Editor, the News-Herald:

So I read your article on the Great Indian Land Giveaway today. What I read between the lines is that Suffolk’s political leaders are gradually bending over to the giveaway with the media’s (your) implied concurrence.

Your voicing of the &uot;Party Line&uot; only is tantamount to concurrence. When I visited home in August of this year, I was amazed at the number of times I ran into an old acquaintance and they immediately commented on their agreement that the land giveaway was &uot;a joke.&uot; However, much like the Kennedy wiz kids who gave us the Bay of Pigs, the City officials are convincing themselves without true input from someone outside of their political circles.

Why is it always the general taxpayers/landowners responsibility to support the political whims of various officials and special interest groups?

It’s not the entire city population that is paying for this. It’s the landowners, vehicle owners, the tax base that is paying for this. Of the city’s more than 50,000 people, how many actually contribute to the tax base? Real estate taxes aren’t paid by the developers. Vehicle taxes aren’t paid by visitors to this &uot;village.&uot; Vehicle city stickers aren’t bought uniformly nor are sales taxes paid in a representative way by those that will benefit from this.

The local newspaper should be an independent voice but in my experience you guys cuddle up to the local politicians because they are one of your primary sources of information. Serve your first amendment responsibilities seriously. Those with conservative countering views don’t have a continuously open microphone like the politicians/activists do!

Dave Forsythe

Naples, Italy