Sarah Amaden will be stepping down as an East Hampton Village trustee, effective after the Sept. 26 village board meeting, when she will announce her departure and the board will pass a resolution accepting her resignation.
Ms. Amaden, a political newcomer when she won her post in June 2022, would have been up for re-election in June.
In a letter to the board dated Aug. 22, she admitted to “mixed emotions,” but said she felt increasingly constrained by the job.
“The time commitment that it takes to serve our community successfully is something I feel that I cannot fulfill due to my travel schedule and other personal reasons,” she wrote the board. “I am confident that someone will take my place that can give the community the time that it takes to be a responsible and effective trustee.”
Marcos Baladron, the village administrator, said the move had been discussed internally since the spring.
“When Sarah gets passionate about something, I get out of her way because that’s what she’s doing. She’s always very honest and she kind of tells it the way it is,” he said.
He gave her credit for restarting the business committee, which was later disbanded once the East Hampton Chamber of Commerce was revived as the Greater East Hampton Chamber of Commerce. Ms. Amaden was also integral in getting the “Skip the Stuff” legislation passed by the village in 2024 and was a founding member of the village’s aesthetics committee.
Perhaps her most lasting achievement, however, will be the creation of the village committee that is tasked with building a new playground at Herrick Park.
According to her biography on the village website, Ms. Amaden taught kindergarten and second grade when she used to live in Connecticut. An interest in the well-being of children is a thread through her life. She is also a mother of three.
“Jerry asked me to run and I was very honored to run, but I was never planning on running again,” she said in an interview last week. “I’ve loved working in the village. I’ve felt fully supported.”
“We still consider Sarah part of the team,” Mr. Baladron said.
At its August meeting, the village board approved Ms. Amaden to be liaison to the East Hampton Village Foundation’s Herrick Park playground subcommittee.
“She’s probably going to lead that effort,” said Mr. Baladron. “We want a beautiful playground.”
East Hampton Village Mayor Jerry Larsen will soon appoint a new trustee to finish out Ms. Amaden’s term, but there’s no word yet on who it might be.
“When I met Sarah, I thought she would be a perfect fit,” he said. “She was easy to work with. I always look for like-minded people because that’s the way good things get done. I’ve really enjoyed working with her and I’m going to miss her tremendously.”
