Letters

At the end of the Southampton Village Board’s November 13 meeting, Mayor Bill Manger announced that he wants to use taxpayer money to build a village “app” listing local sites, such as the World War I monument and the First Presbyterian Church.

This sounds like satire, but it’s not.

Not only is this unnecessary, it shows a complete misunderstanding of what apps are for and how government should spend public funds.

An app that shows people where the World War I monument is already exists. It’s called Google Maps. It’s free, it’s accurate, it’s updated in real time — and it doesn’t cost Southampton taxpayers a dime. You don’t create a brand-new government app to replicate something that Google already does better, faster and instantly.

Worse, Manger seems blissfully unaware that government apps are expensive to build and even more expensive to maintain. For what? So that a handful of tourists can download an app to find the First Presbyterian Church? Nobody is wandering around Southampton thinking, “If only there were an app so I could find the church on Main Street …”

Instead of chasing gimmicks while failing to be tech savvy, Manger should focus on ensuring our tax dollars aren’t wasted. This epitomizes why he has grown the budget $3.3 million in just two years to over $37 million, while Sag Harbor and East Hampton villages provide the same services with a $16 million and $30 million budget, respectively.

He also refuses to address the assessed value issue, which forces the full-time residents to pay a disproportionate portion of these excessive village expenses and benefits his wealthy benefactors, to the detriment of the rest of us.

Southampton doesn’t need a taxpayer-funded app. It needs competent and honest leadership.

David Rung

Southampton Village