The Reverend Joanne Bonds showed a surprising degree of vindictiveness and political partisanship in her letter in last week's Farmingdale Observer ("An Interesting Contrast"). In her attack on Democrat Dave Mejias's candidacy for the county legislature, she chose to overlook several points which reveal a great deal about the character of Mejias and that of his opponent, Republican Sal Pontillo.

Within days of the horrific events at the World Trade Center, Mejias cancelled a political ad that he had previously scheduled to run in the Observer. In its place, Dave and his wife Heidi personally paid for an ad in which they expressed a sincere and loving message to the victims of the tragedy and those aiding in the rescue and recovery efforts. There was no photograph in the ad nor one word about political offices or elected officials.

In contrast, Pontillo's campaign photo dominated his ad which the Rev. Bonds oddly characterized as a "spiritual message." The ad appeared in the Observer a scant two and a half weeks before the election and one month after the Sept. 11 terror attacks. In his ad, Pontillo further focused attention on himself by using large, bold type in capital letters to proclaim himself as "LEGISLATOR" and used additional words to place himself in the company of "elected officials." The last line in the ad noted that it was paid for by "People For Pontillo," a political entity touting his candidacy.

What the Rev. Bonds strangely describes as Pontillo's "class act" is nothing more than crass, political opportunism that many of us in Nassau County have come to expect from a corrupt Republican machine.

On Election Day, I plan to do what I can to change this sorry state of affairs. I'm going to vote for Dave Mejias and all of the other Democrats who are on Team Suozzi. It's time for a change!

Herbert C. Hallas