I am writing in response to New Times ‘ Shredder column for the week of June 31-July 7.
After all these years of supporting your publication, it is a pity to read a column only to be personally insulted. While I understand your author was trying to use words to put down Senator Abel Maldonado, he instead insulted the entire Santa Maria Valley. To poorly use words like “crappy” when referring to the city in general is a direct slam on the people who live and work there. I wonder how your Santa Maria customers, the advertisers who fiscally support your payroll and other expenses, would feel knowing one of your employees feels free to write about his/her contempt in “regularly associating” with Santa Maria.
I wonder if your Shredder writer has ever experienced Santa Maria aside from freeway gas stops or the Costco parking lot. I encourage him or her to get out a little more and experience Santa Maria for what it truly is; an “All American City” with great people, landscape, and culture. If he needs a tour from a local that knows more roads than Highway 101 exits, please pass on my name. In the future, I will try to keep my eyes out of the Shredder and on the movie and music venues instead!
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Miss Lodene L. Blair
Santa Maria
This article appears in Jul 14-21, 2005.