The “Unsolicited” Letter, Part 3
The Final Chapter: I STILL Smell A Rat
By Susan M. Halpern
Former Addison Councilmember (1992-1999)
So the author of the letter has now confirmed that he indeed is a local yokel, not an East Coast big wig. And, he’s got lots of connections to Addison, and is indeed “linked” to one of the incumbents who is now a candidate. Good to hear that my investigation was spot on. And, I still smell a rat.
First and foremost, there is no question that this letter was presented to lead the reader to believe that Mr. Local was Mr. East Coast. It was a clear effort to make the reader think that these positions were being taken by a complete stranger, and therefore they should be given some enhanced weight. It was deceptive. Period. Had I not investigated it and exposed it, the misimpression would have remained. So, to the distributors of the letter who conveniently omitted all reference to the author’s local connections, including his connections with Addison, I say: You did it, you got caught, why not own it and apologize?
Second, I too have experience in politics. I served on Addison’s council for seven years. I’ve also been a commercial trial lawyer for 33 years. And my experience tells me that complete strangers don’t just jump into the type of inflammatory rhetoric that has unfortunately been championed by our own mayor. And no one with the impressive credentials of the author would endorse three candidates he claims he’d never met. People just don’t do things like that.
My nose continues to tell me that a rat is in the midst.
The truth is that anyone with any political sophistication at all was immediately suspicious of the entire Kanter debacle. Lewis McLain spotted it right away. His blog on the subject can be read here: http://citybaseblog.net/2016/03/14/i-smell-fraud-in-addison-in-the-fraud-audit/. And, in case anyone is wondering, Lewis’s resume can be found here: http://citybaseblog.net/about/. Talk about someone with municipal credentials…
Lewis McLain smelled a rat without even knowing that Kanter’s inflammatory presentation was nothing more than a recycled version of his two-year-old July 11, 2014 letter to council. When you figure that part out, you realize immediately that he was brought back not to help Addison, but to provide the springboard for the campaign Meier is running for people who he apparently believes can’t run their own campaigns.
And by the way, with all his vast experience in running campaigns, the author knows full well that calling for votes for candidates is “political advertising” and needs to be identified and labeled as such. I’m confident that those distributing the letter knew that as well. But then, identifying the letter as such would have dampened the “Mr. East Coast” effect, right?
So, this is my Final Chapter on “Lettergate.” My bottom line: I STILL smell a rat.