Scott Russell Succeeds Carter as Southampton Village Administrator

Scott Russell, the former Southold Town supervisor, officially assumed his new role as Southampton’s village administrator on Oct. 1 managing the day-to-day operations of the municipality.

The Southampton Village Board of Trustees officially introduced Russell to the public during its meeting on Sept. 24. Russell, who served in town government in Southold for 33 years said he hopes that his past experiences will be useful to the village community and its board.

“Certainly is a learning process,” Russell said during the meeting about the new role. “Things are done very differently here.”

Russell said that he has found great pleasure in meeting the individual board members and looks forward to the opportunity to work alongside one another toward a common goal.

“You have a diversity of opinions, but you all have one thing in common and that is to serve this community,” he said, addressing the board members during the meeting. “It’s my job to help you do that, it’s my job to help you achieve and realize your vision and also to work at developing solutions to some of the challenges of mutual interest with you and the community.”

Russell said that he’s “very honored” that the board has selected him for this role in which he is succeeding Anthony Carter, whose resignation was effective on Sept. 30, after less than a year on the job. Before Carter took on the role of village administrator, the village board had originally voted to hire him as village police chief, but he quit before taking the civil service exam to make the appointment permanent.

Carter has been a “fountain of information,” Russell said during the meeting, calling him an “absolute gentleman to work with,” and someone who has “served his village very well.”