Letters

Recently, Rob Allan wrote a letter in this paper saying that I am busy establishing a “shadow government” in our village [“Shadow Government,” Letters, October 29]. I would like to applaud Mr. Allan for uncovering my plot!

Few people have realized the raw ambition behind my volunteering to serve in an unpaid position on the village’s Budget and Finance Commission. Even fewer have twigged that my fiancée, an election lawyer serving on our Board of Ethics, is part of a devious conspiracy to, um, do something …

And I am fairly certain that only Mr. Allan connected the dots when Mayor Jesse Warren hired someone whose father I know for an entry-level assistant job.

Mr. Allan also was able to determine that, despite my being a lawyer and businessman, I am unable to read the village’s audited financial statements (now posted on its website), which unambiguously show that we have $101 million of long-term debt.

Finally, kudos to Mr. Allan for explaining that those who volunteer their services to an administration that does not include Mrs. Allan must inevitably be forming a sinister shadow government.

Dane Neller

Southampton Village