Monday, November 21, 2005
make a stink! make a stink!
An article in the SN&R got me hoppin' mad and I'm going to write a letter about it (fat lot of good that does, but I'll try). You should, too. It was hard for me to find the article online because the SN&R website is not the easiest to navigate, but here it is. The sheriff's department is trying to hide from the local media by refusing to talk. They are pissed that the Bee broke that story about brutality at the jail so they briefly stopped talking to them, but apparently they have negotiated their way through that because they know the Bee is too powerful and would make too much of a stink. So it is up to us to make a stink to get them to change their policy of not talking to the SN&R for the last two and a half years. This should be simple self-preservation. Most of you are drunks and any of you could be unfortunate enough to be picked up downtown for drunk in public. Judging by some of the stories I've read you would stand an excellent chance of getting your ass kicked if this was the case. Who will advocate for you if this happens? Not Christina Mendonsa or Dale Schornack, that's for sure, although you can call them up if you want them to report on the new sweater you knitted for your three-legged puppy or when your grandma turns a hundred or whatever. It will be the News and Review who would have your back. So write Lou Blanas at sheriff@sacsheriff.com and cc it to media@sacsheriff.com while you're at it. Read the article first so you can pretend to be informed about the situation and don't mention what I said about how you're a drunk.
Here's the letter I sent. I decided to make it short because it will probably be deleted instantly anyway.
ReplyDeleteSheriff Blanas-
I was very concerned when I read the News and Review article entitled "Sheriff's critics get barred" in this weeks's Sacramento News and Review. The News and Review is the local media outlet that I trust most to have the concerns of the common citizen in mind. That's why I was appalled to see that your office have a policy of not responding to their requests for information. If you have a dispute with the accuracy of anything that they have printed in the past I'm sure that they would print any correspondence that you sent them explaining your point of view. I don't see what is to be gained by denying their direct requests for information. Frankly it makes it look like your department has something to hide. If this is not the case then I suggest that you change this policy.
Sincerely,
Heckasac (I put my real name in, duh)
I wrote it in like five minutes so it may not move you to tears but if a bunch of people write it could do the trick. Full disclosure, I spelled appalled wrong in the letter I sent.
oops, more typos. fuck.
ReplyDeleteDear Heckasac,
ReplyDeleteZOMGWTFBBQ!!!!1111!1!
FTW, QFT.
WOOT.
1337 h4x0r,
L0u B14n4s
Speaking of things that make me hot under the collar (although it's not near as important as this business with the sheriff's dept.), have you driven down H St in East Sac lately? Those poor rich people are tired of all that traffic in their neighborhoods and have tons of signs all along H St about it. Boo fucking Hoo! They are lucky they don't live on Florin or Stockton.
ReplyDelete-Connie
But Connie, what about the children? Dear God woman, WHAT ABOUT THE CHILDREN?! And the property values?! And the peace & quiet that's necessary when one is counting their blessings such as owning a nice house, as I'm sure they don't take that for granted.
ReplyDeletemiller
Beckler: I followed your lead and sent an email. Fuck the Sac County jail. I wish I had filed a suit when I was arrested, because the shit I saw was fucked. And there is just no way to know what goes on in there.
ReplyDeleteWe all lose when East Sac citizens can't quickly get to Selland's for some cafeteria-style yuppie food and over oaked chardonnay at 5:30 pm. That's when they start punching anyone who doesn't look like they live there. I hope to god they get some gnarly traffic calming project that they hate.
Brew
oh my god i'm such an idiot why are there so many typos in that letter i sent to the sheriff?!?
ReplyDeletebrew-your comment was funny.
Very, very good letter. If you're worried about typos in the future, just run it by the copy desk. But I'm sure "Blue Lou" Blanas didn't notice.
ReplyDeleteWhat damn sign on H Street, Connie? I'll take all th' things down personally if need be.
i normally wouldn't sneak any peaks at what we're running here at SN&R, however, this coming week's issue will feature a bit on how the sheriff's office has retracted their position.
ReplyDeletethanks, heckasac!
n.
Those signs on H St were put up by some East Sac folks in opposition to the proposed new Mercy Heart Center building. (thus the various iterations of "Have Mercy" or whatever)
ReplyDeleteJeez, that makes the East Sackers look like even bigger a-holes!
ReplyDeleteHeckasac, you made a difference with your letter!
-Connie
I really think you people are being pretty unsympathetic to the H Streeters complaints. Sadly (and frustratingly), the richer/more comfortable you get, the less sympathetic people seem to your problems. For example, back when I lived in the sleepy upper-middle class neighborhood behind the UC Davis hospital, my neighbors dropped a flier on my doorstep, suggesting that we unite in protesting against that blue-lit "UC Davis" sign that glowed from the top of the hospital at all hours of the night. Well, obviously I was just as outraged about that light as my neighbors. I mean, what IS this, anyway? Vegas?! Wha- oh. A hospital, you say? And the blue light makes it easier for Life Flight helicopter to locate the hospital, which in turn ups the chances of getting patients inside quicker so their lives can be saved? But still...
ReplyDelete