The column by William Dugan which appeared in The Citizen on June 25, under the unintentionally ironic heading “Bad gossip destroys community values,” is full of erroneous statements and is a text-book example of the very type of behavior which he attempts to disparage. Either Mr. Dugan is totally out of touch with the documented facts of the Aurora Post Office situation, or he has willfully chosen to distort them to suit his own peculiar ends.

In any case, his irresponsible and inflammatory statements should not stand without correction.

In a letter of May 9, 2007, from U.S. Postal Service Real Estate Manager Paul Senk, to the mayor of Aurora, and in his earlier communications, Mr. Senk never “mentioned looking for other sites outside of Aurora,” as Mr. Dugan wrongfully alleges. For years, this falsehood has been spread by promoters of the Heary Building project in an attempt to scare residents into supporting the post office relocation. However, Mr. Senk has reassured residents and officials by e-mail that "leaving the community of Aurora is not an alternative" for the USPS.

In fact, a May 3 e-mail from Mr. Senk to Aurora residents, which Dugan references in his column, supports none of his bizarre and misleading assertions.

The May 9 letter from Mr. Senk shows clearly that: Wells College Vice President Hutchinson (not the USPS) withdrew the Heary Building from consideration; the USPS asked "if the Village of Aurora will extend its lease for the present post office; and Dugan's column misrepresented these important issues to our community.

Crawford R. Thoburn

Aurora