Southampton Village Mayor Bill Manger Tapped To Serve on Romaine's Transition Team

When Brookhaven Town Supervisor Ed Romaine was elected as the new Suffolk County executive earlier this month, he set about inviting several important individuals and stakeholders from across the county to join his transition team, to collaborate with him on some of the most pressing issues facing county residents.

Southampton Village Mayor Bill Manger is on that list.

Earlier this week, Manger attended the first meeting of Romaine and the rest of the individuals who were tapped to join him, and he said he’s excited for the opportunity that being part of Romaine’s transition team provides — and in particular what it could mean for Southampton Village residents.

Manger said he first met Romaine in the early 2000s, and that they developed a friendship. He said Romaine was one of the first people to send him a note of congratulations when he won the mayoral election in June.

There are 70 people on the transition team, Manger said, but a relatively small number of elected officials. He added he’s proud to be one of a few representatives from the eastern end of the county, along with newly elected Shelter Island Town Supervisor Amber Brach-Williams, and Bob DeLuca from the Group for the East End.

Manger said that having a close rapport and working relationship with Romaine will be beneficial, particularly as Suffolk County is the ninth-largest county in the country, bigger in population than 11 states, and thus Romaine will have a lot of residents and issues competing for his attention.

At a meeting on Tuesday morning, Manger said that Romaine discussed the priority issues he wants to address, which included cybersecurity, water quality and sewers, streamlining county government, and traffic.

The focus on water quality and traffic is particularly appealing, Manger said, as Southampton Village has been heavily focused on both for years. Traffic woes, particularly along the County Road 39 corridor, and the need to create a sewer district are top priorities in Manger’s administration, and have been priorities for administrations in the past. But achieving demonstrable results for residents in both of those areas has been a frustrating uphill battle for years.

Manger is hoping the new county executive can help move some of those initiatives forward.

“I spoke to him about County Road 39, so I think since it’s a county road, he will be helpful working with us on trying to come to a better solution for that road,” Manger said, pointing out that RFPs that had been issued during Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone’s administration for new plans for the road that might help alleviate traffic congestion should be concluded soon, and could potentially yield some new ideas.

After Tuesday’s initial meeting with the entire transition team, Romaine plans to schedule individual meetings with each member of the team, to talk about issues that are important to them. Manger said that Romaine was planning to schedule a few more meetings before the holidays, and he added he was looking forward to bending his ear about issues that matter most to Southampton Village residents.