Letters

It is worthwhile evaluating the Southampton Village government today under the leadership of Mayor Bill Manger.

Initiatives have been instituted to address the difficult challenge that traffic poses to the village. Relations have been rebuilt with the village’s first responders that our former mayor, Jesse Warren, had deeply damaged. Work has progressed on remediating our village water bodies. The village government is on the path to be a leader in energy conservation by becoming net carbon neutral. And long-delayed maintenance of village assets like Village Hall and the Southampton Arts Center has been initiated — all without requiring any tax increase in 2025. Importantly, this has occurred without the acrimony, indecision, employee turnover and lawsuits that marked former Mayor Warren’s time in office.

I was once a supporter of Jesse, as he seemed willing to work to protect the village from uncontrolled development. Over time, my opinion changed, and I supported Bill Manger in the last election, believing he really had the best interests of the village at heart, starting with his leadership of work on the badly needed revision of the village’s master plan in his first year as trustee.

Since he became mayor, I’ve seen that Bill listens to all residents’ concerns, keeps a very close eye on finances, and, most importantly, does what he says he’s going to do. In contrast, Warren’s almost daily email blasts criticizing virtually every initiative of the current village administration are completely in character. In many instances, he attacks resolutions he initiated and voted for when he was in office. His diatribes are less about what is the best course of action for our village and more driven by personal animosity and bitterness over the fact that his failed tenure as mayor has doomed his larger political ambitions.

Warren’s heavy hand in Ed Simioni’s current campaign for mayor is an effort to further influence village politics, even though he was decisively voted out of office two years ago. In my opinion, I would want to understand any candidate’s affiliation with former Mayor Warren before voting for that person. I believe any involvement by the former mayor is not constructive and would serve to set back any progress we have made in the last few years. Candidates should be able to think for themselves and serve the best interests of the village, rather than be informed or driven by anyone else’s personal agenda.

Under Mayor Manger, Trustee Robin Brown, and Trustee Roy Stevenson’s leadership, the village has made great progress and is definitely in a better place than it was two years ago.

That is why I encourage my fellow residents to vote to let them continue their work going forward on June 20.

Eric Ruttenberg

Southampton