Letters

I thank Barbara Ring for aptly proving my point. In response to my letter [“An Alliance,” Letters, April 11], which decried the state of civic public discourse in Hampton Bays as being overtaken by misinformation, fear-mongering and conspiracy peddling, Ring gave readers a master class in the practice by leveling vague insinuations about me and my colleagues potentially having dark, shadowy and nefarious motives based not on our actual conduct but instead on the ways in which we serve our community [“Tangled Web,” Letters, April 18].

Her letter echoed an oft-repeated, factually vacant and, quite frankly, tedious narrative unambiguously designed to stifle discussion, foreclose compromise and grind progress in our hamlet to a halt. Notwithstanding that, all of my service affiliations are well-known in our community — to be sure, they are all over the internet, have been on display in my contributions to these pages, and have been addressed, ad nauseam, in public forums.

Her willingness to twist my community service to foment suspicion and “othering” in a letter devoid of substance demonstrates that she, and others like her, are simply not serious about the issues. My work in the community, regardless of its renown, shows that I am civic-minded, align myself with Democratic values, and serve the community in which I live and work. It is unfortunate that our local public discourse, like its national counterpart, has become so necrotic that one’s service to one’s community is weaponized, scandalized, made dirty.

As I have said before, Hampton Bays deserves better from its civic leaders. Barbara Ring demonstrates why.

John Leonard

Hampton Bays