Not Quite All the News That's Fit to Print

     A recurring issue we've had here in Rosemead is that the editorial board of the local paper has been vocally and unabashedly pro-Wal-Mart.  Headlines, letters to the editor, and (presumably) news stories are often edited in ways that both subtle and unsubtle to present the point of view that a Wal-Mart in Rosemead would bring unimaginable wealth to our city while having no plausible downside.  A recent letter to the editor illustrates this point

     I read the San Gabriel Valley Tribune today (January 20).  They printed a letter by Ron Gay on the current petition controversy.  Not a bad letter, I thought.  Then I got an e-mail from Ron, showing me the letter he actually sent in.  They cut out the heart of his argument!

What Ron wrote:

Dear Editor:   

     Regarding the letter by Maggie Rios ("Learn the Language of the Land," 1/11/06), I would like to clarify some facts.  I don't blame Ms. Rios for her errors, because Mayor Imperial has been trying to exploit these same perceptions for political advantage.  But I read the article to which she refers, and I spent a good part of the summer knocking on the doors of Rosemead residents.  So let's set the record straight:

     1.  It's not that 80 percent of Rosemead residents don't speak English; it's that 80 percent of Rosemead residents speak another language at home.  They may be more comfortable and more fluent speaking that other language, but most can also understand English.

     2.  Not all Rosemead residents were eligible to sign the recall petition; only registered voters could sign.  Voters by definition are U.S. citizens.  To become a naturalized citizen requires the applicant to demonstrate a minimal level of familiarity with both the English language and the U.S. Constitution, while nearly all natural-born U.S. citizens were born and raised in the U.S.  So the 80 percent figure does not necessarily apply to potential petition signers.

     3.  Some Rosemead voters are more comfortable conversing in another language.  But many petition carriers were themselves fluent in another language, or were accompanied by people who could speak other languages, or carried literature translated into other languages.  Of course, to be able to communicate with everyone in Rosemead would have required each petition carrier to haul an entire tower of Babel on their backs.  And, as a volunteer organization, Save Our Community couldn't afford that.

     The bottom line: Our inability to hire translators or to have all of our materials translated into all possible languages hurt us, not Mayor Imperial.  People we could not communicate with wouldn't sign our petition.  That's the same as a "no" vote.  Also, opponents of recall can always vote "no" on February 7th.  That's their right, just as it's our right to vote "yes" on February 7th.  By suing his own city, Mayor Imperial is trying to take away the rights of ALL Rosemead voters!

            Sincerely,

                Ron Gay

What the San Gabriel Valley Tribune published:

Perception, not reality

Re the letter by Maggie Rios "Learn language of land":

I would like to clarify some facts.

I don't blame Rios for her assumption because Mayor Jay Imperial has been trying to exploit these same perceptions for political advantage. But I read the article to which she refers, and I spent a good part of the summer knocking on the doors of Rosemead residents.

So let's set the record straight:

It's not that 80 percent of Rosemead residents don't speak English; it's that 80 percent of Rosemead residents speak another language at home. They may be more comfortable and more fluent speaking that other language, but most can also understand English.

Not all Rosemead residents were eligible to sign the recall petition; only registered voters could sign.

Voters by definition are U.S. citizens. To become a naturalized citizen requires the applicant to demonstrate a minimal level of familiarity with both the English language and the U.S. Constitution.

Ron Gay

Rosemead

*****

Contrast the "reconstructive surgery" they performed on Ron's letter with what happens when the other side writes to the newspaper.  Scroll down to the bottom of the blog page and click on page 3.  My posting of October 11, 2005 presents two nearly identical letters published by the Tribune last year.  Can you believe it?  They won't publish one of our letters in its entirety, but they'll print basically the same letter written by our opponents twice!

[edited 1/22/2006]