Letters

I realize that we live in an era of divisive politics, but, even by those standards, what’s going on ahead of the June 18 Southampton Village mayoral/trustee election should be shocking and dismaying to any fair-minded person: people receiving anonymous, threatening letters purporting to represent generations of Southampton families and warning “newcomers” to take down signs for their chosen candidate, or challenging their right to vote in a dual residency state in an effort to illegally intimidate them for voting; red signs everywhere blaring that there is a need to “save the police” in the wake of recent reform efforts; and defamatory, garish, racist, sexist advertising and mailers cluttering people’s mailboxes and appealing to bigotry and fear of “outsiders.”

While I’ve heard some of the trustees and others decry the “loss” of our lovely village, this election is exposing a lot of ugliness that even the loveliest hedgerow can’t hide.

Willa Bernstein

Southampton