Letters

Here we go again. A push poll is being circulated to Southampton voters by the “New York Opinions Survey,” where the questions are clearly meant to create a false narrative and hurt Councilwoman Cyndi McNamara’s reelection campaign. The poll, funded by an anonymous source, states that McNamara is “endorsed by the Conservative Party, which opposes common sense gun safety laws,” and “wants to ban abortion, even in cases of rape or incest.”

The idea here is to make Cyndi McNamara guilty by association, even though she has never articulated a position on either topic, nor are these issues part of the Southampton Town Council’s purview. These are state and national issues.

More — and this is where the attempt at partisan sensationalism blows up — Democrats accept the Conservative line, too. Registered Democrat Maria Moore has accepted the Conservative line for her town supervisor reelection bid. Trustee candidate and registered Democrat Hannah Pell-O’Farrell has accepted the Conservative line. The Southampton Democratic Committee has endorsed registered Conservative Charles McArdle for highway superintendent.

Expanding on this, the Democratic candidates for Southampton Town supervisor have accepted the Conservative line for six elections in a row. Southampton Town Councilman Bill Pell, a registered Democrat, accepted the Conservative line in 2023. Historical data proves that if you run on the Democrat and Conservative lines, you win the election.

So, the guilt-by-association nonsense is a baseless pile of garbage, and this push poll is nothing more than a cowardly partisan hit job that conveniently ignores the whole truth.

With the assistance of fusion voting manipulation, Southampton party politics has become a stew of futility.

So, what about the upcoming local election?

As this voter sees it, the Town Board is doing a good job. Neither the supervisor nor the four council members have pushed a political ideology. They have governed in a mostly moderate, pragmatic way, and have managed the often-complex issues within their purview. None of them has done anything that seems overtly partisan.

I’m sure this opinion will disappoint some folks in the Southampton Democratic Committee. Their candidate for Town Board, Tom Neely, is a good man. He is and will continue to be an asset to the town. However, as I see it, the current Town Board hasn’t done anything to warrant a dismantling.

And, back to the push poll for a moment: Creating a false narrative is weakness. Anonymity is cowardice. The intent is shameful, and I think that we’ve had enough of this stuff.

Craig Catalanotto

Speonk