It has come to our attention that a photo that was printed in the April 15 edition of the Three Village Times has become the subject of a poll on the Elmont website, Elmont.org, entitled "Win at All Cost?"

The photo printed in the Three Village Times depicted Nassau County Legislator John Ciotti presenting citations to the honor students from Elmont Memorial High School on March 10.

The Three Village Times received the photo from Legislator Ciotti's office and printed it in our newspaper.

The Three Village Times was recently informed by the administrator of the Elmont.org website that Ali Mirza of Elmont was in the photo when it was taken. However, the photo we received did not have Mr. Mirza in it. Apparently Mr. Mirza, who would later turn out to be Ciotti's opponent in the Third Legislative District in next week's election, had been removed from the photo prior to the photo being sent to us for publication.

We want to reassure the community that we received the photo from Mr. Ciotti's legislative office already altered and printed it not knowing Mr. Mirza had been removed.

We would like to let the community know that we pride ourselves on our high integrity. We condemn the practice of submitting photos that have been altered or tampered with.

We respect each and every individual's right to run for elected office. Therefore, we respect the campaigns of both Mr. Mirza and Mr. Ciotti and we strive to provide a forum of equality so that our readers can make informed decisions.

- Joe Rizza, Editor