Manger Moves To Eliminate Three Seats on Planning Commission

The Southampton Village Planning Commission is undergoing a restructuring under new Mayor Bill Manger.

The commission, which formerly included eight members, has been shrunk to five members, with Eduardo Simioni, Laura Devinney, and Bob Essay having served out their terms, and there are no plans to replace them.

A public hearing is scheduled for August 10 to officially change the village code and call for just five seats on the Planning Commission instead of eight.

The Planning Commission’s job is to study and make recommendations to the Village Board related to initiatives that are part of the comprehensive master plan, which was updated last year for the first time since 2000. The Village Board can also refer different matters to the commission for study and analysis, and the commission can vote to recommend changes to the village code.

Simioni and Devinney’s terms ended a year ago, and the Village Board did not support former Mayor Jesse Warren’s resolution to reappoint them, leaving them in a sort of limbo for the past year.

Essay’s term ended this year and he was not reinstated or replaced. At the most recent board meeting, Essay and his family were on hand as Manger presented him with a plaque including a proclamation honoring him not only for his years of service on the Planning Commission, but also for more than 50 years of service with the Southampton Fire Department.

Manger spoke earlier this week about the move to make the commission smaller, defending the removal of three positions.

“I decided it should be like all the other boards in the village,” he said. “I didn’t understand why it had more than five members when every other board has five members.

“It just seemed to be more efficient to have five members,” he added, pointing out that each Planning Commission member is paid an annual stipend of $4,000.

Aside from trying to create continuity when it comes to the number of members serving on different boards in the village, like the Zoning Board of Appeals, the Planning Board, and the Architectural Review Board, Manger said he felt it was important to have an odd number of members to avoid any tied votes.

Marc Chiffert, the co-chair of the Planning Commission, said he was on board with the plan and dismissed the idea that less members would equate to an overwhelming workload for the remaining five members or less representation and input from the community related to future plans and initiatives in the village.

“I think five people on the Planning Commission will be enough,” he said earlier this week, although in a recent Planning Commission meeting he said he thought there was enough work for six people.

Chiffert described the downsizing as more of a restructuring earlier this week. He said the commission would work more closely in conjunction with various task forces that are convened to look into certain issues, and that each task force would include two members from the commission in addition to other volunteer residents with expertise in whatever area the task force is studying.

He said that in previous years, various task forces have operated more independently of the commission, and said bringing them more in sync would equate to giving more residents a voice in village matters, despite there being less people serving on the commission itself.

“Right now, we have a group of five people who work well together, and through the task forces we will involve more people in the community to address problems,” Chiffert said. “We have a full plate, that’s for sure. I think it’s a good structure.”

Former commission member Devinney did not return a phone call seeking comment, but replied with a text message, saying, “I loved serving and I think the commission does great things with research and study to aid the legislative process of the trustees. If the new mayor wants to reduce the membership of this body, then the trustees should be prepared to pick up the slack and also, most importantly, keep the voice and transparency that the commission provides to the public.”

Simioni did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

As for the question of the workload and if five commission members will be able to handle what was formerly spread out between eight members, Manger said he did not anticipate it being a problem, and he also was not concerned that shrinking of the commission would lead to less of a voice and say in village matters for residents.

“They have public meetings so the public is free to come to meetings, and many times they do,” he said of the commission. “And, as we’ve seen, they bring in other members of the community to help them with specific issues that are before them, and have expertise in those areas.

“I don’t think there’s a problem having enough help,” he added. “I’ve never heard them express that issue. Every other board seems to be able to function with five members, so I don’t think it will be a problem. We can certainly reexamine it if they seem to be struggling, but I don’t think it will be an issue.”

Another change Manger said he made when it comes to the way the commission functions is appointing commission member Mike Anderson as an official liaison to Southampton Town.

“I feel, in the past, we haven’t really always had effective communication with the town on issues that the town is looking at that affect the village,” he said, citing the proposed Liberty Gardens development as a prime example. Manger added that he recently had a sitdown with Southampton Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman and Anderson to make a formal introduction, and the three spoke about how they could make the partnership beneficial for everyone involved.

“This is all part of trying to streamline the village and make it work more efficiently,” Manger said of the commission restructuring. “I think this is one way we can do that and bring necessary resources to bear on specific projects. I think this makes it a more efficient and effective tool.”