Letters

One of William Shakespeare’s earliest works, “The Comedy of Errors,” offers a fitting title for the latest saga unfolding in Southampton Village Hall.

Reading the recent Southampton Press article [“CSEA Members Broadcast Frustrations at Rally in Front of Southampton Village Hall,” 27east.com, August 14], one could almost hear the echo of Shakespearean confusion as village officials pointed fingers in every direction, only to land on a surprising culprit for budget cuts: coffee.

Yes, you read that right. After handing out 30-to-40-percent raises to themselves and giving Village Administrator Anthony Carter, the budget-cutter-in-chief, a $50,000 bump, the only thing they could cut was the coffee. Apparently, the path to fiscal health starts with decaf.

What makes this all the more laughable is that these very officials, who recently approved the largest spending increase in the village’s history, of $2.1 million, are now scrambling to appear fiscally prudent. Their solution? Blame the employees and insist that cutting coffee somehow addresses the financial mismanagement they themselves created.

But it gets better. In the same article, Mayor Bill Manger expressed his bewilderment over why the former mayor never signed the CSEA union contract. Let me clear that up for him: He hasn’t been in office for 14 months! Maybe he missed that memo. Instead of focusing on constructive leadership, he’s managed to dismantle morale among our Public Works employees, leading to a situation that’s gone from bad to worse.

While he’s busy nitpicking the men and women who keep our village running, and telling the employees they cannot speak at a village trustees meeting when they have every right to do so, Lake Agawam has gone from a site of progress to being the most polluted in the state, taxes are at an all-time high, traffic is unbearable, and, despite it being the height of summer, we’re seeing vacancies downtown. Meanwhile, overdevelopment is once again rearing its head.

Southampton deserves better than this tragicomedy. It’s time for leadership that truly understands what it means to serve the community, not just point fingers when things go wrong.

David Rung

Southampton Village