Marking The Southampton Village Ballot

It must be noted: In both Southampton and East Hampton villages this year, the voters (and local newspapers) have a wealth of candidates to choose from — and the quality of those candidates is truly exceptional. Rare is the local election when it can be said: A vote for any of the candidates is not ill-cast. That means the choice is less imperative than some years.

But, as with village voters, a newspaper must finally make choices and mark its ballot.

In Southampton Village, there are two seats on the Village Board up for grabs, and a single incumbent in the race. First things first: That incumbent, Kimberly Allan, deserves a new term on the Village Board. She is exactly the kind of representative that village residents should want: engaged, approachable, focused on actual progress on issues, and able to negotiate even thorny disagreements without being unpleasant. She speaks frankly about the “chaos” at Village Hall, but she hasn’t allowed herself to be dragged into it. Village voters should reward that level of sanity and maturity — even while, perhaps, asking for a little more leadership in taming the chaos.

That leaves a single seat on the Village Board — and a potentially significant swing in dynamics. If Ms. Allan’s Community Party running mate, Zach Epley, fills the seat, it would mean, essentially four board members on a side, and Mayor Jesse Warren on the other. The Village First Coalition candidates, Gina Arresta and Joe McLoughlin, pitch themselves as independents, which in this case translates as at least more open to Mr. Warren’s vision for the village.

Ms. Arresta makes that case herself, and in last week’s debate she was pugilistic in arguing that the village needs changes but was light on specifics. In a healthy government setting, her confidence and no-nonsense style are clear benefits. But in the tense environment of this village government, it becomes a question of how many such personalities are really needed, and whether adding a new strident voice to the cacophony is the best antidote to dysfunction.

It’s also worth clarifying: The Village First Coalition’s ad in this paper attacking the village finances is a pretty good example of the danger of limited understanding of government and accounting methods. The adverse impact of contracted, long-term costs to the village for pensions and lifetime benefits is a legitimate issue for discussion — but not like this. Ms. Arresta doubling down on the venom of the ad was a bad look.

Zach Epley has a glowing reputation for community involvement, and it’s very likely to carry him into the vacant seat on September 15. He’s popular, generous with his time and energy, and he’s also aided by a name that’s been connected to village government for years.

But it also connects him to a family business: While it’s not really fair to call him a “developer,” and his primary job is in his family’s other passion, the Seafield Center, a drug and alcohol treatment center in Westhampton Beach, he owns numerous village properties. Real estate has been a focus for his family, and it’s brought a great deal of prosperity. That’s true, of course, of a lot of people in the village, and it’s not disqualifying.

The difference is in motivation. Mr. Epley’s run for office feels personal. It feels like an attempt for vindication — is it, instead, revenge? — after Mr. Warren removed him from a brief stint on the village’s Planning Board. The Epley family’s well-publicized purchase of the house that the mayor rents in the village was a red flag: It might be coincidental, but it certainly feels like an aggressive, troubling mingling of village politics and real estate assets. Whatever you think of Mr. Warren, it felt like a hint of how deep the animosity runs, and how village land might be in play as a tool.

Whether Mr. Epley wins this seat or another in village government, he could well follow his father, former Mayor Mark Epley, who was subject to a regular whisper campaign but never demonstrably stepped over any ethical line. Under the circumstances, though, the odd transaction was enough to give us pause.

Especially because there is another choice: Joe McLoughlin. He was our choice a year ago, when he nearly won, and he deserves the nod this time as well. Simply put, he’s the candidate who has done the most to prepare for the job in front of the candidates.

Serving in village government isn’t particularly exciting, or at least shouldn’t be. It’s about knowing rules, parsing options, hearing out all sides of an issue before making a choice and moving forward with actual policy.

Mr. McLoughlin serves on the Planning Commission, and he has put in time in the trenches for years, voluntarily, attending virtually every village government meeting, absorbing the state of the village and analyzing potential ways forward. He’s not perfect — he stood behind the same misguided ad as Ms. Arresta. But he’s smart, and he has no agenda. He truly will be an independent voice, and a dedicated one.

Southampton Village government is in a quagmire, and it needs cooler heads to prevail. In Ms. Allan and Mr. McLoughlin, that’s exactly what it would get.