Sag Harbor trustees censure Mayor Thomas Gardella, call for his resignation for violating social media policy

Sag Harbor trustees censured Mayor Thomas Gardella and called for his resignation after an investigation found he violated the village's anti-harassment and social media policies.

The village launched an investigation into Gardella's social media use last month after he posted a comment on an Instagram video made by Texas resident Rebecca Chavez. In the video, Gardella appeared to insult Chavez’s wife, Deanah, who has a short haircut. Gardella wrote: “What’s that thing in the background? A guy A girl? some creature?”

Chavez previously described the remark to Newsday as "homophobic" and "horrific."

Gardella on Tuesday declined to step down. 

The seven-page report, conducted by the village's labor attorney, reviewed Gardella's social media activity. 

The report found Gardella had violated the village’s social media and anti-harassment policies and that his “conduct was disruptive to operations, negatively impacted members of the community, and created the false impression that Village leadership does not support or tolerate diversity.”

Trustees on Tuesday also released their own “forensic" review of Gardella's $18.4 million budget proposal, which would raise taxes by about $600 for a median-priced Sag Harbor home. The trustees published a 10-page report, which concluded Gardella held “unvetted negotiations” with town employees for raises.

The village board voted 4-1 Tuesday night on two separate censures. One was for the mayor's "repeated use of belligerent language, breaches of the social media and anti-harassment policies, and conduct unbecoming of a public official." The other was "for statutory neglect and breach of fiduciary duty."

Gardella said the investigation was “open and honest.” The report said the mayor acknowledged that the tone of his posts "were inappropriate and cast the Village in a bad light."

But he called the trustees' budget report unfair and said he would not step aside. 

“I will not resign from the office of mayor. It’s not going to happen,” Gardella said during the meeting, after the resolution was read aloud. “You have confused me with someone else. I’m not the guy that runs from a crisis. I’m the guy who runs into it.”

Gardella said he would conduct himself in “a professional manner and with decorum from here on out, as I have in the past.”

“This village means a lot to me,” he added.

 Gardella told Newsday on Wednesday he wanted to "get out of the turmoil." He declined to discuss specifics about the two reports.

David Kilmnick, president of the LGBT Network, told Newsday that Gardella’s social media use prompts “a serious reflection on whether the mayor can lead in a way that truly represents and respects all residents.”

“Public officials set the tone for their communities, so when comments demean LGBTQ+ people or others, it's not just a misstep. It undermines trust and the sense of belonging that leadership is supposed to protect,” he said. 

Social media comments

Gardella, a Republican, apologized for his comment on Chavez's post during a public meeting in March. He also sent a private message apologizing to Chavez, according to the report, which was authored by the Law Office of Vincent Toomey.

Other posts from the mayor did not “rise to the level of harassment or target a protected class” like the one made on Chavez’s, the report said.

The report cites other social media posts, including one in which he used the image of a globe and leveled a profanity "to all the people complaining about" the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.

"However, the tone of certain posts was aggressiv e, belittling, or dismissive in a manner that may contribute to perceptions of divisiveness and intolerance,” the report said.

The report quotes the mayor as saying he “got sucked in” to social media and would “not be commenting or engaging ever again.”

Gardella told Newsday that some comments were "taken out of context." He declined to discuss specifics.

Budget censure

The trustees’ report on the budget “identified a documented failure to adhere to the legal and professional standards required of the Office of Mayor.”

The $18.4 million proposal would increase spending by 16%. 

Discretionary raises, totaling roughly $250,000, were included in the budget based on “informal negotiations” Gardella held with employees, the report said. The village’s labor counsel and trustees were not consulted on the raises, which "may have compromised the Village's leverage and created unnecessary exposure to legal liability and improper labor practice claims."

Gardella told Newsday the raises could not have been approved without other trustees' consent. He said he agreed to eliminate them from the proposal.

The mayor's behavior “created an untenable professional environment” that caused an “administrative crisis,” the trustees' report said.

Gardella said he and the trustees agreed to most of the $535,000 in cuts recommended in the report.

“I would hope that I could lead us out of this mess and, at some point, be able to work together with the board,” Gardella said Tuesday.