Two Sides Of A Coin

There is a fine line between “maverick” and “arrogant,” between “decisive” and “imperious,” between “confident” and “cocky” — you get the picture. Each is a perfectly minted coin, with the only thing separating its two sides being restraint and maturity. It doesn’t take much to flip that coin, for better or worse.

Since his election in June, Jesse Warren has brought a new energy to Southampton Village Hall. But it can, at times, feel a little unfocused. Occasionally, it stops feeling motivating, constructive, and starts to feel consuming, volatile. It’s a young man negotiating his first months in elective office, and it’s to be expected. But it also should be monitored closely — not least by Mr. Warren himself.

Last week, the new mayor orchestrated the removal of two veteran attorneys from the village’s employ: Village Attorney Wayne Bruyn, and attorney Beau Robinson, who has spent two decades providing counsel for the village’s regulatory boards. It was his prerogative, and he rallied the necessary votes to get it done, just barely, risking the early alienation of the two other newcomers to the Village Board, Mark Parash and Andrew Pilaro, who objected to the way it was pushed through at Mr. Warren’s urging, citing the “platform of change” that brought him the election win.

Perhaps it was time for a shakeup, and the move gives a neophyte mayor a legal staff he’s clearly comfortable with. But change generally means discarding institutional knowledge, and the young mayor appeared unconcerned about that loss of “status quo.” Perhaps the new legal team will bring a healthy new perspective to the village’s decision-making, which has seemed adrift at times. But “new” doesn’t automatically mean “better.”

More worrisome was the manner with which he fielded new criticism on a signature issue, the beaches and laws prohibiting surfing off several beaches. Back in August, in his first major action as mayor, he stepped in when Village Police began enforcing the code and led action on behalf of protesting surfers, who were understandably confused by the random crackdown at the height of the season.

But now that it’s fall, it’s time for measured action. A deeper consideration shows a more complicated issue involving the safety of swimmers and access to public beaches. What’s needed is a calm conversation to find the sensible compromise.

Instead, the mayor was headstrong when his two immediate predecessors came to the meeting to warn how thorny they’ve found the matter to be. They suggested that Mr. Warren’s desire to “have this language lifted from our books” is just too simplistic and needs a little more discussion before action codifies a solution that might simply create new problems.

Mr. Warren’s tone was dismissive: “There you have it — our two former mayors giving us some advice. The good news is that we do have a new board, so we can make our own decisions.” It was a headstrong move based on a poor read of the room: Not a single Village Board member agreed. More discussion will come before action is taken, which is the right move.

The new mayor might be tempted to see this as a loss, but it’s a very big win. It offered an early lesson that successful business executives do not necessarily make good government leaders — there are other examples — because government requires consensus, not command. Intractability is not a strength, and moving fast is not always moving forward. Patience can be rewarding.

Will the young mayor learn from the experience? Consider it a coin flip.