To the editor:

I am a lifelong resident of St. Lawrence County, a student at Potsdam State and I have a passionate interest in seeing a change of leadership in our county legislature.

This past May I was asked if I knew of anyone willing to run in legislative district 10, which encompasses most of the Village of Potsdam. The very first person to cross my mind was Dr. Joe Timmerman. I had never met Dr. Timmerman, but he was an important mentor to my best friend and I knew he was a financial expert.

I asked my friend to introduce me to Dr. Timmerman so that I (a complete stranger) could ask him to run for office. I think he thought I was crazy, but he told me he would think about it and to consult his family.

Lo and behold, Dr. Timmerman was willing to put his hat in the ring. At the time Dr. Timmerman agreed to run, I promised to work vigorously to help him get elected in a district in which his party is outnumbered more than two to one. Since that time we have earned the support of Democrats, Republicans, Independents, and a few Greens. The support of former mayor, Ruth Garner and former legislator Dr. Pat Turbett is representative of the bipartisan support Joe has earned.

Unfortunately, I read a letter Jason Clark published this past Saturday with immeasurable frustration. Mr. Clark claims a “half dozen of his [Dr. Timmerman’s] students are campaigning for him as part of a class project.” This claim is categorically false. There are two students involved in this campaign, Mark Hussain and myself. Mark and I have never been and will never be students of Dr. Timmerman’s and there is absolutely no class project.

A second entirely false claim made by Mr. Clark is, “Those students are working in both Jim Bunstone’s district and my district” and he further claims “we have been seen hanging my [his] opponent’s flyers…” However, until the day after I read Mr. Clark’s letter, neither Mark nor I had done anything for Mr. Clark’s opponent. There is no way we could have been seen in a location had not yet been, doing something we had not yet done.

This disturbing dishonesty is below the dignity of someone serving in our county legislature. Finding good people to run for public office is very hard and the nasty dishonest behavior Mr. Clark has exhibited surely turns people off from getting involved politically. Only 25% of my generation votes due in large part to cynicism - candidates with integrity and competence can change that. I am proud to support Joe Timmerman and John Burke.

Philip Paige

Madrid