Letters

In a recent ad in The Press, I was called the “shadow government.” Wanting peace in the village is not a shadow government. Do you know who writes the ads? Someone living in Virginia. If this person really knew the village, they would know that I was never involved with the Latch project on any level.

Trustee candidate Roy Stevenson is supported by the people who wrote and paid for the ad. These people should have known that Mr. Stevenson was head of the Planning Board that approved the beautiful Latch. I was not even mayor at the time!

I left office in 2017 after serving 12 years as mayor to spend time with my family. I left the village with great leadership in Michael Irving, in a strong financial position, and with a very high staff morale level. Life was great.

Move ahead to the current turmoil in the village, and there is one common denominator that did not exist two years ago.

Last September, ads claimed the Epleys stole millions of dollars and left the village in financial ruin. If I did, wouldn’t I be writing this letter from jail? or a yacht in the Bahamas?

Village auditors say the village has a good surplus, and a robust and healthy balance sheet. During my tenure, we achieved the highest bond rating possible. Former Village Administrator Steve Funsch, a CPA, tried to explain this in the last election but was met with much hostility.

In other words, Mayor Irving and my administrations (not “I” but “we”) over many years did a good job. Do your homework.

My record and the record of my family’s volunteering in every aspect of this community for decades speaks for itself. If you have moved here in the last four years and have been told otherwise, again, do your research. In the same paper where I am called a shadow government looking for control, two of my sons have their picture with their varsity baseball team in jerseys for autism awareness.

We never had to get on social media or constantly send self-promoting fliers. We weren’t about ourselves — we were about community. I stand by everything I did while I was mayor and have nothing to hide.

There is no hidden agenda. We are not meeting secretly with candidates. We got the message after the last election. We are simply not involved in this election. People are giving us way too much credit.

There are six people running for three positions — focus on them.

When you blame and criticize others, you are avoiding the truth about yourself, and blaming others is an easy way to hide your failures.

Maturity starts when the chaos ends.

Mark Epley

Southampton