Eleven months after its mysterious formation, we finally know the identity of the matermind behind the anti-development group, Newton Villages Alliance,.

Thanks to reports filed with the Secretary of State William Galvin’s office that are required of all political action committees we now know that Newton TAB Editor Andy Levin is the NVA’s founder and treasurer. Levin also, it turns out, owns the NVA’s web domain and two pairs of khakis.

It’s now easy to understand why NVA has been so hush-hush about who was behind them,  given that it certainly is a conflict for the editor of the local paper to head a citizen action group.

But the strange is part that Levin wasn’t named editor of the TAB until September of last year and NVA started in May of 2014.  So perhaps this was all part of a secret plan by his suburbs-loving bosses to put Levin into the TAB job based on his strong anti-development stance?

Then again, hasn’t Levin written editorials supporting the Austin Street project?

So maybe this is just a plot to create a false anti-40B groundswell in Newton so The TAB can get all those free op-eds and letters and not have to hire reporters?

But didn’t Levin, ban op-eds about Austin Street?

I’m so confused.