Letters

In last week’s submission to this paper, George Lynch waxed poetic about the “jackals prowling around the edges” of John Leonard’s disastrous campaign [“Afraid?” Letters, January 30]. Lynch went on to say that he won’t speak for the candidate, or to his legitimacy, but he would speak about the motive of those jackals. Mr. Lynch later asked, “What are they afraid of?”

I am so glad he asked.

I am afraid if we elect a man whose law license was suspended twice, in two states, with the court finding that “Leonard intentionally, recklessly and repeatedly failed to perform legal services with competence in willful violation of the law.”

I am afraid that a local party is so out of touch with the community that it is willing to overlook or deny John Leonard’s many character flaws. I am afraid that the Democrats have lost all integrity when vetting candidates before they present them to voters.

I am afraid that uninformed voters will hand power to someone who has demonstrated, time and time again, that he can’t regulate his emotions, temper, demeanor, actions and clearly lacks impulse control.

I am afraid that we further empower a bully and give him an even larger platform to display his petulant temperament because the Democratic Party didn’t do its due diligence in the vetting process.

I am afraid that when you don’t stand up to a man who attacks civic-minded female activists the way John Leonard did to Marilyn Boden, Gayle Lombardi and Mary Pazan this summer, that a man like that is emboldened to seek even more power and attack more women.

What I am most afraid of is seeing John Leonard elected to political office.

I end with an invitation to The Express News Group: Ask around at the Evelyn Alexander Wildlife Rescue Center and see the terrible impact John Leonard had on that organization. How much did his lack of self-control cost the center in dollars? How many employees left their jobs under his tyranny? How many board members resigned due to his behavior? This is a beloved community organization in Hampton Bays, and we all talk.

I hope The Express News Group will dig a little deeper into his “community service” and share the facts about John Leonard’s tenure there that the Democratic leadership lauds.

Jose Reyes

Hampton Bays