South Fallsburg — A dozen red roses
showed up Oct. 16 on Steve and Ellen Levine's doorstep.
The
unsigned card, addressed to Steve Levine, who is Fallsburg's
supervisor and in a re-election race, baffled them:
It Was
Wonderful Seeing You Again. Thanks For Everything!!! You
Really Rock My World!! "nobody Does It Better" Xoxox
If
somebody thought that was going to shake us up, Ellen Levine
said, "they don't know our marriage." The motive,
they believe, was politics.
"We had a heads-up that at one of the Republican meetings
they were discussing causing trouble between me and my
wife," Steve Levine said. "We didn't think much of it,
and then these flowers showed up."
"This is below the belt," Ellen
Levine said.
The 1-800
phone flower service that took the order told the Levines
they couldn't reveal the sender's name. Baker's, the local
florist, said they could get the name by filing a police
complaint.
The Levines got the name from police
on Tuesday: Michelle Mayher. A Google search led them to
Mayher, town clerk for Fort Myers Beach, Fla.
By Wednesday night, they learned
she is the sister of Ken DeMars, a Conservative running
against Levine on the Republican and Working Families lines.
Levine, a Democrat, is endorsed by Democrats and Conservatives.
Via e-mail,
Mayher declined to comment on the rose matter.
DeMars
said he knew nothing about this until Wednesday.
"My sister says she didn't do it," DeMars
said.
The real
issue, DeMars claims, is a Freedom of Information Law request
his sister filed last month for records on the $400,000
Small Cities grant that helped turn the old ambulance building
in South Fallsburg into a senior center.
The
grant was originally for the old Laurel Avenue high school.
Structural problems led the town to move the project.
"Just as I am coming upon the deadline for my request
to be fulfilled, my brother tells me I am being accused
of harassment," Mayher said by e-mail.
"Supervisor Levine called my sister over the FOIL request.
That's completely inappropriate," DeMars said. "I think
this whole flower flap is a fabrication. I think it's dirty
politics. I think they're trying to silence my sister by
threatening to embarrass me."
Fallsburg police said the "flower flap" isn't
a fabrication, but if the Levines want to take the complaint
further, they'll have to call the sheriff's office or state
police. The town cops want to avoid political intrigue.
The Levines
say they won't pursue a complaint for "something
as stupid as this." They just don't like the tactic.
"You don't run an election like this. You run an election
on issues," Levine said.
John LiGreci, the Sullivan County
Republican chairman, denounced the roses and note.
"The Fallsburg and county Republican parties do not agree
with what happened, nor do we condone what was done," LiGreci
said. "This is not the way the Republican Party works.
We do things with class and respect, and we condemn anyone
that was responsible for doing this."
The Levines kept the
roses.
"Sure, why not?" Ellen Levine said. "They're
beautiful."
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