QUOTE

Tribune doesn’t want your opinion
Published 12:26pm Saturday, August 13, 2011

It seems that the editor has now become the spokesperson for the city council. First he states that I can’t complain about the mosquitoes because if you go out in the county, they’re worse. Of course it’s worse, the county does not have a mosquito program. Those homeowners would need to talk to the county board.

Now the question is how dare you have an opinion, you don’t have status in the community so you don’t have a right to have one and express it.

Well, let me tell you, the opinions I raise are the opinions of a lot of citizens who do a lot for the community but won’t, for whatever reason, speak up.

My physical condition with Stage 4 breast cancer and severe arthritis in my back and knees prevents me from doing a lot of physical things, but that shouldn’t make a difference. The only status and credibility I need to be able to make a comment is through my right to vote and the ability to say, “Yes, I voted.”

So if you think the only ones who can speak their mind are the people with “status and credibility,” the rest of us might as well not vote, because apparently we can’t express any opinions even if we do vote.

Kathy Diaz

Albert Lea

Editor’s note: The editorials we wrote were planned in advance of any printing of your letters and no connection or offense was meant. The editorial on opinions didn’t say people couldn’t speak their minds, but it did say that giving back to the community does often factor in how people weigh the legitimacy of a person’s comments.

We wish you the best in recovering from cancer, and we thank you for all your letters. Letter writing, in itself, is a form of contributing to the community. Letters often are how the ice is broken on otherwise touchy subjects.

 Tribune critical of public comment-----again