Sag Harbor Mayor Tom Gardella was obstinate in his decision to remain mayor after an otherwise unanimous village board censured him and asked for his resignation on Tuesday night.
On the heels of an ethics investigation into transphobic social media comments he made earlier this year, the board on Tuesday separately accused him of creating a “crisis of accountability and administrative stability” by offering “significant undisclosed salary increases” to all employees without the full board’s approval.
The salary increases, which would have totaled $250,000 including benefits next year, would saddle village residents with a $2.8 million tax burden over the next decade, according to a document prepared by board members.
Not only did the mayor fail to discuss the increases with the rest of the board, but he also “ignored professional warnings from senior staff, who explicitly urged him to bring these adjustments to the full board for transparent review,” said Ed Haye, the deputy mayor.
Board members questioned the mayor’s methodology in determining those raises, and accused him of arriving at the dollar amount simply by asking employees, “What are you comfortable with?”
With its tentative budget for the next fiscal year the village is facing a proposed tax levy increase that would pierce the 2-percent cap, and the board has been grappling with ways to add revenue and strip costs where it can. The board held public hearings Tuesday on the proposed budget and to allow the village to pierce the cap. No one from the public weighed in on the budget; that hearing remains open through Friday, when the board will meet again at 3 p.m.
In the end, the trustees, without the mayor, said they have trimmed over $500,000 in the budget through striking the unauthorized raises and tapping a reserve fund to cover a range of other items.
The mayor, for his part, agreed to those changes and voted with the rest of the board to adopt them into the tentative budget. He called the reductions “responsible” but remained unmoved by the board’s call for his resignation. “I should have the opportunity to address these accusations,” he said. “To put this all on the mayor . . . is unfair.”
The “crisis of accountability” referenced by the board led to the resignation this week of Kate Locascio, the village’s clerk for the last 16 years, a move lamented by all the board members and Mayor Gardella.
“The mayor’s attempt to disavow his own administrative direction and shift the burden of statutory responsibility onto his staff” led to an “untenable professional environment,” according to a formal resolution read by Aidan Corish, a board member.
“It is with a heavy heart and, frankly, a great deal of anger,” that the board accepted her resignation, Mr. Haye said. “She has no other choice than to walk away from her livelihood to protect her professional integrity” due to what he called unprofessional conduct on the mayor’s part.
The mayor called Ms. Locascio a personal friend and said he is “very sad to see her go.”
The separate ethics investigation, launched after the mayor’s social media comments came to light, was concluded with the release of a lengthy document on Tuesday. Prepared by Heather P. Harrison, a colleague of Vincent Toomey, the village’s outside counsel, it laid bare many comments the mayor has made on social media from his personal account as well as emails sent to the village concerning those comments.
During an executive session in the two hours before the public portion of the meeting, the board discussed the outcome of the report. That meeting was held without the mayor present. The report concludes that the mayor violated the village’s anti-harassment policy.
“I fully cooperated with the investigation. I was open and honest,” the mayor said. “I understand the consequences of my comments.” At one point, he seemed overwhelmed by the conversation, saying, “it’s a lot . . . I’ve embarrassed myself.”
The investigation looked into transphobic comments he made on the Instagram account of a Texas animal rescue advocate, who then brought them to the attention of the village. The mayor apologized for the comments both on the page and in public at a board meeting in March.
The allegations also led a local artist, Erica-Lynn Huberty, to contact village officials. She told the board this week that she knows the mayor made the comments because “he has done this to me.” In fact, Ms. Huberty’s online conversations with the mayor were included in the report.
She alleged in March that the mayor had a history of making divisive comments on national politics on subjects including the federal Department of Government Efficiency, the assassination of the right-wing podcaster Charlie Kirk, and the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency. Those comments were made through his personal account.
The report found that those posts and comments are not violations of public policy, but they “contributed to perceptions of divisiveness and alienation among some members of the community.”
The mayor will be required to attended sensitivity and professional conduct training “beyond the regular level of training provided to employees and elected officials” according to the report.
Some members of the public said Tuesday that the mayor deserves forgiveness.
“We give people second chances,” said Kate Plumb.
And Bob Weinstein, the head of the nonprofit Save Sag Harbor, said that sometimes “people make bad judgements.”
Because the mayor is an elected official, he cannot be forced out of office by other board members, but he can be censured, or reprimanded, which the board chose to do twice this week — once for the his social media conduct and breach of harassment policy and again for “statutory neglect and break of fiduciary duty” relating to the planned salary increases.
The board also presented a formal resolution asking for the mayor to resign.
“I will not resign from the office of mayor,” he said during the public portion of the meeting, adding, “I’m not the guy that runs from a crisis.”
Many in the audience spoke to the mayor’s character, with some calling the board’s actions into question.
“I agree with the censure, but I don’t agree with what the board has done,” Adam Potter said, adding that the board should have hired outside counsel “as opposed to surprising him.” Ms. Plumb called the process “appalling” saying “we all have to be embarrassed this way.”
Mr. Haye noted that the board members did seek counsel from Mr. Toomey and its own village attorney, Elizabeth Vail, who confirmed she had reviewed all the documents presented on Tuesday.
Tracy Mitchell, the executive director of Bay Street Theater, called the mayor “fair and honest.” Jesse Matsuoka, a co-owner of Sen Restaurant and K Pasa, said he is an “amazing father and an amazing businessman.”
Still others moved delicately, asking the mayor to take some time to think about the situation. Mary Ann Eddy, a member of the village’s harbor committee, asked the mayor to “not be pugilistic” and said the situation should compel him to “really wonder if you can lead.”
Since it was found that the mayor breached the board’s code of ethics, members may only ask him to resign. However, an action could be taken by a private citizen to the New York State Supreme Court, which could remove him from office.
Although historically difficult, the courts will hear cases involving “self-dealing, corruption, a conflict of interest, moral turpitude, intentional wrongdoing, or violation of the public trust,” according to the New York Conference of Mayors handbook for village officials.
Will Sharp, the former chairman of the harbor committee, addressed the board, saying, “we have come to an uncomfortable impasse.” He questioned whether the board and the mayor would be able to work together. “Good leadership knows when to stand up. Good leadership knows when to stand down,” he said.
Following the comments, Mayor Gardella said, “I will conduct myself in a professional manner and with decorum. This village means a lot to me.”
