United we stand, divided we fall

Sep 11, 2020
Sep 11, 2020 Updated Apr 13, 2025
2

Editor,

We Americans are all facing a new situation which is scary and unpredictable. We are grateful to our city leadership and especially our local Police Department for keeping us safe for now.

(2) comments

Terence Y Sep 11, 2020 9:01am

Great letter, Desmond and Elena Tuck, and thank you for your support of the police. Unfortunately, it takes two to tango and if one doesn’t join, all you can do is take care of yourself. Vote out those supposed leaders, support the police, and if required, exercise your Second Amendment rights to care for yourself and your loved ones.

Ray Fowler Sep 12, 2020 10:35am

Hello, Terence, Desmond and Elena

I was also disappointed in Mayor Howard's response to Maria Rutenburg. The mayor wrote to Maria that she pushes back against claims of systemic racism in the Redwood City Police Department. I would quibble with that statement. About a month ago, August 10, I listened online to the Redwood City Council meeting. Speaker after speaker called for defunding Redwood City's police department, and they claimed that Redwood City police officers were racist. I did not hear push back from the mayor re: those claims. When it came time to comment on a resolution supporting BLM, the council fell into lock-step affirming the resolution. Before I go any further, let me say now what I said during the public comment section of the August 10 meeting. I can unequivocally say "yes" to BLM's message calling for racial equity, but I have to say "no" to the movement. I do not agree with a movement that has Marxist underpinnings that calls for defunding the police and breaking up America's traditional family structure.

The mayor goes on further to say in her her response to Maria, "Courage and leadership are not about standing with one group against another. It is standing in the middle and working with both groups to find common ground. If you want to support our police and the dangerous work they perform every day, and hopefully you do, just give them a smile, a wave and say 'thanks.'" She could not be more wrong. Courage and leadership is not an exercise in compromise and consensus. While that approach may work for some situations, courage and leadership just may require standing up and making a decision. In my view, the Redwood City Council is trying to please everyone, so they wind up pleasing no one. I'm sure the BLM advocates are not happy with what they consider half-way measures; I'm equally positive that the majority of Redwood City residents disagree with what they see as bowing and scraping to a radical movement.

Lastly, I feel Harry S Truman's advice is a proper response to the mayor's letter. He said, "If you can't stand the heat. get out of the kitchen."

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