Tom Gardella will be sworn in as Sag Harbor’s next mayor on July 3, giving the village an opportunity for a fresh start under established leadership, with someone who has proven in his years of service to be a builder of community and consensus, while remaining frank and honest about his take on important issues facing the village today.
It is just the kind of leadership that Sag Harbor needs right now.
Beginning with the start of the COVID-19 pandemic three years ago, and continuing through the last two years, Sag Harbor Village has seen more than its fair share of controversies and disagreements. None was more polarizing than the potential redevelopment of the west side of the village’s downtown, which sparked fears about overdevelopment and environmental calamity. A slew of properties in the area were snapped up during the peak of real estate pricing as a result of the pandemic, and various plans for some of those parcels — including a proposal for a new Bay Street Theater and, later, a large commercial project that included affordable housing — were floated, unsuccessfully.
There also have been successes in the Municipal Building, with help from village government and residents, including the recent unveiling of an updated John Steinbeck Waterfront Park that is undoubtedly a jewel among the village’s parks and open spaces, and new moves toward preventing overclearing of properties and codifying a rental registry.
The trustees will have more critical initiatives to tackle in the coming years; the biggest will be developing a long-term plan, ideally in the form of a long-promised but never delivered comprehensive plan. Following a successful lawsuit, brought by Save Sag Harbor, trustees also will have to craft a strategy to tackle the affordable housing crisis in a meaningful way — no small feat for a 2-square-mile village with a population that has long prized historic preservation efforts while also protecting its small, independently owned businesses.
Looking at water quality and budgeting for capital projects, including the renovation of the village’s fire department and volunteer ambulance corps property on Brick Kiln Road, and crafting sustainable ways to fund those kinds of projects in a village that has often planned on a budget-to-budget basis, are also on the agenda moving forward.
Listening — and not being easily offended when residents have opposing viewpoints — and bringing the community together, despite the divisiveness of the last three years, is a priority that trustees should not take lightly. The opportunity to unite a community that is very passionate about Sag Harbor Village is there for the right board, willing to check egos at the door in order to create consensus where it can be found.
Fortunately, it appears the current board, under the leadership of Gardella, appears ready to tackle the tasks at hand.
