Letters

In Bill Manger’s October 10 letter [“Revealing Truth”], there’s hardly any truth at all.

Manger goes to great lengths to claim that no campaign donors had a hand in making Anthony Carter the village’s former chief of police, and, more improbably, that he doesn’t take direction from his donors.

We all know that in politics, from the local to the national level, campaign donors always influence decisions. To suggest otherwise, especially when his donors are the “who’s who” of the most powerful billionaires and hundred-millionaires in the country, is an insult to our intelligence.

But the real proof of Manger’s actions can be seen in the way Southampton Village calculates taxable assessed value, a system that benefits owners of large, high-valued homes at the expense of those in smaller, more modest homes.

Take, for example, 700 Meadow Lane, a property which sold for $112 million, and has an assessed value of 0.003 percent of its value. Properties on Windward Way and Dale Street have assessed values of 0.009 percent of their values. This disparity is designed to favor Manger’s wealthiest supporters at the expense of the general taxpaying public.

Manger’s frantic denial doesn’t erase the truth, it confirms it. His words read more like a guilty admission than a serious defense.

David Rung

Southampton Village