Letters

I would like to thank all of those who voted for me in this past Southampton Village trustees election. Although I was not successful, I am honored to have had the privilege to serve my community and look forward to doing it again.

I have had so many calls and messages from supporters disappointed in the outcome of the election over the last few days. I am disappointed, too, and my response has been: You win some, you lose some.

However, I will diligently submit to the postmortems and try to see what my mistakes might have been and where I could have been more effective.

Much has been made of my being a lone opposition vote. Please know, it was not opposition for opposition’s sake — I voted my conscience and often voted as I did because I didn’t think what was being decided reflected the needs and concerns of all of the village residents, or that the public was left out. Special interests often prevailed.

While it certainly would have been easier, I felt I would be letting the people who took a chance on me down if I just went with the flow. When I ran for trustee the second time in 2020, I promised many residents that I would advocate for the things that they felt had been passed over. I tried my best to do just that.

I do not regret decisions I’ve made. Not going away, but going forward, I will be keeping my eye on what is being enacted in the village, and I will be watching with interest to see if Bill Manger will be able to bring his experience and a different perspective to bear, or will his voice be drowned out by ego-politics. I wish Bill Manger all the best in his future as our Southampton Village trustee.

Thanks again, to everyone, and hope to see you around.

Joseph R. McLoughlin

Southampton