meaningful participation, and denied the opportunity to understand what is being decided on their behalf.

This isn’t just sloppy government. It is disrespectful to the public. And it must stop.

Our residents deserve better.

David Rung

Southampton Village