Editors, Vineyard Gazette:

I will not comment upon architect David Handlin’s patronizing tone and cheap cliches as those have both been eloquently debunked in other letters.

Instead, I simply wish to point out that Mr. Handlin’s direct financial interest in allowing larger, more expensive building renders his ad hominen opinions about the merits of such houses entirely suspect. One can almost hear the chiming of the cash register in the background of his weary and wrongheaded peroration about the virtue of unbridled change and unregulated freedom.

Would Mr. Handlin be delighted to design a Wal-Mart blighting Chilmark center? Given his tone, I wouldn’t be surprised — assuming the price were right.

David Heilbroner

Chilmark