Letters

It’s been said that “mistakes are meant for learning, not repeating.” As a follow-up to last week’s editorial published in The Southampton Press [“On Deaf Ears,” Editorial, May 4], all four trustees, and in particular Roy Stevenson, have repeated the same mistakes over and over again. They obviously have not learned their lesson.

After refusing to even vote on the mayor’s proposal to end lifetime benefits for themselves and future part-time elected officials, Mr. Stevenson suggested that the discussion occur in private. This is no different from his refusal to discuss my proposal to change the calculation and update the village’s process for determining taxable assessed values. The trustees review of assessed value grievances is done in secret.

Bill Manger and Gina Arresta this year and Roy Stevenson last year entirely ignored the factual comparables presented in the grievance process. Because their decisions are made in secret — no discussion, no negotiation, no appeal — they can continue to use the power of their office to selectively punish residents, to incur unnecessary legal costs and put the village at financial risk, and to provide themselves with financial benefit by denying a fair assessed value to others. This would not happen if their deliberations were done in public.

Determination of assessed value should be based solely on facts. All facts concerning real estate are in the public domain. The trustees continued use of a secret process fails to correct egregious over-assessments like my wife’s and mine, and personal financial gain for the trustees gives the appearance of corruption. An open process would cure this.

I and other village residents are growing increasingly frustrated by the trustees’ blatant attempts to circumvent the New York State Open Meetings Law and to avoid public deliberation. I do applaud the mayor for his efforts to bring transparency to the forefront, despite the resistance from the four trustees.

The trustees continue to make the same mistake, despite being called out repeatedly by the local press and the public. Most recently, the trustees created a policy that prohibits the mayor from asking the village attorney to draft legislation. While this is undemocratic and a disenfranchisement of the public, the repeated violation of the New York State Open Meetings Law is even more concerning. The trustees created this policy without resolution, in private, and without an open public meeting. They should know better.

And given their repeated violations, The Press may be running out of ink.

David Rung

Southampton Village