Letters

While I respect the journalistic integrity of The Southampton Press, I disagree with your editorial awarding the Southampton Village Ethics Board a “dunce cap” for Open Meetings Law violations [“Gold Stars and Dunce Caps,” Editorial, July 3].

The Ethics Board may very well have failed to follow procedural notice requirements. But the dunce cap belongs to the village mayor and his board majority, whose job it is to ensure that all appointed boards receive proper, up-to-date training in the Open Meetings Law and Freedom of Information Law. The mayor and board must mandate training for themselves and all regulatory boards.

The mayor and board members are not just failing to train others; they are repeat offenders themselves. Manger routinely holds unauthorized executive sessions, dodges transparency and delays basic FOIL responses for months on end. His former running mate Gina Arresta was caught on a hot mic encouraging the trustees to violate the Open Meetings Law.

So is it any surprise that volunteers on the Ethics Board might have followed the Village Board’s lead?

These are unpaid community members — including highly qualified professionals, and even a religious leader — who serve the public with integrity and care. They don’t get taxpayer-funded lifetime benefits or self-approved raises like the mayor. They don’t set policy.

And they certainly didn’t try to hide anything.

David Rung

Southampton Village