Sag Harbor Building Inspector Will Return to Southampton Village Under New Mayor

Christopher Talbot, who has served as Sag Harbor Village’s senior building inspector since July 2021, has resigned and will return to Southampton Village, where he formerly served in a similar role.

The Southampton Village Board on Thursday, December 14, voted unanimously to rehire Talbot effective January 1 at an annual salary of $150,000.

Tien Ho So, who had been serving as senior building inspector on a provisional basis for the village, will return to his former position as building inspector at the first of the year, at a salary that has yet to be set.

Sag Harbor Village Mayor Tom Gardella, who was elected in June, said on Friday morning, December 15, that Talbot had expressed an interest in returning to Southampton shortly after he took office. “I talked him out of it,” Gardella said. “But this time he said he was going.”

Talbot had clashed with Southampton Village Mayor Jesse Warren prior to moving over to Sag Harbor two years ago, and Warren was defeated in his bid for reelection by Bill Manger, also in June.

Manger said he was thrilled to have Talbot back, pointing out that he was on the board in his first term as a trustee more than 20 years ago when Talbot was first hired.

“I think he’s a very fair inspector and manager, and since I became mayor I’ve had a dialogue with him,” Manger said, adding that Talbot had expressed to him that he was interested in returning to the role under Manger’s leadership.

“I’ve had a longstanding rapport with Chris,” Manger added. “He’s excellent and I’m excited he’s coming back.”

Manger pointed out that since Talbot left Southampton Village for Sag Harbor, the village has been on the hook for paying his health insurance, which was another reason why he was happy to bring him back into the Southampton Village fold.

He said that So is “a great asset” to the Building Department but pointed out that he had not yet been able to take the civil service exam, which is why his hiring remained provisional, because the county had not yet offered the exam during his tenure. For those reasons and more, Manger said that bringing Talbot back to the position “just made sense.”

Another Building Department employee, Tajea Anderson, who worked as secretary to the Planning Department, tendered her resignation, which the board accepted at the same meeting, but Manger said her resignation coming around the same time as Talbot’s hiring was purely coincidental.

Anderson was offered a position working for Southampton Town, in the town council office. Manger said she tendered her resignation in early December, “well in advance” of the news that Talbot was coming back.

Talbot could not be reached for comment.