Dear Editor:
If you tune into the din of certain ‘conservative’ circles, you’d hear of a storm raging, a twister blowing through our neighborhood and state. They warn we’ve woken up one day in a Sanctuary City. Yet, in truth, they make it out as though we’ve woken up in Oz.
The clarion call to ward against the creeping clouds that crawl towards our communities are just tall tales, fanciful stories on par with those of L. Frank Baum. The Sanctuary City, which really sounds like a shining, emerald village, is a lawless region. Certain ‘conservatives’ will retort with well-rehearsed rote that we live in a Sanctuary City; the police fail to act and cooperation is absent amongst civil servants; the rule of law does not exist; our neighbors are suspicion at least and guilty at worst; the currency is crime. This has come to be because the wizards, from our governor down to our mayor and town administrations, have pulled the levers of power, cloaked with smoke and mirrors.
This story can be summed up with one word: wicked. It’s sensationalism paints the brick-road yellow. It belittles us to mere Munchkins. We and our neighbors do not cower in fear; we are actively involved in building the community that’s best for our families. To say that our communities are anything but safe or welcoming loses sight of why we call them home. More so, ‘conservative’ fantasies on Sanctuary Cities make Scarecrow and Tinmen of our men and women in uniform. Our local police have a heart, and know how to serve the community. Listening to the hyperbole, one would be fooled to think our service members would put politics over people. Brainless, too, certain circles contend, are our police, who cannot figure out with which federal agencies to cooperate! Our men and women in uniform are smart enough to know how to do their jobs, working with whomever will get the job done. The ‘conservative’ script is wrong; our civil servants know how to serve the community with heart and with their brains uphold the law sworn to protect.
So, when you hear of mythical lands, absent law but full of magic, like the tall tale of Sanctuary Cities, consider the alternative. Close your eyes, clap your heels together three times, say, “there’s no place like home,” and then open your eyes; see the wonderful community in which you live, wave to your neighbor, kiss your child before they go to school, and go to work.
Gordo Space
