#Southampton mayor says political enemies want to boot him from village

Jesse Warren, Southampton’s first-term mayor, is worried his political enemies are plotting to potentially force him from office by kicking him out of his home.

“If I don’t live in the village of Southampton, then I can’t be mayor. There is a residency requirement,” Warren told The Post.

Warren’s home on 81 David Whites Lane, which he has rented for almost five years, is about to be sold to an LLC controlled by Mark Epley, a longtime village poobah who served as mayor from 2005 to 2017.

The property’s current owner, Citibank executive Brandt Portugal, told Warren in an email that the sale was just about done with a closing deadline of Thursday. The property is expected to go for around $1.5 million.

A frantic Warren, a Democrat, says his lease is up in October but after that, he’ll be at the mercy of the conservative-leaning Epley — a constant critic. (Village elections are nonpartisan.)

“The goal is mostly to intimidate and then potentially to try and kick me out,” Warren charged.

Mark Epley, 57, a wealthy CEO of a drug-treatment facility, has had bad blood with Warren ever since the youthful upstart defeated his ally Michael Irving for the tony village’s top job. The enmity escalated when Warren removed Epley’s son Zach from the village planning board. In a nasty October voicemail Warren shared with The Post, Mark Epley warned it was “game on.” That same month in a letter to Warren, Mark’s wife Marianne Epley denounced him as “evil and conniving.”

One month later, in November, 81DW LLC was quietly formed. The LLC lists no registered agent and the only name publicly associated with the entity is David J. Gilmartin, a former Southampton municipal attorney, who now works as a personal attorney for the Epley family.

The 2000-square foot home sits on a quarter of an acre of land and is divided into two large apartments, each with two bedrooms and a full bathroom. A backyard pool is also tucked away under a wall of trees.

If Warren is forced from the two-family home, experts say it would be virtually impossible for him to find a comparable place at his current rent of $2,800 a month — a steal even before the pandemic sent Southhampton rent and real estate prices skyrocketing.

“It’s a feeding frenzy,” Carol Nobbs, a longtime resident and real estate agent told The Post. “Rentals are through the roof. Everything is rented and the prices are high. People can get whatever they want because people are desperate.” Warren’s home could fetch double what he pays in the current market, experts say.

But Mark Epley told The Post Warren’s eviction fears are “silly.” His son Zach, now running for a seat on the Southampton village board, was more pointed, saying Warren was “paranoid” and a “liar.”

“There is no intention of kicking anybody out. There are multiple tenants on the property. He is not the only person over there. I own the property next door,” Zach Epley told The Post. “We own a few properties on Long Island and this was just an opportunity that came up.”

Zach Epley, 32, insisted the home was intended for use among the large and growing family. Mark Epley has 10 grandkids. The younger Epley said there were no immediate plans for a rent increase, but that the rate would reflect “whatever the fair market value” was.

Zach Epley said he plans to keep tenants for another 15 years or so until his children were grown. He said this was all made clear to Warren and his father, who is Warren’s personal attorney.

“We’re not evicting him, as we told his father, we are open to all lease negotiations. It’s a ridiculous thing,” Zach Epley said.