(Editor's Note: The following letter was sent to Newsday and is being printed here at the author's request.)

Once again, in its zeal to score a few points against the Republican Party and its candidates, Newsday ignored all pretense to journalistic integrity in its Sunday, Oct. 3, story by reporter Thomas Frank (Barely a Ripple in Nassau County; In Levittown, budget woes not a big concern.)

It was unconscionable for your reporter, Mr. Frank to insert his words and views into the story and attribute them to me by stating that Levittown voters were "clueless" concerning the widespread reports of the county's budget woes. As a life-long Levittowner, and the former co-chairman of both the 40th and 50th Levittown Anniversary celebrations, the last thing I would ever do would be to utter any word or statements that would disparage the community I love and the neighbors who have been so kind and supportive of me over the years.

Needless to say, Mr. Frank's fabrication has caused me a great deal of embarrassment and made me very angry.

Had Mr. Frank taken the time to get it straight, he would have accurately reported my view that the men and women of Levittown - who are busy raising families, often working two jobs while also finding the time to be involved in community, school and church activities - are very much in tune with the important issues facing our county. They are also, by and large, very supportive of the outstanding job that the Republican Party has done building a quality of life in Nassau County that is second-to-none.

Yes, there are problems with Nassau County's budget. But the Republican majority on the county legislature has stepped to the fore to return fiscal accountability to county government and put Nassau back-on-the-track once and for all.

Perhaps, Mr. Frank expected to witness an anti-Republican diatribe when he accompanied me in my door-to-door visits in Levittown last Saturday. I guess when his day of campaigning with me didn't provoke the reaction he wanted, and the story he had set out to write, he had to play it a little fast and loose with the facts in order to write a story that still cost me a few votes.

While I am confident that my friends and neighbors in Levittown will - by a large majority - show their support for the job I have done as their county legislator by re-electing me next month, it's sad that Newsday must shortchange its readership by inserting its liberal, pro-Democratic slant into every single story it writes about politics and government in Nassau County.