This is in response to a guest column by Jason Levesque (March 10) in which he accused all of the people living in Auburn’s agricultural zone, including myself, of living off the rest of the town while allowing our land to just waste away. As a student of world history, it was a bit frightening to read the words of the mayor. His words mirror those spoken by leaders in destabilized countries who have engaged in violent civil war against their own people.

What kind of extremist points a finger at his neighbors and labels them as “other”? What kind of person believes in a terrifyingly dystopian future in which farmers are lazy, mooching enemies of the people? What kind of person believes that our precious farmland, upon which the state of Maine was built, is better beneath the enormous footprint of a McMansion?

I don’t want to believe the worst in Levesque, since a majority of people in my beloved community of Auburn believed in him enough to vote him into office. I extend an invitation to him to come visit our farm. My family and I would like to show him around and talk about how important open space, healthy woods and thriving ecosystems are to sustainable farming. I’ll make coffee and apple pie.

Bronte Roberts, Auburn